Gateway Media Center manual

Media Center User Guide[...]

2 Notices © 2005 Gatew ay , Inc. All rights reserved. Gate wa y , the Gatewa y styliz ed logo , and the blac k-and- white spot design are trademarks or registered trademarks of Gatewa y , Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other br ands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies .[...]

3 Planning your Media Center setup 4 Getting ready to set up Media Center resources 6 Setting up Media Center hardware 8 Setting up optional computer connections 11 T ur ning on and setting up software 14 Lear ning about the remote control 17 Using Media Center 18 Media Center F A Qs 22 Getting more inf ormation 25 Note: Y our computer ma y v ary f[...]

4 Planning y our Media C enter c omputer setup Video source —Make sure that you have access to a video source before setting up your Media Center computer. Your computer can receive video input through coaxial and S-Video cables. The video source is usually an antenna, a direct cable TV connection, a cable box, or a satellite receiver. Cable boxe[...]

5 Remov e the computer components from the pac kaging and la y them out f or easy access during the setup process. Identify Media Center computer components Remote Control —Lets you remotely control the Media Center Guide, TV, videos, DVDs, music, pictures, recorded TV programs, volume levels, and more. The remote control included with your Media[...]

6 Monitor Guide The monitor or displa y de vice guide provides inf or mation about using and adjusting your displa y de vice settings. Getting ready to set up Media C enter r esour c es Now that y ou’v e located an Internet connection and a video source and hav e identified the computer components, use the step-b y-step instructions in this guide[...]

7 Windows XP Media Center Edition Guide The Microsoft Windo ws XP Media Center Edition guide provides inf ormation about configur ing the Media Center software , tips about using the Media Center , and troubleshooting inf or mation. W eb site Y ou can get the latest F A Qs, inf or mation, and tips and tricks about making the most of your Media Cent[...]

8 Connect the remote sensor Setting up Media C en ter har dw are 1 Connect the remote sensor to any USB por t on your computer . If your remote sensor does not hav e the USB cable already attached to it, attach the USB cable to the USB port on the back of the sensor . 2 P osition the remote sensor so the remote control has a direct, unobstructed vi[...]

9 If the video devices connected to y our computer are not grounded correctly , your computer could be damaged. For more inf ormation about correct grounding, see your Gate wa y computer user guide. Connect the video and audio sour ce The quality of the video coming into the Media Center computer determines the quality of the video output to the Me[...]

10 Connect the IR contr ol cab le If your Media Center configur ation uses a set-top bo x f or the video source to the Media Center computer , connect the infrared (IR) control cab le to the remote sensor and attach the IR control to the set-top bo x IR sensor window . The IR control cable sends input from the remote sensor to your set-top bo x to [...]

11 Setting up optional computer c onnec tions Y ou can use a TV as a display de vice. Howe v er , some older TVs provide a lower quality displa y than computer monitors or flat-panel TVs that are optimized f or the Media Center . The Media Center computer provides displa y outputs from a VGA (monitor) port or an S-Video por t. Select the highest qu[...]

12 2 Connect the other end of the cable to the V GA por t or S-Video jack on the bac k of y our TV . 3 T ur n the TV on and select the TV In video source. F or more inf ormation about selecting the TV In video source, see y our TV’ s documentation. 1 Connect a VGA cab le (not included) or S-Video cable (not included) to the V GA por t or S-Video [...]

13 Y our Media Center computer includes audio jacks that suppor t a 7.1 Surround Sound audio system. The sound system setup varies, depending on y our sound system’ s audio inputs. Use y our computer and sound system’ s setup posters and other documentation to connect your computer to the sound system. Connecting the computer to an e xisting ho[...]

14 T urning on y our sy stem and setting up sof twar e After the computer components are connected, you’ re ready to tur n on the pow er and complete the Media Center set up . 1 Press the power b utton on the front of the monitor or TV , then press the pow er button on the front of the Media Center computer . Mak e sure that your sound system (op[...]

15 e 4 After you complete the initial Windows setup , press the Star t button on the remote to start the Media Center setup wizard. 5 F ollow the setup screens to configure the Media Center software f or your specific requirements. The Media Center setup wizard requires Internet access to complete the Media Center software confi guration. Before s[...]

