Hello! If you've come here from a random link, my name's LJ, nice to meet you, please feel free to have a look round my blog too.

Bought a lovely new Archos? They’re amazing things – I’m inseparable from my Archii (is that the plural?), and certainly there are lot of people who share my genuine affection for these sweet multimedia companions! 

I receive emails asking for Archos advice now and again (I’m on telly occasionally as a gadget expert), so I’ve decided to write a mini-guide to...

Getting started with All things Archos!

Disclaimer: Please bear in mind I’m writing this as an Archos Fan, not a representative of the company! Also, make sure to back up everything before following advice from anyone – even gadget addicts such as myself :-)

That said,

Let’s Goooooo!

Your lovely new toy arrives at your place.  Whoopee! First thing to do when your Archos arrives is to make sure to give it some juice before getting down and dirty with it – yes, charge it baby!  I know it’s difficult waiting a few hours, but trust me, you’ll get a lot more from your battery if you manage a tiny bit of self control at this point.  You may be lucky and there’s some decent sci-fi on the telly, otherwise you’ll just have to be patient or play Wii for a bit.  Tip: if your Archos came with a DVR Docking station, it will charge more rapidly through it.  Charge it until the “CHG” light flashes.  Ahh, that’s better.

How to Register your Archos: 

1. There’s no point getting an Archos and not registering it online, as by registering, you are accessing technical and customer support, and if you have a docking station, you can register that in order to receive your 1year subscription to the “TVTV” TV guide service. 
2. 1.       Of course, you have to go to www.archos.com
3. 2.       Click “Account/Registration” on the home page – it’s just under the “home” button on the left hand side.
4. 3.       Fill in the form. 
5. 4.       Click on Add Product, if you’re not invited to register a product straight away
6. 5.      Type in the Serial Number, which is on the back of your Archos*. 

6.       Type in the Product Key, which is stored on your device (clever!)

1. 
   Finding your Product Key: Generation 5 (105, 405, 605, 705)
   Press the button "Menu", then click on Settings and System.
2. The "Product Key" is The 14-digit number that follows - unique to your device (can be letters or numbers).
3. Finding your Product Key: Generation 4 (104, 204, 404, 504, 604, 704)
4. Press the "Double Arrows" button* then click on the icon System.
5. The "Product Key" is The 14-digit number that follows - unique to your device (can be letters or numbers). 

1. How to Register your DVR Docking Station:
2. 1.       Once you’ve registered your Archos device (405, 605 etc – see above for How To Register)
3. 2.       Click on “Manage Products”
4. 3.       Click on the picture of the product
5. 4.       Click on “Subscribe” next to TV Programme Guide
6. 5.       Type in the Serial No and the Model No of your DVR Docking Station (The Serial No is written on the underside of your docking station, beginning with one or two letters, and 9 numbers eg FX000000000.  The model no is also on the underside of your docking station)
7. 6.       Hit Search Lineups and choose your subscription – freeview, digital, etc.  You can change this at any time, which is quite cool.

NOTE: If you are downloading your guide, and can see the channels, but no data, check the time and date on your Archos device is current - this should fix the issue.  

Follow these steps to get the TV guide on your Archos after subscribing your DVR above.

1. 1.       Once you’ve registered your DVR Docking station, you’ll be able to Download the Archos Link software (free download from Archos online)
2. 2.       Connect your Archos to your PC, run ArchosLink, and click on the question mark on the top ribbon, which brings up the help window. 
3. 3.       Click on the cross to the left of "ArchosLink v1.0" (or v1.x) in the window under “Contents” in the help window.
4. 4.       Click on updating TV Program Guide in the help window, then follow the instructions using the ArchosLink software.

1. Downloading Your Free Games Pack
2. If your Archos comes with a Free Games pack, this is how you get to it:
3. 1.       Visit  http://www.archos.com/games/en
4. 2.       The website should say “Thankyou for buying an ARCHOS Game Pack”
5. 3.       Choose your game pack by checking the radio button underneath your pack of choice.
6. 4.       Fill in the form, along with your Archos’ product key, serial number, and the download code on the back of your “Games for Archos” leaflet.
7. 5.       Install the game pack – you can follow instructions on how to do this by clicking here:  

1. More “How To” and FAQ Guides from Archos:
2. Just the FAQs, Ma’am... starting with the Index of Frequently Asked Questions, Product Manuals, and the like... from Archos.
3. Specific links from Archos, in case they're any use:
4. 405 FAQs
5. 605 and 705 wifi FAQs
6. Archos TV+ FAQs
7. “How To” PDF files for quite a few Archos things:  Click here 
8. Finally, If all else fails:
9. How to contact Archos Tech Support: 
10. 1.       Make sure your product is registered (if not, register it now on www.archos.com  - see above for how to do that)
11. 2.       Contact Archos Customer support on the website by following the points below:
12. 3.       Login to www.Archos.com
13. 4.       Click on Manage Products
14. 5.       Click on the picture of your product (for example, the 605 Wifi picture)
15. 6.       Click on Support (above the green "more" buttons)
16. 7.       Scroll down to "Contact Support", where you'll see a Technical Support Passcode
17. 8.       Copy that technical support code (press Ctrl+c), then click on the technical support link on the left hand side of the page.
18. 9.       Click on Contact Support, then select your device, follow the instructions and click on "3. Technical support" at the top of the page.
19. 10.   Paste your code in (press Ctrl+v) to the space provided and then you'll be able to get the query off to people who will be able to help.
20. 11.   Click on "more" and scroll down to where you can type in information about your problem. As a rule, the more info you enter, the better – if it’s a computer problem, enter your operating system (XP, Vista, Mac OSX etc), and if it’s an audio-visual problem, enter your set-top box (Thomson Sky+box, Virgin V+) and your telly set-up. 
21. Phew,  I’ve got to get ready for the rest of the week now, hope that helped a bit, and apologies for not being able to enter into any personal correspondence re: archos tech support.
22. However, if you’re after more things Archos, have a look around www.archosfans.com who also have a forum to play around in.

23. Live Long and Prosper! Do please visit or subscribe to my blog, Geek Chic, where various techy things are discussed, along with geek life, food, scifi, being on TV, and music composition amongst other things***. 

Notes: 

*Finding Your Serial Number on Gen 5 Devices:

**This is what the "Double Arrows" button looks like. Pics from www.archos.com

***To be honest, the subject matter depends almost entirely upon caffeine consumption and/or sleep deprivation.  There’s probably an equation somewhere which could generate the likelihood of topic, based on that data, but more coffee would be needed to research that.