Will the software work with Windows ME?
I just got this remote this morning, and I am wondering if I should use the software prior to doing ANYTHING on the remote itself, or if I should just try programming all my remotes and macros into the MX1000 without using my PC.
Will I be able to program all my basic functions and a couple of macros (On/off for SAT and DVD viewing etc.) without ever downloading the software?
Or will I be better off trying to use the software first to configure my pages and THEN learning my commands to my remote?
I have never programmed anything in my life, will I be lost if I try using this software?
Is it intuitive? Or will I need some sort of engineering degree?
Thanks in advance for the advice.

This is a loaded question. From my experience, these are probably the key items:
1. If you think you might want to use the software, read Daniel's "PC Software" review first - that is the only user's guide that exists. See if it sounds too hard.
2. You can do pretty much everything on the remote except design custom buttons and position buttons very accurately, unless you have a really good eye.
3. If you should have to send your unit back, it's nice to have your design on the PC so you can download it to the replaced device.
4. Some people have found when the batteries run out, that the memory is erased. In that case the software is a life-saver. (According to the manual, this should not happen)
5. Some people (but not all) have trouble uploading from the remote to the pc, so you can't necessarily assume that you can save your design from the remote to the PC as a backup. You could try uploading from the remote the way it is now to your PC and see if it produces screens that look like your remote. (Be sure you push the UPLOAD button on the remote when asked)
6. It takes a lot longer to design on the remote, but actually once you get into it it's not bad. I added 14 Christmas CD macro keys in about 30 minutes.
7. The macros HAVE to be done on the remote itself.

Hope this helps.

It does...and thank you very much!
I will screw around with the software first, and then see what happens.
I am assuming once I figure out my configurations and download into the remote, THEN I program the remote key by key into my newly created OS. Right?
Anyway, I will look for Daniel's software thread and proceed from there.
I appreciate the quick response.
By the way...do you know if the software even works with Windoes ME?

Can't find Daniel's software thread anywhere?
Am I missing it?

1. For the software review go to [Link: remotecentral.com]
2. Sorry, I don't even know what windows ME is. Other people have used it with Windows 2000 and Windows 98.
3. Your sequence sounds ok but I would add a couple of safety checks:
a. Copy the default model (default.mdl) to another name and play with that as your starting design. (When you run the pc software it will bring up this model)
b. Try to move buttons around on the screen as little as possible. Changing the button styles and deleting buttons is ok. Adding text is ok. But if you drop buttons on top of each other or possibly even move them ACROSS each other, they may "clone" each other (when you teach one button a command the other will learn it also and vice versa) even after you separate them.
c. Download the model you created.
d. Use the preprogrammed codes if you wish for each device, but these are really only useful for the hard keys.
e. Teach all the non-preprogrammed keys.
f. Test your keys and be sure one key did not "clone" another key. These will usually be side by side or one on top of the other. If you were careful when creating the screens, this won't happen. If it does happen, delete one of the buttons on the remote itself, then insert it and add text and relearn it.
g. Do the macros.
h. Upload the "learned program" to your pc. This seems to work ok and is a good backup to have.
i. If you made any changes to the screens, upload that (operating program) as well. Give it a different name in case the upload fails or corrupts the file.
j. If you have trouble downloading see the Thread from Mike Gilford re. communication settings on your pc. (I think it's called Upload/Download problems or something like that)

One WARNING! A few people (I don't think recently) had the download fail and it erased the memory of the remote. Eventually they got the download working but in the meantime had an empty remote. Hopefully that is a slight risk and has been fixed since then. You might try uploading first just to be sure the basic communication between your pc and remote is ok. There is no harm in this. Upload the operating program to a unique file name and try loading it with the software to see how it looks. If you get communications failures after several attempts, that is not a good sign. In that case, you might want to consider the risks of downloading.

I just received the remote the other day. Have had no problems with the software running on Windows ME. Uploads and downloads have worked fine. The only problem I see with the remote is that the display is very hard to read. You have to have the backlight on all the time and it is still hard to read. It would also be nice if we hade a source for some nicer looking buttons.

If you guys are new to the forum, you may not know that there is a button utility that converts from BMP to the BTN format which you can add (register) as a custom button in the software. To get the converter, go to [Link: geocities.com]
and download "convert.zip". Unzip it and follow the simple instructions.

For example, I scanned a Tivo symbol from the manual, and screen captured some network logos from the Dish website and the black buttons from Daniel's software review. Then used Paintshop Pro to resize them to the right size and converted using Jeff's utility. The BTN files are ASCII files you can modify with a text editor if you wish. Each character represents a bit on the screen with a gray scale value from 0 to 3.

There is a limit of 32 buttons (Dont try to do more!!) and some are system buttons you cannot delete, but you can have a few custom buttons of your own.

Sorry, website is [Link: geocities.com]

Thanks John...
But being that I am computer illiterate, (despite this posting) I returned my 1000 and picked up the MUCH easier SL-9000.
Not much in the way of flexibility compared to the touchscreen remotes, but it runs my HT just fine.
Enjoy the Holiday's!