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Windows question - 1/7/2011 1:50:37 AM   
Termyn8or


Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline 		HEY ! Guess what - this is not a problem about crashing or any ass aches like that. I ask here because I know there are some gurus among us.

Here is the "problem". I am building a substantial music library. I have it alphabettically and within each letter are subfolders with the band's name, and when I have it, subfolders of albums. When I have them track by track the numbers 01, 02 etc. are either allowed to stay or put in manually. This way the directory can be sent as a playlist if one wants to hear the whole thing in order. This also leaves the option of picking and choosing any track for a playlist. It also works nicely with a toolbar, clicking the arrow gets the A-Z, then rolling on a letter will open up all the artists, rolling the cursor on the artist opens up to the songs, but when full albums are obtained (and worthy) they appear as a folder and will open up to the individual songs. To make the toolbar is easy, by rightclicking the taskbar,>new toolbar>browse. In my case I point it to C:\Music.

Once this monster is completely categorized and all duplicates removed (keeping the best copy of course) there is still a problem. Examples like Jiimi Page with The Black Crows, Yngwie Malmsteen and Ronnie James Dio, Dawid Bowie and Queen, Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty or Don Henly. What I would like to do is have the song crossreferenced in a way, so that it is accesible under each artist name. I want to do this without having duplicate files.

I have written an autorun file or two, but that's for CDRs. A pointer in windows is a shortcut, and if you can actually see the file it has the LNK extension, and I've viewed them but never edited them. I do know how to use them though, for example if you find your sendto folder in explorer you can insert a shortcut and every time you right click a file to can force windows to use that program to open the file. I did that with three or four graphics/media programs in the past but haven't gotten around to it on the new PC(s) except for the media files, so I can send them to VLC rather than changing the file association. I could easily drag shortcuts into the music floder and that would work.

But I want to put all this on a portable drive. You never know wht drive letter a portable drive is going to get when plugged into any given PC. So I need to know if LNK files can be "depathed" so that they work regardless of the drive letter. Actually I'm not so sure they are pathed anyway. I think they are, because I've copied and cloned alot of drives, the shortcuts never seem to work. 

That means even shortcuts to the MP3 or whatever would not work either, right ? Or am I wrong ?

If there is no way to do this, the only other possible way I can see would be to force the portable drive to a certain drive letter. Force it to be drive ZD or something. But can that even be done ? Isn't that like telling Windows or even BIOS what to do ? Can this even be done ?

I might be asking too much (of Windows) here. But it would be nice if there is a way. That's why I asked.

T
Profile   Post #: 1
RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 7:51:56 AM   
FirmhandKY


Posts: 8948
Joined: 9/21/2004
Status: offline 		Why not use some of the indexing and cataloging software?  There are several iTunes "clones".

Most of them use meta-data, rather than file names and folder names to display your music, and allow you to create links and sets independent of the actual file.

I've worked mainly with videos, and there are several free programs that do that, but music is "older" and has greater attention in the digital world, so such programs are almost certainly more mature and easier.


For movies and TV shows, I use a program called "theRenamer" which uses several online sites to check the names of any new files and then "guesses" at the most accurate file name description of what the file or files are.  For example, if I have an entire TV series ripped, it will identify the series, season, episode and episode name of each file, and rename it into a standard format that I choose.  I then import it into a program called "Media Companion", which takes that info and "scrapes" all the meta-data about the series, the season, and each episode and creates xml files containing the actors, the plots, the genre, subject tags, etc. 

For movies, they do the same thing, and allows me to sort by the year of the movie, the genre, the actors, director, rating, or any other type or combination of information.  You can even associate movies into sets, so that you can pull up all of the, say "Die Hard" movies, or all the "Harry Potter" movies.  You can play any file, movie, or TV show simply by clicking on the listing.

Music files are designed to keep most of this meta-data inside the file itself, nowadays, so you'll need a good tag program (plenty of free ones), that will do all of this, plus likely sync any audio of music files you want with any portable device.

Get away from organizing your files based on Windows file names, and use metadata.

