I have a Dell PC running Vista Home Premium and a PS3. A friend sent me an .avi file that I could play on my PC using any number of media players including WMP11, which I had set up to share files with my PS3. Unfortunately, the .avi file wouldn't play on my PS3. I tried converting the file to a couple of other formats to no avail. Then someone told me to use Vista's Media Center to connect with my PS3 and I should be able to play any files that my PC would play. I found a program to connect Vista's Media Center to my PS3, but the file still won't play This got me to wondering what the difference is with the two different connections, i.e using WMP11 as a media server as opposed to using Vista's Media Center. I assume that both must be using my home wireless network and I assume that they are both secure, but I am not sure. One difference is that using WMP, I can single out exactly which devices I want to share files with and with the program I am using with Media Center, as long as any of the three PS3's in my house are on, the PC automatically connects to them. Can someone explain these two processes to me? I appreciate any help.

The only one that is not checked is "Password protected sharing."

DustSailor, I know nothing of Black Viper. This is not a part of Windows Vista is it? How do I access it? I will take a look at it and see if I can figure my way through it. I truly appreciate your response to my problem.

BTW, this is the website I fund that allows me to use my PS3 in conjunction with Windows Media Center. Unlike WMP11, it allows me to access files that are on my various external drives and thumb drives.

Make your PS3 actually work as a media player - Boing Boing Gadgets

When I type services.msc in my search, I get the message that " the archive is either in unknown format or damaged" and then winrar opens up.

Thanks again for your responses, DustSailor. Like I said, between using WMP11 and the program I posted, I can get about 95% of my files to play through my PS3 onto my HDTV. I guess I will just have to do some additional research to see if I am doing things correctly while maintaining my security.