Windows 7 - Organizing recorded TV

I'm a recent convert from Sage TV. I'm still trying to work my way through the world of Windows Media Center / Media Browser. I have few questions on how WMC manages recorded TV. It would be great if one of the WMC experts take a few minutes and help me understand how WMC handles recorded TV.

1. On SageTV, there is a way to mark a recording as "Watched". Is there a similar option with WMC? Does WMC even keep track of "Watched" shows? I ask this because I'm curious to know how WMC decides if it is OK to delete a recording to make room for newer recordings.

2. Can I control the "Record new episodes only"/"Record new and repeat episodes" setting per TV-Series? Or is this setting applied to all recordings? I'd like to record only new episodes for "Series A" where as record new and repeat episodes for "Series B". Is this possible in WMC? I have a feeling this is not an option with WMC. Am I right?

3. I tried to integrate WMC recordings in Media Browser. I was able to accomplish this by using the "WTV Meta Renamer" powerscript which basically moves recordings from "WMC recordings folder" to a folder that is formatted in a way that is supported by Media Browser. But then I started noticing that WMC was recording shows that were moved to a different folder the next time it aired. So, I just assumed that this is because WMC figured that the recording was removed before it was "watched" and so went ahead and recorded it again. Is my assumption correct? Is there any way around this?

Thank you,

I'm a convert from BeyondTV with WinXP, now using WMC on Windows 7 with both my Ceton card and ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI card.

You may find the answers to your questions on this Microsoft FAQ page.


There is no such concept as "watched" in WMC. However if you do begin watching a recorded program and then stop it, there is a "bookmark" kept so that if you play it again subsequently you will be offered to either "play, from beginning" or "resume, from where you left off".

If there is no available hard disk space, Windows Media Center will look for recorded programs that have the setting Until space needed, and delete them to make room for new recordings. You can adjust this setting in advance for individual recordings (when you set the recording) or for series or for individual recordings within a series recording (before the recording has been made).

If no recording is set to be deleted, the new scheduled show will not be recorded.

To prevent this from happening, try adjusting the settings under Recording Defaults, such as the amount of time you want to keep a recorded program, the length of recording time before and after a scheduled broadcast, or the default quality for future recordings. Also, you can store recorded TV programs on an external hard drive if you need more space.


There may be a WMC default per your setup of WMC, but each individual recording (one-off or series or individual recording within series) can be manually changed as you desire.


You're wrong... you can set a WMC default, but each one-off or series recording has its own option that's initially set from the WMC default but which you can manually change if you want (before the recording is made).


I know nothing about this subject. I only have one "Recorded TV" folder on a 1TB drive and never have filled it up. I also don't have video libraries set up, nor do I use Media Browser or any related tools. Sorry.

But there is only one "Recorded TV" folder for new recordings. You cannot define a "recordings pool of folders" (as, for example, I could with BeyondTV).

Thank you for your response. Now, the only remaining question that I have is how will WMC handle this scenario

1. WMC Records "Series A - Episode 1" in its "Recordings" folder. Series A recording setting is set as "record new and repeat"
2. User manually deletes the "Series A - Episode 1" wtv file from "Recordings" folder without even opening it once in WMC.
3. WMC detects that "Series A - Episode 1" is playing again on one of the channels.

Now, will WMC record it again or just ignore it as it was already recorded once (even though the file has been deleted).

WMC makes use of a sophisticated "History" algorithm for shows that have been recorded. Whether you manually delete the WTV file yourself (although I don't know why you would do that, as opposed to browsing the "Recorded TV" folder with WMC and delete what you don't want to watch using that method) or use WMC to do the delete, the "History" has already been established. WMC knows what's been recorded, and that's what counts for deciding on whether new programs should be recorded or not.

Furthermore, my experience is that the Zap2it Guide data that Microsoft uses for your zip code and provider is much more precise than say the TV Guide data fed to TWC or Comcast. The DVR software relies heavily on the presence of the words "(new)" or "(repeat)" to control recordings based on your setting. In contrast, the Zap2it data contains the far more useful "original air date", to define whether a show is "new" or "a repeat".

Finally, even if you specify "new + repeat" so that you get "all airings", it will not duplicate a recording... unlike the way the cable DVR software works under that setting. So WMC will pick up all "previously aired" episodes, but only one of them.

So to answer your question, once a particular episode has been recorded it will not be recorded again (unless you delete all History, which there's no reason for you to do).


On another matter, note that WMC provides a very useful presentation which organizes your recordings into "show" groups (major by show, minor by recording date in reverse order with newest shown first). That way your major listing is alphabetical by show name (like a folder view), and when you get into each show's "folder" you then see entries for each recorded episode of that show.

Very useful and easy to browse.

In reply to your original post, MediaBrowser provides an indicator of watched / unwatched shows.