Media Center Query-Based Recording

For those of you running Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate Media Center, I just stumbled across a great tip for scheduling programs with the TV Tuner thanks to The Electric Wand blog. The tip involves how to use Media Center to do query-based recording. Query-based recording means how to create a custom recording to record a program that isn't currently scheduled on the off chance that it will be shown again someday.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Go to "Recorded TV" on the main Media Center menu, and select "Add a Recording"
2. Select "Generic Keyword" from the list
3. Enter in the keyword (search term) and click "Save" to save this query
4. Click "OK"

Now, if you go back into "Recorded TV" and look up what you have set to record (under "Series"), you'll see that your Keyword Query is in the list. "ANY CH" displays next to it since Media Center will now record the program whenever the guide can match your query.

What an awesome tip! (For more details on this and for step-by-step instructions with screenshots, click here.)