Do you have an appointment in an hour and want to kill some time before then playing multimedia files in Windows Media Center? Don't be late to your engagement - add an Alarm Clock so Media Center can alert you when it's time to stop watching repeats of "Lost" or "The Office" and head out.

To install this free tool:

1. Visit Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP Media Center Edition.

2. Underneath "Download", click on "MCAlarmClockSetup.exe".

3. Follow the prompts on the following web pages to validate your copy of Windows (if required) and download and run the file.

4. Read and agree to the licensing terms.

5. Click "Finish" once the installation has completed.

To run the Alarm Clock from Windows Media Center:

1. Navigate to "More Programs".

2. Select "Alarm Clock".

To set an alarm, click the "Set Alarm" button, then select your alarm time and media to play for the alarm. Click "Activate" to set the alarm.

Click "Set Sleep" to set a sleep timer. Enter the amount of minutes to play the music, then select media file(s) to play for that specified time. Click "Start" to start the sleep timer.

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Return to the Media Center Edition 2005 page.