|
| AudioManage: FAQs |
| Table of Contents |
 After installation, why does the 'My Computer' window open?
|
|
What do I need to install AudioManage?
|
|
How do I configure my Windows for Unicode?
|
|
I've installed AudioManage, but how do I run it?
|
|
Uninstalling or upgrading AudioManage.
|
| |
| After installation, why does the 'My Computer' window open? |
After you install AudioManage, the installer will open 'My Computer' in a window. In this window, you will be able to spot the icon for 'Audio Libray'. We open this window, instead of directly opening Audio Library, so you can see where to find it, and how easy it is to launch it!
|
| Back to Top |
| What do I need to install AudioManage? |
Well, you need some 32-bit Windows, preferably Windows XP or above.
(Read more about the OS requirements here)
Other than that, AudioManage is surprisingly small for the punch it packs: the whole installer is only about 2Mb, while the main program is just 1Mb in size. In short, it doesn't need much space on your dists.
AudioManage stores the information about all your audio files in an internal database. This database is accessed using Microsoft ADO technologies, so you need to have a recent version of MDAC installed on your system. Additionally, the database server is accessed using DCOM, which is not available by default in Windows 95 (if you are still using that!).
Note that the size of the database depends on the size of your collection, and the additional details you put in for each track/album etc. For example, if you have a lot of album cover pictures, the database will grow bigger. You will need to ensure that there is enough space available for that to happen. Having said that, it should be noted that the database will typically be a very small fraction of the size of your collection (less than 1/1000th!). On an average, we have seen that about 4GB of audio files take about 1Mb of database space!
Since all folder that you see in the library are created/updated dynamically (on-the-fly, as and when you click on the folder), a speedy machine is desirable (tho not essential). However, tests even on 600Mhz PIII machines went off extremely smoothly.
AudioManage Admin
|
| Back to Top |
| How do I configure my Windows for Unicode? |
In short, you don't! Windows 2000 and above have Unicode support built into them, so nothing needs to be installed to enable it. If you are unable to see text in your language, you need to enable support for your language. Follow the steps appropriate to your OS below:
Windows 2000
Go to Control Panel -> Regional Options
On the 'General' tab, in section 'Language settings for the system', select the languages you want to read and write in.
Windows XP
Go to Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options
On the 'Languages' tab, in the 'Supplemental language support' section, select the appropriate checkboxes.
|
| Back to Top |
| I've installed AudioManage, but how do I run it? |
AudioManage extends your Windows installation. You don't "run" it in the conventional sense: you browse it, just like you browse your folders.
To start, open 'My Computer' (the installer would have opened it for you), and locate a beautiful icon  labelled 'Audio Library'. Double-click on this, just like you would while opening a drive or special folder (which is exactly what AudioManage is).
When it opens, you will see several 'root' folders ('by Artist', 'by Album', etc.). Opening any of these folders will give you a categorized 'virtual' view of your entire collection. Note that all this is done on-the-fly, after you open the folder, so it takes a wee-bit more than opening regular Windows folders, but again, that depends on the size of your collection. Also, the first time you open Audio Library, you will be greeted by a wizard which will guide you through some basic configuration stuff.
You can also access the library from inside any standard Windows program, as it appears inside the File->Open dialog box. For example, when you want to open a track by Ella Fitzgerald, you can open Winamp or Windows Media Player (or your favorite media player), browse to the Audio Library - you will again find it inside 'My Computer', and either go by artist (Ella Fitzgerald), or by genre (Jazz), to open the track you want. When you select the track, AudioManage will determine where the real file is, and instruct your player to open from there. You no longer have to remember any filenames or paths!
Always remember that all folders are virtual, and are being made from the database. However, if you change the name of any folder (say the name of an artist, in the 'by Artist' folder), note that it will automatically effect all the files by that artist that you might have, even changing their tags!
|
| Back to Top |
| Uninstalling or upgrading AudioManage. |
In earlier versions of AudioManage (before 1.20f), uninstalling would leave the data file behind on the computer. This behaviour was by design: many people uninstall software when they want to upgrade to a newer version. If uninstalling would remove the folder, the data file that gets created by AudioManage, which contains all the information about your library, will also get deleted. Thus, when you re-install, you will have to re-import all the songs into the library, and cd covers etc. that you may have downloaded will need to be downloaded again. This is why we don't delete the data file, and hence the folder.
However, from v1.20f, the uninstaller prompts the user to confirm if the data file is to be deleted. If a user responds with a 'Yes', AudioManage is completely uninstalled from the syste,
If you are uninstalling because you don't want to use AudioManage (please do mail to us what you didn't like about it!!!), then you can select 'No' at that prompt. If you are uninstalling a version older than 1.20f, then after uninstalling, you can safely delete the folder manually. The default location of the folder is c:\program files\AudioManage. You will only find one file in this folder after uninstallation, which is a hidden file called [i]music.dat[/u]. This can be safely deleted if you do not plan to use AudioManage again.
|
| Back to Top |
|
The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
|
|
Home
Features
