4. Test Configuration, Continued

MusicMatch is extremely simple to configure for use with the Noxon - just check "activate music server" and "universal plug and play" (UPnP). However, there are almost no configuration options, and you might also find the app a bit invasive (since it gives itself the job of managing your music files) and pushy (prompting you to buy the commercial update).

Only two checkboxes and you've activated the server function for the Noxon!

With its Windows Media Connect, Microsoft offers a more specialized solution with somewhat better configuration possibilities. Installing WMC requires that you install .NET Framework 1.1; you have to download it along with WMC and install it first if your machine doesn't already have it. One advantage of WMC is that it's independent of the software that plays and manages your music files. All it does is share the folders you want to make available to the Noxon.

WMC lets you choose folders to be shared - with default values, as usual.

By choosing to share only specific folders, you'll steer clear of problems!

Nero Media Home, the last solution we tried, is frankly the one we preferred because of the possibilities for configuration it offers. Nero Media Home is not technically free, but it is a module of Nero 6. And since Nero is already on a lot of PCs, it's available to their owners.