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Customize the Media Center Menu

By ryan.tollefson - Posted on April 12th, 2008
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Before using any of the methods on this page, it is recommended that you try using just registry tweaks first. 

 

Registry tweaks for customizing the Media Center interface can be found HERE.

 

Remove the TV Menu

  1. Click on the Vista button (Start)
  2. type "regedit" and hit "Enter"
  3. Browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Start Menu
  4. Set the "Hide TV" entry to "1"

Image:Hide-tv-reg.gif

  1. Restart Media Center
  • If you are using My DVDs this will be moved to the right of the "Tasks" tile.

 

After:

Image:No-tv-strip.jpg

 

 

Remove the Sports Menu

Before:

Image:Sports-strip.jpg

  1. First you will need to show hidden files and folders
  2. Close Media Center
  3. Browse to "C:\programdata\microsoft\eHome\Packages\"
  4. Make a folder called "Sports Backup"
  5. Move the "SportsSchedule" and "SportsTemplate" folders into the backup folder you just made.

Image:Move-sports-folders.gif

 

After

Image:No-sports-strip.jpg

 

 

 Remove MCESpotlight Menu

  1. Browse to "C:\programdata\microsoft\eHome\Packages\"
  2. Make a folder called "Backup"
  3. Move the "MCESpotlight" folder into the backup folder you just made.
  • Unfortunatly this doesn't remove the "Online Media" strip.

Remove InternetTV Beta

  1. Browse to "C:\programdata\microsoft\eHome\Packages\"
  2. Make a folder called "Backup"
  3. Move the "NetTV" folder into the backup folder you just made.

 

 

Remove Online Media Menu

  1. Download Resource hacker (free) or PE Explorer (30 day trial)
  2. Open ehres.dll.mui in the %systemroot%\ehome\en-US folder
  3. Go to string 878, and remove string 14044 "Online Media"

Now you just have, Music, Photos + Videos, and Tasks.

This technically doesnt remove the strip, but it creates blank text that is un selectable. if you want to add it back, just re add the text.

Note, the ehres.dll that is in the main folder has all of the pictures and sounds, and you need to use PE explorer to edit as the Resource Hacker cannot handle .png files. The ehres.dll.mui has all of the strings.

 

MC Menu Mender

Another way to edit the Media Center Menu is with MC Menu Mender.  This the easiest way to edit the menu, and gives you the most control over it; however, it isn't officially supported and can cause problems with major Media Center updates, or with some 3rd party plugins - so use at you own risk. 

You can download the latest version from the xpmediacentre.com forums here:

http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/community/vista-plugins-addons/25714-new-util-mc-menu-customiser.html

Related Resources

For more information on customizing the Media Center menu check out: Aaron Stebner's Blog

For an alternate method of removing individual strips and/or tiles please see: The Green Button Forumpost