How-to: Photos and Memories in Windows Media Center

You can watch pictures in a slide show and play videos using Windows Media Center. Use different search criteria to find digital media files such as movies, videos, music, pictures, or recorded TV shows. These files are stored in libraries on your Windows Media Center computer.

When you need help searching for a picture file, try changing the way Windows Media Center groups your pictures.

1. On the start screen, scroll to Pictures + Videos, and then click Picture Library.

2. Navigate to one of the sort criteria and find the picture. You can sort pictures by folders, tags, and date taken.

In Windows Media Center, you can specify which folders on your computer or local network contain your digital media files. When you do so, the digital media files in these folders are added to the pictures, video, and music libraries for you to play and enjoy in Windows Media Center. If you add or delete digital media files, the libraries are automatically updated.

1. On the start screen, scroll to Tasks, and then click Settings.

2. Click Library Setup.

3. Click Add Folder to watch and then click Next.

4. Depending on where your digital media files are stored, click one of the options under Which folders do you want to add? and then click Next.

5. Navigate to the folders you want to add, and select the check box that is next to each one.

6. When you have checked all the appropriate folders, click Next, and then click Finish.

After you have finished adding files, it may take several minutes for the files to appear in the libraries.

When you tag photos in Windows Live Photo Gallery, you can sort them by tag in Windows Media Center.

Finding one particular photo on your computer can be very difficult, especially if you have hundreds of pictures. Using Windows Live Photo Gallery, you can make it easier to find your pictures by applying tags and ratings to the pictures. Later, you can use the Navigation pane or the Search box to filter the pictures by tags or ratings.

1. Click to open Windows Live Photo Gallery.

2. Click the picture that you want to tag.

3. If the Info pane is not displayed, click Info on the toolbar.

4. In the Info pane, click Add Tags, type a tag name, and then press ENTER.

Tips:

In the Info pane, you can also add a caption and rate the picture. You can rate pictures with one- to five-star ratings.

You can apply as many tags as you want to each picture. You might want to create separate tags to represent the location, people, or event shown in each picture.

A slide show is a series of pictures usually grouped together in a folder, by date taken, or by tag. Use the buttons on the transport controls to play, pause, move to the previous or next picture, or end the slide show.

If the transport controls are not displayed, move the mouse, and the controls will appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

1. On the start screen, scroll to Pictures + Videos, and then click Picture Library.

2. Click a collection of pictures. There are three ways to sort your media in Windows Media Center: by folders, tags, or date taken.

3. Click Play slide show.

To customize a slide show:

You can specify the order in which pictures are shown, determine if pictures in subfolders display, specify if captions appear or do not appear, show song information, specify the type of transition you want, determine the duration of the transitions, and determine the background color.

1. On the start screen, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, and then click Pictures. Customize your slide show from the options on the screen.

2. Click Save to save the slide show customizations.

You can create a DVD slide show with (or without) music and burn it to a recordable DVD. The DVD slide show contains pictures that display while the music plays (if you choose to add music to your slide show). You and others can then play the DVD by inserting it into a DVD drive on your computer or into a standard DVD player that is connected to your TV.

When you play the slide show later in a DVD player, the pictures will display at seven-second intervals in the order you added them to the DVD. At the same time that the pictures display, music will play in the order it was added to the DVD.

1. Start Windows Media Center. Insert a recordable CD or DVD into your CD or DVD burner.

2. Click the Burn a CD or DVD notification that appears in Windows Media Center. Or on the start screen, scroll to Tasks, and then click Burn CD/DVD.

3. On the Select Disc Format screen, click DVD Slide Show, and then click Next.

4. Using the keyboard, enter a name for your DVD slide show, and then click Next.

5. On the Select Media screen, click Music Library, and then click Next.

6. On the Choose Music screen, select the songs that you want to include in your DVD slide show, and then click Next.

7. On the Review & Edit List screen, click Add More.

8. On the Select Media screen, click Picture Library, and then click Next.

9. On the Choose Pictures screen, click the folder that contains the pictures that you want to include in your slide show, and then click each picture that you want to appear in the slide show. Click Next to continue.

10. After you have added all the pictures and music to the slide show, on the Review & Edit List screen, click Burn DVD.

11. At the Initiating Copy notification, click Yes.

12. After the disc is burned, in the Completing Disc Creation notification, click Done.