I like to break down every step so it is as noob friendly as possible
* MOBOPLAYER IS NOT UPDATED FOR ICS PLEASE USE: MX Video Player
Prerequisites
- An Android Device with Wifi Capability. (Your Scroll Excel
)
*Note* I am running ICS 4.0.3 on my Scroll Excel, but this guide will work for the GB roms. - A Windows XP Computer
- A collection of movies/music on your computer.
- You must be an administrator/power user on your computer.
Setting up your PC
Oops there's no setting up needed. In XP it is very simple to share files.
Sharing your files
Now for the exciting part!
Open up My Computer and browse to where ever your music/movies are held.
For simplicity's sake, I have a folder called TV Show on my desktop.
Right click your folder and click Sharing and Security.
Click the link "If you understand the security risks but want to share files without running the wizard, click here."
Next check the "Just enable file sharing" radio button and click ok.
Make sure Share this folder on the network is checked.
Give your Share an easy to recongise name.
Only check Allow network users to change files if you want to be able to delete files over the network (Security issue if someone deletes them accidently/someone gains access to your network) I recommend leaving it unchecked.
Finally click OK to close the Folders Properties window.
Rise and repeat for other folders you want to share.
And that's the files shared! Now to access them on our wonderful Scroll.
Accessing the files on your Scroll Excel
We need two things for this section.
- An app to play the movies/music.
- An app to access the shared folder.
What I use on my Scroll Excel is Moboplayer, a free media player! It uses software decoding to play the files and has worked with every file I have thrown at it so far. Optional codecs can be downloaded for free for Moboplayer but I have not needed to use these so far.
*Note* On ICS I am now using MX Video Player, this is updated for ICS, GB users may use either
MX Video Player
Moboplayer
You also need an app to browse through your shared folder and access the files. For this I use ES File Explorer, a free explorer app that can access files over bluetooth, LAN(what were interested in), WAN(perhaps in another guide
) and can also act as a FTP clientAndroid Market Link
Once you have installed both apps make sure your wifi is enabled and your connected to the same network your PC sharing the files is on.
Open up ES File Explorer.
Press the Menu Button on your Scroll and click Show tabs if they're not already there.
Click the LAN Tab
Press the Menu Button on your Scroll and click New then click Scan.
If all has gone well then the PC you shared your files on should come up! As you can see my two PC's currently switched on in the network appeared, William-PC(Windows7) and WILLIAM-DD69486(WindowsXP)
If it doesn't you can press Menu > New > Server and type in the ipaddress of your computer.
You can find the ip address by pressing the Windows key + R then typing CMD into the run box, hit enter, then type ipconfig into the command line and hit enter. It will look like this:
The IPv4 address is what your looking for, in my case its 192.168.0.12
Type this into the ES Explorer and check the Anonymous box and click ok!
*Note* By if your computer restarts/shutdown it may not get the same IP address from your router the next time it starts up if it has already been given to another machine on your home network. So just double check the IP. You can always set it statically so its always the same IP.
Click on the computer's Icon in ES File Explorer, you will then see an array of shares. Don't be alarmed. Most of these are hidden shares created by default in windows. There should be a folder by the name of the folder you shared.
Click on your shared folder, a list of all your files will appear, you shouldn't be getting any permission errors if you shared the folder with Everyone. And because you made it read only the files can't be accidentally deleted.
Playing a video is now as simple as selecting the file and opening it with MoboPlayer
Please give feedback and post any questions you have
Unfortunately for ICS 4.0.3 the audio streams but the video doesn't since Moboplayer isn't updated yet, please use MX Video Player.
