Zoomplayer: Green screen

when playing certain video files, if you get a green screen and the issue is not with the codecs, it could be due to the renderer you're using.

I'm getting the best results with VMR9 Windowless

XMBC starter

my AutoIT script that continuously runs
waiting for the global hotkey (Win+Alt+Enter)
sent from my remote

HotKeySet("#!{ENTER}", "StartXbmc")

While 1
    Sleep(100)
WEnd

Func StartXbmc()
 Opt("WinTitleMatchMode",2)
 If ProcessExists("xbmc.exe") Then
  If WinActive("[TITLE:XBMC]") Then
   Send("^!{F5}")
  Else
   WinActivate("[TITLE:XBMC]")
  EndIf
 Else
  ; check for winamp
  $PID = ProcessExists("winamp.exe") ; Will return the PID or 0 if the process isn't found.
  If $PID Then ProcessClose($PID)

  Run("C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC\XBMC.exe", "", @SW_MAXIMIZE);
 EndIf
EndFunc

DOSBOX not recognizing keys

installing an MCE Remote causes Windows to install MCIR 109 keyboard driver.
This causes issues with DOSBOX.

Easiest way to fix it: changing the MCIR 109 keyboard to "HID-Compliant device"

I wish more apps were portable

PortableApps.com

Even if you're not going to be transporting them around on a USB drive, it's still nicer to install portable apps on your machine because

1. no messy install/uninstall and ugly registry messiness
2. all settings contained with the app
3. easy to backup/restore and transport

Of note:

1. irfanview (graphics viewer)
2. filezilla (FTP client)
3. google chrome (browser)
4. opera (browser)
5. pidgin (IM/chat) 
6. skype (video chat) 
7. utorrent (file sharing)
8. Sumatra PDF Viewer 
9. 7-zip (file archiver)

Media codecs

Shark007's codecs 32 bit
 (Even on 64 bit windows, there is no need to have a 64 bit player or codecs)

lost all my settings in the reformat, but here are ones that seem to work well enough for the current system:

Shark's

FFDShow Video

FFDShow Audio

AC3 Filter

windows 7 visual settings

good compromise between performance and presentation

XBMC: TV Guide Feature

Certain skins like Neon, Night, Simplicity, etc, support TV Guide feature.
To get this to work, you need to install the "TV Show Next Aired" add on found under "Video Addons".

XBMC Advancedsettings.xml

<advancedsettings>
    <videolibrary>
        <cleanonupdate>true</cleanonupdate>  <!-- default set to false to prevent xbmc from removing items from the database while updating -->
        <hideemptyseries>true</hideemptyseries>  <!-- hide empty series in the video library -->
        <exportautothumbs>true</exportautothumbs>  <!-- export auto-generated thumbs. Defaults to false -->
    </videolibrary>
    <network>
        <cachemembuffersize>0</cachemembuffersize>
    </network>
    <fullscreen>true</fullscreen>
</advancedsettings>