HP 856x, 876x, 886c, 896c, m200y User Manual

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HP 856x, 876x, 886c, 896c, m200y User Manual

hp media center pc

updated hp media center pc information

The information in this document is subject to change without notice.

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Hewlett-Packard Company

Home Products Division

P.O. Box 4010

Cupertino, CA 95015-4010

USA

Hewlett-Packard is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company in the United States of America and other countries/regions.

Other brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.

Contents

Updated HP Media Center PC
Information ..........................................	1
Setting PC Location for Television Program Guide .....	2
Changing the Program Lineup in Media Center ........	3
Setting Parental Controls ........................................	3
Setting Closed Captioning .....................................	4
Installing Speakers ................................................	4
Connecting Altec Lansing Speakers .....................	4
About Installing 5.1 Speakers.............................	5
Installing Multi-channel Audio Speakers ...............	5
Understanding the 6-In-1 Memory Card Reader........	8
Recording Data to CDs and DVDs...........................	9
Recording with RecordNow................................	9
Recording with MyDVD .....................................	9
Recording with the CD Writing Wizard .............	10
Installing DLA Software ....................................	11

Playing Video CD Slideshows...............................	13
Playing Recorded TV Programs.............................	13
Safeguarding Your Recorded TV Programs.........	13
Copying Recorded TV Programs to DVD................	21
Standby Mode and Scheduled Recordings.............	22
Switching Display Devices ...................................	23
Updated Information about Software Programs ......	23
Capturing Analog Home Video ............................	24
Using Application Recovery and
System Recovery.................................................	29
Creating Recovery CDs/DVDs..........................	32
Using HP PC Recovery CD-DVD Creator ............	34
Using HP Recovery Tools CD ............................	35
System Restore ...............................................	36
Application Recovery ......................................	37
System Recovery.............................................	38
System Recovery Using Recovery Discs..............	40

Updated HP Media Center PC Information

iii

iv	Updated HP Media Center PC Information

Updated HP Media Center PC Information

This document contains updated information about your Media Center PC. Please review this information and keep it with your hardware and software guides. The information describes:

■Setting PC location for television program guide

■Changing the program lineup in Media Center

■Setting parental controls

■Setting closed captioning

■Installing speakers

■Understanding the 6-In-1 memory card reader

■Recording data to CDs and DVDs

■Playing video CD slideshows

■Playing recorded TV programs

■Copying recorded TV programs to DVD

■Standby mode and scheduled recordings

■Switching display devices

■Updated information about software programs

■Capturing analog home video

■Using Application Recovery and System Recovery

Updated HP Media Center PC Information

Setting PC Location for Television Program Guide

During the initial setup of the PC, you specify your PC country/region location. Media Center uses this information to select the country/region for the television program guide.

Important: Make sure the PC has a connection to the Internet and that you have completed the Media Center Setup Wizard before you try to download your television program guide.

The Media Center program lists United States as the PC location by default. If you did not select your correct location and if this location does not match the ZIP Code or postal code location you entered in the Media Center program guide setting, an error message may appear. You may also see No data available in the television program guide, or you may not be able to get the correct television program guide.

2	Updated HP Media Center PC Information

To resolve this problem, set the location for your PC in the Control Panel first and then in the Media Center Settings window.

To set the PC location

1Click Start on the taskbar, and then click

Control Panel.

2Click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options.

3Click Regional and Language Options.

4Click the Regional Options tab.

5In the Location box near the bottom of the tab, select your country/region (for example, Canada) from the drop-down list.

6Click Apply, and then click OK.

Changing the Program

Lineup in Media Center

Important: Make sure you are connected to the Internet before you try to download the Electronic Program Guide or before you change the settings of the Guide in Media Center.

1Click Start, and then click Media Center.

2In the Media Center Start menu, click

Settings.

3Click TV/DVD.

4Click Guide setup.

5Click Change lineup, and follow the onscreen instructions. When you enter your postal code, do not leave any spaces. For example, for Canadian postal code R2M 3Z4 you would enter R2M3Z4.

If you see an Invalid message, there is no guide for your area.

Setting Parental Controls

If you set Media Center to block unrated channels, an error could occur. It is recommended that you make sure this option is not selected.

To do this:

1Click Start and then click Media Center.

2Click Settings, TV/DVD, and then click

Parental control.

3Enter your PIN number.

4Select TV Ratings.

5Make sure that Block unrated TV programs is not selected.

