10 Tips and tricks for using the Zune software (features only, no hacks or 3rd party apps unless by design)

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Zune MVP
Contributor, http://www.insidethecircle.net

zamzar.com    u dont need to down load it. it gets sent to ur email. can get videos off you tube with it too..i love it.

Zune MVP
Contributor, http://www.insidethecircle.net

Hello,  Can you tell me how to remove a song from my zune and not lose it off my computer at same time?

 JRWRiT3R1 wrote:

Just because you rip it as WMV doesn't mean it won't try to convert it.  I ripped a video as a WMV, and when I tried to sync it, I was surprised to see that it was still trying to convert it.

It's not quite as simple as just being wmv... as stated, with the zune 30 it needs to be 320x240 (resolution).  And I think for all zunes the video bitrate can't be above 1.5 kbps and audio bitrate cant be above 128 kbps.

 BOOTS 1111 wrote:

A third issue I have is with this album art stuff.  On a few occasions, the program has pulled in incorrect album art.  For example, I had a CD of the Jackson 5's Greatest Hits (NO SNICKERING PLEASE), and it pulled in the album art for Michael Jackson's "Bad."  I didn't realize it until one day I was listening to something like "Mama's Pearl" and realized it was not "Dirty Diana," as my Zune would have led me to believe.  It did the same thing with some "Metal Mania" CD:  I guess there were several volumes of this kind of thing, and it pulled in the info for a different one from what I had.  Luckily there is the "edit" feature for the song titles and artists, but I could not change the album art.  Also, it has pulled album art from The Hooters "ZigZag" album into some other stuff that is NOT Hooters, and put one of John Mellencamp's album covers for some stuff by The Eagles.  God knows.  I haven't found out how to delete undesired album art and either replace it with nothing (which is better than the WRONG thing), or replace it with the correct album art; I mean, where would I find it?

Someone else already said this but I will say again.  Use WMP 11 to manage your music.  All changes made in WMP are automatically made in Zune Software.  In most cases WMP is much easier to use.  I've had problems with both for ripped music having incorrect tags or artwork, but it is MUCH much easier to fix using WMP versus Zune Software.

 Alexxhondro wrote:

Okay. I have a few complaints and a few questions.


first my questions.

with an MP4 video, can I edit the details of the file so that it will come up in categories like "music video" or "movie" on my zune?

and if so is it the same way as the other files, or do I have to do something different?


also, my sync is suddenly not working.

I took my zune and the cable over to a friend's house so I could charge it there. He has a Mac.
I plugged it in the Mac and it charged, but then I unplugged it without "ejecting" or safely removing it.

now when I plug my Zune back in, it doesn't come up on the Zune Program.

also, it dosen't make the normal noise it's suposed to when something gets plugged it, it makes a more unhappy windows sound, as if theres something wrong with it.

could I have damaged the zune by not safely removing it from the mac?


that it all. someone please help.

Do a Google search for zMeta.  It's a nice meta tag editor used just for zune videos.  Not sure the current version but the one I'm using it's kindof wierd how you make it a movie, music video, etc...   After editing all the info, in the left hand window select the the catagory, not the actual video you are editing.  Now you are in the catagory window in the right window.  From here you can tell it what kind of video it is.  (Might be different in other versions mine is zMeta(2.5.2030))  I know this is a 3rd party software and it would be nice if the native Zune software would allow you to be able to do this, but I do like zMeta because you don't have to install it, it is just an .exe file, you just run it.  (But then again others would rather install it so they have shortcuts everywhere so they can find it)

As to damaging, no...   this won't hurt it.  This is not an iPod,  you don't have to eject it to disconnect it.  You can disconnect when ever you want and it will not hurt a thing.  When you first connected your device, did it show it was connecting in the taskbar by the clock in windows?   When it did, did it say something about it would be faster if you connected it to a USB 2.0 port?  If so I would say this is your connection problem.  It was mine

Shut up voices, or I'll poke you with a Q-tip again. I am Sofa King We Todd Did!

 BOOTS 1111 wrote:

For another thing (and I hate to say it, because I love my Zune for what it does), I don't know if it's me, or is this thing a bit PRIMITIVE?  I don't understand why it wasn't made so that I can get the same features and abilities as I have with the Zune program on my PC.  I want to be able to edit, delete, and FIND things, without scrolling all over the world.  It doesn't even "wrap":  If I am looking for a song (or artist) with a Z, I can't just go backwards from A; I have to scroll all the way to the Zs.  Then, if I need to go back (let's say, to shuffle the songs), I have to go all the way back up to A...I mean, I have almost 5000 songs in there at this point, and finding something can take a bit of time.  When I'm in the PC program, you can search, you can edit, you can delete...my Zune has some songs duplicated on it, and in fact, some things I have deleted from, or edited in, my PC, never make it to the Zune...despite multiple sync efforts. 

Instead of scrolling by gliding your finger, manually press the button up or down and it will "wrap".

Shut up voices, or I'll poke you with a Q-tip again. I am Sofa King We Todd Did!

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