Windows Media Center brings together all your favorite entertainment for you to enjoy on your PC, on your TV or on the go.

Listen to FM radio

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 gives you more control when you listen to FM radio by allowing you to pause, rewind, and fast forward FM radio. If the phone rings, you can pause the radio, and then continue listening to it exactly where you left it. If you want to hear your favorite song again, you can rewind to the beginning of the song. You can even skip past parts of the radio broadcast that you don't want to listen to.

Tip: To connect the FM antenna, follow the instructions that are included with your computer.

Start and tune the radio

To listen to FM radio:

Press the Green Start Button on your remote to open the Media Center Start menu, and then select Radio.

Media Center Start menu with Radio selected

Select Start FM.

When you first start the radio, you may hear static. There are several methods that you can use to tune your radio to a station:

If you know the station that you want to listen to, select the station box, and then enter the station by using your remote. You do not need to enter the decimal. For example, to enter the station 104.1, select the station box and then enter 1041 with your remote.

FM Radio page with station frequency numbers entered in the station box

To find an available station, select the + or - Seek controls.

FM Radio page with Seek + control selected

To manually tune to a specific station, select the + or - Tune controls.

FM Radio page with Tune + control selected

Save presets

After you select a station, select Save to set the station as a preset. Your Media Center PC assigns the station to the next available preset.

After you define a preset, you can tune to that station by entering 1 through 9 on your remote.

Remove presets

To remove a preset:

Select the preset station.

Press the MORE INFO button on your remote.
Select Delete.

In the Delete Preset dialog box, select Yes.

Yes selected in the Delete Preset dialog box

Pause, replay, and stop FM radio

After you tune in to a station, Media Center automatically begins recording live radio and keeps up to 30 minutes at a time in the buffer. This allows you to pause, resume, replay, or skip forward in this 30 minute recorded buffer. When you change stations, this buffer will be discarded and a new one will begin on the new station.

You can control the playback of live FM radio by using your remote:

To pause, press the PAUSE button. While the radio is paused, Media Center continues to record live radio.

FM Radio page showing where recording was paused in the progress bar

To continue playing, press the PLAY button or press the PAUSE button again.

FM Radio page showing where play is in the progress bar

To skip backward seven seconds, press the REPLAY button. Media Center must have been recording for at least seven seconds to have enough buffered radio available to skip backward.
To skip forward 29 seconds: press the SKIP button. You must have paused or skipped backward for Media Center to have buffered radio available to skip forward.
To stop playing the radio, press the STOP button.

With Media Center, you can have more control of how you listen to radio. Whether you want to listen to your favorite song again, or something a radio commentator said that you missed, this is a great way to listen to radio.

Note: Not all Media Center computers have FM radio support. If Start FM is not displayed on the Radio page, your Media Center PC has not detected an FM tuner because the FM tuner is either not installed or it is not functioning. To get help with this feature, refer to the hardware documentation that was included with your computer or contact the hardware manufacturer directly.