6If desired, you can select the Maximum allowed TV rating setting, select a rating, and then click OK. Selecting this setting does not cause an error.

Updated HP Media Center PC Information

Setting Closed Captioning

If you set Media Center to display closed captions while in window mode (not full-screen mode), the window or the closed-caption text may flash as the text scrolls in the window. To fix this problem, change the display to full-screen mode or turn off the closed-captioning option.

To turn off the closed-captioning option:

1Click Start and then click Media Center.

2Click Settings and then click Audio.

3Click plus sign (+) to disable Caption display.

Installing Speakers

Connecting Altec Lansing Speakers

If your PC model came with the Altec Lansing Speakers System Model 251, use the following procedure to connect the speakers to a Sound

Blaster Audigy Audio Card on the back of the PC. Also, refer to the setup information that came with your PC and your speaker system.

Note: If your PC uses an integrated 5.1 audio solution (no audio card), refer to the section titled “Installing multi-channel audio speakers” and disregard this notice.

Your speaker system has a yellow plug that does not match the color of the corresponding connector on the back of the PC.

1Plug this yellow tip of the subwoofer cable into the orange audio card connector on the back of your PC.

2Plug the other two tips of the audio cable into their matching color-coded connectors on the back of the PC.

3Follow the speaker system documentation to connect the other speakers to the subwoofer.

4	Updated HP Media Center PC Information

About Installing 5.1 Speakers

Your PC may have a sound card with connectors on the back of the PC for analog and digital audio outputs (Line out -1, Line out -2, and

Line out -3), a microphone, and an audio input (Line in). The example illustration below shows a sound card that includes a game port connector on the left. If your PC has a sound card with these connectors, perform the procedures in the next section.

Some PCs have the multi-channel audio capability that uses the microphone, Audio (Line) In, and Audio (Line) Out connectors on the back of the PC. If your PC has these connectors, you can connect and install a multi-channel audio speaker system. To do this, follow the procedures in the next section.

Installing Multi-channel

Audio Speakers

If your PC has multi-channel speakers capability (select models only), you can connect speakers for 4-channel or 6-channel output. You must connect your speaker system to the PC, and then configure the audio software for sound output. Your PC may include the Multi-channel Sound Manager or the Creative SoundBlaster Audigy sound manager. Refer to the correct procedure to configure your multi-channel speakers.

Note: Multi-channel audio uses the Microphone, Audio (Line) In, and Audio (Line) Out connectors

on the back of the PC to connect the multi-channel speakers system to the PC.

Updated HP Media Center PC Information

To connect your multi-channel speaker system to the PC

1Turn off the PC.

2Connect the three audio cable plugs from the speaker system to the connectors on the back of the PC (see the table).

Connect speaker
channels (plugs)	To PC back connector

Front speakers	Audio (Line) Out
	(lime-green)
Rear speakers	Audio (Line) In (blue)

Center/subwoofer	Mic-1 (pink)
speakers

3Turn on the PC.

4Turn on your speaker system.

5Configure the multi-channel audio output; refer to the next procedure.

6	Updated HP Media Center PC Information

To configure multi-channel audio output for PCs with Multi-channel Sound Manager

1Click Start on the taskbar.

2Choose All Programs.

3Choose Multi-channel Sound Manager, and then click Multi-channel Sound Manager again. The Multi-channel Audio Configuration window opens.

Note: If you do not see the Speaker Configuration tab, your PC may not have the multi-channel option.

4Click the Speaker Configuration tab. (Your speakers may need to be plugged in to see this tab.)

5Select the option describing the number of speakers in your system, for example,

6/5.1 speaker mode. You can click the Speaker Test tab and then click each speaker to test it.

6Click OK.

To configure multi-channel audio output for PCs with Creative SoundBlaster Audigy

1Click Start on the taskbar.

2Choose All Programs.

3Choose Creative, Sound Blaster Audigy, and then click Creative AudioHQ.

4Double-click the Speaker icon.

5Click the drop-down menu and then select 5.1 speakers. You can click the Test button to test it. If you don’t hear sound during the test, check each speaker connection and then check the volume controls.

To configure multi-channel audio output for Media Center

Note: You need to perform this procedure if you have Creative SoundBlaster Audigy sound manager or the Multi-channel Sound Manager.

1Click Start on the taskbar and then select

Media Center.

2Click Settings, TV/DVD, and then click DVD.

