Windows Media Player

[zbo2408]

Hey guys, I guess first of all is this the correct link to place a question about windows media player?

I have a PC running Windows XP Media Center 2005. With the latest windows media player.
I have a ton of music on my pc some of it is just random songs in the my music folder some of it is organized as albums in the my music folder. I know there are duplicate songs. Where I have a single off of an album just loose in the my music folder. I also have the album that the song belongs to in the my music folder. Is there a way to make my computer automatically put them together? Or remove duplicate copies off of the hard drive?
Thanks for your help. I would just sit down and do it manually but thats a couple hour job, there is a lott of music.

THanks

[zbo2408]

Or maybe just a tool to scan a folder and look for duplicate files?

[Sylvander]

NoClone - Duplicate File Finder (http://noclone.net/Duplicate_File_Finder.asp) [Trial Version]

Duplicate File Killer (http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Utilities/File_Search_Utilities/Duplicate_File_Killer.html) [Free]

[Fruss Tray Ted]

I tried installing Duplicate file killer from your link and AVG reported 3 trojans attempting to install on my system during the install.

I uninstalled it promptly.

As I was trying to install NoClone, it kept trying to connect to the internet through my firewall to a site that looked to be disguised as a microsoft site but being suspicious, I stopped that installation as well. I forget the letters but it was like to.microsoft.com TO???

[Sylvander]

Ouch, sorry about that.
Did a search for stuff that might fit the need and found those.
Never used them myself.

The "Duplicate File Killer" prog explains during installation, right after the legal agreement, that it will install programs by the sponsors.
One is an IE toolbar, the other has advertising popups.

[Paul Komski]

TurboNavigator (http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32/turbonavigator.html)is a great file manager in a number of ways and if you open two folders in the left and right panes you can use the Select Menu to Compare the contents of the two folders; duplicates are initially unselected but the selections can be inverted. There may well be better file managers out there but this is the one I am most familiar with.

You could of course make a common folder and then copy and paste the contents of one folder into it and then copy and paste the contents of the other one into the same folder. You would be prompted whether or not to overcopy duplicates and clear-up things in that sort of manner.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

No prob,Sylly, it's kinda nice to see that one's A/V is actually working once in awhile... ;)

You could of course make a common folder and then copy and paste the contents of one folder into it and then copy and paste the contents of the other one into the same folder. You would be prompted whether or not to overcopy duplicates and clear-up things in that sort of manner.
My sentiments exactly! Most of these products are for those who aren't creative enough to do something that would get the same results anyway using nothing more than what they have on hand. AAMOF many of these programs just 'grab' the info the user doesn't know how to find and claim it for their own when all that info was there in the first place.

What I am apprehensive about is any program that looks solely for file size when something as simply as the name of the file could render a different filesize by uppercase letters or another name entirely, etc, though the file itself is the same. Thusly reporting a different filesize because of simply naming them differently, the success rate of these programs are hit or miss IMO. Or useless in other words.

Better to use search feature for file types for specific types and sizes and narrow the parameters to a range of file sizes, then do your own comparisons.

JMHO, but you know me, I hate DDO's, boot managers and anything else beyond what an OS can do on it's own under the guise of being handy or making things easier. Most of them are akin to asking someone else to do it FOR you anyway and just steer you away from what is already available if you know how or where to find it.

I like the least amount of programs on any given PC to get the job done for the desired effect. No more, no less.

I probably even have a copy or 3 of FireFox 1.xx somewhere on one of my drives, someday I'll delete it or them and free up what, a few megs? ;)

[Paul Komski]

as the name of the file could render a different filesize by uppercase lettersMinor point - but case is not relevant with file names under Windows. If two files have the same name (of any case) the dialog will ask for confirmation giving all details except for the current file name.

[zbo2408]

Yeah I know I could copy them all to the same place and Windows would ask me if I want to replace the file.... But I have about 60 albums on my computer, all with album art in them. Each album has its own folder in My Music.
I also have probably around 100 single songs that it is not important how I acquired them. But some of those songs I got before I bought and ripped the cd with that song on it. Normally for this task I would just sit down and take 15 minutes to do it manually, but its probably a 1.5 hour job.
I am proficient with pc's but not an expert user so I was just appealing to the higher knowledge to see if there was a simple way of doing this task maybe a hidden feature in Media Player I didn't know about.
But after hearing about how those file manager softwares work, sounds like I'd aught to just do this one by hand.
Thanks for ya'lls replies.

[Paul Komski]

There is an additional component that you are probably well aware of particularly with your reference to ripped CD content. A file manager will just see two files with the same name and file extension and assume them to be the same. However one could be ripped and one downloaded and there is a different connotation applied to each of them with one transgressing digital certificates if copied and the other one being OK.

Unless you are into the thousands it is probably better to just sort the files alphabetically in the library and when you come across duplicate or triplicates right click and remove not only from the library but also from the PC.

[zbo2408]

Windows is just such a pain sometimes. I cannot wait to get a mac. Not starting a conversation about that here or anything and not saying I wouldn't have this problem in a mac.
So I have my files where my music is. Media Player which I believe is just links to my music in my files. And Media Center, which is the most attractive option for listening to music. BUT Media Center gives me 0 options for managing files. Example I click on organize by artists and I have 3 AC DC folders, why? Because over time I have accumulated their music and AC DC is typed AC/DC AC DC and AcDc. While in Media Center I cannot change that at all. What else, I click the genre tab and I have. Alternative, Classic Alternative, Grunge, Grunge Alternative, Classic Rock, Classic Contemporary Rock. Why cannot I highlight all of those folders and just say Rock? Especially when Red Hot Chilli Peppers is under grunge??? My country songs are organized under 4 different categories. There are country algums listed under the genre, genre but when I go to edit the info it has country listed as the genre yet it is still in the genre folder.

ERRRG
Darn you Micro$oft for slightly interrupting my entertaining digital media.
Oh yeah and I have several thousand songs, and I have them backed up onto my, mybook, and when I plug that in, well then all hell breaks loose in Media Center because then i have like 4 copies of every song.

[zbo2408]

And The album art sometimes being there and sometimes not. I'd be willing to pay a couple hundred bucks if magically all of my music would be simply organized with all of the artists names spelled correctly. All of the album art there. All of the genre's correct. Its funny how the music I got for free just makes me want to spend money to make it simpler. And what's really bad is im not a ocd or add or a clean freak or anything. But when I click artist button and Evanescence is listed 4 different ways and some songs have art and some don't. Its just frustrating and im venting.

[Paul Komski]

You could of course try the library component of a number of other apps. I think iTunes is pretty good at organising music data even if you never use an iPod. I think the problem will be with it or with WinAmp or RealPlayer that you may well be able to find "duplicates" (well I know you can under iTunes) but that deletion thereafter is from the library itself and not easily or automatically from the underlying file system. As already mentioned, since there is no way of easily telling whether mymusic.wma in one location is the same as mymusic.wma in another location you could easily be snookered if the wrong file was deleted. The wrong file might have a different qualilty aspect or a digital certificate aspect making such deletions hazardous and is, I supect, why what should seem like such a simple task is not easily accomplished with a number of similar applications.