Re: WMP 11 Erased all my custom tags



Steven" <yourweldguru(omit_this)@netscape.com> wrote in message
news:986C5BE6-3316-4DF6-A41A-2EDB7DB0D41D@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
11-28-06 Daniel J. Mount wrote -
WMP 11 Beta initialized an automatic upgrade to WMP 11 today. I went
ahead with it. However, it wiped out all the custom tags I had stored, all
my album art, the play counts, and everything else. Is there any way to
restore this information?

This indicates a preexisting probably unrecoverable library corruption on
the original system.

11-29-06 Steven Hopper wrote -
Yes, recoverable but maybe not for all your data. Recovery reportedly
involves rolling back player, saving certain files, reinstalling desired
WMP
upgrade and somehow introducing those saved files back into the upgraded
WMP
files.

This is not accurate -- the saved files cannot work with the new WMP. They
have to be imported. If they cannot be imported - which means that they
were corrupt - they cannot be used with the new WMP. In the case where
there's preexisting corruption, you could probably continue to use the old
library with the old player until things get too bad and you can no longer
access the library at all.

Usually library corruptions are small and isolated, so it shouldn't get any
worse. It's just likely not usable.

This is all speculation on both of our parts without seeing the exact
library. I'm not sure if there's any good library analysis tools around,
though. The import code is most illuminative. I could probably also try to
debug the migration of any given library, but again we're both dead in the
water without the library in question.

Options for recovering lost data from WMP11 upgrade are reinstalling OS
from
backup, or using system restore, or rolling back the WMP upgrade to
previous
WMP version, then in saving certain WMP files for use in re-introducing
them
back into the upgraded WMP version's files. As for saving which files and
how one re-introduces them into the user's subsequent upgraded WMP remains
to
be addressed in this issue's posted strings.

reinstalling OS: wouldn't do anything
system restore: same as a rollback to the previous version, mostly

saving certain WMP files: wouldn't work. You would have to follow my steps,
since that MigratedXML key and the library files presence is utterly key.

11-29-06 Daniel Mount commented -
'Is this typical, is it normal, that there is no respect for user data
when
another program, and is this all users can hope for?' Mike replied that
'data losses are common with version changes in MS software, and no, there
is
no MS update respect for user's earlier data'.

Note that the issue's string has yet to address which files need to be
saved
(before upgrading), nor has it yet been stated how those saved files are
to
be re-introduced back into the WMP upgrade.

Actually, my #medialibrary link covers what files you'd want to look for.
It depends on version to version. I think it's explicitly called out there
as the 346 library. If you haven't checked that link, please do, as it does
generally point out which library files associate with which exact player.

11-30-06 Zachd commented -
'When the database is corrupted, it's pretty much generally
unrecoverable.'

That comment simply injects into the string a likely cause for data loss
during an upgrade. Not a lot in the postings, address which files need to
be
saved (before upgrading). Again, how are (what) saved files are assumedly
re-introduced into operating system after WMP upgrading to v11?

You cannot save any thing at all. There's no reintroduction of anything.
You're misreading the situation and suggesting something not possible.
There are no saved files which could be re-introduced. They are still there
but regardless can not be used by the v11 player.

The 346 library gets processed by wmdbexport.exe to produce the 360 library.
If you really wanted to be evil, you could rename your 346 library to the
360 library, but that's just asking for trouble.

11-30-06 Mike Williams commented -
'Yes it's poor behaviour on programmer's part, sad news and old news.'

That comment injects into the string, the confirmation that users are
experiencing data loss during upgrades, isn't really helping us determine
which files need to be saved (before upgrading), nor do/did I see clearly
how
saved files are to be re-introduced back into the WMP upgrade.

11-30-06 Zachd commented -
'interesting level of some database or library corruption, can nothing be
done' and inquired if there might be 'some MS articles on lost WMP
database
files and if so, might KB272116, etc., need enhansement.'

So, assuming the earlier library is NOT corrupted, nor is it corrupted
during upgrade, if and when an upgrade still results in missing data
(album
art, star ratings, custom tags, etc.), can be restored, but how it done is
still a little fuzzy to me.

The suggestion on the table is that ONLY a corrupt beta/old library can
cause this problem. So that paragraph is probably just needlessly confusing
right now.

It seems the missing data is restored into WMP11 using v11's , but exactly
which files need are to have been backed up and how they're supposed to be
re-introduced into WMP11, if at all possible, should might well have also
been mentioned, no?

The old files are preserved after upgrade. They're still there. There's no
point to backing them up then. They cannot be reintroduced to v11 as v11
uses a different library format.

