Questions from a newcomer

[jbpnoman]

I'm new to the HTPC world. I've been looking at setting up a remote for my PC, because I'm tired of having to go to my keyboard to change the channel. I contacted Logitech, looking for a remote, and found out that I would need an IR receiver. Google pointed me here. My question is this:

If I picked up a USB-UIRT, what else will i need to use a Logitech 550 remote to control Windows Media Center (other than device drivers)?

I saw Girder mentioned in a few other areas...will I need this as well? If there's a setup guide hiding somewhere that I missed, a link would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for the silly questions, and thanks in advance for your answers!

[Myth]

Well, i'm currently awaiting for my usb-uirt to arrive, so i don't have any hands on experience with it yet. But i have a few possible answers to your question. Though i'm not sure about them so will need someone to confirm:


1: This would be the easiest, but i'm guessing windows media center had built in support for remote controls. Although those are supposed to be special windows MCE controls, your logitech can fake those. So by just learning ur remote the right codes you might not need other software.

2: I had a look and girder, and i think it has built in support for windows MCE. So if you buy girder, i think you'll be able to get it working the way you want without a lot of messing around.

3: Instead of using girder, you can get free alternatives like winlirc. There you'd have to bind certain infrared codes to keyboard hotkeys, and control Media center that way.
However, i suppose you will need a program to transform the infra red codes ur sending into hotkeys

But like i said, I havent been able to try anything out yet myself. I just thought i'd give tell you my thoughts because this forum doesn't seem to be very active, and it might take quite a while to get another reply.