Play music from your iPhone on speakers of any PC in your house

I have a HTPC running Windows 7 hooked up to my entertainment system in the living room. Recently someone asked me how I play music from my iPod, iPad or iPhone to the speakers of my entertainment system without an Airport Express. Here’s how I do it:

[requirements]

• iTunes for Windows must be installed
• Bonjour service must be running

[step 1] Download Shairport4w Zip file here. The zip file you’ll download contains a single executable (EXE) file which doesn’t have to be installed.

[step 2] Extract Shairport4w.zip to any directory you’d like.

[step 3] Double Click Shairport4w.exe to run the application. Upon first launch you’ll be prompted to allow Shairport4s to communicate to private networks through the firewall. You’ll want to Allow Access.

[step 5] Once launched, you’ll a small speaker notification area. Double click the speaker to open the Shairport4w settings. Click the Change button to change the Airport name from Shairport4w to something more specific about the location of your computer and its speakers. This PC is my office PC so I named this instance of Shairport4w Office.

Minimize the Shairport4w settings window when done. Do not Close (this will exit the tool alltogether).

[step 6] Now simply play a song, podcast or audiobook on your iPhone or iPad. To change where you hear the sound, swipe up on your device and change the AirPlay source to match the Airport name you created in [step 5].

[Troubleshooting] If you get an error (like the one below) when you launch Shairport4w, then most likely iTunes isn’t installed or Bonjour isn’t running.