16 4 Click the Speakers tab , click the arro w button to open the Speaker setup list, then click the speaker setup that most closely matches y our sound system type. 5 Click OK to save your speaker setup. After you ha v e connected y our sound system and set up Media Center , select speaker setup options on your computer . 2 Click Start , Control P[...]

17 The Media Center remote control lets you tak e full control of your Media Center e xper ience. Y ou can quickly star t the Media Center by pressing the Star t b utton. (The remote control included with your Media Center ma y look diff erent.) L earning about the r emote c ontr ol P ower contr ol button puts the Media Center computer in Standby m[...]

18 2 Use the remote control navigation b uttons to select a Media Center menu option, then press OK . Use the Media Center remote control to watch TV , videos, and D VDs, to listen to music, and to vie w pictures. Use the Media Center Guide to vie w TV program schedules , search f or progr ams by genre , set up program recordings , and more. 1 Pres[...]

19 When you use the Media Center setup wizard, the Media Center Program Guide is set up to do wnload program inf or mation from your cab le or satellite ser vice provider . Howe v er , on occasion, you ma y need to update the Program Guide man ually to refresh the program listings. 1 Bef ore star ting the Media Center , mak e sure that you are conn[...]

20 After you ha v e recorded a progr am, you ma y want to sav e the program to a D VD f or viewing on another computer that has a D VD pla yer . Y ou can use Nero Express to cop y the recorded program to a D VD . 1 Inser t a blank, writable D VD-R disc into your recordable D VD dr iv e. Y ou cannot use a D VD-RAM disc with Nero Express. Burning rec[...]

21 If you sa v e a recorded progr am to a D VD using Media Center , you can pla y the D VD on your home D VD play er or on another computer that has a D VD drive . 1 Inser t a blank, writable D VD-R or D VD-RW disc into your recordab le D VD dr ive . Burning recor ded video to a D VD with Media Center TV programs that ha ve been recorded with the M[...]

22 F ollowing are Media Center F requently Asked Questions (F AQs). T o view other Media Center F AQs that are not cov ered in this section, go to the Gate wa y suppor t W eb Site at suppor t.gatewa y .com/windowsxp/mediacenter/f aqs/ . Q : Wh y does the Media Center video display look bad on my TV? A : Many f actors, such as the displa y type , qu[...]

23 • Screen resolution —By def ault, if your displa y device was purchased with the Media Center computer , the computer uses a screen resolution of 1024 × 768 f or computer monitors and 800 × 600 f or the Gatew a y 42-inch Plasma TV . Many TVs cannot display this high of a resolution and ma y shift, scramb le, or scroll the picture. F or a b[...]

24 Q : Wh y do I get this “Do wnload Error” message when the Media Center tries to update the Program Guide? A : Y ou must be connected to the Internet to update the Program Guide . Make sure that y our Internet account is set up and connected to the Media Center computer . F or inf ormation about manually updating the Program Guide, see “Man[...]

25 The Media Center is easy to use when you f ollow the on-screen menus. Howe v er , if you need additional help or inf ormation about using the Media Center features, help is a v ailab le at your fingertips. 2 Click the Help icon to view or search f or inf ormation in the Media Center online help. 1 In the Media Center window , mov e the mouse to [...]

26 Using Help and Suppor t Y our Media Center computer also includes Help and Suppor t, an easily accessible collection of help inf ormation, troubleshooters, and automated suppor t. Use Help and Suppor t to answ er questions about Windows and to help y ou quic kly discov er and use the many f eatures of your Gatew a y Media Center computer . T o s[...]

27 Contacting Gate wa y F or Gatew a y contact inf ormation, see your computer’ s User Guide or the system label. Note: Y our computer may v ar y from the illustration. 9004394 Online support: T ech Support Phone: (U.S.) (Canada) T ech Support Hours: 9 0 0 4 3 9 4 O n l i n e s u p p o r t : T e c h S u p p o r t P h o n e : ( U . S . ) ( C a n a[...]

MAN MEDIA CENTER S ETUP GDE R2 8 /05[...]