Firm

< Message edited by FirmhandKY -- 1/7/2011 7:52:15 AM >

_____________________________

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RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 8:04:10 AM   
Aylee


Posts: 24103
Joined: 10/14/2007
Status: offline 		Termy,

Won't you be violating copyright laws? 

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RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 8:04:48 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		Dont listen to T.

He did not back up those other files he lost.

(in reply to FirmhandKY)
Profile   Post #: 4
RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 1:55:32 PM   
Termyn8or


Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline 		"Won't you be violating copyright laws?"

Not any more. Not any less. :-)



But really I have another reason to do this via Windows. I have a whole lot of service information. These are datasheets on integrated circuits and schematics for electronic equipment. (don't ask how I got them either). Now a Magnavox in many cases is the same an a Phillips, a Sylvania might be the same as a Funai, an Akai might be the same as a Samsung. There is no equivalent to the CDDB for these files, nor is there embedded file information with which to crossreference them. I would have to do it manually.

As far as software goes, if it's portable for the music I might be able to use it. I'm not sure if it'll just run off a portable drive though. I figured I'd put VLC on it, some files just don't like Windows Mediaplayer. Unfortunately there is no way to do it with Adobe Acrobat reader.

If I ever have a fight with the RIAA I will not come unarmed. Two lawyers have told me that my defense strategy is a good one, and they are competent, I know how to pick a lawyer. The technical information is also supposedly copyrighted, but I have surprises in store for those manufacturers as well. I know how to fight these rats. Used to be one y'know, just not so big.

Firm, thanks for the tip, I will probably give it a try. The problem is that I wouldn't want to install it on every computer. It would have to be capable of pathing locally at least for files already there. The reason is I don't intend to start selling my collection, but on any given rockabilly party on Saturday night, someone might ask "Gonna bring your records ?". (Re: lyrics from Ian Hunter - Mott The Hoople - The Hoople - Roll Away The Stone).

This would be bringing my "records" on steroids. We are talking 30 GB of just music, and then there are the music videos. I'd put it all on my laptop, but I use that for work and I don't want to carry it around too much. There is about ten grand worth of technical information on it. Good thing too, now that the shop's system is down. Even if the place burns down (actually it almost did today, a slight mishap with the heating system), I have an offsite backup. :-).

T




(in reply to Aylee)
Profile   Post #: 5
RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 2:47:27 PM   
hertz


Posts: 1315
Joined: 8/7/2010
Status: offline 		As you know, Windows assigns drive letters in order, starting low with D: E: and working up through the alphabet if a letter is unavailable. This means that often, early drive letters are already assigned elsewhere, and other, later letters are often free. It also means your drive, if you plug it into other machines, is most likely to be a D: or E: or similar early letter, rather than R: or S: or whatever.

Why don't you set it up on your main PC, assigning 'T', or another equally late letter of the alphabet (avoiding X, Y and Z, which are often used for specific network purposes) and then, when you plug your drive into a different PC, force the same letter to be assigned to it through 'My Computer'. Yes, it's not very clever, but it is simple.

(in reply to Termyn8or)
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RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 2:56:42 PM   
PilotPTK


Posts: 50
Joined: 2/6/2006
Status: offline 		The mklink.exe (Vista/7) or linkd.exe(XP) tool can be used to make symbolic links. If memory serves, they can be referenced using ..\..\..\file.ext

google the tool based upon your operating system.

PPtk

(in reply to hertz)
Profile   Post #: 7
RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 3:17:44 PM   
Termyn8or


Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline 		Hmmmm, have to give those ideas some thought. That is difficult on Friday night. Even if I don't decide to catch a buzz, Fridays are a bit wierd to me.

T

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RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 6:26:30 PM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Aylee

Termy,

Won't you be violating copyright laws? 


I am sure the dude will toss and turn all night over this one.  ;-)

(in reply to Aylee)
Profile   Post #: 9
RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 10:05:25 PM   
Termyn8or


Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline 		Yes Hunky, you have seen right through me. I can't stand it that there aren't many more I can find so that I can violate them.

