Today's free file lets you stream media files from your PC without going through the hassle of installing complicated software. Media Server, an all-in-one media streaming application, supports MP3s, AVIs, QuickTime (version 2 or earlier), and Windows Media. Install Media Server on any Windows 2000 or XP box.

Stream your media
Once installed, Media Server automatically begins running.

1. Select which media files you wish to stream out by clicking the Media Server Configuration button.
   
2. Create a Virtual Folder, give it a name, and select which directory and folder holds the media files you want to share.
   
3. If you want to use an HTTP address, allowing people to view your media by typing a Web address, you must have IIS installed on the server running Media Server. If it's not installed, add it.
   
   1. Click Add/Remove in the Control Panel.
   2. Select Add Components.

Let people watch
Now that your media's out in the world, you and your friends are going to need a way to watch and listen to it. You need to install the media viewer (included in the Media Server download) on the client machine. Run the client and specify the address method you want to use, an IP address or an HTTP address. Now you can type the address and media path to access the media.

For example, say you created a Virtual Folder called Roger's Videos. It holds two files, rogervideo.avi and video.avi. If you want to watch rogervideo.avi, type Roger's Video/rogervideo.avi as your path and hit Enter.

Media Server doesn't support the latest versions of QuickTime or MPEG-2, but it does support DivX. Simply install the DivX decoder on your client machine before you view.

Download Unreal Media Server now