Going for the Green: Lettuce and Herb Soup

Lettuce isn't just for salads and sandwiches; it's also great in soup. Romaine lettuce is especially flavorsome in this recipe for Lettuce and Herb Soup, but feel free to try other green lettuce varieties — anything except iceberg, which is too watery and flavorless.

Lettuce and Herb Soup

Yield: 4 to 6

Level: Intermediate

Tools: Food processor, blender, or hand blender

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Freezes well

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

6 scallions, white part only, thinly sliced

3 cups vegetable or chicken broth

8 cups chopped romaine lettuce

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs: any combination of basil, chervil, thyme, chives, or celery leaves

1-1/3 cups half-and-half or whole milk

1 egg yolk

Salt to taste, about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon

Freshly ground black pepper

Freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

1. In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the scallions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the lettuce, cover, and simmer until the lettuce is wilted, about 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Add the parsley and mixed herbs. Puree the mixture in batches in a food processor or blender. Alternatively, if you have a hand blender, leave the soup in the pot and blend.

4. Return the mixture to the pot and reheat over medium-low heat.

5. In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the half-and-half and egg yolk. While whisking constantly, add a little heated soup to the egg mixture. Continue to whisk constantly as you pour the egg mixture into the soup in a steady stream.

6. Simmer gently over medium-low heat until the soup thickens slightly. Do not let the soup boil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with Romano cheese on the side.

When a DVD Burner Doesn't Burn Discs

If your computer is having trouble writing information (that is, doesn't burn) to a CD or DVD, several factors could contribute to or be the source of the problem. Here's a list to check:

Your hard drive needs up to 1GB of free space when your drive burns data to a blank CD; it needs up to 8GB of space when burning to a blank DVD. If Windows says it needs more hard drive space, use the Disk Cleanup program. If you burn a lot of DVDs, you might need a larger hard drive.


Always burn information that's currently on your own PC. If the information lives on a networked PC, copy the information to your own PC, and then burn it. Your PC needs to write to the disc in an uninterrupted stream, and your network might not send the information quickly enough.
Disc-burning programs usually burn at the fastest speed possible. That might be more than your particular CD or DVD drive can handle, leading to botched burns. Look at the blank disc's label for its rated burning speed, and then reduce Windows' burn speed accordingly.
Drives must write information to the disc in a continuous flow. If your computer is interrupted during the process and doesn't feed information to the drive quickly enough, the disc might suffer, leading to skips or gaps in the data. To be extra safe, don't run other programs when you're burning CDs or DVDs.
Buy blank discs in bulk, as some damaged discs inevitably turn into coasters. You'll feel less guilty about throwing a damaged one into the trash if you still have 49 more on your stack.
Third-party disc burning programs often disable Window's own method of burning to CDs and DVDs. Use one program or the other, but don't try to use both.
If you're using a third-party program to burn your discs, check the manufacturer's Web site often for updates. Burning programs seem to accumulate lots of patches and fixes that enhance performance.

Dealing with a Computer's Noisy Power Supply

The noise that can come from your computer's power supply can sound like either a purr or wailing. The noise comes from the fan inside the power supply that blows air across the power supply's innards. The fan cools off the inside of your computer at the same time.

If your power supply is really loud, there's just no getting around the racket without buying a new one that's designed to run less noisily.

Consider the following:

If your power supply is much too noisy, think about replacing it. Today's power supplies are much quieter than the rumblers released five or more years ago.
If your power supply doesn't make any noise, you're in even worse trouble. Hold your hand near the fan hole in the back. If you don't feel any air blowing out, the fan has died, and your computer is getting hotter by the second. Save your work quickly and immediately turn off your computer. Buy a new power supply before turning on your computer again. Without a power supply's cooling fan, a computer can overheat like a car in the desert with an empty radiator.
Don't try taking apart your power supply to quiet down the fan or make repairs. Power supplies soak up electricity and can zap you, even when they're unplugged. Never mess around inside a power supply.


Sometimes it's hard to differentiate between a noisy power supply fan and a noisy hard drive. Each has a constantly spinning motor, so both are susceptible to the burned-out bearing syndrome.

To tell whether the noise is coming from your power supply or your hard drive, turn off your computer, unplug it, and open the case. Then pull the power supply's cable out from the back of your hard drive. Plug your computer back in and turn it on. Because the hard drive isn't getting power, it doesn't turn on with the rest of your computer. If you hear a noise, it's your power supply.

If you don't hear a noise, it's your hard drive. Unfortunately, hard drives cost much more to replace.

Dealing with Ink and Toner in Your PC

A computer printer without ink or toner is an expensive paperweight. Inkjet printers need ink cartridges, while laser printers need toner cartridges. You have to refer to your printer's manual for specifics on removing and adding ink or toner. Note that sometimes the instructions are easily found right under the printer's lid.


Ink cartridges
Inkjet printers use from one to six ink cartridges, depending on the type of printer. Ink cartridges come in the following types:

Black ink only
Multicolor: yellow, blue, and red ink
Multicolor: two yellow inks, two red inks, and blue or cyan ink
Individual colors
How your inkjet printer uses ink cartridges depends on the printer's price and purpose. For example, professional color-photo printers use six ink colors (including black). Some cheaper ink printers just use three colors and no black ink.

Sometimes there are multiple inks per cartridge, and sometimes inks come in separate cartridges.

When a color cartridge is empty — even if just one color is in a multicolor cartridge — the entire thing must be replaced. That's why you should buy an ink printer that has separate cartridges, one for each color.


Yes, ink cartridges are expensive!

Toner
Just like copy machines, laser printers use toner cartridges as their inky substance. The toner cartridges aren't cheap! Fortunately, you can get more pages of paper from a single laser printer toner cartridge than an inkjet printer gets from a single thimble of ink.

Color laser printers require up to five toner cartridges, one each for black, magenta, cyan, and yellow, plus an extra toner cartridge.

Ink and toner tips
Remember the cartridge or toner part number for your printer! Not all ink or toner cartridges are alike; they're not interchangeable.
Buy the brand-name ink cartridges, despite their extra cost. The print quality is better.
Keep spare toner or ink cartridges available. Whenever you buy a new cartridge, buy two. That way, when you run out, you don't need to rush to the store right away.
Change the ink or toner when it gets low. Do not delay. Do it at once. Failure to do so can damage your printer.
When you first see the toner-low signal from your laser printer, you can squeeze a few more pages from it (an exception to the preceding rule). Remove the toner cartridge from the printer and gently rock it back and forth to redistribute the ink powder. Reinsert the cartridge into the printer. The next time the toner-low signal appears, however, you must replace the toner; this trick works only once.


Yes, you can use those toner-recharging places, which is cheaper than buying new toner from the manufacturer. Ditto for ink refilling, but ensure that you're getting quality stuff.
You don't always have to print in color. You can save ink on an inkjet printer by printing test images in grayscale rather than full color all the time.

Changing Disk Drive Letters on Your PC

For many weird and unexplained reasons, removable drives may not always be assigned the same drive letter when they're attached to your PC. Even so, you can change the letter for any non-hard drive in your computer's disk system.

Follow these steps to change the name of a PC drive:

1. Open the Control Panel.

2. Open the Administrative Tools icon.

3. In the Administrative Tools window, open the Computer Management icon.

Click the Continue button if you see a User Account Control security warning.

4. In the Computer Management window (it's a "console"), select Disk Management from the list on the left.

Wait a moment while the console is populated with information about your PC's disk system.

5. Right-click the disk drive volume you want to change.

For example, right-click the CD-ROM drive or a removable USB drive.

6. Choose the command Change Drive Letter and Paths from the pop-up shortcut menu.

7. Click the Change button.

8. In the Change Drive Letter or Path dialog box, choose a new drive letter from the pop-up menu.

9. Click OK to confirm the change.

10. Click Yes after reading the warning message.

This warning is true, especially with regard to CD/DVD drives from which you've installed software. Those installation programs assume that the same drive letter is used every time they're run. Changing the drive letter may confuse them and lead to much anguish and woe in the future.


