Where has the Media folder selection gone?

jonny4

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In Windows 7 I could setup where Windows looked for my media, has this been removed? I could also do it under the Zune software and with Windows Media Center.
 

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  • OS
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Hi Jonny,

In Windows 8 the music software automatically looks at your Music library defined in Windows Explorer. I haven't found a way to change it to look at a folder instead yet. To add locations to the library:

Open up Windows Explorer (Windows Key + E, or bring up your desktop and find a folder to open)
On the left under "Libraries", right click on "Music" and click "Properties"

In the dialog that pops up you can add/remove folders from the library. Only catch is the folder needs to be indexed by Windows Search (which doesn't support network drives from what I can tell, hence why I'm ditching the player already).

Hope that helps, Jake
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 RTM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS
Windows media center on scale of 1 to 10 is a -2

J.River media center on a scale of 1 to 10 is a 11

nuff said
 

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I want to correct/supplement my above statement about indexing network drives - at least in Windows 7, if you mark a network drive's folder as "available offline" then you can add it to the search index. Going to try it this evening myself.

Regarding JRMC mentioned by tcman50, if they make a Metro version then I'll consider it. Not a fan of desktop apps on my TV screen. Using Winamp right now but would love to try out Zune player / XBox 360 media center / whatever it's called in 8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 RTM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS
Windows Media Center works flawlessly in my Windows 8, it's the same one as is used in Windows 7.

Network drive locations are easily added. It also does everything that JRMC does but you don't have to pay for it in Windows 7, Windows 8 RTM wants 12.95 for it.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro WMC
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    Mouse
    G9 logitech
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    50mbps
Windows 8 RTM wants 12.95 for it.

I was just about to ask that question - because I had heard it wasn't free. $12.95 isn't exactly an arm and a leg, either, though. I wish I could combine Winamp with WMC.

I didn't use WMC much - stuck with WMP in Win 7. But the problem was WMP's performance came to a crawl with 40,000+ songs, and library management/cleanup wasn't efficient.

Actually, I need two systems - one to play the media (media center) and one to manage the media (WMP or Winamp). That would be my ideal solution.

Anyway, Jonny let us know if you've had any luck with your library.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 RTM
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS
I didn't use WMC much - stuck with WMP in Win 7. But the problem was WMP's performance came to a crawl with 40,000+ songs, and library management/cleanup wasn't efficient.

They're the same thing WRT the underlying library code. They're both horrible for music. I gave up on Microsoft for music due to its chronic inability to reliably support gapless playback, horrible album art management, updating of hidden metadata causing larger backups, the endless library rebuild bug that came with Windows 7, and the constant monitoring of the folder for new files and re-indexing of it, an idea that is great in theory but terrible in practice. At least it's beyond Microsoft's ability to make it work decently. The Music library idea is complete fail due to the inability to divorce Microsoft's crapware from it, and developers of other software are wise to avoid relying on it. Windows 8 has the same old Media Center, and WMP looks just the same in the 5 seconds I looked at it. Don't even get me started on the bizarre Windows 8 Music "app".

Actually, I need two systems - one to play the media (media center) and one to manage the media (WMP or Winamp). That would be my ideal solution.

I use iTunes for library-based music and foobar2000 for double-clicking files from Explorer; IOW, foobar is the program associated with all the music file types. Works great. So far, Apple has been smart enough not to wed iTunes to the Windows libraries, allowing you to put the files wherever you want. And it doesn't employ any background file grovelers, of which Microsoft has so many different ones that kill performance and make your hard drive constantly go crazy. For most metadata maintenance, I use Mp3tag.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
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