custom folder background for music libraries

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  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Hello

One of the ways I use my PC is as a music library. I have converted all of
my cd's to mp3 format and use an external hard drive to store the files. Each
file in a directory is a cd. I save the cd cover picture in each folder as
folder.jpg. I also create an image file to use as background picture and name
it background.bmp. These folder use the naming scheme "artist - album". I
have used the program ieshwiz.exe to create the desktop.ini files for each
folder using the background.bmp as image. However this takes much time as my
library is very large. Is there a way that this can be scripted automaticaly
for each directory (font color does not concern me).

As well I like to view the cd folders with a thumbnail view. Is there a way
to set the folder.jpg file for each folder to always be the thumbnail. At
times the images change and the wrong cd cover is shown, it takes much time
to set them back to the proper image.
 
It could be done with a script. Have you done any scripting? Do you need hints or a working
script?
 
I have not done any scripting, a working script would be so very much
appreciated. I have made the following advancements..

problem 1: (setting the custom folder background automaticaly)
As I add my cd's to the library I can paste a desktop.ini file which
contains the following information..

[ExtShellFolderViews]
{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}={BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}
[{aBE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}]
Attributes=1
IconArea_Image=.\background.bmp
[.ShellClassInfo]
ConfirmFileOp=0

this shows windows the path to the background image file and can be used for
every cd folder as the images are always named background.bmp. However my
understanding is that before I can see the image as background, the folder
must be set to system.

I can acheive this by doing the following:
if I click on windows start, run, and then type "attrib +s " then drag the
folder file to the window, this causes the necessary change to take place
(setting folder to system?) The problem is that this again is very time
consuming for this many folders. I am better off using ieshwiz program. Is
there a way to do the process in batch, I do have the ability to make a text
file containing all the directories fairly easily. P.S. (I have encountered
problems when I type the directory path instead of draging the folder to the
window)


problem #2 (setting the folder.jpg as thumbnail image)
I still haven't acheived much progress on this problem. I beleive windows is
supposed to set the folder.jpg to be the default image in thumbnail view.
However often the folder.jpg file shown can be from another album (this
occurs frequently when a change has been made to the folder). I can change
each one individualy by manually right clicking and selecting properties,
customize tab, choose picture, and selecting the folder.jpg file. This is
extremely time consuming foa a large library, is there a way to do this in
batch as each cd has a file named foler.jpg?

again much thanks
ced


Keith Miller MVP said:
It could be done with a script. Have you done any scripting? Do you need hints or a working
script?


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]


ced said:
Hello

One of the ways I use my PC is as a music library. I have converted all of
my cd's to mp3 format and use an external hard drive to store the files. Each
file in a directory is a cd. I save the cd cover picture in each folder as
folder.jpg. I also create an image file to use as background picture and name
it background.bmp. These folder use the naming scheme "artist - album". I
have used the program ieshwiz.exe to create the desktop.ini files for each
folder using the background.bmp as image. However this takes much time as my
library is very large. Is there a way that this can be scripted automaticaly
for each directory (font color does not concern me).

As well I like to view the cd folders with a thumbnail view. Is there a way
to set the folder.jpg file for each folder to always be the thumbnail. At
times the images change and the wrong cd cover is shown, it takes much time
to set them back to the proper image.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
ced said:
I have not done any scripting, a working script would be so very much
appreciated. I have made the following advancements..

problem 1: (setting the custom folder background automaticaly)
As I add my cd's to the library I can paste a desktop.ini file which
contains the following information..

[ExtShellFolderViews]
{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}={BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}
[{aBE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}]
Attributes=1
IconArea_Image=.\background.bmp
[.ShellClassInfo]
ConfirmFileOp=0

this shows windows the path to the background image file and can be used for
every cd folder as the images are always named background.bmp. However my
understanding is that before I can see the image as background, the folder
must be set to system.

I can acheive this by doing the following:
if I click on windows start, run, and then type "attrib +s " then drag the
folder file to the window, this causes the necessary change to take place
(setting folder to system?) The problem is that this again is very time
consuming for this many folders. I am better off using ieshwiz program. Is
there a way to do the process in batch, I do have the ability to make a text
file containing all the directories fairly easily. P.S. (I have encountered
problems when I type the directory path instead of draging the folder to the
window)
Click to expand...

type "cd " then drag the folder containing the folders you want to alter to the window (this may be
just the drive letter, not sure of your folder structure.

then type:

attrib + s * /s /d

this will assign the system attribute to all the files & folders

then type:

attrib -s *.mp3 /s

this will remove it from all the mp3 files.

then type:

attrib -s *.jpg /s

this will remove it from the .jpg files.

then type

attrib -s *.bmp /s

this will remove it from the .bmp files.

and you'll be left with all folders having the system attribute set.
problem #2 (setting the folder.jpg as thumbnail image)
I still haven't acheived much progress on this problem. I beleive windows is
supposed to set the folder.jpg to be the default image in thumbnail view.
However often the folder.jpg file shown can be from another album (this
occurs frequently when a change has been made to the folder). I can change
each one individualy by manually right clicking and selecting properties,
customize tab, choose picture, and selecting the folder.jpg file. This is
extremely time consuming foa a large library, is there a way to do this in
batch as each cd has a file named foler.jpg?
Click to expand...

