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Recently I became a new father and being the nerd that I am, I decided that I want to introduce my son to a lot of the shows and movies that I enjoyed as kid, though it might be a bit too earlier for a 1 month old to start getting hyped up on Digimon, but I digress. I decided to roll out a home server and thought that setting up a media server as well would be a fun little project, that would also let me introduce my son to the glory days of Cartoon Network and YTV.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to turn a Windows 10/11 PC into a basic home media server using Windows Media Player’s DLNA features.

Required Items

• A Windows 10/11 PC
• Media files (Videos, Music, Pictures, Etc)
• Smart device/s (Smart TV, Tablet, Etc)
• Wireless network or wired (If applicable)
  

Step 1: Organize Your Media Library

Before setting up the media server, organize your media files within your computers file explorer (Or NAS device if you decided to store your media directly on storage)

• Videos → C:\Users\Dustin\MediaServer\Videos
• Music → C:\Users\Dustin\MediaServer\Music
• Pictures → C:\Users\Dustin\MediaServer\Pictures

Or, if you use custom folders, you can add them to the libraries:

1. Right-click the library (e.g., “Videos”) in File Explorer
2. Select Properties
3. Click Add… and choose your custom media folder

Step 2: Enable Media Streaming (DLNA)

1. Press Windows + s or use the search function on your taskbar and type “Media streaming options”
2. Click Media streaming options under Control Panel
3. Click Turn on media streaming
4. Give your media library a name (e.g., “Home Server”)
5. Choose which devices on your network can access your media

Optional: Adjust what you share under the Customize… button for each device.

Step 3: Use Windows Media Player to Manage Media

Even though it’s not as flashy or fancy as other apps such as Plex, Windows Media Player manages your libraries and handles DLNA sharing. Remember, this is a home media server, not Netflix.

To check if it’s set up:

1. Open Windows Media Player
2. Click Stream on the top menu
3. Make sure “Automatically allow devices to play my media” is enabled

Step 4: Access Your Media from Other Devices

On your DLNA-compatible device (smart TV, PS5, Xbox, Android phone with a DLNA app):

• Download the device specific media player
• Look for a media server option
• Find your PC’s media server name (e.g., “Home Server”)
• Browse and stream your shared videos, music, or photos

For my client device, I’m using a Roku smart TV so I installed the Roku Media Player on my smart TV. If you’re unsure of what app to use on your device you should be able to find it easily by doing a quick google search

Optional Tips

• Performance: For smoother streaming, connect your PC via Ethernet rather than Wi-Fi.
• Power settings: Make sure your PC doesn’t go to sleep while you’re streaming.
  • Go to Settings > System > Power & Sleep and adjust sleep settings.
• Add subtitles: DLNA support for subtitles varies — try embedding them directly into video files (e.g., using MKV).