During the past few days, I have built myself a new gaming rig (details to be posted soon) and found out that I needed to connect my PlayStation 3 to the new PC to using the Media Server feature. The obvious advantage of this setup is that I can simply use WMP12 to stream audio and video files on my PC to the PS3 without much configuration.

If you’re try connecting your PS3 to your Windows 7 machine for the very first time you’ll probably end up with the following error:

Access to the Media server is not allowed. It is possible that the system name for this PS3™ system [your PS3’s default name] has not been registered.

Check the settings for the media server

The message is a bit vague but it does tell you what you need to do, and that is to allow your PS3 access to your Libraries.

To solve this problem:

1. Ensure that this option under services.msc (just open the Start Menu and type services) is enabled and running
   
2. Go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Change Advance Sharing Settings.
   
3. On this pane, ensure that the following options are turned on:
   – Network Discovery
   – File & Printer Sharing
   Hit save.
   
4. You should see the window for the Media Steaming options open. If not, click Change Advance Sharing Settings again and click the link shown here.
   
5. On the show devices on option, select All Networks. You’ll see an unknown device as seen below. This is your PS3 trying access your PC’s Libraries. If you have multiple devices/gadgets, to ensure that this is indeed your PS3, click the Unknown device and compare the MAC address with that of your console.
   
6. Since your PS3 is still blocked, select the Allowed option (as shown below)
   
7. Hit save and try access your PC from your PS3. It should work properly this time around 🙂

If you encounter further problems, don’t hesitate to post a comment.