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[Anchorless]

Hello.  Obviously this is my first post.

I've searched around a bit for info on this topic and not much came up.  I know MC17 can be installed on a portable device (external).  I'm just curious if this is the best option for my situation:

I have all of my music on my external hard drive.
I use two computers (work and home laptop) to rip, burn and listen to my music. 

Right now I have trial versions of MC17 on both computers, but it is kind of a hassle managing two different media centers (and libraries).  Not impossible, but kind of annoying to keep things consistent.

If I had MC17 installed on my external I could then access it on both computers, and any changes/settings that I do on one computer would obviously be the same for the other. 

I guess my question is... are there any drawbacks I'm not seeing or thinking of with having my media center on my external (along with my music)?

Thanks everyone!

[InflatableMouse]

Welcome!

Many of your questions are answered in the wiki, found here.

Look up topics like Library Server, Library Server Sync, Media Server.

What is not clearly mentioned in the wiki (Tools/Options/Media Network does mention it though) is that Authentication needs to be enabled in order to use automatic library syncing.

[Anchorless]

Thanks.  I've already browsed most of that.  Is this what I should be looking at in particular:  http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=74417.msg504879#msg504879

Maybe I'm not running this through properly in my mind.  Is it better to just have MC17 installed on both my work and home laptop (which I hook my external drive up to when I'm using either) and figure out how to sync libraries? 

What I had in mind was just having MC17 on the external drive, and firing it from that depending on what computer I'm using (though I'm quickly learning this way is fraught with issues).  This probably should not be done, right?

Thanks again. I'm loving MC17 so far.

[InflatableMouse]

I may not be in the best position to answer because I've never done anything like it, but it sounds like that thread you found is exactly what you need, isn't it?

I'm wondering (I've never tried it) if you can do a portable MC installation on your external disk and use it on both your Laptop and your home pc. Then you'd never have to sync anything.

[Anchorless]

I may not be in the best position to answer because I've never done anything like it, but it sounds like that thread you found is exactly what you need, isn't it?

I'm wondering (I've never tried it) if you can do a portable MC installation on your external disk and use it on both your Laptop and your home pc. Then you'd never have to sync anything.

That's exactly my question.  Avoiding the syncing by simply running MC17 from my external.   Sometimes running programs from an external drive works, sometimes it doesn't.

Seems it would be easier, assuming the program would run okay.

[InflatableMouse]

Well when you install MC you can choose Portable.

Try it out and let us know 

[Indyscammer]

I have mine installed on my external HD (was an option when I downloaded).  Seems to work fine right now.  Have not tried on other machines but have disconnected and reconnected the HD without issue.

[Anchorless]

I have mine installed on my external HD (was an option when I downloaded).  Seems to work fine right now.  Have not tried on other machines but have disconnected and reconnected the HD without issue.

No other issues?  Do you prefer this option?  Is it just like having it on your computer?

[Indyscammer]

No other issues?  Do you prefer this option?  Is it just like having it on your computer?

I have not seen an issue.  I will have more information for you this weekend.  As I am going through my collection ripping CDs I have encountered several discs that my old PC won't read.  When I have some time I am going to try moving the HD to a laptop to utilize a newer drive.  I'll report how that goes.....not expecting issues though.

[Indyscammer]

I guess I should have expected issues...

Moved the drive to a different computer and get the following message:

Critical Error
A JRiver Media Center component failed to load product info file
Data\Default Resources\Options.xml
Please reinstall the latest version of the program.

Anyone know how to over come this issue?

[Anchorless]

This is what I kind of expected.  I guess you need to make sure that ALL information is contained (or at least copied) onto the external... and even then MC probably stores some files on the computer.

I think I'll just dload MC on both computers and figure out how to sync libraries.

[Indyscammer]

Can anyone answer if this is possible?  Or do I have to install MC17 on both computers and deal with synchronizing libraries?