Re: Finding AAC (.m4a) files in Windows Media Center

Thank you John. I will likely need some time this weekend to apply your
suggestions.

I would like to point out, though, that I did not install either of the
"patches" prior to being able to play the tunes. They played just fine using
the "open with..." feature in Explorer. Does this indicate a different
problem?

Also, prior to embarking on this journey, I actually put a few CD's on the
"new" computer the old-fashioned way, by inserting them into the CD drive.
It basically worked fine. A couple of older CD's, however, came up as
"unknown artist". They also had no track names or album names.

The files that I have moved with a memory stick, though are broken into
typical MS Windows "file Folders" which are labeled with the artists' names.
Is this the "album Artist" tag that you refer to?

Thanks again, John. All of your posts that I have read have been very
helpful. I am sure that there are many of us outnhere that have benefitted
from your thorough walk-throughs.

Best regards,
Ted

"John Lockwood" wrote:

On 14/8/07 04:24, in article
FDFDC3DF-000F-48EC-A597-2AD7AD465435@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Ted the Salty Dog" <Ted
the Salty Dog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I am transferring my music from an old computer (windows XP Home edition) to
a new machine (Vista). I copied all of the files directly from CDs onto the
old computer - none were downloaded. I copied the files onto the old machine
with iTunes software so I could sync with my iPod.

When I got my new Vista computer, I transferred the files using a USB memory
stick (total files approx 10GB). Lo and behold, I couldn't find the files
with either Media Center or Media Player. I DID find them with Windows
Explorer and used the "open with..." function to open the files with Media
Player. I got the warning "file format not supported, but may work
anyway..." (or words to that effect) They play just fine. in Media Player.
I can also "see" them in Media Player. I CANNOT see them in Media Center,
though.

At this point I dsicovered several posts in this forum essentially
describing the problem that I believe that I have. I have downloaded and
installed http://wmptagext.sourceforge.net/ and also
http://www.orban.com/plugin/ . As best as I can tell, they are correctly
installed and turned on and running.

I still have the same problem though. I would like to use Media Center
and/or Media Player to manage, play and keep track of these files. I think
that the only reason that I can see them in Media Player is because I chose
the "open with..." option.

Now what? Help!

The fact that you can play them confirms that Orban (or another directshow
filter that also support AAC files) is working correctly.

Normally the only other step is to have WMPTSE installed and turned on (I
note you say you have installed it). When you install WMPTSE it initially is
still turned OFF. You should check this by going to the Tools Menu in WMP,
then Plugins, and then Options, then category background and making sure
WMPTSE is turned on.

There are two other things to check. Windows Media Player absolutely relies
on the presence of a filled in "Album Artist" tag, support for which was
only added in iTunes 7 and even then is not normally filled in in iTunes.
You need to make sure this tag is filled in for WMP to be happy. You can
either do this in iTunes 7 (or later) before adding the music to WMP, or use
the "Album Art Fixer" utility which despite its name also fixes this tag, or
manually do this in WMP. In your case the "Album Art Fixer" utility will
probably be the quickest and easiest option. Download it here
http://www.avsoft.nl/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=80&Itemid
=4

Note: I would initially just use it to fix the Album Artist tag.

The other thing to check is that sometimes the WMPTSE installer does not
successfully register .m4a files as a type that Windows Media Player (and
thus Media Center) can now understand. Check the following is present using
regedit

\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.m4a
PerceivedType REG_SZ audio
Content Type REG_SZ audio/m4a

Note: "PerceivedType" does not have a space in it unlike "Content Type".

I have dozens of albums in .m4a files shared successfully from iTunes to WMP
10, and thus also to Media Center 2005. Feedback I have seen suggests the
same approach also works for Vista.

PS. To others reading this, the fact that Ted can play the tracks confirms
they are not protected AAC tracks purchased from the iTunes store so that is
nothing to do with Ted's problem.


.

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