Regardless, the drive letter is changed.

11. Close the AutoPlay window, if it rears its ugly head.

12. Close any other open windows or dialog boxes.

Windows remembers the drive change; the next time you start Windows or insert a removable drive, the new letter is used and can be seen in the Computer window

Demystifying Disk Drive Letters on a PC

Disk drives in your PC are assigned famous letters of the alphabet, starting with A and moving on from there. This historical thing with PCs dates back to the first PC, which lacked a hard drive. That explains why the drive letter assignment isn't exactly logical.

The first three drive letters are the same for all PCs:

Drive A: Drive A is reserved for the PC's floppy drive, even if your PC doesn't have a floppy drive.
Drive B: Drive B isn't used on modern PCs. Originally, it was assigned to the PC's second floppy drive.
Drive C: Drive C is the first hard drive. This is the PC's main hard drive, the one on which the operating system (Windows) is usually found.
Beyond drive C, there are no rules regarding which drive is given which letter. This situation causes some confusion in that many users mistakenly believe that drive D is always the CD-ROM drive. That's not true.

The PC's startup program assigns drive letters D and up to any disk storage devices found beyond the first hard drive. Priority is given to any additional hard drives. So, if your PC has two hard drives, the second one is drive D.

After hard drives, the next priority is given to internal disk drives, such as CD-ROMs or perhaps a Zip drive. Those drives receive the next letter in the alphabet after the hard drives are assigned letters.

Finally, removable disk drives are given drive letters in the order in which the computer finds those drives.

Network drives can be manually added to your computer system at any time. When the drive is added, you're allowed to choose a drive letter based on whatever letters are left.

The highest letter allowed for any disk drive on your PC is drive letter Z

Adding New Hardware to Your PC

best way to add new hardware to your PC is to follow the instructions offered with the hardware. The instructions tell you what to do, and in which order, and perhaps offer helpful suggestions. Read through the instructions once before installing or adding the new hardware. Then, read through them a second time as you go through the steps.

Windows instantly recognizes most new PC hardware that you shove into or attach behind the console. Read the instructions anyway.

When you plug in new USB or IEEE devices, you may hear the computer beep and see a pop-up message where the PC tells you how excited it is about the new device.

Hardware requires software in order to run. In some cases, the software can just be Windows itself, but, many times, additional software is required in order to power the new hardware, and it must be installed. You must follow the software installation instructions properly; sometimes, the new hardware must be installed before the software, and sometimes it works the other way.


Before adding internal components, such as an expansion card or more memory, be sure to turn off and unplug the computer's console. Never open the PC's case with the power on!

After adding some new hardware devices, you often must restart Windows. How can you tell? The computer says so.

If Windows fails to recognize the new hardware, use the Add Hardware icon in the Control Panel.

Adding new hardware may force Windows to require reactivation. Microsoft does this to ensure that all the new hardware is compatible with Windows, and to thwart sneaky software pirates. You must contact Microsoft, either by phone or by using the Internet, to reactivate your copy of Windows. Obey the instructions on the screen, if any.

Choosing a Second Hard Drive for Your Windows Vista PC

All Vista computers have a hard drive, but you can add a second one if you need more storage space.

Hard drive capacity is measured in gigabytes, abbreviated GB. One gigabyte is 1,000 megabytes, or 1,000,000,000 bytes, give or take a power-of-two round-off error.

Removable storage was once dominated by Zip disks and other contraptions with adapter kits that let you "plug in" a hard drive by sliding it into a slot in your computer's front panel. Fast USB has nearly made those beasts obsolete, although in a few cases, hot-swappable hard drives have their place.

Your second hard drive can go inside or outside your computer. Here's a quick guide to the configurations:

If you only need a gigabyte or so, don't get a hard drive. Look at USB flash drives or Memory Sticks. Also consider archiving your little-used data to CD or DVD or setting up a network and just transferring data you don't need very often to a different computer.
If you decide to go with a second hard drive, get at least twice as much hard-drive space as you think you'll need. If you're shooting and storing a lot of pictures and videos, get four times as much as you think you'll need.
Don't overlook external hard drives. For a few dollars more, you can frequently get a drive that plugs into your USB port, runs almost as fast as a "normal" hard drive, requires basically zero effort to install — and is completely portable.
You'll always find a "sweet spot" for hard drives, a point at which the cost per gigabyte is lowest. (The very largest hard drives always command a premium, and small hard drives don't give the best byte-for-the-buck.) When comparing hard drives, always compare the cost per gigabyte, and go for the cheapest.


You can also replace your first hard drive with a larger one, but then you have to reinstall Vista, reinstall all your applications, and transfer your data. (There are ways to transfer the operating system and applications intact, but they require special hardware or software.) You don't need the bother.

If you go with an internal hard drive, be sure to buy a hard drive with the same type of interface as the disk controller in your computer

Saving the Day with Surge Protectors and UPS Units

You know, one clear sign of a PC power user is at the end of the PC's power cord. True power users will use either a surge protector or an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to safeguard their system. However, neither will be able to protect your PC from a direct lightning hit on your home or office wiring! (That's just too much current for a surge device to handle.)

Otherwise, using both a surge protector and a UPS will help guard against less serious power surges, and both will provide additional AC sockets for your rapidly growing system. If you can afford to spend a couple hundred bucks, the UPS is the better choice for the following reasons:

Safety nets: A UPS provides a number of extra minutes of AC power if your home or office experiences a power failure — generally enough power so that you can close any documents that you're working on (like that Great American Novel that you've been slaving over for 20 years) and then shut down your PC normally.
Auto shutdowns: More expensive UPS models can actually shut down your PC automatically in case of a power failure.
Current cleaners: Most UPS units filter the AC current to smooth out brownouts and noise interference from other electronic devices.
Audible alerts: Some UPS units sound an alarm whenever a power failure or significant brownout occurs.
The number of minutes that your UPS will last during a power failure depends on the power rating of the battery. Don't forget, however, that a honking big cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor will use much more power than the PC itself, so you should allow for it when deciding on which UPS to buy.

If you're using a dialup, cable, or digital subscriber line (DSL) modem connection, make sure that you get a surge protector or UPS that will also protect your modem from electrical surges. That juice can travel just as easily across a phone line as across your power line.


Power and electrical rules
Nearly everything that comes with a computer should be plugged into the wall or some similar wall-socket-like device. Ideally, the console and monitor should be plugged into a UPS, or uninterruptible power supply — a power source capable of running the computer during brief power outages.

Other devices should be plugged into a power strip or surge protector.

Printers can also be plugged into a power strip. A laser printer, however, should be plugged directly into the wall. (Printers don't need to be plugged into a UPS; just wait until the power comes on again to print.)


Here are some other power and electrical issues and rules:

Never use an extension cord to meet your power needs. People trip over extension cords and routinely unplug them.
If you need more sockets, use a power strip or one of those multisocket adapters that plugs and screws into an existing wall socket. Avoid those plus-shaped extensions because they easily fall out of the wall socket when burdened with cables.
Computers need grounded sockets, which must have three prongs in them.
If a UPS has extra sockets, plug in your desk clock or an external modem.
Not every UPS has full UPS sockets. For example, some UPS devices may have two full UPS sockets and two surge-protected sockets that aren't backed up by battery

Keeping Cables under Control

With the popularity of external Universal Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire peripherals these days, the forest of cables sprouting from the back of your PC can look like Medusa on a bad hair day. Normally, this isn't a problem . . . until you decide to move your PC, or you want to repair or upgrade an internal component.

