Set up Windows Media Center - Here's how
Once you have set up Windows Media Center, your Windows Vista or Windows 7 computer becomes a multimedia machine. Watching TV, radio, music, and photos is no longer a problem. We'll show you how it's done.
Get started: Set up the Windows Media Center
If you start Windows Media Center for the first time, you will be offered a setup. Here you can choose between the options "Express Setup", "Custom Setup" and "Run Setup Later".
- Express Setup: Select "Express Setup" for quick setup. You do not have to do anything else, the message will no longer be displayed.
- User-defined setup: However, if you want to set up your music, picture or video library directly, you should select the "User-defined setup". Here you can load your multimedia content into the program.
- Run setup later: With this option you skip the setup and the screen will appear again the next time you start. Simply select the express setup to bypass the display.
Set up TV signal in Windows Media Center
If you have a DBT stick, a USB adapter with antenna or an integrated TV card, you can use the main function of the media center - television.
- If you have not already done so, connect the TV tuner to the computer. It takes a while to install the device when it is first connected.
- Open the Windows Media Center and scroll down to the menu item "Tasks" and select the "Settings".
- Click here on "TV" and then on "Set up TV signal". Confirm the following query with "Yes".
- Now follow the further instructions of the program. These can vary depending on the hardware used. In the following, the configuration was carried out with a DBT antenna.
- First select a region. "Germany" is usually already preset here. Click on Continue".
- Enter your postcode to receive regional stations such as "RTL Nord" and then agree to the terms of use.
- The Windows Media Center now downloads the TV setup data and examines the TV signals. This may take about a minute.
- If your TV tuner was recognized correctly, select the item "Yes, configure TV signal with these results" and click "Next".
- If you select a channel list, the Winows Media Center then searches for all available TV channels. This takes about five minutes. Then click on "Finish" to return to the main menu.
- There you can now select the "Live TV" option under "TV" to watch the current TV program.
If the setup of the TV signal does not work, you can find further help in this Microsoft article.
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