Philips FREEVENTS User Manual

work + play

travail + loisirs

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

User Guide

PHILIPS and the PHILIPS Shield Emblem are registered trademarks of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and used by Dixons under license from Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Freevents is used as a trademark of DSG Retail Ltd.

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Table of contents

Welcome 5 Philips-Freevents™ Help and Support Center 6 Chapter 1 - Your new Media Center PC

Essential Hardware explained 7 Your remote control 8 Ports explained 9 Using the TV-out function 11 Turning on surround sound support 12 Your Media Center’s hardware 13

Chapter 2 - Starting your Media Center for the first time Turning on your Media Center 17 What you need to get started 18 Media Center Setup Wizard 19 Turning off your Media Center 25

Chapter 3 - Getting around Media Center Starting Media Center 27 My TV View live TV 29 TV Guide 30 Recording TV 34 Managing hard drive storage 39 My Pictures How Media Center handles images 41 Organising your digital photos 42 Viewing your pictures 43 Save your pictures to CD / DVD 44 Editing & printing your pictures 45

My Music Windows Media Player 10 47 Creating your music jukebox 48 Adding files to your jukebox 49 Creating your music library 50 Play your music 52 Playlists 53 Visualizations 54 Record music to a CD 55 My Videos Organise your video files 58 Add video files to your library 59 Playing your video files 60 Supported video files 61 Saving your videos to CD/DVD 62 Play DVD Playing a DVD disc 63 Stopping a DVD disc 64 FM Radio Tuning into a station 66 More Programs Messenger 68 Sync to Device 69 Media Center Settings 70 Remote Desktop 71 Parental Controls 76 Online Spotlight 77

Chapter 4 - Home networking What you need to create a home network 78 Connecting your hardware 79 Network Setup Wizard 81 Wireless Network Setup Wizard 83 Connecting to a wireless network 86

Chapter 5 - Keeping your Media Center healthy Task Manager 87 Disk Cleanup 88 Disk Defragmenter 88 System Restore 89

Chapter 6 - How do I… Run a program? 90 Create a shortcut? 90 Remove unwanted software? 91 Find my files? 91 Retrieve a deleted file? 92 Empty the Recycle Bin? 92 Change the date and time? 92 Add new users? 93 Add a password? 94 Create a password reset disk? 94 Use a password reset disk? 94 Change my screen saver? 95 Change my Windows sounds? 95

Chapter 7 - Upgrading your Media Center ESD safety notices 96 Removing the cover 97 Installing new memory 98 Graphics card replacement 99 Adding a new hard drive 100 Inserting a PCI expansion card 101 Replacing a CD /DVD drive 102

Welcome…

Thank you for purchasing your new Philips-Freevents™ Media Center PC. You are about to enter an exciting new world of digital entertainment. Imagine being able to watch and record TV, listen to music, view your family photos, watch the latest DVD movies, listen to the radio and access the Internet from the comfort of your arm chair. Your Philips-Freevents™ Media Center lets you do just that!

To compliment your new computer we have designed a range of wireless home entertainment and networking products to experience digital entertainment in a truly connected home without the need for messy cables and wiring.

Using this guide

This user guide has been designed to explain all the important features of your Media Center PC. Learn about your Media Center and the various ports you can connect new devices to. You can also learn about Windows XP Media Center and how to use many of its exciting new features.

Where to go for help

If you can’t find the answers you are looking for you can get help from a number of sources 24 hours a day.

Help and Support Center

Click Start > Help and Support to access detailed help and tutorials on your Philips-Freevents™ Media Center and Windows XP.

Internet

Visit our support website www.pcservicecall.co.uk to access the very latest help and support information and services. Telephone

If you need to speak to us our support centre is open 24 hours, 365 days a year. Please have your receipt details and serial number to hand when you call. 0870 901 3000.

Philips-Freevents™ Help and Support Center

If you get stuck you can access the Help and Support Center at any time by clicking Start > Help and Support. Your Help and Support Center contains information on Windows XP as well as specialised content, information, hin ts and tip s for P hilips- Freev ents™ customers.