Here's a list of tips for keeping your cables under control:


Use ties to combine and route cables. You might try the reusable Velcro cable tie strips that you can find at your local office supply store. With these ties, you can easily combine cables that are heading in the same direction into a more manageable group. You can also fasten these cable ties to the underside of your desk or behind furniture to keep network and power cables hidden and out of danger.
Label your cables! Sure, you can tell the source and destination of some cables at a glance — for example, network cables are pretty easy to spot — but what about your USB printer and scanner, which both use the same type of cable? If you must move your PC or unplug cables regularly, avoid the ritual of tracking each cable to its source by doing what techs and computer shops do: Use a label machine to identify the tip of each cable with the peripheral name.
Tighten those connectors. "Gee, my monitor was working last night. What gives?" If you didn't use the knobs on either side of the video cable connector to tighten things down, small shifts in position over time could make cables work loose.
Check your cables for damage periodically. Do you have pets? If so, don't be surprised to find a chewed cable one morning . . . and pray that it isn't a power cable. Of course, cables can also be damaged by bending or stretching them, so check each cable at least once a year

Keeping Cables under Control

With the popularity of external Universal Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire peripherals these days, the forest of cables sprouting from the back of your PC can look like Medusa on a bad hair day. Normally, this isn't a problem . . . until you decide to move your PC, or you want to repair or upgrade an internal component.

Here's a list of tips for keeping your cables under control:


Use ties to combine and route cables. You might try the reusable Velcro cable tie strips that you can find at your local office supply store. With these ties, you can easily combine cables that are heading in the same direction into a more manageable group. You can also fasten these cable ties to the underside of your desk or behind furniture to keep network and power cables hidden and out of danger.
Label your cables! Sure, you can tell the source and destination of some cables at a glance — for example, network cables are pretty easy to spot — but what about your USB printer and scanner, which both use the same type of cable? If you must move your PC or unplug cables regularly, avoid the ritual of tracking each cable to its source by doing what techs and computer shops do: Use a label machine to identify the tip of each cable with the peripheral name.
Tighten those connectors. "Gee, my monitor was working last night. What gives?" If you didn't use the knobs on either side of the video cable connector to tighten things down, small shifts in position over time could make cables work loose.
Check your cables for damage periodically. Do you have pets? If so, don't be surprised to find a chewed cable one morning . . . and pray that it isn't a power cable. Of course, cables can also be damaged by bending or stretching them, so check each cable at least once a year

Restoring a Backup in Norton Ghost

You know all the grousing you do about having to back up your data? Well, if all your folders and files suddenly disappear from your drive, you won't need to stress because you can restore it all with that handy-dandy backup you've created. All that work (which really isn't much effort at all, especially with a program like Norton Ghost) becomes well worth it because you have salvation — or at least a copy of your drive.

If your backup file is on CD or DVD, you need to get your disc set and make certain you have all of them. And because you've labeled them so well and know exactly where to find them, you can retrieve them quickly and identify the data you need.

Restoring a drive
Here you are at that magic moment when you get to put your hard work, the backup, back online by restoring the drive from which the backup was created.

To restore a drive, follow these steps:

1. Open Norton Ghost.

2. From Basic view, click Restore a Drive or, from Advanced view, choose Tools --> Restore Drive.

3. Select the backup image you're restoring from, and click Next.

If it's on a disc, insert the first disc from the backup set into your CD or DVD drive).

4. In the Restore Destination window, choose the drive where you want to restore the backup, and click Next.

5. Select the options you want to apply:

• Verify image file before restore: Assures that the restore doesn't fail in the middle.

• Check for file system errors: Ensures data integrity when data is written to the drive being restored.

• Resize drive to fill unallocated space: Lets Ghost adjust the drive size as needed to match the data being restored.

• Set drive active: Select this when the drive being restored is going to hold a bootable operating system. Normally, however, if you're restoring a bootable hard disk from your Ghost backup, this is handled for you automatically so you don't need to specify this.

• Partition type: Choose either primary or logical. Normally, you do not need to select this since Ghost knows what it's backed up.

• Drive letter: Select the drop-down list box to specify the drive letter for the drive being restored.

6. Click Next and review your choices.

7. Click Next again to begin the actual restoration process.

Restoring files and folders
What if you only need to get back a few files or a whole folder (or ten) from a full or incremental backup? You're much more likely to do this than you are to restore a whole drive — that is, unless you tend to race your PC in the Indianapolis 500.

When you're restoring files and folders, you use another tool to browse the individual files stored in the backup image: the Backup Image Browser. To open the Backup Image Browser, choose Start --> All Programs --> Norton Ghost --> Backup Image Browser. The browser opens and with it the Open window, to help you locate the backup image you want to check for files and folders.

1. Locate the files and folders you want to recover from the backup.

• To see the contents of a folder, click the plus sign next to it.

• To select a single file, click on it.

• To select multiple files and folders located next to each other in the list, press and hold your Shift key while you use your down or up arrow key to select the files and folders.

• To select multiple files and folders scattered throughout the list, press and hold your Ctrl key while you click on each file and folder you want.

• To select all files and folders listed, press Ctrl+A.

2. With the files/folders you want to restore selected, choose File --> Restore (or press Ctrl+R).

3. Click Restore

Running Norton's One Button Checkup

Norton SystemWorks and its Norton Utilities tools work something like a PC emergency room and triage center trying to identify and fix the things that go bump and beep on your system. But what if you just want a quick spot check to see if there is something actually wrong before you call out the bigger guns? After all, the solution to your problem could be as simple as running a backup or using either Windows System Restore or Norton GoBack.

Norton includes a special tool designed just for rapid identification and repair of typical conditions. One Button Checkup is its name and speed is its game; it's a quick evaluation that looks for typical PC woes and alerts you to what it finds.

Norton Utilities One Button Checkup won't look at everything on your PC, and it may not fix all the ills. But it's a smart first step when you first install Norton SystemWorks with Norton Utilities or when you want to check your system between running the full-fledged doctors available.


Knowing what gets checked
Just as an emergency room crew gets a patient and does a fast evaluation of vital signs and what needs to be done, so does One Button Checkup. It's preprogrammed to go through your system looking for problems typically seen with Windows and the system in general.

Specifically, it checks for common types of

Windows Registry foul-ups and mismatched entries
Problems arising from a buildup of leftover Internet browsing files
Missing desktop and other shortcuts
Disk-based problems
Performance and system woes
After you run One Button Checkup, you'll see what it finds wrong. Then you have the option of letting it try to fix what things it can. You can also look at details about the errors discovered.

One Button Checkup also looks at the status of your Norton AntiVirus software if you also have that installed.

Starting One Button Checkup
Four years of medical school aren't required to perform this checkup. All you need is a few clicks. The very first time you run it, however, you probably want to pay close attention so you get an idea of what it does as well as to evaluate what it finds.

Follow these steps to start One Button Checkup:

1. Double-click the Norton SystemWorks icon on your desktop.

2. From the System Status window, click One Button Checkup and then Scan Now.

3. When the One Button Checkup window opens, notice that all the options like Windows Registry Scan and Program Integrity Scan are checked.

4. If you don't want to run a particular section, such as Last Virus Scan Check, deselect it.

5. Click Start Scan.

After you start the scan, you'll see a status window telling you what stage the scan is at, such as Scanning or Analyzing. Don't be surprised if the checkup takes some time, even just from one item to another.

When the checkup is complete, you see a report card of sorts. Problems are shown in red, while "No Errors Found" messages are displayed in green.

6. Review your report and click View Details to see the additional info about an item that reports an error.

7. Click Begin Fix to let One Button Checkup try to repair the problems it's found.

Need to halt the scan before it's finished? Just click Stop Scan at any time. You can then start it again when you're ready.

Pay particular attention when you see the message "Attention Needed" from the diagnosis window. Use the View Details option whenever this happens. Turn to the "Handling problems reported" section of this article to see what you need to do when One Button Checkup can't fix everything it finds. You can click Rescan if you want to try it again to see if it can resolve anything during a second pass that it didn't resolve during the first pass.


Problems running One Button Checkup?
If you hit a problem running One Button Checkup, restart your PC and try again. It's possible that something running elsewhere on your desktop when you perform the checkup is hanging up your system and this can lead to the checkup freezing.

