Windows Vista Media Center is integrated in Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate. It is NOT integrated in Vista Home Basic, Vista Business and Vista Enterprise.
Using Vista Media Center you can work very easy with all kinds of media files, like images, music and videos. If your computer is attached to your television, you can play these media files also on your television. Vista Media Center is even nicer if a remote control came with your video card. Using this you can control it using that remote control instead of your mouse and keyboard.
If your computer has also installed a tv-tuner card, you can even watch live television and record your favorite tv programs on your computer using Media Center.
Start Windows Vista Media Center
To start the Media Center you click 'Start' -> 'All Programs' -> 'Windows Media Center'. If you start it for the first time there will appear a wizzard with all kinds of questions which help you to install all the necessary parts so the program will be well configured for your usage and computer.
You don't need to be online to use Windows Media Center.
Control Media Center
You can control Media Center with your mouse, keyboard and remote control (if one came with your video card). You can navigate through Media Center by clicking the white arrows with your mouse or by scrolling your mouse.
On your keyboard you press the arrow buttons to navigate through Media Center. The Backspace key and the Escape key have their own functionalities.
Using the remote control you navigate throug Media Center by pressing the arrow buttons around the 'Ok' button. The 'Ok' buttons is meant to select an item.
Watch movies
Using the option 'TV + Movies' on the homepage you can watch or record live tv, movies, tv series and other tv programs.
Watch and record TV
If in your computer is a tv-tuner card installed, or a card where you attach a video recorder, you can watch tv and record your favorite programs using Windows Vista Media Center.
If there is no tv-tuner card installed and you are thinking of buying one and install it, you should ask if that card is designed for Media Center or not. If not you cannot use it in Media Center.
If you watch tv in Media Center or record something in Media Center you click on 'TV + Movies' on the homepage. In the submenu there are the options what you can do. For example watch live tv, record, tv guide and search.
If you want to record something using Media Center you should know that the recorded tv program, serie or movie uses much disk space. The higher you set the quality, the more disk space is needed.
You can use the following guideline for setting the recording quality:
* Best: 3 GB per hour.
* Better: 2.5 GB per hour.
* Good: 2 GB per hour.
* Fair: 1 GB per hour.
Watch your recorded tv programs
If you have recorde your favorite tv program and you want to watch it the next day or so, you click in Windows Vista Media Center:
* TV + Movies.
* Recorded tv.
You browse for the recorded tv program and click on it or you press the 'Ok' button on your remote control.
On the left there appear some control buttons. Using these buttons you can play the selected tv program, delete the tv program or set for how long it should be stored on your hard drive.
Click 'Record Series' to record also the other episodes of the program.
Watch recorded programs in Windows Media Player and burn it to DVD
Every tv program you record using Windows Vista Media Center is being saved with the extension .dvr-ms, which stands for 'Digital Video Recording - Microsoft. The recorded programs are being stored default in the folder 'Tv recordings' in the 'Public' folder.
Navigate to this 'Tv recordings' folder and right click on a recorded file in this folder. In the menu which appears you can play it for example in Windows Media Player instead of Windows Vista Media Center.
You can also import it in Windows Movie Maker to cut out the commercial breaks for example and save the file with the .wmv extension. Using this extension and cutting out the commercial breaks the filesize is smaller and you can burn it very easy on DVD.
Dave is the webmaster of http://www.windows-vista-tips-and-tricks.com which is made to help people with Windows Vista.
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