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[sissim]

I'm confronting a situation of disastrous proportion, having lost about 5gb of songs. I'm in the process of gathering from any and all sources laying about (flash cards, ipods, cd's, etc) whatever songs I happen to still have. However, with a lot of the ripping and some import stuff, the tag info is incorrect or incomplete. (I had a superb library and had spent a lot of time inputting tag info (ratings, etc, ) .

I was feeling grateful that I could still see the old tag info in my library (although X'd since it wasn't finding the file) but to my dismay, at some point, it so-called updated (I'm sure somewhere I have it set that way and haven't paid attention to it) and cleaned up everything so that I no longer had the old tag info (with broken links). I found a copy of this old tag info on another computer and did a backup of the library. I'm planning to restore the library from that backup, which I'm hoping will give me back the correct tags with the broken links.

Here's the question: is there any way I can take the song file, and replace its tag info with one of those tags with the broken links?? I know it's complicated and hard to explain but I'd be eternally grateful for any ideas. I'm already heartsick at what happened.
thank you so much
Sissi

[JimH]

You might be able to adjust the new library to match the old one.  MC has some tools that will help.

For example,  you can do a find and replace to change D: to C: .

You can use MC's Library Tools to move your metadata from the library to the files and vice versa.

MC can move files, based on your metadata.  This is in Library Tools/Move, Copy, Rename.  You have to check the directory box and fill in the tags you want.

You might experiment with a few files before you do very many.

Once you have your files where they were, a restore of an old library might work.

[sissim]

I really don't want to seem blind, but in looking at all the Library Tools (I went to Tools/Library Tools/) and going into each function, I couldn't identify the one to use that you mentioned: "You can use MC's Library Tools to move your metadata from the library to the files and vice versa." Exactly where is that? Or what is the function called?

At the moment I have the correct library with its data. I have to at least make certain that the file name of the new ripped song matches the old file name, right? (which is a huge job in itself). Then would I import from the folder that holds the new songs? (which is the same that held the songs before)
tnx again

[sissim]

I just did something that repeated exactly the disaster I caused the other day...and now I've just confirmed that it was something I did with MC that lost everything. Here's what I just did which made all the files disappear:

-Old library had all files as being in M:\Music Current\*.*   (asterisks in this case being the song names)
-Went into Library Tools/rename, move and copy files
-Went to bottom option of Find & Replace

-Since my current batch of song files were in B-My Music Library, I put in:

Find What: M:\Music Current\  (without asterisks at all)
Replace With:  c:\Users\Vista Brat\Documents\B-My Music Library\   (without asterisks at all)

Has my huge mistake been in skipping the asterisks?

It's been driving me nuts since when these files disappear, they REALLY disappear -- not in recycle bin. Last time it took me 2 days of searching unsuccessfully and tnx to MC forum I finally used Recuva and pulled some stuff back but it's all mixed in with everything else on my hard drive. So right now it redid that (well, I've only wasted a day so far with ripping to redo)

[JimH]

Make sure you have the latest build:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=57509.0

Find and Replace won't move files.

Please re-read my post above.

Try a few files before you do very many.

[JimH]

I really don't want to seem blind, but in looking at all the Library Tools (I went to Tools/Library Tools/) and going into each function, I couldn't identify the one to use that you mentioned: "You can use MC's Library Tools to move your metadata from the library to the files and vice versa." Exactly where is that? Or what is the function called?

Update tags ....
and
Update library ...

[sissim]

I wasn't doing a plain Find and Replace; I was doing the Find and Replace that is part of the "name, move and copy files" window, where it deals with changing names of directories. And I assure you, it DID move or better yet, make disappear all the files in the folder that held them. Now I have confirmed (I can replicate it) that exactly what I have described above makes the files disappear in an extra permanent way. You didn't comment on the asterisks I omitted. I suspect if I had included them in both the find and replace field, it would not have killed everything off. Unfortunately, in the name, move and copy file/find and replace, the example shown and written about, ("Find & Replace: This allows you to change a path by replacing something like  C:\Music\ with D:\Music\) it doesn't mention asterisks. (Personally, I should've remembered to do so.)

I have the latest build on my MC. Also, Update tag or library doesn't "paste" the metadata from the old library description to the misnamed new file sitting in the folder that (now) is the same as it should be. Even renaming the new file exactly like the old, I end up with tracks that are named "tracks"; it won't recognize a similar library entry.

I'm fairly savvy in computers generally, (not in media programs particularly) but I have to admit MC has always been a challenge, especially since I have trouble getting answers to anything I need, in the Wiki source. Given that I will have to reinsert all metadata from scratch now, (which kept me from dropping MC since I began with MC11 or 12), it may be a good time to explore other options. I think the Forum has been great; but I've pretty much exhausted my patience.

I appreciate your efforts at helping me.
Thank you.
S

[Alex B]

Assuming you have only the Find & Replace option ticked,

Find What: M:\Music Current\
Replace With: C:\Users\Vista Brat\Documents\B-My Music Library\

- will replace the exact string in the complete filename if it matches. No wild card characters are needed or even possible.

For instance,

M:\Music Current\The Fine Artist\A Good Album\01 - A Song.mp3

will change to

C:\Users\Vista Brat\Documents\B-My Music Library\The Fine Artist\A Good Album\01 - A Song.mp3

Depending on your selected option in the first drop-down box the procedure will:
- move the files and change the database accordingly
- copy the files without changing the database (the source files will remain as they are)
- copy the files and update the database to point to the new location (the source files will remain on the disk, but not in the database)
or
- change only the database without touching the media files on the disk at all.

C:\Users\Vista Brat\Documents\B-My Music Library\

Personally I find the system that Vista and Windows 7 use for the files under the user data location difficult to understand and error-prone.

I'd recommend to use a simple location outside the "user folders" for big media archives - C:\Media\ or C:\Music\ or something like that.

[sissim]

OK, I've calmed down, I've re-assembled my music collection, though still have to do some cleanup work, and also have decided that dropping MC would be like getting a divorce, so MC stays for my system! I totally agree on your comment about lousy Win file naming. At this point, I don't know what happened any more. I'm going forward, backing up every chance I get, and my current challenge is finding an MC way to convert my Itune purchases from M4a to mp3  from within MC (yes, you'll probably tell me this is another thread.
Thanks for ignoring my rant and for your replies!!!
Cheers,
S