Customising the VMC Start Menu

[dgaust]

Ok, I make no guarantee that this will work, and it is a hack that requires you to do some editing of a DLL file, but a post over at the myTV forums has provided instructions on how to remove items and strips from the VMC Start Menu.

For ease of use, I've copied the body of the post below. If it works, all thanks go to the original poster, huttonhenrysfinest.

I've found a way to edit the standard start menu items in Vista Media Center, but its a hack.

Using this hack I've succesfully removed items and even entire strips from the start menu. I suspect that its also possible to change the position of menu items, but I haven't tried yet.

You'll need a resource editor like ResourceTuner from HeavenTools.com.

1. Make a backup of the %SYSTEMROOT%\ehome\ehres.dll
2. Change the security settings of the %SYSTEMROOT%\ehome\ehres.dll to give yourself ownership of the dll. Afterwards change the file rights to full control. If you're running with UAC, then you might need to do some more steps here.
3. Open the ehres.dll in the ResourceTuner.
4. Expand the HTML node

Now the files we're interested in are among others:

STARTMENU.XML - defines the main start menu stripes
SM.ACTIVITIES.XML - defines the menu items under the Task menu
SM.MUSIC.XML - defines the menu items under the Music menu
SM.PICTURES.XML - defines the menu items under the Pictures & Video menu
SM.TV.XML - defines the menu under the Tv menu

5. Choose SM.MUSIC.XML for example, rightclick the node and select Edit Resource. The XML file opens.
6. Now remove the XML tags defining the menu items you do not want. Alternatively make the element into a comment by changing the tag to <!-- old tag content -->. It might take a while to get an overview of the structure and maybe some trial and error before the logic of the xml file sinks in. Do not remove the <home:App /> elements though.
7. When you're happy with the changes, click Ok and accept the changes.
8. Select Save As and select the original file (overwriting the existing).
9. Open Vista Media Center and check that the changes work.

Now, since this is a hack, I take no responsability of how you might break Vista Media Center, destroy your computer or otherwise corrupt the world using this hack.
Also note, that a software update might overwrite your hacked ehres.dll file effectively removing your changes.

[aanda6]

This is the greatest find yet. I have removed pictures from menu strip. An I now have live tv as initial menu item on startup.

[logifuse]

I'm going to have a stab at this. Apart from flicking a stack of unwanted items, I want to move the video library in to pole position on its line.

I'm guessing that any changes won't translate to extenders unfortunately.

Justin

[aanda6]

I am using MC organizer for all movies along with movie collectorz, so I was able to rid myself of the video strip alltogether. i have added MC organiser to the main strip using menu customizer tool. Much neater and I can now have all my dvds and avis in one place to view and play.

[dgaust]

Yeah, certainly something I'll be testing out tonight.

Hopefully someone better at coding than I will be able to make an application that will make it easier to change.

[aanda6]

I put a request to Advent as to wether he could incorporate it into his Menu Customizer. Hopefully his programming skills will be able to help all.

[Advent]

This looks fantastic - i'll also be trying it out tonight and looking at including it in MC Menu Customiser in the near(ish) future!

[logifuse]

It works!! It Works!!

I've got rid of everything except TV, Pictures & Videos, Online Media, Tasks & Now Playing (only appears if something is playing). Under Pictures & Video I've eliminated all but Video Library (although changing priorities is easy if you just want to do that).

Online Media is complicated - I want to have it with Program Library as the only entry, but I haven't had a stab at that yet.

Basically you can edit the overall Start groups in the STARTMENU.XML entry (eliminate or change priorities) & then you can do the same with each individual group through its SM.GROUP.XML entry. The items to look at are between <> & all end in a priority figure.

Next thing to look at will be renaming Menus & items.

Maybe there is a way here to duplicate the Recorded TV look & feel for another folder (instead of having it as a watched folder for Recorded TV)? This would help if you have recorded TV spread across multiple PCs as the watched folder option seems to have refresh issues.

Justin

[Circuit]

Originally Posted by logifuse

I'm going to have a stab at this. Apart from flicking a stack of unwanted items, I want to move the video library in to pole position on its line.

I'm guessing that any changes won't translate to extenders unfortunately.

Justin

I was checking the post on TGB and according to on who did this apparently they do, at least with the 360 anyway. http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/per...ad.aspx#244825

[logifuse]

Originally Posted by Circuit

I was checking the post on TGB and according to on who did this apparently they do, at least with the 360 anyway. http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/per...ad.aspx#244825

Well, I'll find out tomorrow I guess.