Setting Recording Options

You can customize how TV shows are recorded in Windows Media Center. For instance, you can prioritize certain recordings over others, or change the recording quality for future recordings.

• Change the location where shows are recorded

• Change folders monitored for TV shows

• Control when shows are automatically deleted

• To change start time of a recording

• To change options for recording a series

To change the location where Media Center records TV shows

When Windows Media Center records a TV show, it stores the file in the Public Recorded TV folder on your primary hard disk – usually located at C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV.

If you have another hard disk installed in your computer, or an external storage device, you can change where Windows Media Center stores recorded TV shows.

1. Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Media Center.

2. On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, click TV, click Recorder, and then click Recorder Storage.

3. Under Record on drive, click the plus (+) or minus (-) button to choose a new drive to save recorded TV shows to. If there are no other drives installed in or connected to your computer, these buttons will be unavailable. Then click Save.

4. If you're not sure how much free space a particular drive has, select the drive, and then check the chart under Total recording time before saving.

5. To limit the amount of hard disk space that Media Center can use for recorded shows, change the Maximum TV limit setting to a lower number.

To change the folders monitored for recorded TV shows

Although Windows Media Center can record TV shows to only one location at a time, it can monitor multiple locations for recorded content. This can be useful if you record a lot of TV shows and want to store some of them in a different location.

1. Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Media Center.

2. On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, click TV, click Recorder, and then click Media Libraries.

3. Click Add folders to the library, and then follow the instructions to choose a new folder (or folders) that you want Media Center to monitor for recorded TV shows.

To control when shows are automatically deleted

You can change the default settings that determine when recorded TV shows are automatically deleted.

1. Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Media Center.

2. On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, click TV, click Recorder, and then click Recording Defaults.

3. Under Keep, select one of the following options:

   • Until space needed: Automatically deletes recordings to make space for new ones.

   • For 1 week: Automatically deletes a recording one week after it was recorded.

   • Until I watch: Automatically deletes a recording after you finish watching it.

   • Until I delete: Won't automatically delete any recordings.

4. Click Save.

To change the start time and end time of a recording

By default, Windows Media Center starts recording a show two minutes before its scheduled time and stops recording three minutes after its scheduled time. You can change these settings to allow for more time on either end.

1. Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Media Center.

2. On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, click TV, click Recorder, and then click Recording Defaults.

3. Do one of the following:

   • Under Start when possible, click the plus (+) or minus (-) button to choose when you want to begin a recording.

   • Under Stop when possible, click the plus (+) or minus (-) button to choose when you want to end a recording.

4. Click Save.

To change the options for recording a series

When you schedule a recording for a TV series, Windows Media Center automatically records episodes based on the options that you set here.

1. Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Media Center.

2. On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, click TV, click Recorder, and then click Recording Defaults.

3. Scroll down to the Series only recording defaults section.

4. Do one of the following:

   • Under Show type, click the plus (+) or minus (-) button to record only new episodes, reruns, or live episodes.

   • Under Channels, click the plus (+) or minus (-) button to record shows in this series on any channel, or only on a specific channel.

   • Under Airtime, click the plus (+) or minus (-) button to record shows in this series at any time, or only at a specific time.

   • Under Keep up to, choose how many recordings from this series to keep before older episodes are automatically deleted.

5. Click Save.