[Obligatory intro: this is really the worst timing in the world - posting about WMP9 the day fb2k v0.7 gets released, I know. Don't get me wrong, I like fb2k a lot and use it as my main player, but every once in a while I feel like using WMP9. Now let's move on:]

My biggest gripe about Windows Media Player 9 is that it messes with my files' ID3 tags (I believe in PR talk this is called "updating").

I use ID3v2 tags only (I have ID3v1 tags removed). I also leave the "Genre" field blank. (For those that'll come in and say, "don't use ID3v2, use APEv2", I'll say that I also use my MP3s in a HDD portable player (where APEv2 tag support is lacking) and I need the longer fields that ID3v1 isn't giving, so thank you.)

Well, if I add an MP3 file to WMP's Media Library, once I listen to it via WMP (or rate it in the 5-star scale), the file automatically gets an ID3v1 tag, and the "Genre" field gets changed to "Other".

This is a problem because if I do a "Sync" between my PC and my HDD portable player, those "touched" files are seen as new, while they're not, and chaos follows.

And last, but not least, "Other" is not the equal of "Blank": "Blank" means I haven't bothered to select the "Genre" yet, "Other" means that it's neither pop/rock/etc. which is not true in 99% of the cases. (OK, that may sound like a trivial thing, but still.)

I have disabled the option "Update my music files (WMA and MP3 files) by retrieving missing media information by the Internet" (located under "Tools -> Options -> Media Library"), but this doesn't seem to do the thing.

I don't get it; why does it go away and modify my MP3 files?

I like WMP's star rating system, I like the Media Library's UI, I like the smart, filter-based playlists but I can't go ahead and use WMP9 if the problem isn't solved; a couple of thousands "updated" MP3 files is the least thing I want right now.

Has anyone got a solution to remedy this? Any hidden setting in WMP that prevents it from updating the files?

Thanks to all.

Take a look under the Privacy tab . . . the sneaky son-of-a-guns at Redmond put the same setting in two different places. Uncheck it there and the problem should go away.

On a side note, if you run something like ZoneAlarm, you can tell it to not allow WMP to access the web.

Dex

These options are already unchecked, but no, that's not the case unfortunately.

I didn't say that WMP9 connects to the Internet, retrieves information about my files and updates them accordingly.

It's just that when I rate a song (in the 5-star scale), it copies the file's ID3v2 tag to ID3v1, and changes the "Genre" field from "Blank" to "Other". It's this behaviour I want to stop.

Go bug Micro$oft, it's impossible.

Every time you write anything to the tag it sets the genre and adds ID3v1
and there's no option to turn it off.

Make the files read only?

C:\>attrib +R *.mp3 /s

[First of all, kudos to both of you for posting your messages the very same minute - that's some great synchronisation there!]


Hmm... Thought about it me too, but it will be a hassle when *I* want to update a tag (I'll have to disable the read-only attribute, modify the tag, re-enable read-only, etc. you get the point).

I guess I'll leave this option as my last choice, if no other work-around comes up (which I'm eagerly waiting from someone out there, assuming it exists of course).

I have a somewhat similar problem where WMP updates some of my rare CDs with incorrect tags, I guess what it considers to be the closest match. I would be interested in the answer to this question as well so I can enter tags myself and KEEP them.

Also, on a related note, if WMP uses ID3V1, where does it store all the other tags it has, like synchronized lyrics, photos, etc.?

u can disable wmp9 from fetching info from the net, which is what u seem to be saying. ( tools / options / privacy , first two options )



id3v2

Had a similar problem a while back.....

Do you use NTFS?
Here's a tip: Instead of setting your media file(s) to read-only, try removing NTFS "write" permissions on your media folder(s). This avoids the hassle of setting/unsetting read-only attributes on a per-file basis. Of course, only do it after making sure tags & replaygain infos are OK.