Setting up Win XP laptop as media-sharing rig

Kilroyquasar

Kilroyquasar

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Hello!

i have an old laptop (HP DV6114TX) that i 'revived' sometime back. i have been using it for browsing and downloading purposes since some time. it has Win XP SP3 as the OS. for its config, i won't upgrade it to Win 7/8. i wish to share the content that i download on it, with my other devices, like desktop PC, NAS (and router), a media player, a music streamer. i wish to know what all softwares (preferably free) would i be needing for that purpose. currently i just copy the contents onto a flash-drive and move it around across various devices, but want to limit it to minimum.

i have a router (with optware, transmission, samba) and 2 NAS (a Seagate Goflex Home with Debian, and a Pogoplug Pro) placed centrally at home. i can stream movies from the NAS/router to my media player placed in the hall, connected via LAN (ethernet) to the network. the desktop PC is also connected to the network via ethernet. the laptop however is connected via WiFi. what i wish to do mainly is:

1. share small and large files from my laptop with the PC and NAS (to-and-fro). i guess i will need to have a wifi adapter connected to my PC then?! and what about router/NAS?

2. stream music from my laptop to logitech squeezebox classic placed in hall. presently i do so via the logitech media server installed on my PC and GFH. the classic is connected to the network via a gigabit switch.

3. stream movies (if possible) to my media player, but i guess it won't be possible without an ethernet connection, if i want to have a stutter-free playback, isn't it? still looking for suggestion. if i can atleast send the movies to the NAS, to be streamed from there, that would also do.

4. basically turn the laptop into a home media server...whatever else that entails.

please suggest the applications i need to install to accomplish this.

P.S. - although am going to do a fresh install of XP in some time, formatting the HDD, but don't wish to install any Linux distro, as am not very comfortable at it, and want ease of use and familiarity, instead of googling everytime am stuck at some point.

TIA!
 
When you have a NAS for storage and router for download why bother having one more device? Is it because you just want to use it? In that case retire your torrent services on router and make this laptop a download rig (check the power consumption of the laptop). And if it is a very old laptop (I am not sure about the model no and configuration and stuff) it would stutter if you try to play 1080 movies or transcode movies into required formats.

Since you don't want to use a linux distro or can upgrade to windows 7, as far as I understand its better you use it as download rig/light weight browser. You can at least take some load off your router and prolong its life as it doesn't have to run full resource 24*7. Adding more machines will only add to the energy bills and increase room temperature.
 
i find myself using my laptop more often than the desktop, plus using it additionally for download-purposes. torrents and sharing, etc. from router has dropped down drastically anyway now, and wanting to share content from my laptop with other devices at home, i thought why not use it as a server. but i will keep using the NAS, router & laptop cyclically (for downloads and shares); that is, won't put any one device out of use completely, nor would drive just one out of them to a continuous operation for long alone.

i have installed Win 7 on the laptop now. its HP DV6114TX (2GB RAM, Intel 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 500GB HDD). am in the process of installing the required utilities now. its in the same room as the desktop. room-temp. was already some higher than other rooms. with the addition of the laptop now, the increase in temp. is not noticeable though (NAS and router are placed outside, in the passageway). also, seldom are the desktop and laptop kept ON simultaneously. plus, i don't use the devices or the laptop for a continuous 24x7 operation.

going to test with softwares like kodi, plex, webDAV (for file-transfer), serviio, etc. in the coming days.
 
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