What programs should I consider installing in addition to MediaShout 6?

If you plan on doing any video, K-lite is a highly recommended add-on.  You can find a link to the version we recommend here:

Codecs for Windows 7/8/10 with MediaShout 6

In addition to all of that, if you are going to install Microsoft Office, we recommend and support only Office 2010 and 2016 (msi version).

What about my song library, Bibles, and Media files?

With the new Migration Tool in MediaShout 6, copying your MediaShout 5 files over is very easy (you will need MediaShout 5 installed on this computer to use the Migration Tool).

a. Open the Settings Tab in the Ribbon, Click General Settings and choose Migration Tool in the bottom right.  If your MediaShout 5 lyric files are in the original default location, then this tool can make it very easy to get things over.  If your lyrics are NOT in the default location (or on another computer), you will want to move them there before using this tool (the default location for lyrics is C:\ProgramData\MediaComplete\MediaShout 5\Song Library\Songs5.mdb - note ProgramData is a hidden folder and is NOT Program Files).

b. Your Announcement Database, Bibles, Audio Playlists, Templates, Presets, and Cue Setup settings are all located in their default locations below:

Announcement Database - C:\ProgramData\MediaComplete\MediaShout 5\Announcement Library\Announcements5.mdb
Bibles - C:\ProgramData\MediaComplete\MediaShout 5\Bible Library\
Audio Playlists - Saved to the Registry (not able to be transferred from a different computer)
Templates - C:\ProgramData\MediaComplete\MediaShout 5\Cue Templates\
Presets - C:\ProgramData\MediaComplete\MediaShout 5\Cue Templates\
Cue Setup - Saved to the Registry (not able to be transferred from a different computer)

c. Just check the boxes you want to migrate and click the Migrate button at the bottom.  It will process those things and complete the migration.

d. Finally, your media files can stay where they are on your system.  MediaShout 6 just references their location on your computer, so we recommend not moving media files around or deleting them after you have used them in your script or presentation to avoid any missing media issues.  You can insert media into your script in various ways.  Check out our Training Videos for more information.

So do I have to install V5.x on my computer before I install the upgrade to MediaShout 6?

MediaShout 6 is a completely separate program of V5.x.  The upgrade only requires your V5.x license code and nothing else to complete the installation and license.  It is not required to install V5.x on your new machine.  However, we designed the programs to be separate so that you could have both V5.x and MediaShout 6 on the same machine (they just can't run at the same time).  The advantage to this is that it allows you to train your team during the week on MediaShout 6 yet still run V5.x until they are comfortable with the switch.  You could do this on the new machine, but if you do, install V5.x before you install MediaShout 6 to avoid any sharing conflicts.  Otherwise, take the time to transition so that your team doesn't feel overwhelmed learning a new Windows OS and a new presentation program.

What about my V5.x license?

When you first install and activate a MediaShout 6 upgrade, it will ask for your Version 5.x license code (which starts with a 2032). It will only do this the first time. When you insert that, it will automatically pull over most of your V5.x registration (which you can update or change) as well as any additional activations you have purchased along the way. It will also make your V5.x license INACTIVE, which means you can no longer do any NEW activations of V5.x now that you have MediaShout 6 active.  However, as stated above, any existing installations of V5.x will continue to work as they always have. If you would prefer to have activation control over both V5.x and MediaShout 6, we encourage you to purchase the full version of MediaShout 6 instead. If you choose this route, please make sure you contact our team and let us know both your old V5.x code and your new MediaShout 6 full code and we will manually register and provide you with any additional activations you may have already purchased to go into your MediaShout 6 account.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email us at support {at} mediashout {dot} com and we will be happy to help.