The following is what one might say is the 'hard data' mentioned in posts
to
this string:

Reset v11 *RTM* lib. Kill reg value. Run process. Run wmdbexport or
reinstall WMP11. In some cases you may also want to rename/reset the
wmdbexport.xml file present in the Media Player library directory, since
that
will necessitate a reimport from v.x. Note that that will require a v11
player reinstall, though, and not just the wmdbexport trick. In your
c:\windows\wmsetup.log should be several references to wmdbexport.exe -
what
are those lines? They may contain slightly more data.

Please might someone confirm that the above steps are in their correct
chronological order and also kindly comment on any of the following, as
I'm
unfamiliar with much and some of it is lost on me?

"Reset v11 *RTM* lib" (seems to relate to the wmdbexport.exe and/or
wmdbexport.xml files? What has writer said, or tried to say here?)

RTM library -- the 360 library as identified at my link.

"Kill reg value." (briefly how one does that)

Delete the registry value, MigratedXML, as previous identified.

"Run process." (run v11 update or open v11 player?)

Run wmdbexport.exe or run the WMP11 install again. Either way should work.

"Run wmdbexport or reinstall WMP11." (How is 'wmdbexport' run?)

Just from a command line. Click. Wait forever by watching task manager.
Done.

"..you may also want to rename/reset the wmdbexport.xml file present in
the
Media Player library directory" (How do we access the "Windows Player
library directory" so as to remane/reset that .xml file? Is maybe
renaming/resetting the file name, simply a means to if need be,
identifying
it? Or why might one "want to" rename/reset the .xml file?).

library directory: my link covers that.

"the wmdbexport trick" (what's the trick and Would it constitute or relate
to re-setting v11 *RTM* lib'? Copying v11's wmdbexport.exe file, to do
what
with?)

trick: running it out of the normal sequence.
Won't reset the v11 library if it exists. You'd have to follow the "reset
your library" instructions at the link previously referenced.

"wmdbexport.xml" and is as I understand it, this file is the export file
for
the old library? And this file's usually stored where?)

Yep.
At the location specified at my link. Since it varies for users from XP to
Vista, the link covers it best. I try to type as little as possible, since
it's better to beef up the FAQ than to type the same thing N times. =)

"c:\windows\wmsetup.log" (Is a significant file perhaps useful in
achieving
the goal of restoring missing album art, star ratings, custom tags, etc.?)

No. It's just a log file for setup, but would have logged the results of
when setup run the library migration for you.

"restore from your offline backup." (any comments here appreciated)

That's a comment from Mike likely as regards restoring the backed-up library
file.

Assuming that rolling back restores the mentioned offline content, how is
it
that as I understand it, 'after restoring WMP to it's earlier version,
users
presumedly can thereafter save certain recovered files', but I'm getting
lost
as to how the files are accessed or used.

The old library is still around. The old player probably can still use it.
It's just simply corrupt and the library migration utility will choke and
die on that corruption. The alternative would be to spew forth corrupt and
useless data to the v11 library, which would just break you further.

"c:\windows\wmsetup.log" was mentioned (seems my 'WMPsetup' is version
'9.0.0.2980' and my log only reflects about the week or two's several
logging
sessions, and it bears no unusual remarks, but it seems I'm still lost as
to
how and what s file/s are useful in restoring missing album art, star
ratings, custom tags, etc.)

It's just a log file.

Seems running wmdbexport.exe a key aspect of gathering up the old data and
plugging it back into v11's library involves the wmdbexport.hml, but I'm
lost
as I assumed it automatically runs during v11 installs.

Yeah, this isn't stuff the average person needs to drill down into.
wmdbexport.exe is kind of a black box as far as the end user is concerned.

And last (yeah) but not least, I read somewhere that the reset
"MigratedXML"
registry (should be located under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences ) to 0 and
then
re-run wmdbexport.exe.

So does it look like I wrote that down right, if so, I missed the
usefulness
or reasons to perform that check.

Sorry for the ninth degree here, but I sure am hoping that when I can do
my
v10/11 upgrade, I too want to be able to recover missing data (album art,
star ratings, custom tags, etc.)

It's only really going to be a problem if your library is corrupt. The old
files are not touched and would still be around. If your library is
corrupt, there's pretty nothing anyone at all can do to save Custom tags,
playcounts, etc.

You can use the Ratings Migration plug-in from http://wmplugins.com to save
the ratings to the files. You can then post-migration import them back in
in the case of catastrophic library import failure.
The album art is saved to the files/folders anyways. It's not affected by
the library migration process.

So: there's nothing you need to do here. It's wise to back up your data
(Mike's point), but everything we're discussing is as regards recovering
from a catastrophic corruption in your library. If you really have that
kind of problem, you're pretty much dead in the water anyways. =\

-Zach
--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


.

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