3Click Audio.

4Select 6 speaker mode (5.1 channel).

5Click Apply, and then click OK.

Updated HP Media Center PC Information

Understanding the

6-In-1 Memory Card Reader

The 6-In-1 memory card reader can read from and write to six types of memory cards and to the IBM Microdrive™ disk drive.

Special note about the

Safely Remove Hardware utility

Warning: Do not click Stop in the Safely Remove Hardware window while the USB Mass Storage Device is selected. Doing so removes the operating system recognition of the 6-In-1 memory card reader from your PC. You must restart the PC to use your reader again.

If you inadvertently open the Safely Remove

Hardware window, click Close.

8	Updated HP Media Center PC Information

Understanding the in-use light

The 6-In-1 memory card reader in-use light turns on when you insert media into a slot. The light blinks when the memory card reader reads from or writes to the media.

Warning: Do not insert or remove media when the in-use light is blinking. Doing so may cause data loss.

Recording Data to CDs and DVDs

You can record data to blank or appendable CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R or DVD+RW discs in different ways: Open a recording program, use the CD Writing Wizard, or use the DLA (Drive Letter Access) program drag-and-drop method.

Important: The DLA program is not preinstalled on your PC, but you can get it from the HP Web site; see “Installing DLA Software” in this document.

Recording with RecordNow

Use RecordNow to record data and music files to CDs and DVDs.

You can put data files on a DVD to store them or transfer them to another PC. However, data files on a DVD do not play in a DVD player.

Note: To copy a recorded TV show to DVD to view on a home DVD player, see “Copying Recorded TV Programs to DVD.”

To open RecordNow, click Start on the taskbar, choose All Programs, RecordNow, and then click RecordNow. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Recording with MyDVD

Use Sonic MyDVD to record video files to CDs and DVDs. MyDVD writes files to DVD that can play in a DVD player.

To open MyDVD, click Start on the taskbar, choose All Programs, Sonic, MyDVD, and then click Start MyDVD. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Updated HP Media Center PC Information

Recording with the

CD Writing Wizard

Use the Microsoft CD Writing Wizard to record data or music files to CDs only. The CD Writing Wizard cannot write data to DVDs.

To copy data to a blank or appendable CD by using the CD Writing Wizard:

1Copy your files to a writeable CD drive in My Computer by doing one of the following:

■Dragging a file from a Windows Explorer window to the writeable CD drive icon.

■Selecting Save As from within certain programs, and then saving the file to the drive.

■Right-clicking a file, selecting Send To, and then selecting the drive.

10 Updated HP Media Center PC Information

2When you are ready to record your files to a CD, click Start on the taskbar, and then click

My Computer.

3Double-click your writeable CD drive icon. The files you have copied to the drive should appear in the drive window.

Important: The files displayed in the drive window are not recorded to the CD yet. You must complete the following steps to finish the recording process.

4Insert a blank or an appendable CD.

5Click Write these files to CD in the CD Writing Tasks section of the drive window. The CD Writing Wizard opens.

6Type the name of the CD, and then click Next.

7Click Next. The files are being recorded to your CD.

8When your files have finished recording, a message appears telling you the files have been successfully recorded. Click Finish.

Installing DLA Software

The DLA software is not preinstalled on your PC.

Important: Installing the DLA program disables the CD Writing Wizard program.

DLA allows you to use your DVD Writer/

CD Writer drive as you would a diskette drive, by copying files to disc or by using a drag-and- drop method.

To get and install the DLA program:

1Go to the Web site: http://www.hp.com/cposupport

2Type your model number into the Search box (for example, Media Center 863n).

3Click drivers and downloads for your model. Click applications, if it is present.

4Choose DLA, and then follow the onscreen instructions to download and install the program.

Recording with DLA

Important: Format a blank CD or DVD before copying files directly to a CD or DVD. If you don’t, a message appears telling you to format the disc or telling you that your drive is not accessible.

1Press the Eject button on the drive and insert the blank disc.

2Click Start, and then click My Computer.

3Right-click the drive icon and select Format.

4Under Volume Label, type in the title of the disc.

5Under Format type, select Full or Quick (erase). You must select the quick format for all CD-R or DVD+R discs. You must select the full format for a CD-RW or a DVD+RW disc the first time you format it.

Note: Full format can take up to 45 minutes. Quick format usually takes less than a minute.

Updated HP Media Center PC Information 11

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