If you have an Internet connection we will also keep you up-to-d ate b y downloading new content and information to your Help and Support Center.

Fig. 1

Chapter 1—Your new Media Center PC Essential hardware explained

DVD eject DVD drive

IEEE 1394 port

Remote Blaster Out

Headphone jack

USB 2.0 port

Phono inputs (audio)

LCD display

Memory card reader

Composite video input

Power button

Your remote control...

Transport controls

These controls should be familiar to anyone who has used a video recorder, DVD player or CD player. The controls will perform the listed function in whatever mode you are in, e.g., DVD mode, or CD mode.

Direct Access, Audio and Video buttons

These controls allow you to change the channel, volume and directly access common functions within Media Center.

CH/PG allows you to move up and down channels. VOL allows you to increase or decrease the volume. Mute turns sound on or off. DVD Menu opens the DVD disc’s menu. My Videos takes you to your video section. My Music takes you to your music section. My TV opens the live TV functions. My Pictures opens your digital pictures.

Navigation controls

Arrows move you around the screen. OK confirms menu options similar to a mouse click. Back moves to the previous screen. More Info shows details of the currently selected media. Guide opens the TV Guide. Live TV opens full screen television.

Numeric keypad

Allows you to enter numbers and text on screen.

Ports explained...

Your Philips-Freevents™ Media Center has a number of sockets called ‘ports’ that allow you to connect a wide variety of devices. The following pages will explain the function of each port. Some ports may not be present on certain models.

PS/ 2 ports Connect your keyboard (purple) and mouse (green) to these ports.

Serial port A 9-pin serial port is used to connect older devices such as external modems and mice.

Parallel (Printer) port Use this port to connect older printers that are unable to connect using a USB port.

USB 2.0 ports Connect modern devices such as cameras, printers and scanners to these ports. You can also connect advanced keyboards and mice to these ports.

1394 FireWire ports FireWire ports are used to connect digital video cameras, hard drives and image editing equipment. They are found in 2 sizes.

LAN (Network) port Use this port to connect to a network of computers at home or work.

Modem Connect your phone line to this port to access the Internet.

VGA Connect your computer screen to this port.

DVI port You can connect LCD screens with a digital connection to this port.

S-video TV-out You can connect your computer to your TV using this port. It is ideal for watching DVD movies and video files.

Audio ports Your computer has a number of audio ports, some of which may have more than one function. The type of ports on your computer may vary depending on which model you have. You can configure the aud io ports using the supplied software. See page 12 for more details.

Configuration 1 For models with 3 audio ports only.

• Line-in (Blue) - use this port to input sound for recording.

• Line-out (Green) - use this port to connect stereo speakers or he adphones.

• Mic (Pink) - use this port to con nect an external microphone.

Fig. 2

Configuration 2 For models with 6 audio ports. You can connect stereo, or 5.1 / 7.1 surround sound

speakers.

• Rear (Grey) - connect the rear speakers from your surround sound system.

• Side Speakers (Black) - connect side speakers where supplied.

• C/Sub (Orange) - connect your centre speaker or sub to this port.

• Front (Green) - connect stereo or front speakers to this port.

• Mic (Pink) - use this port to connect a microphone.

• Line-in (Blue) - use this port to connect external audio devices for recording.

Fig. 3

Using the TV-out function

The ATI graphics card supplied with your computer allows you to output to most modern TV sets. This allows you watch DVDs and video files on a larger screen. In order to use this feature you will need to purchase cable packs from your local computer store.

1. Turn off your computer and TV set.

2. Connect the small adaptor cable supplied with your computer to the SVideo socket on the graphics card. You should now connect the cable you purchased to the adaptor cable. Connect the other end to your TV.

3. Next, connect the audio cable (if supplied in the pack you purchased) to the Line-out socket on your PC. Connect the other end to the red and white Phono sockets on your TV set.

