Microsoft dropped Windows Media Center from its new OS, citing "decreased usage" as the reason it would no longer be available. In its place the software giant has released a DVD Player, but this is only free to some Windows 10 users. For others it costs $14.99, which is crazy considering it’s incredibly basic and there are much better free tools available.
If you miss Windows Media Center, and the available alternatives -- such as Kodi -- aren’t filling the gap for you, the good news is you can, with a little trickery, install Windows Media Center on Windows 10.
The My Digital Life Forums has come up with the goods. All you have to do is:
- Download Windows Media Center from here.
- Extract the folder to your hard drive (it must be saved to your system drive) and open it.
- Right-click _TestRights.cmd and choose to Run as administrator.
- Next right-click Installer.cmd and Run as administrator. (There’s also an uninstaller here).
- Press any key to exit when prompted and then search for Media Center.
If it doesn't install correctly, try rebooting your PC and repeat the process.
You’ll find the app under Windows Accessories in the Start menu, but you can pin it to the taskbar if you require quick access.
I’ve installed Windows Media Centre in Windows 10 without problems and it works very well. If you get a decoder error when trying to play live TV you will need to install the LAV Filters from here.