Contents

Introduction
QuickStart Installation
Troubleshooting
Using Your Remote
Settings
Settings: Macros
Settings: Advanced
Warranty

Settings: Macros

The Macro buttons are one of the best features of your remote. You can use them to load a favorite MP3 playlist, start a favorite Internet Radio station, launch a PowerPoint presentation, or load your DVD player. You can customize your macros by clicking on the Macros tab of the Settings dialog box:


Each macro button has a few options. The default is QuickLaunch, which can be used to launch a file, application, or web site by clicking the Browse button and choosing what you would like to open. If you would like to open a web site, simply enter the URL you wish to load and it will open in your default browser when the button is pressed.

The other option is to select select a customized activity that you might want to perform by pressing that particular button. The choices are:

Toggle Mouse Mode On/Off
Turn on/off Mouse Mode so that you can use the arrow buttons to either simulate keyboard arrow buttons (Mouse Mode Off) or use the arrow buttons to control your mouse cursor (Mouse Mode On). See Settings: Advanced for more information on Mouse Mode.

Cycle Through Open Windows ("Alt-Esc")
If you have several program windows open, you can cycle between each of them by pressing the macro button. This works the same as pressing "Alt-Esc" on your keyboard.

Switch Between Two Open Windows ("Alt-Tab")
If you have two program windows that you would like to switch between, you can do this by pressing the macro button. This works the same as pressing "Alt-Tab" on your keyboard.

Toggle Full Screen On/Off ("Alt-Enter")
Some programs (not all!) will allow you to enter a "Full Screen" mode by pressing "Alt-Enter". This macro setting allows you to simulate pressing "Alt-Enter" on your keyboard.

Show/Hide the Start Menu
You can show and hide the Windows Start Menu with this setting. This is useful if you want to launch a program on your Start Menu using your remote.

XP MCE: Back
If you're a Windows XP Media Center Edition user, you can use this setting to go back a screen while in the Media Center. This will also go back in a web browser.

Browser Forward
Use this setting to go forward in your web browser's history.

XP MCE: Start
If you're a Windows XP Media Center Edition user, you can use this setting to launch the Media Center application itself.

Using QuickLaunch

Here are some examples to demonstrate the different ways you can use your Macros:

Example 1
C:\MyMusic\playlist.m3u

One of the best ways to use Macros is to launch an MP3 playlist (.m3u file), which is essentially just a list of MP3's (you can create a playlist with programs such as Winamp). In this example, playlist.m3u is a list of my favorite MP3's. Now if I want to hear my best songs, all I have to do is press the macro button on my remote control. After you create your playlist, you can click "Browse..." to load the ".m3u" file from your disk drive.

Note that this example doesn't specify which media player to launch—it just specifies the playlist filename. When you do this, your playlist will be launched with whatever media player program is "mapped" to the .m3u file extension. It's just as if you were to double-click on the .m3u file in Windows Explorer using your mouse—whichever program "owns" .m3u files will open the playlist.

If you want to open a playlist using a specific media player (rather than whichever one owns .m3u files), you can do that very easily. Building on Example 1, you can do it this way:
C:\Program Files\Winamp\winamp.exe C:\MyMusic\playlist.m3u

Example 2
C:\Program Files\Winamp\winamp.exe http://scastsrv4.shoutcast.com:8036/

Another great thing to do with macros is to launch a streaming Internet Radio station. In this Example, we launch KPIG radio by simply pressing a macro button. Here, we accomplish this by launching the winamp media player, and passing the radio station's URL as a parameter.

Even cooler: you can make a Playlist (m3u file) of Internet Radio stations! You can create an m3u file that contains all of your favorite Internet Radio station URLs. Then when you launch this playlist, you can choose from hundreds of radio stations, all with your remote!

Example 3
C:\Program Files\InterVideo\WinDVD\WinDVD.exe

In this example, I make it easy to launch my favorite DVD player with a single button-press. But note that you're not limited to launching media player programs. You can launch any program you wish, and pass any parameters you wish to that program.

Example 4
http://www.streamzap.com/

This example demonstrates that not only can you launch programs, but also websites. Try launching http://www.streamzap.com/ to see an example.

Other Examples
Here are just a few more ideas of what you can do with your macros:

  • Launch a PowerPoint presentation (.ppt or .pps files) with one touch!
  • Launch a slideshow of your favorite photos!
  • Start Minesweeper while your friend is trying to write a paper... the fun just never ends! :)

 

 

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