4. Turn on your TV and change to the appropriate AV channel. Now turn on your PC.

5. Right-click the Windows Desktop and select Properties.

6. Now click the Settings tab and then the Advanced button.

7. You will see a screen similar to Fig. 4. If your TV is supported you will be able to click the TV button.

8. The image will now appear on your TV screen.

Fig. 4

Turning on surround sound support

You Philips-Freevents™ computer allows you to use 5.1 surround sound speakers. This allows you to experience DVD movies and games to their full sound potential.

To configure your computer, please carry out the following steps:

1. Click Start > Control Panel.

2. Now click the “Switch to Classic View” option in the top left.

3. Look for an icon named Sound Manager or something similar and double-click it.

4. A control panel will now be displayed and will look like Fig. 5 or Fig. 6 depending on which sound chip is supplied with your computer.

5. From here you can choose which speaker setup you want to use, for example, Headphones, 2 Speakers, 4 Speakers, 5.1 Surround.

6. Make your selection. The diagram will explain where to connect your speakers.

Most computer stores sell 5.1 Surround Sound speaker kits for computers. If you enjoy games and DVD movies on your computer these are an essential purchase.

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Your Media Center’s hardware

Keyboard

Along with the mouse your keyboard is one the main tools for interacting with your computer. The keyboard allows you to enter commands and text when you use software to create documents, play games, chat with friends on the Internet and much more.

Prt Scr

Esc

| \

Ctrl

> <

Alt

F6 F7 F8

(

F9 F10

F11

)

; ,

‚ o

Alt Gr

Invio

[

]

Ctrl

Scroll

F12

Pause

Sys Rq

Lock

Break

Bloc Num

Pag

Ins

789

Pag

FineCanc

456

123 Fine

Ins

Pag

Invio

Pag

Canc

The Mouse

Use the mouse to control the arrow or cursor on your computer’s screen. The mouse has 3 main controls that you can use, these are explained below.

Mouse controls

Left button - this is the button you will use the most. Use a single-click to select an item, or to insert the cursor at a required point in a text document. You need to double-click an icon or file to open it.

Right-click - use this button to access ‘context menus’. These menus contain common functions for the area you click on. For example, when you right-click the Desktop you can access Display Properties, or create a shortcut.

Scroll wheel - the scroll wheel changes function depe nd ing on which program you are using. For example, in Internet Explorer you can use the scroll wheel to move up and down a web page.

CD / DVD drives

Your Philips-Freevents™ computer is supplied with the latest in CD and DVD drive technology. Depending on the model you purchased you have access to the following drives:

• CD ROM / CD R/RW - these drives allow you to use data and audio CDs with your computer. You can also record files and movies using

recordable or re-recordable CD discs.

• DVD - ROM / DVD R/RW - these drives have all t he func tions of a CD ROM / CD R/RW drive in addition to reading DVD discs. You can also

record files and movies to recordable and re-recordable DVD discs on compatible drives.

Recordable media

Recordable CD and DVD discs come in a variety of formats. You should check that your drive can support the discs you intend to use before you buy them.

CD media You can buy CD discs in the following formats:

• CDR - you can record data only once to these discs.

• CDRW - you can record and delete files up to 1000 times on these

discs.

DVD media You can buy DVD discs in the following formats:

• DVD + R / DVD + RW - these discs use the +R format and come in

record once or re-recordable discs.

• DVD - R / DVD RW - these discs use the -R format and come in

record once or re-recordable discs.

• DVD RAM - prem ium standard ideally suited for data backup and TV

recording.

Memory card readers

Memory card readers are a relatively new addition to the home computer. They are an ideal replacement for the humble floppy disk drive because the cards are small, light and have a large storage capacity.

There are a number of different memory card formats but they all work in a similar way. The use of memory cards has become popular in a number of consumer devices including:

• Digital cameras

• PDAs

• Mobile phones

• Handheld games devices

Your Philips-Freevents™ computer is supplied with a built-in card reader that supports the following cards:

• SD card (Secure Digital)

• MMC (Multimedia card)

• Compact Flash I

• Compact Flash II

• Smart Medi a

• Microdrive

• Memory Stick

• MagicGate Memory Stick

SD/MMC

CF/MD

Chapter 2 - Starting your Media Center for the first time

Turning on your Media Center

Once you have set up your computer and connected it to your TV you are now ready to turn it on. To do this press the power button on the front of the monitor and the cabinet (Fig. 7).

