Fix a Messed Up Windows Media Player Library.
The newer versions of Windows Media Player
(versions 10 & 11) are great in many regards, but when it comes to
their library capabilities – they fall short. This past week I was helping a friend sort out a
Windows Media Player library problem and I was blown away by how
terrible the library is. The biggest problem is that it lacks the
ability to weed out duplicate files (which is a problem,
especially if your music is not in one centralized location). For this article I will show you how to clean up a Windows Media
Player Library mess.
First, make sure WMP (WMP =Windows Media
Player) is closed.
Although WMP can handle multiple locations,
it is recommended that you centralize where you are keeping your
music (note that for this guide, I will focus only on Music. This
procedure can be applied to video and photos as well).
First we need to locate and delete the
library index. To do this, Click
Then
Choose All Files and Folders ,
then for the All or part of the file name, put
*.wmdb , Change the Look in to
My Computer. And make sure that Under the
More Advanced Options That the all boxes are checked
except Case Sensitive Then click SEARCH.
When the search is complete, Delete All of
the files that it found (these should be all WMDB files)
Next, is an optional step. I strongly
suggest, that you keep your music all together in one folder (Note
it is ok to have subfolders within the main music folder). If you
do not know where all of your music is do a search. This time, we
would choose Pictures, Music, or Video and check
mark Music, then do not type anything in the All or part
of the name Area, so that the search finds All Music.
This will produce a complete list of all MUSIC
files on your pc. Move them into a centralized folder. As I said
this is a optional, but recommended step.
Finally, the last step, is to reopen
Windows Media Player, it will automatically search your PC for
Media files, and you will see this screen:
If it doesn’t start automatically
searching, either, click on the Click Here button
or, hit F3 . Windows Media Player will now
cleanly rebuild your library.
