basically i use sm player and vlc to play most of my files which vary from avi's to mkv's.
However i recently purchased a windows media centre remote and have found it doesn't serve much use in those programs.
I technically mostly use mkv files and whilst these can be played in windows media player, i find that wmp doesn't seem to play files in 5.1 sound and i dont know how to change the audio from stereo to 5.1. Can anyone help on this.

Furthermore, if anyone can recommend any programs that i can use the windows media centre remote to just do basic things such as pause, play etc.

Many Thanks