The computer will now load Microsoft® Windows® XP Med ia Center Edition. Before you can start to use Windows® XP you will need to complete the first time set up known as the ‘Out of box experience’.

During this process you will be asked to agree to the End User Licence Agreement, create user accounts, and set up an Internet connection. When you have completed the set up you are ready to set up Media Center to work with your TV signal and Internet connection.

We strongly advise that you set up an Internet connection before you begin the Media Center setup wizard. To gain the best possible experience a broadband Internet connection is recommended.

Fig. 7

What you need to get started…

You can speed up the installation of your new Media Center by carrying out t he foll ow ing:

1. Connecting your Sky Digital box

To use Sky Digital with your Media Center you will need to know the UHF channel number your Sky Box uses. To do this carry out the following:

• Press the Services button, type 401, then press the Select button.

• You will see the Installer Menu. Go to the RF Outlets Menu. You will see the RF Channel number, make a note of this.

2. Setup your Internet connection

The Media Center setup wizard needs to use your Internet connection at various p oints, for example, downloading TV settings and the TV Guide. You should set up your Internet account before your begin. If you do not have an Intern et account already we have included 2 Internet packages to get you up and running.

AOL 9 AOL 9 allows you to connect to the Internet using a modem and telep hone l in e. For a monthly subscription you will receive email, special content and

Internet access without having to pay for the phone calls to the Internet. Wanadoo Broadband If you want to use Media Center to its fullest you will need a broadband Internet connection. Wanadoo Broadband software has been included with

your Media Center PC to get you started. In order to use broadband you will need a broadband modem and your telephone line will need to be tested for availability. Wanadoo, or your chosen Internet Provider will carry out these checks for you.

3. Media Center Setup Wizard

When you are ready press the Start button on your remote control to start the Media Center Setup Wizard.

Media Center Setup Wizard

1. You will see the Welcome screen which

explains a little about the Wizard. Click Next to continue.

2. There are 2 sections to complete during

the Setup Wizard:

• Required Setup

• Optional Setup

Click Next to continue.

3. Next, you will see the Media Center Privacy

Policy. You must agree to this in order to use the TV Guide and album art / artist information functions of Media Center.

Select Yes and then click Next to continue.

4. Next you are asked if you have an

“Always on” Internet connection. If you have broadband select Yes then click Next.

5. Media Center will now test your Internet

connection. Click the Test button. If a connection is successfully detected you will be able to click Next to continue.

Optional setup

7. Now that you have completed the required

components of Media Center you can proceed to the Optional Components. These include:

• Setup your TV

• Optimise your display

• Configure your speakers

Start by selecting the TV option and click Next.

6. You have now completed the required

setup components of Media Center. Click Next to continue.

8. The first step is to confirm your region, for

example, United Kingdom. If this is correctly identified click Yes. Now click Next to continue.

9. Media Center can configure your TV signal

automatically. Click Configure my TV signal automatically (recommended) and then click Next.

10. You will see a message explaining what

to do next. Read this and click Next to continue.

11. The Wizard will now scan for a TV

signal. You will see a green progress bar on the screen.

12. A signal should be detected. Click Yes

then Next to continue. If a signal is not detected choose the Manual setup option and click Next.

13. Next you will be asked to select what

type of TV signal you are using. In the screen below we chose Antenna for normal terrestrial TV. Click Next to continue.

14. Media Center now needs to setup the

correct TV Guide. First you must agree to the Privacy Statement by selecting Yes, then Next.

15. Agree to the Guide Terms of Service

and click Next.

16. Enter your postcode so that Media

Center can download the correct Guide and TV settings. Then click Next to continue.

17. Local TV settings are now downloaded

from the Internet. This may take a few minutes. You will see a green progress bar. Click Next when this is done.

18. A list of providers is displayed for your

area. Choose the appropriate entry then click Next to continue.

19. Now the TV Guide is downloaded from

the Internet. This can take up to 5 minutes if you use dial-up Internet.

