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[Rands]

After having read sraymond's recent post on UNC paths and talking to some friends of mine about it, I realized that mapping drives isn't really necessary anymore except for hardware devices.

My question is this:  all of my music is kept on a server, which is normally mapped through drive M.  If I wanted to convert my library to a UNC path (\\server\c$\mp3s, for example), will this require me to effectively start cleanly with a new library, losing all of my tagging (I never, ever tag mp3s;  it's all internal to MC), ratings, et al?

[Matt]

You could probably use find / replace on the filenames.  Just make sure you move the files first or else MC will try to do it for you.

[LisaRCT]

You could probably use find / replace on the filenames.  Just make sure you move the files first or else MC will try to do it for you.

OK, I am confused . . .
IF you are simply converting the path from a mapped drive to a UNC path, it is a move in name only . . .  the files cannot be moved since they are already on the physical drive already (except in name).  What would MC attempt to do besides chenge it's internal (database) path reference?

[Rands]

The files are actually staying in the same location.  Currently they're at d:\mp3s on the server which is mapped to M on the network.  I'd be accessing them via \\server\d$\mp3s instead of M.

Is a move still required?

[Matt]

Come to think of it, MC won't do anything because it works around silliness in the OS.

If you told the OS to move the files it may start copying / deleting because it doesn't always understand those cases.

[LisaRCT]

OK, that clears that up.
Thanks Matt!

Now I must ask:
What exactly is the advantage to doing it this way?
Off-hand, all I can see is that upon boot-up your PC does not have to search-for/locate/establish a mapped drive connection.

[Rands]

Lisa, the advantage is that I don't have to have a drive specifically mapped to get to my mp3s anymore.  So that takes away one minor administrative detail.  For example, if I were to move my library to another machine, I wouldn't have to also map a drive to my music.  Since the UNC path is universal, it will find it automatically from anywhere on my network.

Matt, your suggestion worked perfectly.  I had a moment of panic, though, where it said it was updating tags.  I was terrified that it was actually updating the actual MP3 files' tags but then I realized that it was just updating the database (there is no MP3 tag called Filename, as far as I know).  It was a scary moment though.  I have nearly 7000 MP3s.

[sraymond]

Another advantage is if you had the misfortune to put media on your "c" drive.  How can I create a map on the remote computer with a drive letter "c"?

It's certainly a better idea to move my media off the "c" drive, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I also seem to remember something (it's way back in my head) of mapped drives on a network being an anacranism from the old Novell days.

Scott-

[Rands]

The only problem I've come across so far is that some software doesn't even give the option for using UNC paths.  Also Windows default Save dialog doesn't allow for access administrative shares (\\server\c$\).  Fortunately, XP is smart enough to provide completion in the file text box when entering a path.

[RobOK]

 I had a moment of panic, though, where it said it was updating tags.  I was terrified that it was actually updating the actual MP3 files' tags but then I realized that it was just updating the database (there is no MP3 tag called Filename, as far as I know).  It was a scary moment though.  I have nearly 7000 MP3s.

I make all my directories Read Only for Mp3 files that i do not want tags updated.  You get lots of warning messages from MC, but I'd rather that then be worried.

[Rands]

There's an option in MC that tells it not to update tags which is trustworthy but I just had this paranoid idea that this particular function had a bug that overrode that option without warning since I have never seen that "Updating Tags" status window before.  Then again, I've never made a change to 6700 MP3s at once before even if that change is just in the database.