I been struggling with this problem since i updated to the RTM version of win7. I know the play to is suppose to work between windows 7 PC but for me the only way i can get it to work is if i have WMP 12 open. If WMP is not open then all other windows media PC's can not see and device. So is there a way to make it work without the need to open WMP. because that kind of defeats the purpose if i have to go to a different pc and open WMP because then i can just play the media on that PC anyways and won't need play to. I want to have it so that in the playto devices the different pc's are always there (even if the PC is shutdown)and when you try to send a song to a different pc it forces WMP to open automatically.
And I personally don't think it will be possible to have wmp see your pc's when they aren't running. That's not fault of wmp, but home network rules. A pc simply cannot be seen on the network unless it's turned on, unless u create a domain and run a DC with AD.
that's what i said, twiz. but for her to see her other pc's when they're not running, only a DC running AD in a domain can solve it for her. On a home network it's impossible.
She could do that. Good thinking. But that still won't give her what she wants. Remember, woman are creatures of habit. When they want something, they will not settle for less Nothing bad meant by that btw it's just a law of nature...
lol i'm a guy. When creating this account i was eating wendy's lol hence the name. I can understand why WMP will not show when the PC is turned off that is not the issue. The issue is i cannot stream music to other windows 7 PC without having windows media player open. It not a issue with my sharing coz that all works fine i can see all my pc's in the homegroup and YES if i click on a file it dose play from different pc's etc. Evene in wmp i can shearch other pc's libraries with no issue. It just if WMP is not open on a PC then i cannot send media to that PC. The play to feature in WMP is like a universal remote for you media, like i can click a mp3 file on my desktop and tell it to play on my laptop and it dose work only if WMP is open. I have a PC set to a TV and sound system and family members like to use there PC and just send the media to the other PC without the need to remote in or manually go in and play a file. But right now they have to remote into the computer open WMP and since they are already there they just find the media and play it, when it comes time to change the media they just do it from there PC using play to and it works just fine since WMP is open. Maybe i'm not explaining it right, my sharing and everything is fine, it's just "play to" that's giving me the issue, maybe a service or something that opens with WMP that lets other Win7 PC's know that there is a device windows 7 can control, i would just like to enable that particular service.
Just set up share folders and access them via your Network folders. You'll be able to everything in the shared folders like they were on the computer you're on.
@twiz as i said before the sharing is already done and this is not what i'm trying to do. i trying to force media from computer A and have it play on computer B using computer A without remote desktop or manually doing it on computer B. Computer B will not have a keyboard or mouse and my family is not that tech savvy to use remote desktop each time. Computer B is just hook to a tv and a sound system. So they really like the playto feature and like i have said before it work only when wmp is open. @genuine555 Yes a guy indeed, anyways thanks for the links i will check them out. I was also thinking of creating a script that opens media player upon login using task scheduler, i was able to open a few programs on a PC before so it should not be that hard. I just wish it was a feature buit in to win7 and not into wmp 12. The hack7mc link is old and outdated as it was meant for the RC, i did come across in my search.
Wendy...DUDE ... I also think a script is the best way to solve this issue. As u said it isn't that hard, and will do exactly what you want.