20. When the Guide has been successfully

downloaded you will see a message on the screen. Click Next to continue.

21. Next choose to Optimise your display

and click Next. You will see the Display Configuration screen. Watch the short video then click Next.

22. First, choose your display type from the

list and click Next.

23. Now choose the type of connection you

are using. Make your selection from the list and click Next to continue. (Composite / S-Video for TV. DVI / VGA for computer screen)

24. Now choose Adjust Display Controls

to configure contrast, brightness, colour, aspect ratio and position. Click Next to continue and make any adjustments.

25. Now choose the Speaker Setup option

and click Next. Choose what type of speakers you are using and click Next.

26. Click the Test button to check that

sound comes from each speaker. Choose “I heard sound…” and click Next.

Congratulations! You have now successfully configured your new Philips-Freevents™ Media Center. The rest of this manual will help you to explore the wide range of features that are available to you.

27. Now select ‘I am finished’ from the

menu and click Next.

28. Click Finish to complete the Wizard.

Turning off your Media Center

When you have finished with your computer you need to turn it off correctly. This will help keep your computer running smoothly. To turn off your computer click Start then Turn off. Alternatively you can press the power button on your remote control and choose from the options. You will see a series of options on the screen (Fig. 8).

Note: if you are using Media Center to record TV your should not turn of your computer.

• Shut down – this option will close Windows XP and turn off power to your

computer.

• Standby – your computer enters a power saving sleep mode. You can return

to work by moving the mouse, pressing a key on your keyboard, or pressing the power button on the cabinet.

• Hibernate – if you choose this option Windows will take a snap shot of your

current work and save it to memory, then it will turn off. When you next turn on your computer you will be returned to this saved condition.

• Restart – click this option to close Windows and restart your computer. This

is handy if you need to reset your computer when a crash occurs, or your computer is running slowly.

Tip

To access the Hibernate option you need to hold the mouse pointer over the Stand By button. Press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard and the option will change to Hibernate.

Fig. 8

Chapter 3 - Getting around Media Center

Imagine the power to control all of your home entertainment from a single remote control and without the need to buy a separate video recorder, DVD player and hi-fi system. With your new Philips-Freevents™ Media Center PC you can do more than just imagine.

Your Philips-Freevents™ Media Center PC features the brand new Windows XP Media Center Edition which allows you to view home mov ie s , watch TV, listen to radio, view your digital photos with a single remote control. Just see what you can do.

• Watch and record your favourite television channels withou t the

need for a video recorder

• Pause and rewind live TV so that you have full control of your

viewing

• Organise your TV schedule with a powerful, free TV Guide

• Manage your digital photos and store them in a central location

• Spruce up your holiday photos with music and slide shows

Welcome to the future of digital entertainment in your home with the Philips-Freevents™ Media Center PC.

* Surround sound speakers are optional and can be purchased separately.

• Edit your home movies with Movie Maker 2 then watch them with

your family and friends

• Enjoy the latest DVD movies with cinema quality surround sound*

• Listen, pause and rewind live radio broadcasts

• Enjoy your digital music and audio CDs with track information, alb um

art and playlists

• View specialised web sites through your TV and enjoy games, news,

shopping and more

Starting Media Center

To start using Media Center you need to do one of the following:

• Press the green Start button

Or,

• Click Start > Media Center with your mouse from the Windows

Desktop.

Media Center will now load to the Start screen (Fig. 9). Use the remote control or your mouse to move around the menus. Press the OK button on your remote, or use the left mouse button to access menus and options on the screen.

The Start screen is the launch pad from which you can access the different areas of Media Centre. You can return to the Start screen at any time by pressing the Start button on your remote. The standard options include:

on your remote control

Fig. 9

• My TV - access TV functions and recordings

• My Music - access music functions

• My Pictures - access your digital photos

• My Videos - access your home movies and other video files

* Radio function may not be available on all models.

• Play DVD - watch DVD movies

• Radio - listen to your favourite radio stations*

• Online Spotlight - access websites created especially for Media Center

users

• Settings - change settings for Media Center to suit your requirements.

+ 77 hidden pages