We got this question from a Windows Vista beta customer, and I wanted to pass this information on because it also applies to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and Update Rollup 2.

Question:

When I attempt to configure a wireless network within the Media Center UI, there is a text box that allows me to enter the WEP authentication key.  The characters in the textbox appear as stars, which makes it difficult to detect and fix typing errors.

Since it is much more likely that I will enter the characters with errors using a Media Center remote control, is there some way I can force the WEP authentication key to appear as plain text instead of stars so I can check for errors?

Answer:

Yes, there is a registry setting that will cause the WEP authentication key to appear as plain text in the Media Center UI.  You can use TweakMCE to set it for you automatically.  Alternatively, you can set it directly in the registry using the following commands:

1. Close Media Center
2. Click on the Start menu, choose Run and type cmd
3. Type the following in the cmd window and press enter: reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center" /v DontHideWirelessKey /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
4. Restart Media Center