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[brossmac]

When I browse files in Windows Explorer (XP SP2) all my music files show up as "Media Center file" and all have the same icon.  I'd like to be able to tell if a file is a WAV, MP3, etc.  When I change the icon for any of the file types, it changes the icon for all of them.

Is there a way to make this stop?

[modelmaker]

I've found this little app very useful, it's called mp3info extension. Homepage: http://www.mutschler.de/mp3ext
 
"MP3Ext is an extension for the explorer. It adds a new page to the properties-menu of MP3-files. It shows all info about the mp3-file, e.g. the playlength, bitrate, sample-frequency, and the ID3-Tag if the file has got one. You can even edit the ID3-Tag, and scan complete directories.

It installs an Icon-handler for displaying different icons for different bitrates.

A tooltip-handler is installed, which displays tooltips for MP3s where the system supports tooltips."


You will not only know which file are mp3s, but also their bitrate. Sorry, it won't help with wave, ape and others, but at least you'll be able to identify the mp3s.

[jgreen]

For me, this appeared to depend on whether I had specified MC as the "opens with" program for each of those files.  The install dialogue asks you to approve that, but you can un-approve it in "Tools / Options / File Associations".  This all has to do with whether you want MC to play a file when you double-click it.  A big thank-you to Bill Gates for the way things are.

As for handy apps, try dBpowerAmp, a free download.  Same type of info for more file types.

OR, in the Action Window, select  "File Properties / File Type Info".  And stop asking Bill Gates for permission to enjoy your music.

[modelmaker]

mp3infoextension is also free.

dbpoweramp does not change the icon for mp3s as mp3infoext does. It gives you a quick reference without having to open any program and you can see at a glance what files are mp3s and what their bitrate is. dbpoweramp can't do that and neither can windozzzzzz.

[brossmac]

It gives you a quick reference without having to open any program and you can see at a glance what files are mp3s and what their bitrate is. dbpoweramp can't do that and neither can windozzzzzz.

I don't know about you, but when I mouse over a sound file, the Windows tooltip give me the bitrate.

[brossmac]

Isn't it possible that each file type can have its own description instead of "Media Center file"?

[Bill Kearney]

The type is determined by how the explorer is told to handle the files.  Use another program to control the files and you'll gain it's naming of them. 

[brossmac]

I installed mp3 info extension and it's working pretty well (for MP3's anyway).

I created a J River Theme you can get here.

Take a look:

[glynor]

I second that.  That's annoyed me too.  The current scheme makes it very difficult to sort files by file type in Explorer.

[brossmac]

Thank you, johnnyboy!

That's what I'm talkin' about...!

[modelmaker]

I installed mp3 info extension and it's working pretty well (for MP3's anyway).

I created a J River Theme you can get here.

Take a look:

I hate to seem dense, but where do you extract these to?

[brossmac]

I hate to seem dense, but where do you extract these to?

Well, if you have the mp3 info extension installed (found here) then unzip the jrmc.zip here:

C:\Program Files\MP3ext\Themes

[Alex B]

I don't like the silly Windows Explorer icons. I use always the details view and have the file extensions visible. I like to see the file dates & sizes too. dBpowerAMP's shell extension shows more audio file specific information if needed.

[Fex]

Wouldnt the best solution just be if MC did what so many of the other jukeboxes do?

Media Center wav File
Media Center mp3 File
Media Center aac File
Media Center avi File
Media Center jpg File

Or could go one step further and do:

Media Center Audio wav File
Media Center Audio mp3 File
Media Center Audio aac File
Media Center Video avi File
Media Center Image jpg File

with at the very least, 3 different icon types:
audio
video
image...

Please. This is it.

[NumberEleventeen]

Yea wouldn't be hard to implement.
Simply a matter of making the HKCR/.ext point to something like
MediaCenter.ext
And giving them appropirate descriptions.
I'd prefer just
MP3 Format Sound or
AVI Video or
Ogg Vorbis Stream (it can be audio or video so stream is better)

Full descriptions are ok too tho
MPEG Layer-3 Format Sound
Audio/Video Interleaved

Looks best to list the extention first, then description for sorting. The words "media center" or "file" are superfluous.. We bought media center, we know it plays our files, and we know that they are files.

So many programs grab and handle this part of the registry so badly that I just do it myself now. I edit the registry myself and make them read only to prevent any program from ever changing them. The problem with MC is that it uses a very nonstandard shell ingration scheme that had some changes recently.

IE: Try to open a file with media center.exe using standard input, does not work. It then adds a open with entry that doesnt work either, and u notice there are 2 entries. Media center.exe and MC11.exe, which is placed in your system directory for some odd reason. That links files to MC's input so they load correctly.

Another fix would be to add Media Center.exe to HKCR\Applications and set a string named NoOpenWith, to clean up the users openwith list on XP.