If the checkup continues to die on you, you may want to try one of three things:

Close everything down on your desktop before you start the checkup.
If that doesn't work, deselect one or more options from the One Button Checkup scanning window.
If that doesn't help, you may want to run one of the doctors first. Norton WinDoctor and Norton System Doctor do more aggressive diagnostics than the checkup, so they may be able to clear a hurdle and then let you use checkup later.
Handling problems reported
It's a bummer when One Button Checkup finds a few problems that it can't fix. However, there's no reason to think your PC is terminal and needs life support.

Chances are that if your PC seemed to operate pretty well before the checkup, it will continue to run even when not all necessary repairs are done. Also, some of the things that the checkup looks for includes rather simple errors that aren't apt to result in a dead system if they don't get fixed.

Yet, with that said, getting outstanding issues corrected so they don't multiply or grow in size is a good idea. Even a few small problems can sap overall performance and cause at least minor headaches. Also, you may get a harsher diagnosis with lots of serious problems not corrected by checkup. Worse, you may not even be able to run the checkup thoroughly because your system is so fouled up.

The first thing you can try when you have problems that aren't getting fixed is to rescan using One Button Checkup. If checkup is still open on your desktop, click Rescan. If not, simply load Norton SystemWorks and go through the checkup again.

If a rescan still shows errors when it completes — and especially if they're serious ones under Windows Registry or Program Integrity Scan — you may want to call on the doctors:

If you encounter Windows Registry errors, call upon Norton WinDoctor.
For Program Integrity woes, Norton WinDoctor may help, too. But you should also consult with Norton Disk Doctor and Norton System Doctor.
If the problems show up under Cleanup, then run Norton Cleanup before you re-run checkup to see if you can clear the cobwebs out of your drive.

After you run checkup, the date is recorded on the System Status screen when you open Norton SystemWorks. Check there first if you're wondering when you last ran it

Setting Up Norton Parental Control

Child safety is a big issue anywhere, but the online world presents special challenges in the form of virtual bogeymen, pitfalls, and the kind of Web sites that can fluster or enrage a mature adult. Parental Control in Norton Internet Security is a way for you to define the boundaries of your kid's online world, choosing which programs your child can run, and the types of accessible Web sites.

You have a number of steps to get through in turning on and setting up the Parental Control. Try to follow along in order, because some parts — like the Supervisor login — need to be done before you can do other parts of the setup.

Logging on as Supervisor
Right out of the package, Norton Parental Control and Norton Internet Security recognize just one account, called a Supervisor account because it allows the person using it to make master changes to how Internet Security and kid-safe control settings are configured. However, by default, no password is assigned to this account. Find out how to do that after you log in, in the "Running the Parental Control Wizard" section.

You must be logged in as the Supervisor in order to turn on the Parental Control feature and then create accounts and set up controls for the kids.


Follow these steps to log in:

1. Right-click the Norton Internet Security icon in System Tray and choose Account Login.

2. In the Log On window, click OK.

You can also log on directly from Norton Internet Security:

1. From the Norton Internet Security window, click User Accounts in the left-side menu.

2. Press the Log On button.

3. Type your password, and click OK.

If you try to use the Parental Control feature without logging on as Supervisor, you'll receive an error message telling you that you don't have sufficient privileges to do that. Unfortunately, the error message doesn't actually suggest you log on to cure that problem, so it's something to keep in mind.


Running the Parental Control Wizard
Initial setup of the Parental Control tool is managed from a wizard helping you with bits of information each step of the way. Be sure you've already logged on as the Supervisor before you start, then follow these steps:

1. In Norton Internet Security, click User Accounts in the left-hand menu.

2. Click Parental Control Wizard link from the top right-hand portion of the window.

3. Select whether to use existing Windows accounts (if your kids have their own separate accounts for use on the PC) or Norton Internet Security Accounts (if you don't have accounts set up under Windows), then click Next.

4. Type a password to apply to the currently unprotected Supervisor account, then type it again to confirm it, and click Next.

5. In the Create Accounts window, use the blank boxes to type in the names of the people who will share the same PC, then click in the drop-down list box next to the names to specify whether that person should be treated as a:

• Child: Has limited access to the Internet but can't change account settings.

• Teenager: Has access to more content than the child status but can't change his own settings.

• Adult: Has full access to the Internet and can change settings for his own account but not for anyone else.

• Supervisor: Has full access to the Internet and the ability to change others' settings and turn Parental Control off and on.

6. Click OK, then click Next.

7. When prompted, set a password for each user/account you set up in Step 5 and click Next.

These passwords can be the same as passwords used by each person to access Windows on the PC or different ones — if they're different, be sure that each person knows his password for Parental Control.

8. Select the account that Norton Internet Security should treat as the default account, and click Next.

Note: Not Logged On or an Adult account is better than a Supervisor account or a Child account for this purpose.

9. Click Finish.

Passwords you set in the preceding list are case-sensitive. If you use a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters in setting the password, the person logging in to the account must use the exact same mix.


Turning on Parental Control
After you've done the setup to use Parental Control, you still need to enable it so it's ready and running ahead of your kids. Remember to log on as a Supervisor for this if you've already logged off.

Take these steps to enable Parental Control:

1. In Norton Internet Security, click to open the Norton Internet Security menu at the left side of the screen.

2. Choose Status & Settings.

3. Select Parental Control and then click Turn On.

Tweaking your Parental Control settings
Parental Control comes preset to try to keep children out of Web sites with content most parents would find inappropriate. You can also customize settings, however, to make allowances when you need more — or less — flexibility for your kids.

You may want to test your accounts and how loose or restrictive the Web access is for Child and Teenager accounts before you make adjustments.


Follow these steps to view your setting options:

1. Log on as a Supervisor and open Norton Internet Security.

2. From the Status & Settings window, click Parental Control, and then press the Configure button.

The Parental Control window, opens.

3. In the Parental Control window:

• To select the account name you're adjusting settings for, select the Parental Control Settings For drop-down list and choose an account.

• To block or permit full categories of sites (such as Humor or Sex Education), click Sites and then choose your categories and settings, and click OK.

• To add specific sites to a blocked or allowed list, follow the steps in the previous bullet but click Add Site, type in the Web address (for example, www.nakeddogs.org) and click OK.

• To specify which types of software can be used to access the Internet, press the Programs button, and make sure checkmarks appear next to all allowed programs and that all programs you don't want to permit are unchecked, and click OK.

• To allow or block access to Internet newsgroups, press the Newsgroups button, specify the newsgroups or newsgroup types to show or hide, and click OK.

• To go back to the default, out-of-the-box settings for Parental Control, which erases all your changes, click the Defaults button and click Yes to confirm your choice.

4. When you're satisfied with your changes, click OK to close the Parental Control window.

Testing your accounts
Before you give out accounts and passwords to your kids, you want to make sure the accounts work and that, when you use a child or teenager's account, he can't get access to the types of sites you want to keep out of his reach.

Follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Norton Internet Security icon in the Windows System Tray and choose Logoff (if logged in) or select Account Login.

2. Sign in with the first of your child or teenager accounts, and click OK.

Click the down arrow next to the account name to select a different user than the one listed. When prompted, type the password for that user's Parental Control account.

3. Open your Web browser (connect to the Internet if you haven't already).

4. Use a search engine to locate a racy Web site, and then click to open it.

5. Repeat Step 3 and try a number of other sites.

6. Jot down any notes about the type of content that gets through.

7. Run your Internet programs ,such as chat software or messaging, to see how well they continue to work while you're still logged in as a child.

8. Repeat Steps 1–7 for other Child/Teenager accounts you created.

9. If necessary, go back and customize the settings for your child or teenager again to increase or decrease the restrictions or to block specific sites and programs.

After you've tested their accounts and made any needed changes for access, you can then supply your kids and other adults with their passwords. Remind them to log in using their own account

Taking Action When Norton AntiVirus Can't Repair an Infected File

Assume for a minute that the worst has happened: Norton AntiVirus finds something it really believes is a virus but doesn't seem to be able to act upon the file to repair, quarantine, or delete it. If this happens, one of two things is true: The file is a virus, or it's not.

