Windows Media Player 12

Thank s for your feedback. But that is not the issue. It's about missing songs in WMP that were originally all ripped OK. Like all 10 songs on a CD get ripped. But when I look at the CD on WMP again, could be months later, some songs are missing, i.e., songs 2, 4, 5, 10 as just an example.

Have you looked at the CD in Explorer? Media Player doesn't not reliably show you the content of the CD.

There are two possible situations. The songs are on the CD but WMP isn't showing them to you or they are not on the CD. You need to work out which is the case by looking at the CD with another application.

Hi - if the tracks and correct info are still visible in your explorer library (and will play OK from there) you are correct in assuming the database is corrupted. Usually this occurs when items are moved - Windows 7 has a rather complicated triangulation of file location - explorer library location - wmp library... this has been simplified in Windows 10 thankfully!

Try rebuilding the WMP library - this should fix it. All existing data in WMP will be removed (no files will be deleted though) and it will gradually rebuild. Select 'Tools' ** 'Advanced'  'Restore Media library'... as shown in snip below.

Please update with results - Thanks, Ric.

** If 'Tools' is not visible go to 'Organize' - 'Layout' and check 'Show Menu Bar'....

Thanks Ric

I did mention rebuilding the WMP database in my original question. But as I said, that destroys many week-hours I spent making the metadata correspond to what is actually the real album info (like album cover...). Microsoft's metadata database (fai.music.metaservices.microsoft.com) is not that good. And that is what WMP uses to rebuild the database. So I am left with editing again over 400 CD's.

I've looked at some other free music services like Music Bee. Not much better. 

Bottom line is finding a music service that stays stable, has a really up-to-date metadata database, and also allows a single song to be added to the service's database from what I call the music system folders (you call it an explorer library). I may have to look at some service that is Pay-toPlay.

I'll just wait until I get Windows 10, which requires me to get a new laptop - mine is just a 4 years old HP ProBook 4530s - which is again the manufacturer's selling hardware ARRRGGH!

I can always play an entire CD via the system music folder, "select all" and then selecting the "Play", option instead of trying to play the CD directly from WMP. This opens WMP anyway.

Actually that shouldn't happen. FAI (agreed - not that good!) is only involved when you insert a CD - depending on what privacy settings you use. If you restore the media library it will use the information you have already attributed to the tracks/albums and none of that should change... the one 'command' to avoid in WMP is 'Update album information' - that might overwrite changes you have made. Check that your library and privacy settings (under organize-options) are set like mine (red marked bits in particular) and nothing should be overwritten when you do a library restore.

Thanks again Rick

I have worked with WMP for about 5 years. How it should act is many times a mystery. I wish MS allowed it's metadata database to be closed, or at least allow a better metadata database to be the first choice.

One issue I run into that WMP screws-up is multiple copies of the "same" CD.

For example, I have a lot of Beatles. So with say Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band; 5 different versions, and with the 50th Anniversary edition, it's not even found (currently) in the MS database, WMP really gets confused.

But WMP does go to the fai database if what I have provided manually "confuses" the code. Even though I have set my options just as yours, this doesn't seem to avoid the MS fai metadata database.

Now maybe if you are using Windows 10, this issue might be corrected. But in Windows 7, it doesn't always work as it should. And as I mentioned, I do a lot of manual metadata self-editing. Just my anal nature (:

I've been in IT since 1975. Believe me, I've seen a lot of "What should happen" vs "What does happen".

Do you use WMP exclusively, or have you tried other free and/or fee based music players?

Recently I have been mainly using iTunes for Windows because I have a Marantz streamer amp which works best in conjunction with Apple's Airplay. But I have always used WMP for library management in Windows 7 and 10. - before that I was using XP but didn't really get the hang of WMP until W7...

Management is improved in W10 because there is no longer that awkward triangulation between the Explorer Library - File Location - and WMP. I have also found that if you ensure a CD is ripped with the correct info (EG make sure "Sgt Pepper 50th Anniversary Edition" is edited into the title before ripping) there shouldn't be any confusion with existing files.

Another tool I use is moving items away from the music folder before I alter/amend them. The Documents folder is fine because it is not monitored by WMP - I copy/paste a file to there and amend it's properties details tab to the new details - then it can be relocated to a new music folder. An example altered this way would be 'Mr Blue Sky' which is originally an album track but I have included it in a singles folder changed the details and artwork...

This prevents any 'muddling' in WMP.

I do something similar. Have a staging folder I rip to, so if I forget to get something right, correcting what WMP and the music file itself shows before moving to my primary and secondary external drive backups. Like when FAI has no clue what's on the CD being ripped, I can edit the actual music file there if I messed up the rip. I use MP3Tag to alter the metadata http://www.mp3tag.de/en/.

Or I'll have to manually put in every song info/metadata before the CD is ripped. I have not looked at other metadata databases, or know if these are public domain.

I also do all rips in .WAV. And have 2 full backups of all my music. It was, and still can be a problem to keep it all in sync with around 500 CD's.

Maybe someday I'll find the time to check out some different music players. It's the only media I care about .MP4 video stuff takes a butt-load of storage. On some of my DVD/Blu-Ray music discs are video's. I can't afford to store them. And I despise using any cloud service.

Can't for now use Windows 10. Hope to soon get a new PC that can support it.

Nice talking Ric.

Peace!

One concept that may be worth considering when you move on to a new PC is running two user accounts. This has quite a few benefits. My second account is entirely for ripped music and contains all my HQ audio (wav/lossless) files including my classical library. This avoids having duplicated albums in a different format in my main account and library. All mp3/m4a/wma stuff is in my main admin account, along with streaming services (Spotify-Google) and of course iTunes for Windows. By giving myself admin permission to access the second account I hardly ever need to log into it (only necessary when adding or altering something) and can play any music from my main account.

Keep enjoying the music! - Best, Ric.