Using Creative's bundled Media Explorer, you can convert just about any kind of video file (AVI, DivX, MPEG, WMV, and so on) for viewing on your Zen Vision or Zen Vision:M. Of course, because the Zens have native support for such a broad range of formats, it's possible that some files won't require conversion at all. That's the beauty of Media Explorer's Convert Video utility: it will tell you which of your selected movies require conversion and just direct-copy those that don't.

Video conversion novices will find Creative's Media Source software a breeze to use.

1. Start Media Explorer and click Convert Video.
2. Click the Add button and choose the files you want to convert.
3. Click Next, then adjust the quality settings as desired. For example, if you want your videos to look their best and you have space to spare on your Zen, choose Best Quality.
4. In the same dialog box, select an output folder for the converted files, then click Next.
5. Review the selected files to see which ones require conversion and which ones don't. You shouldn't have to make any changes here, as the utility won't bother converting videos the Zen can already play.
6. Check the box marked "Transfer converted files to this player after conversion," then click Next. Now go get a cup of coffee while the utility works its magic and copies the reformatted movies to your player.

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Convert Media Center shows
If you have a Windows XP Media Center 2005 PC, plug in your Zen and wait for the Sync option to appear. Choose the Add More option, then choose Recorded TV. Select the shows you want to copy to the Zen, then start the process. Note that you may want to remove (by highlighting and clicking the X) all the other sync selections that are listed by default, otherwise you could be in for a long wait.

If you want more control over what you copy to your Zen (the Media Center interface limits you to recorded TV shows and forces you to take three episodes at a time), you can use Windows Media Player 10 to manually select and sync TV shows, movies, photos, and the like.