How to Use a Laptop to Record From the TV
- 1). Plug a USB TV tuner into an available USB port on your laptop. Attach a coaxial cable to the round coaxial plug sticking out of the opposite end of the USB TV tuner. Plug the other end of the coaxial cable into your TV signal's source, such as a cable box, a digital TV converter or an antenna.
- 2). Insert the USB TV tuner's installation disk into your laptop's optical drive. Allow the installer to run and follow prompts to install drivers. Many tuners also come bundled with simple software for watching TV on your computer, but you do not need to install this software if your computer already runs Windows Media Center.
- 3). Click on the "Start" button on the Windows taskbar and type "Media Center" into the search box. Press the "Enter" key to load Windows Media Center. Click on "Set Up TV" under the "TV + Movies" heading. Click on it again to begin. Confirm your region and signal type to select your programming guide. Follow the prompts to search for available channels and finish setup of the TV tuner.
- 4). Click on "Live TV" under "TV + Movies" to begin viewing live television. Hover your mouse or touchpad pointer over the bottom of the screen to see the TV controls. Click on the round, left-most button to begin recording.
- 5). Click on "Guide" under "TV + Movies" to view the programming guide. Right-click on a program you wish to record and select "Record" to schedule that recording. Select "Record Series" instead of "Record" to schedule Media Center to record every show within a series.
Source...