Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows® XP Media Center®

Turning Media Center Sounds On or Off

Another way to personalize your Media Center experience is to decide whether you

want to hear the variety of sounds Media Center generates in response to your menu

selections and navigation choices. If you find that the sounds intrude on your enter-

tainment experience, just switch them off using the Media Center Sounds Settings

screen (see Figure 21.8).

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

FIGURE 21.8

Media Center’s

audio acknowl-

edgments sim-

ply provide you

with a subtle

signal that the

computer is car-

rying out your

commands.

To change your sounds setting, choose Media Center Sounds from the General

Settings Menu. On the Media Center Sounds Settings screen, choose On or Off, and

then Save your changes.

Setting Media Center’s Parental Controls

Media Center not only allows you to choose appearance settings that reflect your

individual tastes and preferences, but it can even reflect your values and beliefs.

Setting parental control limits lets you manage what the children in your household

can and cannot watch on TV. In these video-filled times in which we live, it can be a

useful way to let the next generation in your household know exactly what you con-

sider to be appropriate entertainment—even when you’re not around.

Here’s how to set the parental controls on your Media Center PC:

1. Choose Parental Control from the General Settings menu.

2. At the Create a 4-Digit Code screen (see Figure 21.9), input a four-digit code

using your remote control keypad or the keyboard. Remember to use a num-

ber sequence you won’t easily forget, and/or write it down and put the

reminder in a safe place. If you still forget your code, there is a procedure to

reset it. For details, see the Tip later in this section.

CHAPTER 21 CUSTOMIZING THE XP MEDIA CENTER INTERFACE

291

FIGURE 21.9

Media Center’s

parental control

features rely on

this four-digit

code.

3. Select the category of parental controls you want to change. You can choose

TV Ratings or Movie/DVD Ratings.

4. When you select TV Ratings, you must first place a check mark next to Turn

on TV Blocking (see Figure 21.10) to set a TV rating level. You can choose a

maximum allowed TV rating by clicking on the – or + symbol until you see

the appropriate rating level. Rating levels include TV-MA (for mature audi-

ences only), TV-14 (parents strongly cautioned), TV-PG (parental guidance

suggested), TV-G (general audience), TV-Y7 (for older children, ages 7 and

above), and TV-Y (for all children). There is even a category for None, in

which all rated programs will be blocked.

5. To fine-tune your controls even further, select the Advanced tab to access the

Advanced TV Ratings screen (see Figure 21.11). Here you can set levels for the

following categories of video content: Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Dialogue,

Offensive Language, Sexual Content, and Violence.

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

FIGURE 21.10

To set the maxi-

mum TV rating

allowed, you

must choose

from among the

seven rating cat-

egories.

FIGURE 21.11

The Advanced

TV Ratings

screen lets you

set individual

viewing thresh-

olds for five cat-

egories.

6. Save your choices before proceeding to

the Movie/DVD Ratings screen (see Figure

21.12). As with TV ratings, you must first

place a check mark next to Turn on

Movie Blocking to set the rating level.

Viewers will not be able to watch pro-

gramming that exceeds these limits

unless they know your four-digit code.

7. Save your settings to return to Media

Center.

Changing Your Four-Digit Code

Should the secrecy of your four-digit code be

exposed or compromised by an inadvertent secu-

rity breach, you can easily change it to preserve

the sanctity of your parental rights. Simply return

to the main Parental Controls menu and select

Change 4-Digit Code. You’ll be asked to enter the

old code before inputting the new code. Repeat

the new code to confirm, and then select OK (see

Figure 21.13).

CHAPTER 21 CUSTOMIZING THE XP MEDIA CENTER INTERFACE

293

FIGURE 21.12

The Movie/DVD

Ratings page

lets you choose

the maximum

allowed movie

rating—from

None to X and

everything in

between.

tip

Forgot your four-digit

code? Don’t worry.

Microsoft has made it easy—

maybe even too easy—to

reset the code and start from

scratch. Just follow these

steps:

1. Return to the General Settings

menu from the main Media

Center start page.

2. Highlight the Parental Control

tab.

3. Using the keyboard, press and

hold down Ctrl+Alt while you

select OK on the remote.

4. When prompted, enter a new

four-digit code. (This time,

write it down! )