Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows® XP Media Center®

This 10-foot user interface—essentially a shell running on top of the Microsoft XP

Professional operating system—gets rid of all the extraneous folders and files and

provides you with a clean, well-lighted place to kick back and enjoy the lighter side

of computing, namely, digital entertainment.

But although this PC may seem like it just wants to have fun, its serious side (the

“2-foot experience”) is only a click away. In this chapter we’ll get familiar with your

Media PC’s multiple personalities, and how to control them using keyboard, mouse,

and remote control.

Getting to Know the Media Center Remote Control

The remote control that shipped with your Media PC may have some cosmetic

differences from the one shown in Figure 4.1, but it should be functionally identical.

Even if your Media PC came with more than one remote control (at least one manu-

facturer’s model—ABS Systems’ Media Center PC 8400—actually ships with three

remote controls: one for the speaker system, one for the 30-inch LCD display, and

the Media Center remote control), you’ll have no problem recognizing the Media

Center control by its prominent green button. Think of this button as “home base”

because it always brings you back to the Media Center home interface, allowing you

to gain immediate access to the core Media Center applications: My TV, My Music,

My Pictures, My Videos, Play DVD, and Settings.

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

FIGURE 4.1

The remote

control shown

here is the

classic hyper-

bolic-shaped

model that

comes with most

Windows XP

Media Center

Edition–based

PCs.

Before we dig into all the buttons on your remote control, it’s important to have a

general understanding of what your Media Center remote control can and can’t do.

What the Media Center Remote Control Can Do

The Media Center remote control can do all the following:

■ Navigate and control all primary Media Center features

■ Control the video or live TV display, allowing you to change channels, adjust

volume, pause, fast-forward and rewind, and so on

■ Control DVD playback, allowing you to pause, fast-forward, and rewind, as

well as navigate DVD menus to change settings for audio or captions, select

scenes, and so on

■ Enter numbers and characters to perform media searches, and so on

■ Place the computer in standby mode, and revive it

What the Media Center Remote Control Cannot Do

The Media Center remote control cannot do any

of the following:

■ Allow you to navigate the Windows XP

desktop or control other applications

outside of Media Center

■ Allow you to control an external DVD

player, VCR, stereo, or the like

■ Turn the Media PC on, or shut it down

■ Control a TV that is connected to your

Media PC (such as turn it on or off, or

adjust its speaker volume)

The Media Center remote control contains four

major functional areas, organized from top to

bottom of the control: the power and transport

section, the navigation section, the audio/video

control section, and the data entry section.

CHAPTER 4 NAVIGATING XP MEDIA CENTER’S “10-FOOT” INTERFACE

53

tip

Although you may not be

able to actually turn off your

Media Center PC with the

remote control, it does offer

a “power” button that will

put the machine into a

suspended state. The

machine is designed to operate in

this fashion, rarely needing to be

completely powered down.

By the same token, the remote

control won’t let you fully navi-

gate and control Windows XP

applications, but it may allow you

to do some limited text entry and

related functions.

Power and Transport

At the very top right of the remote control (closest to the end that you point at

the Media Center PC), you’ll find the power button. As noted previously, this button

triggers a stand-by mode. To actually shut down the machine, you’ll need to use

the mouse.

Directly below the power button you’ll find the transport buttons, used to control

video and audio media, whether it’s stored on the hard drive or a CD or DVD disc

(see Figure 4.2). Specific buttons include Rec, Stop, Rew, Play, Fwd, Replay, Pause,

and Skip.

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

FIGURE 4.2

The power and

transport con-

trols are where

you’ll go to play

DVDs and to

enjoy the won-

ders of time-

shifted television,

which allows you

to pause and

rewind live TV

programming.

Table 4.1 details usage of the Media Center remote control’s power and transport

features.

TABLE 4.1 Remote Control Power and Transport Features

To Press

Play the selected media Play

(video, song, album, playlist, and so on)

Skip to the next track or scene Skip Forward

Skip to the previous track or scene Skip Back

Fast forward the selected media

Rewind the selected media

Stop the track completely Stop

(press Play to start playing again from the beginning)

Pause the audio or video (press Pause again to resume) Pause

Record the current live program or set record Rec

for a program guide item

Place the PC in standby mode (press again to revive the PC) Pwr