tired of troubleshooting stuff

[ashiruni]

I've got a bit of a problem. I have no storage space to spare (about 50 megs), have downloaded this software, and need a way to stream (not convert) .mkv and .avi files without loosing the subtitles. to boot, the converter thingy won't even let me access the files I want to work on (it won't open any folders). I've been working on this problem off and on for roughly 6 months now, and I've given up more times than I can count. I've downloaded three seperate sets of software, all of which have claimed to meet my needs and have utterly failed. I know my way around a computer fairly well and wish that microsoft would stop having a p***ing contest with other companies/formats and patch the 360 to play a few of them. >:'(

anyways, to make the needs simpler so you don't have to read the complaints, I need to figure out the following about videora:

1) will it stream (not convert/store) .avi and .mkv files, while retaining subtitles, into a .wmv format the 360 will read

2) how do you update the library so that it will allow access to the files that I want to stream

3) a reccomendation for a program that will fit my needs if this one cannot (as is most likely the case).

EDIT: as a side note, I'm running Win XP sp2 and using WMP 11 (will use Zune too though)

[jamief]

No, it won't stream videos.

When you understand *how* videos are streamed by this type of software, you'll understand why; they are first converted to a native format, stored somewhere, and then played via your device. To stream them without intermediary storage would require the 360 to be reading data at exactly the rate your computer was converting it, or storing data in memory.

I think the underlying problem is you only having 50mb free; why not invest in a new HDD, given that you've been struggling with the problem for 6 months??

[ashiruni]

that's actually what I was afraid of. The problem is, I've only got crappy comp that's just about maxed out and a rather limited budget, so I was hoping there'd be another way, particularly considering that I'd need to buy a whole new system just to support a new hard disk. As it is, the system I have only supports one external and two internals, all of which are maxed. and since I'm running about a 200 gig average, it'd cost quite a bit to upgrade even one of them :(.

Thanks for the help though, even though it wasn't what I was hoping to hear. I'll try to figure out how to pull this off then.

*turns away and cries cause he's now got to delete several of his fav. animes in order to make the conversions possible*

[jamief]

Sorry I couldn't be of more help; I know what it's like running on a limited budget. Maybe you could find a bigger drive on ebay or something? Or, what I used to do- burn everything to DVD!

[ashiruni]

if only I had one.... (a dvd burner)

but at the same time, it's as much of a pain in the butt then, cause you have to remember what you put where with dozens of differing (and fairly small :() 'drives' to choose from. meh, I'll just go hit lime and Lunar animes homepages' and download everything again. even if I must live without them for a while, it'll be worth it in the end ^.^

thanks again for the help.