Sharing a media library with multiple users on a home network (LAN)

Media Center can share a media library with any number of Media Center clients on a home network.

Below is a simple example of how to configure this on your home network:

1. Place all of your media in a single folder, let's say "D:\Media\"
2. Share this folder on your network
3. Map the shared folder "Media" as a drive on all the machines, let's say "M:\"
4. Use Media Center Menu > File > Library > Library Manager to add a new library, let's say "Media Drive" at the location "M:\Media Center Library"
5. Switch to this new library and import all the media on "M:\"
6. On each client on the network, use Library Manager to add a library pointing to "M:\Media Center Library"
7. Enjoy the media!

Alternatively, media can be accessed without mapping drives (although the folder must still be shared) by using the UNC path for a file when adding it to the library, e.g. \\Server\Media\Track_1.mp3, where "Server" is the name of the server on which the shared folder resides and "Media" is the name under which that file has been shared.

Remember that only one client can have read/write access to the library at any give time. The second, third, etc. client in will get read-only access.