Day: October 15, 2009

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Adding Music to iTunes from a USB drive

If you copy music into your iTunes library, there is a setting in iTunes that will make it easier to deal with your library.

Consolidate Library

Let’s take an example. By default, when you take MP3s on a USB drive and drag them into iTunes, the music will show up in iTunes. However, iTunes is still using the files that are located on your USB drive.  As soon as you remove the USB drive, those songs in the iTunes library will have an exclamation point next to them and not be playable.

The problem has to due with the “Consolidate Library” feature. Consolidating the library moves all your music that is in the iTunes library to the iTunes folder. This keeps everything together. Oddly, this feature is not on by default.

Solution

If you want to avoid this problem and keep iTunes organized automatically, go to:

For iTunes Windows: iTunes > Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab
For iTunes Mac: iTunes > Preferences > Advanced tab

Make sure “Keep iTunes Music folder organized” is checked
Make sure “Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library” is checked

iTunes Consolidate Library

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Windows 7 Launch

It’s A Party

Windows 7 is arriving next Thursday October 22nd. Microsoft has sent out many house party kits for people to celebrate this launch. While it is dorky, it still is helping to generate buzz. Microsoft has a video on how to host a launch party that has been widely parodied.

Here’s my party pack, complete with streamers, puzzle, cards, tote bags, poster and napkins:

Windows 7 Launch Party

It was probably more fun to wait in line for the Windows 95 launch at a CompUSA and get free pizza, but that’s not possible anymore. So I’ll be doing Microsoft’s so-unhip-that-hopefully-its-hip party.

Windows 7 Resources

As with Vista, Windows 7’s pricing, features, and versions are not simple.

Microsoft has a Windows 7 site and a Compare Editions page.

However, I prefer Paul Thurrot’s SuperSite for Windows with great official and unofficial information:

  • Windows 7: All Paul Thurrot’s Windows 7 articles
  • Comparison of Windows 7 versions. It’s a bit complicated, but most people will probably want Home Premium.
  • Pricing for various versions. Advanced users will probably purchase the cheaper OEM versions. There is also the ability to upgrade from one version of Windows Vista or 7 to higher version within the operating system using Windows Anytime Upgrade.
  • Upgrading or migrating to Windows 7. One of the more surprising things for the many Windows XP users will be that they can not upgrade to Windows 7. A clean install followed by a migration is needed. That is a difficult process that will encourage most people to simply buy a new computer.
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Dropbox Tips and Tricks

Dropbox is one of my favorite tools to help small businesses in the D.C. area share files on the cheap.

Dropbox Wiki Info

Besides simply sharing files with your friends, office co-workers, or just your other computers, there are lots of other uses.

See the Tips and Tricks page and Dropbox Add-on page on the Dropbox Wiki explaining things such as:

Other Dropbox Tips and Tricks

  • See any updates that occur to your Dropbox files with the free Growl (Mac) program. Dropbox for Windows does this through the Dropbox System Tray Icon. This is especially useful if you are sharing folders and need to be notified when there are new files.Dropbox Growl Notification
  • Automatically make web photo galleries by moving pictures to the Dropbox Photos directory either from a computer or using the free iPhone Dropbox App.

iPhone Dropbox

  • Use a Dropbox Add-on that allows you to quickly move a file to a public folder and place the URL the clipboard. This makes sending people a file super easy.
  • Change shared folder names. For example, I share a folder with Joe that I name “Joe”. Joe can accept to join that folder and then rename the folder “Rick” so that it makes more sense for him. The great thing here is that the folder is still named “Joe” for me. Alternatively, I can share a folder with Joe that I have named “Rick” and then rename it to “Joe” once he has joined that folder. On Windows machines, renaming a shared folder has sometimes caused me to leave a shared folder. To get around that quirk, rename a shared folder from the Dropbox website.
  • Move shared folders. You can move shared folders, for example, to a directory named “Shared” or “Work”. This does not affect any of the shared users.

Sign Up Referrals

Dropbox ReferralDropbox is free for 2GB of space. See their pricing for more space. One of the reasons that Dropbox has quickly grown in popularity is their referral program. Once you sign up, you can invite others and get 250MB of extra space for everyone you sign up. On that note, please use my Dropbox referral when signing up for Dropbox to give both of us an extra 250MB of space.