How to Install Boxee on a Windows PC

Boxee is a freeware software program that allows you to combine all of your media (movies, music, etc.) in one place to be used in a home theater pc (HTPC) type environment. Before you begin to install Boxee on your computer, you will need to go to http://boxee.tv and click on the download graphic at the top of the page. If you have not have a Boxee user account, you will need to create one before you can download it. Once you have created your Boxee account you can grab the Windows version of Boxee. At the time this article was written the latest Windows version of Boxee is: boxee-0.9.21.11487.exe. Keep you Boxee user name and password handy as you will need it later on after Boxee has installed.

Once you have downloaded the Boxee installer to your computer, you will need to double click on the file to start the installation process. Below if the first screen you will see:

Click next and you will then see the "Boxee User Agreement."

Take a moment and read the "User Agreement" and if you are okay with it click on the "I Agree" button.  The next screen you will see is:

Unless you have a reason for not accepting the default destination folder, use the settings provided by Boxee. Click "Next" and you will then see:

Again, you can just keep the defaults and click "Next" to continue.  You will then see:

Once you see the above screen, the program is now installing. Once the installation is complete you will see:

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Boxee on your computer. Check the "Run Boxee" and click "Finish." This will start up the Boxee program. However, you will need to do a few more things to get Boxee up and running on your PC. The next screen you will see looks like this:

You will now need to fill in the "Username" and "Password" boxes with the information that you used to create your Boxee account. If you are going to be the only person using Boxee on this computer, I would recommend checking the "Remember Password" option. Once you are finished entering your information click on "Login." Since this is your first time installing the program you will see the following screen:

Go ahead and click on "OK".  You will then see the screen calibration page for Boxee.

The only item you will need to change is the aspect ratio. For my HDTV, we use 16:9 (1.78). In most cases, Boxee will be able to detect your screen resolution. You might need to refer to your television manual for the correct setting. Click "Next" and you should see:

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Boxee on your computer.

My husband installed Boxee on our new HTPC about four months ago and I love it. Prior to using Boxee we were running an open source home theater program known as XBMC. While I liked using XBMC I love Boxee. There are some great plugins you can install on your Boxee like Netflix and Hulu. There are many other plugins you can get (some of which are free, some you need to pay for) but overall Boxee is a great program for anyone looking to run an HTPC in their home.  I think I should mention that I have three home theater type setups in my home - one running Boxee, one running XBMC, and one running Windows Media Center.  While all three are great, Boxee is by far my favorite to use.