This issue, Jonathan Parkyn shows you how to convert your old XP PC into a music, video and photo player
Connect your PC to your TV
One great way to repurpose your PC is to turn it into an all-in-one media centre that’s connected to your living-room TV. By far the easiest (and cheapest) way to connect the PC and TV is via HDMI cable. Modern TV sets come with multiple HDMI sockets and, if you’re lucky enough to have a PC with an HDMI output, then all that’s needed is a £3 HDMI cable, which will carry sound as wrell as picture. There are plenty on Amazon (www.snipca.com/15889).
Annoyingly, Windows XP computers tend to pre-date HDMI, so it’s more likely that your old PC uses either VGA or DVI (or both) for its video output. It’s possible to buy a DVI-to-HDMI cable or adapter (www.snipca.com/15890), but DVI doesn’t carry sound.
Some TVs offer a VGA connection (sometimes labelled ‘RGB’ or ‘PC’), often with a separate socket for audio. If yours does, connect your PC’s video output via a VGA cable, then use a male-to-male 3.5mm mini jack cable (like this: www. snipca.com/15891) to connect the speaker or headphone socket on your PC to the audio input your TV.
Another option is to get a converter box that lets you connect DVI and audio separately from your PC to a single HDMI socket on your TV, but they can be pricey (this one is £60: www.snipca. com/15876).
See your PC’s screen on your TV
Once the connection is made, turn on your PC and switch your TV to the appropriate input. If the image appears distorted, you’ll need to adjust the computer’s resolution settings. Right-click the Desktop, select Properties, then click Settings and move the slider until the resolution suits your screen.
If your TV and PC aren’t recognising each other, switch off your PC before making the connection, then try again. If that still doesn’t work, you may need to connect your PC to its old monitor (or use the built-in screen on a laptop) and set a suitable resolution before reconnecting to the TV.
If you want to control your computer from your sofa, a keyboard and mouse won’t be the most convenient option, especially if they’re not wireless. Instead, get a remote control handset like this excellent infrared PC remote control (£3.59, www.snipca.com/15877; XP and Vista only).
Install free photo and video software
Windows Media Player (WMP) is fine for playing music, but to watch video you’re better off with VLC (www.snipca.com/15892), which supports a huge range of video and audio file formats, plus DVDs, CDs and even VCDs.
VLC still works on XP, but you should download it using a Windows 7 or 8/8.1 PC (which is much safer for going online) then save the EXE installation file to a USB stick and transfer it to your old XP PC.
Similarly, XP’s built-in photo viewer has always been a bit lacking, but Google’s free photo tool Picasa (http://picasa.google.co.uk) still supports XP. Given the dangers of going online using XP, you won’t be able to use Picasa’s web features, but you can still use its Desktop tools to organise your photos and play slideshows.
Alternatively, install a media-centre program for playing your music, photos, movies and DVDs all from one place. Open-source program Kodi (http://kodi.tv) would be our choice if it still supported XP. Happily, you can get an XP-compatible version of Kodi’s forerunner, XBMC, for free (www.snipca.com/15878). As with VLC, download it using another PC, then transfer and install it on your XP computer.