How to Set Up a DLNA Media Server in Windows

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

Setting Up a DLNA Media Server in Windows

A Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) media server allows you to share media content across your home network, making it easy to access music, videos, and photos on different devices. Setting up a DLNA media server on Windows is a great way to stream content to DLNA-compatible devices, such as smart TVs, game consoles, and mobile devices. Here’s how to set up a DLNA media server in Windows.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Open Control Panel:
   • Go to the Start menu and type “Control Panel” in the search bar, then open it.
2. Navigate to Network and Sharing Center:
   • Click on ‘Network and Sharing Center,’ then select ‘Media Streaming Options’ under the ‘Change Advanced Sharing Settings’ section.
3. Turn On Media Streaming:
   • In the Media Streaming Options window, click on ‘Turn on media streaming.’ If prompted, allow the necessary permissions.
4. Configure Your Media Library:
   • Select the libraries (Music, Pictures, Videos) you want to share and customize the streaming settings for each device.
5. Add Media Files:
   • Open Windows Media Player, right-click on the library, and select ‘Manage libraries’ to add media files to your libraries.
6. Access Media from Other Devices:
   • On your DLNA-compatible devices, navigate to the media server option and select your PC to access shared media files.

Setting up a DLNA media server on Windows allows you to stream media content across various devices seamlessly. Follow these steps to enable media streaming and enjoy access to your digital library from anywhere in your home.

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1. Introduction

DLNA, the Digital Living Network Alliance, is a set of standards to allow sharing video, audio, and pictures easily from a computer or network device to a simpler display device, like a Smart TV or Roku. It provides an easy way to show the movies you have on other screens throughout your connected home.

Tools You'll Need:

• Access to your Windows 10 computer to setup the DLNA server
• Access to your Smart TV or Roku with DLNA support

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Supplies You'll Need:

• Zip ties
• Any other consumable supplies
• Comment out supplies section if no supplies are necessary

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Before You Begin:

• You must have access to your Windows 10 computer to setup the DLNA server.

What is DLNA?

DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance. Usually, it's used to refer to a suite of services that can run on a computer and allow access to a media library by other devices on your home network.

This means it's a quick, easy method to share your whole media library from your computer to the rest of your devices on your home network.

DLNA Server

In this case, you'll be creating a DLNA server on your Windows 10 computer, then connecting your media devices — smart TVs, streaming media players, tablets, and smartphones — to it.

Recommendations

There are a few things to keep in mind when using your computer as a DLNA server.

These are not strict requirements, but rather suggestions to help you have the easiest setup, and best possible experience while sharing your media library.

Computer Sleep Options

• How to Disable Sleep Mode in Windows

Server

Your computer is acting as a server. Your computer must remain turned on while you are watching something on your other device.

Power

If your computer is a laptop, it is recommend to keep it plugged into power. Also, it's best to make sure your computer is not set to 'go to sleep' after a set amount of time

Ethernet Connection

It is highly recommended that your computer is connected to a wired Ethernet connection. This provides a more stable, faster connection, as well as lets you use the WiFi bandwidth for the device receiving the video, instead.

2. Enable Media Streaming

Setup DLNA Media ServerFirst, we need to turn on the media streaming server.

1. Open the Start Menu and select Settings.
   

1. Select Network & Internet.
   

1. Select Ethernet (if your computer has a wired connection), or Wi-Fi (if your computer uses a wireless connection) on the left.
   

1. Select Network and Sharing Center on the right.
   

1. Select Media streaming options on the left.
   

1. Select Turn on media streaming.
   

1. Name your media library, then select OK.
   

Share Files

Next, we need to make sure we're sharing the files you want to share.

In most cases, this will already be setup, but it's best to check to be sure.

1. Open File Explorer, then select This PC on the left, and Videos on the right.
   

1. Make sure you see your movies listed here, and that they have sensible names. Move any other movies you want to be able to play into this folder. This is the folder your other devices will see when they browse for videos to play.