Using multiple tuners for back to back recordings

By default, Media Center will use one TV tuner for back to back recordings in order to leave other TV tuners free for live TV and other recordings. This can cause some recordings to stop before a show actually finishes, meaning the end of a show is either missed, or is included as part of a following scheduled recording.

It is possible to get Media Center to use a different TV tuner for the second recording, but this must be manually set for each series, or each single event recording since the Recording Defaults (found under Tasks |Settings | TV | Recorder | Recording Defaults) don't have the necessary options present.

You can access the required record settings from the TV guide. For series recordings, you can get there from the Recorded TV page.

From the Guide:

Right-click on the first of the shows scheduled to be recorded (or move to the show and press i on the remote), click Program Details, scroll right to the Actions page and click on Record Settings (under additional commands). If you clicked on a series recording, then you are given the option to alter all recordings in the series, or just the show you clicked on in the guide. Click on your chosen option. Scroll down through the various settings until you get to Stop: and set this to 10 minutes after (not 10 minutes after, when possible). Click Save to return to the actions page and use the back button to return to the guide page.

From the Recorded TV page (for series recordings only):

Click on a show that is part of a series recording and scroll right to Actions, click on Series Info (under additional commands), click on Series Settings. Scroll down through the settings to Stop: and set this to 10 minutes after (not 10 minutes after, when possible). Click Save to return to the Series Settings page and use the back button to return to the Recorded TV page.

Information:

It should be noted that changing this setting will force Windows Media Center to use a different TV tuner for the second recording. Depending on the number of TV tuners configured in Media Center, you may see more tuner conflicts than usual, or receive prompts from Media Center asking to change the channel in order to record scheduled shows.