DVR stands for Digital Video Recorder. A DVR is basically a super smart digital VCR; only it uses a built-in hard drive to store your shows, not tapes. Not exactly rocket science, eh?

To get your DVR on, call 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX right now.

Highlight the name of the series/show you'd like to record in your on-screen guide and press the record or select button, and then choose the recording options you want. You can also search for the show/s you wish to record by channel, title or program type.

At the moment, it's not possible to record entire channels for the whole day, unless you select all the programs individually for that day. Don't worry, it's easy, all that takes is a few clicks of your DVR remote, et voila, your DVR will do the rest.

You sure can. In fact, you can record up to two shows at the same time. Nice, huh?

In a word… yes. In two words… yes and definitely.

When your DVR is recording (or scheduled to record), the program it's recording will turn red in your program guide. Plus, the red recording light on the front of your DVR will light up… it also makes an attractive night light, but that's another story.

Don't worry; these have nothing to do with Homeland Security, but they will help you to know what your DVR is getting up to.

Orange: A reminder timer has been set for a specific program.

Red: A DVR recording has been scheduled.

Green: A specific event has already been purchased.

Your DVR gives highest priority to the most recent recording request. To make sure that a specific show records in the event of a tuner conflict, delete any old requests and submit a new one. This will make your most recent request the highest-priority request. You can always try reasoning with your DVR, but you'll probably find the former approach more successful.

Go to the list of shows you have programmed to record and select the show you want to change. Then, select the program's Recording Options and you should find a menu option for changing the start/stop times. Change the times however you want, and you're golden.

Let's face it; nobody likes conflict now, do they? So if there is a conflict, your DVR will display a friendly on-screen message asking you what you'd like to do next — usually, which shows you want to record, and which one you don't mind not recording. If you do not resolve the conflict, your DVR uses pre-determined rules to work out what to do want to record. You can go into preferences to change the standard settings.

Your DVR is set up to delete the oldest recordings first, as and when space is needed to record new programs. So, if you sort your recordings by the date on which they were recorded, you can see what will be deleted next. Nice and simple, eh. And if you want to, you can keep any recording for as long as you want by changing its save options. Simply select the program you wish to keep from shows you have recorded, and select "Do Not Delete:"

This depends on the make and model of you DVR, but on average, a DVR can save 300 hours of SD programming

Depending on your DVR box, you can press and hold the fast forward or reverse buttons. Also, by pressing the fast forward or reverse buttons on your remote three times, you can fast forward or reverse at up to 3x normal speed. It's so simple, a monkey could do it, but then, they're hard to come by, so it's probably better if you do it yourself.

Unless it was a very recent recording, there's a good chance it was deleted to make space for new ones. There is also a recording log page that tells what happened to some recordings (e.g., didn't record due to tuner conflict or lack of disk space).

You can only rewind live TV. You can do this by pressing the rewind button. Also, by pressing the instant replay button, you can jump back exactly eight seconds.