You may see a smaller than expected number of channels listed in the Electronic Programming Guide when you start Windows Media Center TV Pack for the first time on a computer that has a Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) tuner installed

When you open Windows Media Center TV Pack for the first time on a computer that has a Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) tuner installed, and you choose to set up your TV signal, one of the optional configuration steps will prompt you to scan for channels. When the channel scan completes, you may find a smaller than expected number of QAM channels listed in the Electronic Programming Guide (EPG).

For more information about how to remove a channel from the EPG if you receive a "No TV signal" error message when you tune to the channel, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

You may expect to see more channels show up in the EPG. However, Windows Media Center TV Pack will only show channels in the EPG that also have channel data associated with them. Not all QAM channels have channel data associated with them. Therefore, those channels do not show up in the EPG.

If you are aware of a channel that does not appear in the EPG, and you want to add that channel to the EPG, follow these steps:

1. Start Windows Media Center.
2. In the Start window, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, and then click TV.
3. Click Guide.
4. Click Edit Channels.
5. Locate the channel that you want to add, and then click to select it.
6. Click Save.

The newly added channel should appear in the EPG. However, the words "No Data Available" will show next to the channel in the EPG because no channel data is associated with the channel.

If you are aware of a channel that was not detected by Windows Media Center TV Pack, and you want to add a missing channel to the EPG, follow these steps:

1. Start Windows Media Center.
2. In the Start window, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, and then click TV.
3. Click Guide.
4. Click Add Missing Channels.
5. Locate the channel that you want to add, and then click to select it.
6. Click Add Channel.
7. Follow the directions to name the channel, assign a channel number, and then click Add.
8. Click Done.

The channel should now appear in the EPG.

Note Channels that have a padlock icon next to them represent encrypted content. You can manually add these channels to the EPG. However, these channels will not play when you click them. This is because these channels carry encrypted content.

This behavior is by design.

This article only applies to users in North America who have a QAM tuner and who are running Windows Media Center TV Pack.

This article does not apply to the earlier version of Windows Media Center that is included with Windows Vista or with Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Windows Media Center TV Pack was released on July 16, 2008. Not all computers that are shipped by hardware vendors in the retail channel will have Windows Media Center TV Pack. To check whether your computer has the Windows Media Center TV Pack installed, follow these steps:

1. Start Windows Media Center.
2. In the Start window, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, and then click General.
3. Click About Windows Media Center, and then click Software Version.

If the version is 6.1.1000.18273, you are running the Windows Media Center TV Pack.

If the version number is 6.0.6001.18000, you are not running Windows Media Center TV Pack. You are running the version of Windows Media Center that is released in Windows Vista or in Windows Vista SP1.