Streaming media from Windows Vista to the PS3

Took me a while to get this to work, but finally I did. This is what I did.

1. Turn on PS3

2. Open Windows Media Player 11 on my PC

3. Click on Library->Media Sharing, which will open the Media Sharing window (see image below)


4. In the window, check the "Share my media" box. Under that you should see "Unknown Device". This should be the playstation. (If you don't see it, reboot the playstation. Sometimes you have to reboot for them to see each other). Click "Unknown Device" and then click the "Allow" button. Click Ok.
**If "Share my Media" is greyed out, click on "Network Settings", and in the Network and Sharing window, next to your network name, click "customize" and check "private network".***

5. Back on the PS3, go to the XMB (XrossMediaBar), go to Music, Video, or Pics, and click "Search for media servers".

6. Once it finds the servers, you should see a windows Icon. (example below)


7. Here, you should be able to see your files.*


*I have found that in order for you to be able to see your media files, you need to put your media into the respective music/videos/picture folders. You can't even put them in sub-folders. Hopefully Sony will do something about this.



***UPDATE***

I just installed this:

Java PS3 Media Server for Windows and Linux | mirror

All I did was turn on the PS3, install it on my PC, and they automatically found each other. I added different drives (including my external drive), and it found everything. I can even play my ripped dvds in the VIDEO_TS folders. Flawless!