How To Setup A Media Server On Windows 7

Many boxes you plug into your Television, including the Roku, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and even some smart TVs themselves offer DLNA ("Digital Living Network Alliance") streaming support. They can stream video files and music over the network from your PC—every bit long as y'all ready a DLNA server on the PC first.

This characteristic is likewise known as Play To or UPnP AV. Using it is easier than you might recall, as the server software y'all'll need is built into Windows. In that location are also third-party DLNA servers with more features, and you tin can run them on whatever operating system. Hither's how to fix upwardly DLNA on your car.

Option I: Enable the DLNA Media Server Congenital Into Windows

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There are many dissimilar pieces of software that tin office as DLNA servers, but you don't need to install anything special to become started. Windows has an integrated DLNA server you tin can enable. To activate it, open the Control Panel and search for "media" using the search box at the top right corner of the window. Click the "Media streaming options" link under Network and Sharing Heart.

Click the "Turn on media streaming" button to enable the media-streaming server.

Although this Control Panel doesn't mention the term "DLNA" at all, the media streaming characteristic in Windows is a DLNA-compliant media server.

You can now customize the streaming settings. The default settings allow all devices on your local network to access the media files in your media libraries, and that's fine if you're on a local network with merely devices yous trust. You probably don't need to adjust these.

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This window doesn't actually tell you how to add video, music, and picture files that can be streamed over the network. However, the media streaming feature depends on your Windows libraries.

If you lot want to stream video, music, or picture files, add them to the Videos, Music, or Pictures libraries. You don't have to movement the files to the current library folders—you tin can add new folders to the libraries. On Windows viii.1 or 10, you'll need to unhide the libraries to access them.

Once you have, either re-create the media files you want to stream to your libraries or add folders containing media files to your libraries.

For example, if you have a agglomeration of videos at D:\TV Shows\, you could right-click the Videos library, select "Properties", click "Add", and add the D:\TV Shows\ folder to your Videos library. The files would still exist stored at D:\Television Shows\, but they'd exist visible in your Videos library and available for streaming from other devices.

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You can now access the DLNA media role player on your other device—for example, the Roku Media Player, PS4 Media Player, or Xbox One Media Actor apps all include this feature

For instance, on a Roku, you must first install the Roku Media Histrion channel and open it. DLNA servers on your local network will appear in the list, so you tin can select your estimator and stream media files from information technology.

In addition to browsing your shared media library from the device, you can apply the Play To feature to detect media on your reckoner and start playing it directly on the networked device. Or apply the DLNA media-streaming features to share media between your PCs.

Option Two: Install Plex or Universal Media Server

The Windows DLNA server is the easiest and fastest 1 to set up upwards, simply it's not necessarily the best option. Due to the manner DLNA works, yous can only stream sure types of media codecs, for example. If yous have other types of media, it just won't work.

Other DLNA servers improve this by offering real-time transcoding. If yous try to play an unsupported file, they'll transcode it on-the-fly, streaming the video in a supported format to your DLNA device.

RELATED: How to Fix Plex (and Scout Your Movies on Any Device)

Many different media servers support DLNA, including the immensely popular Plex media server—and then yous can ready upwardly the Plex media server on your computer and use DLNA on another device to access your media, if you desire. Plex's own media role player offers more features, but your Plex library can also exist accessed from whatsoever media player that supports DLNA. This allows you to access your Plex library on devices that don't have a Plex client or web browser, but do offering DLNA support.

You lot might also exist interested in the completely free Universal Media Server, which is based on the now-discontinued PS3 Media Server. Information technology boasts a large number of features, and you can install and configure it on Windows also as macOS and Linux. Macs and Linux PCs don't take this feature congenital-in, and so third-party media programs similar these are the only option.

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DLNA seems to be on its way out, which is one reason why it'south so hidden on Windows ten. DLNA is fundamentally focused on playing back media files you lot accept downloaded on your PC (video files, music files, and image files) on other devices. Modern solutions are usually focused on streaming media from the cloud. And, even if yous want to manage your own local media library, a solution like Plex is more total-featured and better.

This standard's strength is still its wide ecosystem of supported devices. Even though it'due south not an ideal solution, it provides the glue to link a broad variety of devices together without whatever third-political party apps. Devices that don't have spider web browsers or apps you lot tin can use to access Plex may support DLNA.

Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/215400/how-to-turn-your-computer-into-a-dlna-media-server/

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