Help with Windows 7

Posted by: Jonathan Gorse on 06 October 2010

Have just taken delivery of a really lovely Alienware M17x laptop which appeals to the Sci-fi nut in me greatly.

It's my first experience of Windows 7 though and I'm having terrible trouble with 2 things:

1. As a result of my Canon printer bloatware loading so much crap I now have no less than 5 Canon related programs showing under my Start, Programs menu. In XP you could just drag and drop them on top of each other thereby meaning you only got one Canon programme group with several sub programs under it - how can I achieve this in Windows 7?

2. I have dragged and dropped all my MP3 files into c:\users\jonathan\my music That folder is set up in Media player to be the default music library folder and they're all showing up in there. I can't get Media player to see these music tracks though or display any albums apart from the three that seemingly came preinstalled with Windows.

Can anyone assist?

Jonathan

"Open the pod bay doors please Hal"
"Open the pod bay doors please Hal"
"Geez, I knew I should have gone with a Mac"
Posted on: 06 October 2010 by Iron Cobra
Jonathan,

Don't take this the wrong way, but as you mentioned "I knew I should have gone with a Mac"
Posted on: 06 October 2010 by Musicmad
Hi Jonathan,

My first experience with Windows 7 (after many years with Windows XP) leaves me just as baffled ... I've had my new PC for nearly one month: one step forward ... two steps backwards!

Regarding Windows Media Player 12, I use this for my music (I use lossless rather than MP3) and I was pulling my hair out trying to figure how it works. It does work but you have to look past the obvious and read between the lines.

To get WMP12 to see your music (and show your album art):

Open WMP12 and make sure you're in the default Library mode.
Click on Organize (top left) and select Manage Libraries / Music
Assuming the drive / directory where your music is stored is not listed, go through the Add menu and select the relevant drive / directory ("Include folder").
Press OK and exit.

It may take a little time but WMP12 will then start to load your music files / artwork.

Finding how to edit / update details is less than fun - oh why did they make it so difficult?*

* In WMP11 you could complete a field which was the name of the original album (very useful where I have divided albums up) but I've yet to find that field in WMP12.

Best of luck!

Mitch.
Posted on: 06 October 2010 by Bananahead
I just tried both of these and they simply worked.

Dragging program folders (Canon even) on top built subfolders perfectly.

WMP12 - maybe try Organise / Manage Libraries ?
Posted on: 10 October 2010 by Jonathan Gorse
Chaps,

I will try both these and report back.

I'm very grateful for your suggestions though.

(On an unrelated note I have been having too much fun with the new Battle of Britain game 'Wings of Prey' though - definately worth a go if you enjoy a bit of flight-sim!!)

Jonathan
Posted on: 10 October 2010 by NaimDropper
Let me know how your battery performance is with this laptop.
My high end Toshiba laptop has been back for factory service twice as it "eats" batteries when it has been shut down.
This is to the tune of 10-15% a day in charge reduction when it is off.
When I remove the battery physically from the laptop it does not degrade.
Toshiba service tells me this is "normal" and that the CMOS consumes a lot of battery power and I should expect this.
Hogwash.
I've been reading about these problems and I suspect it is a Win 7 issue.
Just curious about your battery life with your very nice new laptop.
David