How to start Windows Media Center without the startup animation?

Sure, it looks nice the first few times, but the startup animation for Windows Media Center in Windows 7 may be a little overly dramatic for everyday use. Besides, it takes up precious time when you want to get right down to watching TV or playing your music. Here's how to edit the shortcut to start up the application without the animated opening:

1. Right click the WMC shortcut on your desktop or taskbar (if you have it pinned there) and select Properties.
2. Click the Shortcut tab.
3. In the "Target" field, you'll see %windir%\ehome\ehshell.exe
4. Leave that there, but right after it, type and space and then add /nostartupanimation
5. Click OK.

Import option in Windows Media Center may not be available

SMYMPTOMS

After you connect an external hard disk drive or a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive to a computer that is running Windows Vista, the Import option in Windows Media Center may not be available. The Import option is used to copy files from removable storage devices to a computer for use in Windows Media Center.


CAUSE
This problem occurs because some external hard disk drives and USB flash drives report themselves to Microsoft Windows as local hard disk drives instead of as removable storage devices. The Import option in Windows Media Center is not available for local hard disk drives.


RESOLUTION

1. To work around this problem, follow these steps:
2. Open Windows Media Center.Click picture library or music library.
3. Right-click a picture or a video, and then click Library Setup.
4. Click to select the option button next to Add a folder to watch.
5. Follow the prompts to add a folder from an external hard disk drive, from a removable media drive, or from a network location.
   

Note: Pictures and videos in folders that are on the watch list will automatically be added to those files that are available in Windows Media Center.