Add a line to the desktop.ini file that you are pasting into each folder:

in the file, add the "Logo=folder.jpg"....

[.ShellClassInfo]
ConfirmFileOp=0
Logo=folder.jpg



--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]



again much thanks
ced


Keith Miller MVP said:
It could be done with a script. Have you done any scripting? Do you need hints or a working
script?


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]


ced said:
Hello

One of the ways I use my PC is as a music library. I have converted all of
my cd's to mp3 format and use an external hard drive to store the files. Each
file in a directory is a cd. I save the cd cover picture in each folder as
folder.jpg. I also create an image file to use as background picture and name
it background.bmp. These folder use the naming scheme "artist - album". I
have used the program ieshwiz.exe to create the desktop.ini files for each
folder using the background.bmp as image. However this takes much time as my
library is very large. Is there a way that this can be scripted automaticaly
for each directory (font color does not concern me).

As well I like to view the cd folders with a thumbnail view. Is there a way
to set the folder.jpg file for each folder to always be the thumbnail. At
times the images change and the wrong cd cover is shown, it takes much time
to set them back to the proper image.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Correction to my earlier post regarding the thumbnails problem:

If the folder.jpg file is present in the folder, you shouldn't need to add the "Logo=" line to the
desktop.ini file -- that would only be useful if you wanted to reference a picture file from another
folder or a picture named something other than 'folder.jpg'.

Try the following at a command prompt:

Type the letter of the drive the folders are on, i.e.

D:<Enter>

the prompt should change to the drive letter, looking like this:

D:>

then type:

del /a /s thumbs.db

that will get rid of any incorrect cached images. If some folders are still displaying an incorrect
picture, it is most likely because they think they are assigned one via the 'Customize' tab. If
these are few and far between, use the 'Restore Default' button on the 'Customize' tab. If they are
more numerous, using my FolderViewMaster script will allow you to set a default view for all the
folders, which would have the side benefit of erasing the currently assigned thumbnail.

If you want to use the script, right-click the link below & save to your computer. The zip file
contains a readme
file & the script itself.

http://mysite.verizon.net/res18hr7/FVM3.zip


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]


ced said:
I have not done any scripting, a working script would be so very much
appreciated. I have made the following advancements..

problem 1: (setting the custom folder background automaticaly)
As I add my cd's to the library I can paste a desktop.ini file which
contains the following information..

[ExtShellFolderViews]
{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}={BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}
[{aBE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}]
Attributes=1
IconArea_Image=.\background.bmp
[.ShellClassInfo]
ConfirmFileOp=0

this shows windows the path to the background image file and can be used for
every cd folder as the images are always named background.bmp. However my
understanding is that before I can see the image as background, the folder
must be set to system.

I can acheive this by doing the following:
if I click on windows start, run, and then type "attrib +s " then drag the
folder file to the window, this causes the necessary change to take place
(setting folder to system?) The problem is that this again is very time
consuming for this many folders. I am better off using ieshwiz program. Is
there a way to do the process in batch, I do have the ability to make a text
file containing all the directories fairly easily. P.S. (I have encountered
problems when I type the directory path instead of draging the folder to the
window)


problem #2 (setting the folder.jpg as thumbnail image)
I still haven't acheived much progress on this problem. I beleive windows is
supposed to set the folder.jpg to be the default image in thumbnail view.
However often the folder.jpg file shown can be from another album (this
occurs frequently when a change has been made to the folder). I can change
each one individualy by manually right clicking and selecting properties,
customize tab, choose picture, and selecting the folder.jpg file. This is
extremely time consuming foa a large library, is there a way to do this in
batch as each cd has a file named foler.jpg?

again much thanks
ced


Keith Miller MVP said:
It could be done with a script. Have you done any scripting? Do you need hints or a working
script?


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]


ced said:
Hello

One of the ways I use my PC is as a music library. I have converted all of
my cd's to mp3 format and use an external hard drive to store the files. Each
file in a directory is a cd. I save the cd cover picture in each folder as
folder.jpg. I also create an image file to use as background picture and name
it background.bmp. These folder use the naming scheme "artist - album". I
have used the program ieshwiz.exe to create the desktop.ini files for each
folder using the background.bmp as image. However this takes much time as my
library is very large. Is there a way that this can be scripted automaticaly
for each directory (font color does not concern me).

As well I like to view the cd folders with a thumbnail view. Is there a way
to set the folder.jpg file for each folder to always be the thumbnail. At
times the images change and the wrong cd cover is shown, it takes much time
to set them back to the proper image.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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