Controlling Media Center with Your Mouse
Maybe it’s just a mouse to you, but to your Windows XP Media Center Edition
machine, it’s actually a “human interface device.” Of course, one of the first things
you’ll want to do with your human interface device is start interfacing with your
Media Center’s audio and video content.
Launching Media Center
Unlike with your remote control, there is no single dedicated mouse button designed
to launch Media Center (XP will create one after you use Media Center, however, as
shown in Figure 5.2). So if you’re ready to boot up Media Center for the first time
using your mouse instead of your remote control, here’s how:
1. Click on Start.
2. Click on the green Media Center logo.
If you don’t find Media Center already listed in your Start menu, use this procedure:
1. Click Start.
2. Click All Programs.
3. Select Accessories.
4. Click on the Media Center folder.
5. Click Media Center.
68
ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER
FIGURE 5.2
Launching
Media Center
from the Startup
menu gets easier,
because Windows
XP automati-
cally puts short-
cuts to recently
used applica-
tions right in the
start menu.
The Menu Bar
At the top of your Media Center interface screen,
you’ll now see the menu bar and its six control
options (some of these are shown in the close-up
in Figure 5.3). From left to right, you’ll find the
following:
The green Media Center Start button. It takes
you back to the main Media Center interface
from wherever you may have wandered
within Media Center.
The green Back arrow button. It returns you
to the screen you were viewing immediately
before the one you are viewing now.
The blue Help button. This opens a Media
Center Help window to find answers to
common questions.
Minimize. A Windows standby, it will reduce
your Media Center session to an icon on the
taskbar. Although this gets Media Center out of your way in a hurry, your
Media Center session remains active. Thus, if you are playing a show or a
tune, you’ll continue to hear it on your speakers after you minimize Media
Center.
Restore. This switches Media Center into “Windowed mode,” meaning that it
shrinks Media Center down from full-screen view to a smaller window, allow-
ing you to access your other desktop applications while continuing to enjoy
your Media Center content in a compact size. It also automatically places a
resize handle in the lower-right corner of the Media Center screen (see the
close-up in Figure 5.4). You can drag that handle to make the Media Center
screen as large or as small as you like. When you want to return Media
Center to its full-screen appearance, just click on the Restore button again.
Close. This shuts down Media Center completely—but don’t worry, it will con-
tinue recording any scheduled shows in the background. (You need not be
present to win!) For more information on recording TV, turn to the Chapter 7
section called “Using the Program Guide.”
CHAPTER 5 NAVIGATING XP MEDIA CENTER’S “2-FOOT” INTERFACE
69
Notice that when you
resize the Media Center
window, it retains its original
dimensions. You can make it big-
ger or smaller, but you can’t
stretch it into a different shape. In
techie terms, we say that it main-
tains a “constant aspect ratio.”
The Transport Control Bar
The other toolbar that appears when you move your mouse within the Media Center
interface is the Transport Controls toolbar (see Figure 5.5) that stretches along the
bottom of the Media Center window.
70
ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER
FIGURE 5.3
The Media
Center menu bar
gives you six
shortcuts,
including the
green Media
Center button
shown in this
detail of the
upper-left corner
of the Media
Center screen.
FIGURE 5.4
This detail of the
lower-right cor-
ner of the Media
Center screen
running in
Windowed mode
shows the series
of 10 small dots
that denote a
resize handle.
FIGURE 5.5
The Transport
Controls toolbar
(shown here in
detail) will dis-
appear after a
few seconds of
inactivity, or if
you use your
remote control
or keyboard.

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