Not all files can be repaired, because not all the files Norton AntiVirus suspects are actually viruses. Adware (a program usually transferred to your system to push pop-ups and other ads to you based on the places you go) is a great example of this. Its only purpose is to try to track your Internet usage and feed you ads.

Look at Figure 1 and you see a Scan: Summary where seven non-viral (usually adware) viruses were found, but none of them has been acted on. To view these items, click as directed in the window (or click More Details — it does the same thing). This opens an info window about these non-viral threats, as shown in Figure 2. Look at the Status column, and you'll see they're all listed as "At risk," which is the Norton AntiVirus way of telling you it hasn't done anything with them except to point them out to you.



Figure 1: Scan: Summary shows non-viral threats.



Figure 2: Adware files are marked but not removed.

You can try to delete the file yourself using one of the Windows file management tools like My Computer or Windows Explorer. But what if it's a file you really need? Some of the files that can be infected may be needed by Windows to run. Deleting the wrong thing could send Windows into a tizzy and make it unable to load.

The first thing you want to do is to run LiveUpdate to see if there are updates available that may be able to repair the file.


If running LiveUpdate doesn't help you repair the file you need, then you need to get the gritty little details about the file that Norton AntiVirus spots and reports to you. To do so, just go to your browser toolbar, click the Norton AntiVirus icon located there, and choose one of the following:

View Status: Opens the Norton AntiVirus Status window, which gives you an at-a-glance summary of what's enabled and when your last scan was run.
View Quarantine: Displays the list of suspicious files identified and isolated on your PC by Norton AntiVirus.
View Activity Log: Shows you a summary of the Norton AntiVirus threats identified and the actions taken.
View Virus Encyclopedia: Allows you to look up a particular virus name and what it does.
Launch Scan Menu: Brings up your list of scans so you can run them.
Consider this example: Figure 3 shows Norton AntiVirus pausing in a scan to tell you that, while running Repair Wizard, it located two files that it can't fix. You probably want to follow Norton AntiVirus's advice and quarantine these files, but you want to get a better idea of what exactly they are. Click one of the blue hyperlinked names under Threat Name.

If you're connected to the Internet, that click launches your Web browser and opens the Symantec Security Response site. You can then read through the details currently available about the file Norton AntiVirus discovered, as shown in Figure 4, which shows the details for another nasty program, Netsky. This one turns out to be a pesky little worm, which, if left on your system, could start sending itself out to people in your e-mail address book. Look back at the Norton AntiVirus window you saw in Figure 3 and click Quarantine

Troubleshooting Your PC: Monitoring Resources and Performance

In Microsoft Windows, there's an error message that goes something like "Resources are low." Logically, if resources are low, you need to fill them up again. System resource is plain old memory. RAM. System resources are simply one way your computer uses memory. The resources part is what Windows uses the memory for: windows, icons, fonts, graphics, and other pieces parts.

As you use Windows, it consumes resources. When you have several windows open on the screen, they devour resources. Using lots of fonts? There go the resources!

Some programs are real resource hogs. Microsoft Word is one. When Word runs, it sets aside memory for oodles of resources — whether it needs them or not.

Bottom line: When you run lots of programs, you use lots of resources. When those resources get low, some programs may not be able to run. The quick solution is to simply close a few programs and try again. Or, restarting Windows often flushes out all the resources and lets you run the program.

Monitoring resources
In older versions of Windows, the System Monitor program was used to check up on resources and see how much of them were left and what Windows was using. In Windows XP, the System Monitor program has vanished, but you can still check on resources. Here's how:

1. Open the Control Panel.

2. Open the Administrative Tools icon.

This step opens the Administrative Tools window, which is like another Control Panel, but one that contains advanced toys for you to use to seriously mess up your computer.

3. Open the Performance icon.

The Performance window opens, which displays a graphical chart of how Windows is using some of the computer's resources, as shown in Figure 1.



Figure 1: The Performance window monitors system performance.

In Figure 1, and most likely on your screen, the Performance window is monitoring three resources: memory, disk usage, and microprocessor usage. These are shown on the bottom of the window, each associated with colors: yellow for Memory; blue for Physical Disk, and green for Processor.

Try opening a few windows or popping up the Start menu to see how that affects the graph being drawn — a real-life example of how resources are used in windows.


4. Click the Add button to monitor additional resources.

Or, you can use the Ctrl+I keyboard shortcut. The Add Counters dialog box appears.

5. Select resources to monitor in the Add Counters dialog box.

The Add Counters dialog box allows you to select which resources and stuff to monitor. You select the resource from the drop-down list labeled Performance Object. Then, select individual aspects of that resource from the counters list, or just click All Counters to see everything.

Use the Explain button in the Add Counters dialog box to understand what each item represents, though often the explanations are really cryptic.


6. Click the Add button to add the specified resource.

For example, to further monitor memory usage, select Memory from the Performance Object drop-down list and then select Available Bytes from the counters list. Click the Add button. This action adds that item to the System Monitor. (You may have to move the Add Counters dialog box out of the way to see it.)

7. Close the Add Counters dialog box when you're done.

Click the Close button.

8. Close the Performance window, as well as any other open windows, when you're done gawking.

There's really nothing you can do in the Performance window other than look. But, when you know what to look for, you can easily spot problems and pinpoint solutions. For example, if running one particular program causes all resources to suddenly dwindle, you know that there's a great demand for resources in that program.

Suppose that when you quit a certain program, you notice that the resources are not reduced, meaning that the program isn't releasing resources as it quits. This is known as a memory leak.

Perusing performance
Another place in Windows where you can monitor performance is the Task Manager, which is a little easier to get at than the Performance window.

Specifically, the Performance tab in the Task Manager's window is home to a quick summary of key resource information in Windows, as shown in Figure 2. Granted, it's not as exciting or as interactive as the Performance window (see Figure 1), but it does boil down the information to the bare essentials.



Figure 2: The Task Manager monitors your PC's performance.

The top chart monitors microprocessor (CPU) usage, similar to one of those machines that monitors heart patients in a hospital. This line represents the same information as the Processor line in the Performance window.

The lower chart in the Task Manager/Performance window (refer to Figure 2) shows page file usage, which shows you how often and how much stuff is being written to or read from virtual memory. Increased activity here could show signs of memory trouble.

Below the two scrolling graphs are four areas of text information that look really impressive, but don't worry about that right now. The real solution to the memory leak problem lies on the Task Manager's Processes tab.

Virtual memory is disk storage used to supplement regular memory, or RAM.
If you want to see the CPU usage jump, open a few windows or play a sound.
If your PC's performance meter just suddenly and randomly spikes, don't sweat. Nothing is wrong. This behavior is entirely normal for a computer. If you click the Processes tab in the Windows Task Manager, you see dozens of programs all running at once in your computer. A performance spike simply means that one of those programs went about doing its task and occupied the PC's microprocessor for a wee amount of time. That goes on all the time. It doesn't mean that your computer has a virus or a worm; it's just standard operations.

Connecting a Laptop and Desktop with Windows Direct Connection

If you're connecting your desktop and laptop by using serial or parallel ports or the infrared port, then you need to configure Windows for a direct connection. That sounds well and good, but in practice it's not that easy to set up and even harder to get going. So if you have the stamina for it, here are the steps to take.

First comes the desktop (or Host) computer:

1. Open the Control Panel's Networking Connections icon.

This displays other Network Connections window.

2. Click the Create a New Connection task over in the Network Tasks part of the window (on the left).

Or you can choose File --> New Connection.

The New Connection Wizard rears its boring head.

3. Click the Next button.

4. Choose the Set Up an Advanced Connection option.

5. Click the Next button.

6. Choose Connect Directly to Another Computer.

7. Click the Next button.

8. On the desktop computer, choose Host. On the laptop computer, choose Guest.

It doesn't matter which is which, but one computer must be the host and the other the guest.

