# Windows Media Center - Can I change the channel while recording?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-media-center-can-i-change-the-channel-while-recording/585890>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 17, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-media-center-can-i-change-the-channel-while-recording/585890 "2011-06-17T22:59:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-media-center-can-i-change-the-channel-while-recording/585890/1 "2011-06-17T22:59:29Z")

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Simple question, also will it record in the same quality as I see it and how about the volume, can I record at a low volume and not mess up sound quality? Thanks

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**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-media-center-can-i-change-the-channel-while-recording/585890/2 "2011-06-19T03:18:57Z")

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It has been years since I used Windows Media Center, so this might be out of date, but…

In order to change channels while recording, you need two TV cards.

So I bought a second card that matched my first card and all was good. Of course, that was in the days of analog cable, so you might be hampered by how you access your TV signal.  
Specifically, if you are tied to a cable box for decoding the signal, you might be limited to one channel at a time because of the cable box.

You definitely can watch old recordings while the current channel is recording.