T

(in reply to pahunkboy)
Profile   Post #: 10
RE: Windows question - 1/7/2011 10:55:34 PM   
FirmhandKY


Posts: 8948
Joined: 9/21/2004
Status: offline 		Termy,

I'll say again ... all the metadata space that you could need is built into the MP3 format already.  If you have a consistent set of information included into each file, then no matter where you put the files, any half decent music playing program will automatically have all the organizing data you need.

There are free programs that will scrape and input all of that metadata into all of your files.  You would be advised to do a few at a time, and check that any data that a program wants to add is correct, so being careful will take a little while longer, but you'll end up with a completely indexed set of music file that can be transported easily.

Here's some reading:

ID3

Tag editor

There are lots and lots of tag editors, so look around and find one you like.  I use Mp3tag, but primarily for audiobooks and not music, so I don't use the scrape function.

Mp3tag

Mp3tag is a powerful and yet easy-to-use tool to edit metadata of common audio formats where it supports ID3v1, ID3v2.3, ID3v2.4, iTunes MP4, WMA, Vorbis Comments and APE Tags.

It can rename files based on the tag information, replace characters or words in tags and filenames, import/export tag information, create playlists and more.

Mp3tag supports online database lookups from, e.g., Amazon, discogs, or freedb, allowing you to automatically gather proper tags and cover art for your music library.

Main features:

Batch Tag Editing Write ID3v1.1, ID3v2.3, ID3v2.4, MP4, WMA, APEv2 Tags and Vorbis Comments to multiple files at once.

Support for Cover Art Download and add album covers to your files and make your library even more shiny.

Import from Amazon, discogs, freedb, MusicBrainz Save typing and import tags from online databases like Amazon, discogs, freedb, MusicBrainz, and more.

Replace characters or words Replace strings in tags and filenames (with support for Regular Expressions).

Create Playlists automatically Create and manage playlists automatically while editing.

Rename files from tags Rename files based on the tag information and import tags from filenames.

Export to HTML, RTF, CSV Generate nice reports and lists of your collection based on user-defined templates.

Full Unicode Support User-interface and tagging are fully Unicode compliant.

Besides these main features Mp3tag offers a variety of other functions and features ranging ranging from batch export of embedded album covers, over support for iTunes-specific tags like media type or TV Show settings, to combining multiple actions into groups that can be applied with a single mouse click.

Firm

< Message edited by FirmhandKY -- 1/7/2011 10:56:18 PM >

_____________________________

Some people are just idiots.

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Profile   Post #: 11
RE: Windows question - 1/8/2011 4:00:32 AM   
hertz


Posts: 1315
Joined: 8/7/2010
Status: offline 		I use Mp3tag - it's excellent. It uses freedb as a source of file names and allows for almost unlimited customisation.

(in reply to FirmhandKY)
Profile   Post #: 12
RE: Windows question - 1/8/2011 4:03:14 AM   
TotalDiscipline


Posts: 225
Joined: 5/5/2010
Status: offline 		http://www.mediamonkey.com/

mp3tagger and music database/library

might help you

(in reply to hertz)
Profile   Post #: 13
RE: Windows question - 1/8/2011 6:59:17 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

Yes Hunky, you have seen right through me. I can't stand it that there aren't many more I can find so that I can violate them.

T


You SO ROCK!

Good for you.  


:-)

(in reply to Termyn8or)
Profile   Post #: 14
RE: Windows question - 1/8/2011 8:06:14 AM   
MercTech


Posts: 3706
Joined: 7/4/2006
Status: offline 		Edit the metadata on the music to reflect not only the album artist but all artists. Then you make m3u playlist files for the sorts you want. Itunes does this but tends to take over and do things "Apple's Way" no matter what you want.

WinAmp used to have an editor that did this but I haven't looked closely at it for a few years.

There is a metadata editor in the Roxio Suite that works well but I haven't looked for a stand alone metadata editor since I have it in a suite.

Stefan

(in reply to pahunkboy)
Profile   Post #: 15
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