9. Click the Next button.

The remainder of the rules here apply to the Host computer. The steps for the Guest computer appear later in this article.

10. From the drop-down list, choose the port you're using to connect.

This depends on the cable, but also on which ports are available. Be sure to choose the right one! Most desktop systems have two serial ports, labeled COM1 and COM2.

Note that this is also how you set up the infrared connection by choosing that port from the drop-down list.

11. Click the Next button.

12. Choose the user(s) allowed access to your computer.

Select the login name from the list.

13. Click the Next button.

14. Click the Finish button.

A new icon appears in the Network Connections window. For the Host computer, the icon is named Incoming Connections.

After completing these steps for the Host computer, you must do the same on the Guest computer. Here goes:

1. Complete Steps 1 through 9 in the preceding list, and then continue to Step 2 in this list.

2. Type in a name for this connection, such as Desktop.

This is merely the name applied to the icon that appears in the Network Connections window. For example, you could give the icon the same name as the desktop computer.

3. Click the Next button.

4. Choose the port you're using to connect to the desktop computer.

Serial ports are labeled COM1 and COM1, the parallel (printer) port is LPT1. The infrared connection, if available, can also be chosen from the list. Choose the port that you'll be using based on the way that you're connecting the two systems.

5. Click the Next button.

6. Click the Finish button.

Well . . . you really aren't finished yet.

7. Click the Cancel button to close the Connect Desktop dialog box.

Windows is eagerly jumping the gun here. Anyway, the connection icon appears in the Network Connections window. Now you're ready to run through a direct connection.

When both computers are configured, you can then connect them. Plug in the connecting cable to the proper ports. Then to make the connection from the laptop, double-click the desktop computer's connection icon in the Network Connections window. (The guest connects to the host.)

Fill in the Connect dialog box with your account name and password for the desktop computer. Click the Connect button. The desktop computer should answer and create the connection. After it's set, the two computers are "networked," and you can use standard networking methods to access each system's resources.

To disconnect the guest machine, you can revisit the Network Connections window, right-click the connection icon, and choose Disconnect.

And now the bad news: This doesn't work as best as it could. The chances of making a successful connection are iffy at best. A few third-party programs are available, such as PC Anywhere, and they can do a better job. (Some programs even come with their own cables.) But there are just so many variables and adjustments necessary to make Windows Direct Connection workable that it can be a nightmare.


When the direct connection has been established, the Host computer displays an icon indicating the guest's connection, as shown in the margin.
Any other network connections the Host computer has will also be shared with the Guest computer.
Note that regular Ethernet networking is about a jillion times faster than direct connection. Don't be surprised when you discover this is a slow way to keep your laptop updated.
If you've tried and this really doesn't work, then avoid the frustration of troubleshooting the connection and instead get the Ethernet cable, and then network your desktop and laptop PCs the "real" way.

Connecting Camcorder to Computer with FireWire

FireWire is one of the hot new technologies that makes digital video so fun and easy to work with. FireWire — also sometimes called IEEE 1394 or i.LINK — was originally developed by Apple Computer and is an interface format for computer peripherals. Various peripherals, including scanners, CD/DVD burners, external hard drives, and of course, digital video cameras use FireWire technology.

Key features of FireWire are as follows:

Speed: FireWire is really fast, way faster than USB or serial ports. First-generation FireWire ports are capable of transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps (megabits per second), while the latest second-generation FireWire ports (nicknamed FireWire 800 by those crazy individualists at Apple) can pump an astonishing 800 Mbps through a connection! Digital video contains a lot of data that must be transferred quickly, making FireWire an ideal format.
Mac and PC compatibility: Although FireWire was developed by Apple, it is widely implemented in the PC world as well. This has helped make FireWire an industry standard.
Plug and Play connectivity: When you connect your digital camcorder to a FireWire port on your computer (whether Mac or PC), the camera is automatically detected. You don't have to spend hours installing software drivers or messing with obscure computer settings just to get everything working.
Device control: Okay, this one isn't actually a feature of FireWire; it's just one of the things that makes using FireWire really neat. If your digital camcorder is connected to your computer's FireWire port, most video-editing programs can control the camcorder's playback features. This means that you don't have to juggle your fingers and try to press the Play button on the camcorder and the Record button in the software at exactly the same time. Just click the Capture button in a program like iMovie or Pinnacle Studio, and the software automatically starts and stops your camcorder as needed.
Hot-swap capability: You can connect or disconnect FireWire components whenever you want. You don't need to shut down the computer, unplug power cables, or confer with your local public utility before connecting or disconnecting a FireWire component.
All new Macintosh computers come with FireWire ports. Some — but not all — Windows PCs have FireWire ports as well. If your PC does not have a FireWire port, you can usually add one via an expansion card. Windows 98 and higher include software support for FireWire hardware. (However, you should stick with Windows XP if you're editing DV on a PC.) If you're buying a new PC and you plan to do a lot of video editing, consider a FireWire port as a must-have feature.

All digital camcorders offer FireWire ports as well, although the port isn't always called FireWire. Sometimes FireWire ports are instead called "i.LINK" or simply "DV" by camcorder manufacturers who don't want to use Apple's trademarked FireWire name. But rest assured, all digital camcorders have a FireWire-compatible port. FireWire truly makes video editing easy, and if you are buying a new camcorder, you should buy one that includes a FireWire port

Media Center Edition: Playing DVDs

Before you get started with DVDs on your MCE PC, it's worth spending a few minutes setting your preferences for DVD playback. Just follow these steps:

1. Open Media Center.

Press the green button on the remote. You also can press the start button and select Media Center.

2. Select Settings.

3. Select DVD.

The DVD Settings screen appears, as shown in Figure 1.



Figure 1: Setting your DVD preferences.

4. Select Language.

The DVD Language Settings screen appears, as shown in Figure 2. You use these settings to determine the default language in which you want to view movies.



Figure 2: Setting your DVD language defaults.

5. Navigate to the plus or minus button next to each option, and press OK repeatedly to cycle through the alternatives:

• Subtitle: The language in which you want your subtitles (or on-screen text dialogue) to appear. The default is None.

• Audio track: The language in which you want to hear your DVDs. (Many DVDs have audio tracks in multiple languages.) The Title Default option lets your DVD decide which language to use.

• Menu: The language you want to use for the DVD's on-screen menu system. (Again, many DVDs have multiple languages available.)

Most DVDs enable you to adjust the subtitle, audio track, and menu languages from their own DVD menu. These override your system settings when you play the DVD. So you're not stuck with MCE-stored settings — if you're a Kurosawa fan, for example, you can decide halfway through that you want to listen to Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai) in Japanese, with no subtitles.

If the language you select is not available on the DVD, you get the DVD's default language (usually English).


6. Select Save.

You return to the main DVD Settings menu (refer to Figure 1).

7. Select Audio.

A Windows XP dialog box appears on the screen, similar to the one in Figure 3. That figure shows the InterVideo WinDVD used by a Gateway MCE PC. What happens next depends on your MCE PC and your DVD decoder hardware and software.



Figure 3: Setting your audio up for DVDs.

8. Choose the type of audio output you want from your DVD, and then click OK.

The options will vary, depending on whether your MCE PC can support digital audio outputs for connecting to a home-theater receiver. Some general advice follows:

• If two speakers are connected to your MCE PC, click the 2 speaker mode option. Under that option, click Stereo if you have two speakers, or click Dolby SurroundCompatible if you don't have digital audio outputs and are planning on connecting to a home-theater receiver with two analog audio-interconnect cables. You'll probably never choose the one speaker option (Mono).

• Click 4 speaker mode if four-speaker (quad) surround sound is attached to your MCE PC.

• Click 6 speaker mode (5.1 channel) if a 5.1 surround-sound system is connected to your MCE PC's audio card.

• Click Enable S/PDIF output if you have a digital audio connection to your home-theater receiver.

