Overview

This guide will help you get started with MediaPortal, prepare your Windows operating system, and install MediaPortal 2 based on your system or network configuration.

To start your MediaPortal 2 Experience you first need to install MediaPortal 2.

Read more on Installing MediaPortal 2... 

If you have already prepared your system and installed MediaPortal 2 then you can proceed to the Setup Guides.

 If you are a German-speaking user,  Lehmden's Tutorial "Der Einstieg in MediaPortal 2 (nicht nur) für Umsteiger von MP1"  is highly recommended.

Considering moving from Mediaportal 1?

If you want to do some initial testing, to determine if the time is right to make the move, without the possibility of conflicts affecting your existing system, it is relatively easy to achieve. The following is a statement from Lehmden, one of MP2's test group:

If you only want to test MP2 with Movies/Series/Music/Images then you can install the MP2 Server on the client machine (w/o TV tuners) easily. MP2 server does not rely on any TV tuners being available. This will not interfere with the existing MP1 installation in any way. You only need to be sure, your Media can be accessed by the MP2 server system (network shares). Then you can test MP2 with all features except for TV.

The only scenario where MP1 and MP2 will interfere, with each other, is if you install the MP2 server on the same physical machine as the MP 1 TV Server. As MP2 server always includes the TV Engine Plugin the installation will fail, if the tuners are used and blocked by another program (like MP1 TV Server). For this you need to stop the MP1 TV server before you install MP2. As soon as the MP2 installation is done you can remove the TV engine plugin (on MP2 everything is a plugin) and then start the MP1 TV server again.

If you later want to test the TV features of MP2 you can disable the MP1 TV server and copy the TV engine plugin back into place. With this done the TV support in MP2 server is back again. You even can export the MP1 TV settings and re-import them into MP2 TV, so you do not even need to do a channel scan or any other configuration.