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Delay in files showing up on Xbox 360
Not sure if this is the best forum for this topic, but it kind of goes across several topics, so thats why its posted here. Mods, feel free to move.
First of all, a little background...
I am currently dual booting Win7 Ultimate and XP SP2 on the same brand new machine. It works great and I've had no problems with any hardware or software. All hardware is well above min specs and drivers are all up to date.
When running XP, I share my files to my Xbox 360 using a Microsoft utility called "Windows Media Connect 2" (WMC2). It allows me to access my video and music files directly from the Xbox dashboard (ie I don't need Media Center). It works great - everything plays without lag, and as soon as I move a file into one of the directories thats shared through WMC2, its instantly available on my xbox (note that the xbox connects to the computer through a wireless network).
After installing Win7, I was disappointed to learn that WMC2 was no longer supported and could not be installed. I tried using Windows Media Center, but found it unacceptably slow. On the xbox, I would try to open a folder full of files, and end up sitting there looking at the hourglass for 30 sec. Hard to believe, given that WMC2 was pretty much instantaneous when opening the exact same folder.
Next, I realized I could still browse Windows 7 files from the Xbox dashboard by sharing them with "Everyone" and then adding them to my "Videos" library. Its way way faster than Media Center, and from the xbox's point of view, works exactly the same as WMC2 did on XP. This has been working great, except for the following (which the meat of my question here):
When I add a file to one of the shared folders, it doesn't immediately show up on my Xbox. For instance, I can have a folder full of video files that all show up on the xbox, but if I add a new video to that directory on the computer, it won't show up on the xbox until (usually) the following day. This is very odd. I've tried a lot of different things, but haven't yet resolved this.
More info:
-The folder and all of its contents (except for the recently added file) are showing up on the xbox, so it can't be a folder sharing/permissions issue
-The file does eventually show up (and plays) on the xbox, so it can't be a file format issue
-When I move the file into one of the shared directories, it immediately shows up in my "Videos" library on the Win7 machine, but not on the xbox
-If I boot into XP, which has WMC2 running, I can see the file on the xbox immediately
-I know other people share media to the xbox using WMP, but seeing as my sharing is working except for one small annoyance, I don't see the point in using WMP - especially given that I've read dozens of posts from people having the exact same issue in WMP (ie files not updating to remote devices without them manually opening and closing WMP). Plus I just plain don't like WMP - I find it bloated, hobbled and not at all user-friendly.
Here's what I've tried so far:
-Rebooted the Win7 machine - no effect (did this multiple times)
-Rebooted the Xbox - no effect (did this multiple times)
-Rebooted the router - no effect
-Removed and re-added the shared directory to my "Videos" library - no effect
-Hit the refresh button (F5) in the shared folder and the "Videos" library - no effect
It seems the problem lies somewhere along the lines of Windows 7 not refreshing shared content over the network, or only doing it once a day or so. Does anyone have any idea how I can correct this? Is there some hidden setting that will change how often Win7 broadcasts shared folder contents?
Thanks!
Mike