9. Back in the main DVD Settings screen, select the last option, Program remote buttons for DVD.

The Remote Control Settings screen appears, as shown in Figure 4.



Figure 4: Setting up your remote control.

10. Select the option you prefer for the Skip and Replay buttons on your remote.

• Select Skip chapters if you want these buttons to skip between chapters on the DVD. (Chapters are smallish segments of the movie.)

• Select Skip forward and back if you want these buttons to behave like the REW and FWD buttons on the remote (rewinding and fast forwarding without regard to the chapter structure of the DVD).

11. Select Save.

You're finished!

Mastering Your TV Domain with Media Center Edition PC

A favorite capability of the My TV feature of Media Center Edition PC is being able to take charge of your TV experience in two key ways:

Control Live TV: My TV lets you pause, rewind and fast forward whatever show you're currently watching. You don't have to do anything special — a rolling 30-minute recording session starts whenever you use My TV.
Time shift your TV: Time shifting is the capability to watch the same content aired on TV, but just shifted in time — so you can record a TV show and watch it when you want.
Controlling live TV
My TV always records onto your MCE PC's hard drive up to last 30 minutes of TV you've been watching, so at any time you can rewind up to 30 minutes. The only limitation to My TV's control of live TV is that Media Center supports only a single TV tuner, which means it can control only a single channel (the one you're watching).

My TV records the channel currently on the screen. Whenever you change channels, MCE dumps its buffered content and starts fresh on the new channel. So you can go back only 30 minutes or as long as you've been watching the current channel, whichever is shortest.


Controlling live TV is easy — just use the Pause, Play, FWD, and REW buttons on the remote.

Doing the time shift
Controlling Live TV is a great thing. When the phone rings (darn those telemarketers) or the dog has to go out, pausing your favorite program seems like a lifesaver. But sometimes you want to record entire shows for later playback. No reason to rush home for that vital Buffy repeat when your Media Center PC is on the job, ready to record for you.

Media Center offers you many opportunities to record a show whenever you're looking at the Guide or viewing detailed information about a program. Here are the four easiest ways to record a show in My TV. Note that these are individual showings; see the next section when you want to record a series.

To record a show, you can

Browse through the Guide, find a show you want to record, and press OK. By selecting the Record menu item that appears on the screen, you can set up the recording.
Search for a show in the Guide and set up recording.
Manually record (the VCR way!) by entering the channel number and time into Media Center.
One-touch record by navigating to a show in the Guide (or even the show you're currently watching) and pressing the REC button on the remote.
After you've scheduled a few recordings, you can quickly check what Media Center is planning on recording by going to the My TV main menu, selecting Recorded TV, and then selecting Scheduled.


Recording a show from the Guide
To record a show from the Guide, do the following:

1. Open My TV by pressing the My TV button on the remote.

2. Select Recorded TV.

3. Select Add recording.

The screen shown in Figure 1 appears.



Figure 1: The recording process starts here.

4. Select Guide.

The Guide window appears.

5. Select the show you want to record.

The Program Info screen appears.

6. Select Record.

Media Center saves this recording data in its little computer brain and records the show when it airs.

In MCE 2002, your MCE PC had to be running or in standby mode — not Hibernate mode — for this to work. Waking from Hibernate mode is now supported in MCE 2004. (Microsoft needed to do this to support notebook computers.)


7. Press the Back button (or any other Media Center function button on the remote) to get back to what you were previously doing.

The program you selected for recording now has a little red dot next to its title in the Guide. You can check that you did things correctly by navigating to the show in the Guide and looking for the dot.

Media Center checks to make sure that you haven't already set up a different recording at the same time. Recall that an MCE PC has only one TV tuner and can record only one program at a time. If you try to make your MCE PC record two things simultaneously, a Conflict screen appears, as shown in Figure 2. It's up to you to make a choice — use the remote to select the program you want to record. The other program will not be recorded.





Figure 2: Oops! You can't record two shows at once, so choose the one you want.

Searching for shows to record
Just as you don't have to manually scroll through the Guide to find shows to watch, you also don't have to manually scroll through the Guide to set up recordings. With Media Center, you can search for shows to record, as follows:

1. In My TV, select Recorded TV, and then select Add recording.

2. Select Search.

3. Search for the show by category, title, or keyword. When you find the show, select it.

4. When the Program Info screen appears, select Record.

Pretending your MCE PC is a VCR
Suppose your favorite show is on a local access channel that doesn't provide programming information in the Guide. To record this show, you have to set up a manual recording on your MCE PC:

1. In My TV, select Recorded TV, and then select Add recording.

2. Select Channel and time.

The Manual Record screen appears, as shown in Figure 3.



Figure 3: Looks like a VCR display, doesn't it?

3. Use the remote's arrow buttons to navigate between the Channel, Frequency, Date, Start time, and Stop time options.

Use the numeric entry buttons on the remote to type the channel and times. For the other settings, navigate to the plus or minus button and press OK repeatedly to scroll through the settings.

4. To add a descriptive title to your manual recording, do the following:

• a. Select Add title (on the left side of the screen).

• b. In the screen that appears, use the numeric entry keys (or your keyboard) to type a name.

• c. Select Save.

5. Back in the Manual Record window, select Record.

The recording settings are saved, and your MCE PC is ready to record for you.

Taking the one-touch approach
The easiest way to set up a recording in My TV is to just use the REC button on the remote. Anytime you have a show actively playing on your screen or selected in the Guide, you can mark it for recording (or start recording it immediately, if it's currently playing) by pressing REC.

Are your kids watching a program on a school night, but it's time for them to go to bed? Press REC, and tell the kids they can finish watching the program tomorrow. Can't get much simpler than that

Touring the Media Center Edition PC Interface

Before you tour MCE's interface — that is, the navigational and graphical elements that help you get around the program — you need to open Media Center itself. You can do this in one of three ways: by double-clicking a shortcut on the desktop, by clicking the Start button on the taskbar of your desktop and choosing Media Center, or by pressing the green button on your MCE remote control.

MCE Start menu
When you enter Media Center for the very first time, Windows XP MCE sends you into a setup wizard. However, before you explore that, you should become acquainted with some of MCE's navigation and usage standards, so you know what to expect when you see the MCE interface — wizard or not — for the first time. So in this article, you find out about the overall look and feel of XP MCE, even though you're not launching MCE just yet.

When you enter Media Center, you see the main Media Center Start menu (see Figure 1). This screen presents you with a single, unified, full-screen portal for all your entertainment needs. Everyone should have one, don't you think?



Figure 1: The Media Center Start menu is your jumping-off point.

The date and time are prominently displayed in the center of the screen, with the Media Center modules listed alongside. The modules are in a loop, so you can cycle through them.

At the bottom left of the screen is an inset window that shows the media currently playing. This window is called, not surprisingly, the Now Playing window. The media playback toolbar is below the inset window. (Microsoft refers to this toolbar as the desktop controls toolbar, but everyone else, it seems, prefers the name media playback toolbar.) The media playback toolbar gives you direct access to the entertainment in the forefront of your screen. Here you can change channels (- and +), pause, play, stop, rewind, fast forward, mute, and change volume (= and +). This playback toolbar appears whenever you move your mouse

At the top left of the screen are three buttons. From left to right, they

Let you quickly log off to end your Media Center session or to switch users
Return you to the main Media Center Start menu, like the Go Back button on your remote
Access Media Center Help
An on-screen volume control gives you a visual view of the volume level and indicates when the audio is muted. This volume control shows up when you adjust the volume using the remote control and disappears after a few seconds. In addition, a phone call notification (using Caller ID) shows you who is calling and the phone number — you need to have a phone line plugged into your MCE PC for this to work, of course.

For the Caller ID feature to work, you also need Caller ID service from your phone company (you probably guessed that) and TAPI-compliant modem in your MCE PC. TAPI (Telephone Application Program Interface) is a Microsoft standard for modems that lets them do regular phone stuff, including Caller ID. Check with your MCE PC vendor if you don't know whether the modem you have is TAPI compliant.


The upper right of the screen has the standard Windows tools for minimizing, resizing, and closing the window. You can use the minimize capability to keep Media Center running while you work in another program elsewhere on the screen.

Navigating in Media Center
At the beginning of any software project, programming firms create a document that defines the usage conventions for the software. As programmers develop the code, they reference these conventions so that the process of moving, scrolling, selecting, adding, deleting, and so on is similar throughout the program. Here are the key usage conventions used in MCE:

Navigating: To move around and select menu items, you use the arrow buttons on the remote control, the arrow keys on your keyboard, or the mouse. You can get everywhere in MCE using only the arrow buttons on the remote. To see everything in long Media Center menus or option listings, you use the arrow buttons (or arrow keys or mouse) to select the scroll buttons at the bottom-right side of the screen, as shown in Figure 2.


Figure 2: Scrolling through long menus in Media Center.

Highlighting: MCE indicates that you have successfully navigated to an item by highlighting it in green. The highlight is different depending on the item. An item represented by a thumbnail or an icon — a picture, movie, folder, file, and so on — becomes outlined with a bright green border. A button or a check box turns green.
Selecting: To choose an item or an option, navigate to it (the item or option becomes highlighted), and press the OK button on the remote control, press the Enter key on the keyboard, or click the mouse button.
If a media selection is playing in the Now Playing inset window, you can switch to full-screen mode by navigating to the inset window (the frame turns green), and then clicking the OK button on the remote.
When you're navigating in the MCE interface, just remember three things: arrow buttons, green highlight, OK button. Selecting is that simple.


MCE remote control
The core component around which the entire Media Center concept revolves is the remote control, shown in Figure 3. Microsoft is perfecting the 10-foot experience for users — the ability to access content from 10 feet away. To that end, Microsoft has minimized the number of buttons on the remote to keep your interface with the program as simple as possible.



Figure 7-3: A typical Windows XP Media Center Edition remote control.

Central to this remote control, as you've undoubtedly noticed, is the big green button. It's so prominent that there's even a Windows MCE Web site named after it. This button always brings you to the main Start menu for Media Center.

Not all MCE PC remote controls look the same, but almost all have the same general functionality. You might find the DVD Menu button located by the navigation buttons on an HP remote control, for instance, but sandwiched between the VOL and CH/PG buttons on the Windows-standard MCE remote. The DVD Menu button works the same in both instances, however, taking you straight to the main menu of the DVD movie.

Getting the Scoop on the Media Center Edition PC

A Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 PC embodies the evolution of the home PC from a powerful computing platform to a full-fledged digital media hub — a central gateway that consolidates your entertainment choices and allows you to access those choices with a single remote control. Through your MCE PC, you can control audio and video signals, DVDs and CDs, TVs and computer monitors, keyboards and remote controls. Anything you can do with your home-entertainment system, you can now do through your MCE PC. Way cool!

Media Center PCs are entertainment PCs because they're outfitted with the following:

Mid- to high-end processor: Media Center PCs sport the faster processors — at this writing, HP is shipping its Media Center PC with a 3.06-GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor. Wow!
Tons of memory: MCE PCs have a minimum 256MB RAM (random access memory); most have 512MB or more.
High-capacity drives: All MCE PCs ship with at least an 80GB hard drive. Viewsonic's M2000 PC ships with a 160GB drive — enough space for 140 hours of video or thousands upon thousands of audio tracks.
CD and DVD drives: All MCE PCs have an optical drive that can play back CDs and DVDs. Many can record CDs, and a few can even record DVDs.
Advanced audio/video and graphics interfaces: MCE PCs have high-end audio and video cards that can handle digital audio and video — just like the chips inside a fancy home-theater receiver or a high-end digital television. The graphics card in an MCE PC can be used with both computer displays and televisions — at the same time. In MCE 2002 PCs, these graphics cards were typically members of the NVIDIA GeForce4 family of processors. MCE 2004 PCs will ship with either NVIDIA or ATI Radeon cards.
Surround sound speakers: To fully enjoy your movie soundtracks, you're going to need surround sound, just like you get in the theater. Surround sound 5.1, its official designation, consists of five speakers — front left, front right, front center, rear left, and rear right — plus a subwoofer for those deep booms when something gets blown to bits. Various computer manufacturers have teamed with the leading speaker vendors, such as HP and Klipsch, and Gateway and SoundBlaster.
Expansion slots: PCs are designed to grow up — they're like kids that way. So most desktop PCs have a bunch of expansion slots that enable you to add capabilities to the PC as your needs dictate. Laptop PCs, for reasons of space, have much less in the way of expansion. Most MCE PCs have the following types of expansion slots:
• Optical drive expansion slot: This is a slot for a second optical drive, so you could, for example, have a CD recorder in one slot and a DVD recorder in the other.

• Hard drive expansion slot: Many tower-style MCE PCs have a slot for a second hard drive for extra data storage.

• PCI expansion slots: Most MCE PC internal cards connect to a PCI bus, which interconnects any internal cards and sends data between them and the CPU. Extra PCI expansion slots leave room for additional cards, such as wireless network cards.

• Memory slots: You can expand the RAM in the MCE PC by simply inserting a memory card. The number of open memory slots depends on what was installed when your MCE PC was built. Unless you bought 1GB RAM or more, you should have slots available for adding additional RAM.

Networking connectivity: All MCE PCs have at least an Ethernet port for connecting to a wired home network. Many have built-in wireless networking systems as well, so you can hook up to a standard 802.11 wireless network.
In addition to these features, which are shared by many other computers, MCE PCs have a few unique requirements that Microsoft imposes on its MCE partner PC makers. These items are not found on your typical off-the-shelf PC. When you open your Media Center PC box, you're likely to find most or all of the following components to facilitate your entertainment experience:

A Media-Center-compatible remote control: All MCE PCs come with an infrared (IR) remote control that lets you sit across the room and control your MCE PC's audio, video, and digital photography functions without using the keyboard or mouse. You can even record live TV with a single press of a button.
A remote infrared sensor: All MCE PCs come with an IR sensor (usually connected to a USB port on the computer) that works with your remote control — the sensor picks up the IR (light) signals from the remote and sends them to the computer as commands. Many MCE PCs also include a capability for the IR sensor and remote control to pass standard commands (such as channel up or down) to your cable set-top box or digital satellite system (DSS) satellite receiver.
A TV tuner: All MCE PCs connect to a TV antenna, a cable TV feed, or the output of a cable set-top box or satellite receiver for TV viewing. The TV tuner is used with some other elements of the MCE PC (such as the hardware encoder) for recording live TV.
A hardware or software encoder: MCE PCs can record television programming onto your computer's hard drive for later playback and for neat features such as pausing live TV. A hardware encoder takes some of the load off the main CPU (the Pentium 4 or Athlon XP chip), making the recording and playback process work better and faster. The hardware encoder is a computer chip that converts video to and from a digital format known as MPEG. Some cards, like the ATI cards, use software encoding with a faster processor, instead of a hardware encoder.
A TV output: Although you can watch TV on the standard PC monitor attached to your MCE PC, all MCE PCs can also be connected directly to a TV — both traditional analog TVs and newer digital (or HDTV) TVs — so you can enjoy your MCE content on the big screen.
A radio tuner card: Some of the newest MCE PCs include an FM radio tuner that lets you pick up standard over-the-air FM broadcasts that you can listen to and record with your computer.
A digital audio output: If you have a home-theater system and an A/V (audio/video) receiver with digital connections (like the ones you use with many DVD players), you can interconnect these entertainment devices to the audio outputs of most MCE PCs. This type of digital connection gives you higher-fidelity (better-sounding) audio, and lets you listen to digital surround-sound content in all its multichannel glory.
This 5.1 channel digital audio will work only during DVD playback. Media Center doesn't support 5.1 digital surround sound for TV, even if your TV provider (digital cable or satellite) offers it