latest two builds of Windows 7 may damage mp3's

Has anybody encountered this problem with their build of Windows 7


"It is probably fair to say that the Windows 7 builds that have been floating around on the Internet are very stable and that only a handful of minor errors have been reported yet. According to Neowin the latest two builds of Windows 7 that leaked to the Internet may damage mp3 files under certain circumstances.
The problem was first recognized by users who noticed that the first few seconds of their mp3 files had been cut off. Some thought it was related to bad crossfading first but it soon turned out that the data was not there anymore. Many users thought it was caused by Windows Media Player 12 but it turned out to be a global problem.
It does however only happen under the following circumstances: The first few seconds of a mp3 file will be cut in Windows 7 if the header of the mp3 file is larger than 16 Kilobytes and if meta data is written to the file. Some media players are able to automatically add missing meta data which is the most likely cause.
The changes are irreversible and it is advised to backup the mp3 collection before using them in the current builds of Windows 7. A Microsoft employee has confirmed the bug in the forum. According to his statement Microsoft is working on a hotfix for the problem.
According to him the public beta which will be released in early January will not be affected by the problem."


http://windows7news.com/2009/01/02/windows-7-beta-damages-some-mp3/



According to a Microsoft Employee, Located at Neowin Forums, said that whenever the Windows Media Player or Windows Explorer edits the metadata of mp3 files, it corrupts the beginning of the file (a file with a header larger than 16KB only ). or it happens when WMP (Windows Media Player) automatically set metadata using online services.
Therefore it is advisable to backup your music collection before using prereleased version of windows 7. Its clearly a big issue.
http://itsmadh.blogspot.com/2009/01/windows-7-beta-1-build-7000-damages-mp3.html

Wow Norm! I haven't put any mp3 on yet but thanks for the heads up.

Thanks Norm,

Funny thing here is that, one of the first things I do when installing is to stop WMP from editing any metadata in MP3,or any other, files.

My reason for doing this is that all my MP3's have their metadata including Album cover information set-up via other methods and I found that WMP10 & 11 were getting the details wrong too often meaning I had to re-edit the files manually to correct this.

Must be that the info available doesn't go back far enough for my collection

Good that I steer clear of WMP

Pooch

I confess that I have the beta 1 version of Windows 7 but I haven't tried it as yet. Just waiting on other people's reviews. My only problem is with the taskbar. It should be dark like Vista's. I guess I'll get used to it. I have discovered iTunes software and I am impressed. I tried using Winamp 5.54 but it won't play mp4s and most videos. That made me mad but it still is a good software that has really endured all this time. I am dying to see the final finished product that is "Windows Seven!" Can't wait! Not sure about the WMP being bad with "7" but i'll test carefully first before I try it.

Barman58 said:

Thanks Norm,

Funny thing here is that, one of the first things I do when installing is to stop WMP from editing any metadata in MP3,or any other, files.

My reason for doing this is that all my MP3's have their metadata including Album cover information set-up via other methods and I found that WMP10 & 11 were getting the details wrong too often meaning I had to re-edit the files manually to correct this.

Must be that the info available doesn't go back far enough for my collection

Click to expand...

I always disable this the very first time WiMP is ever run on any of my systems.

I was going crazy trying to figure out why mine were *not* missing the beginning parts, too!

Microsoft's official response is "Microsoft is aware of this issue and it will be addressed in the beta program". The company is currently hard at work readying a QFE (quick fix engineering) patch that will be distributed by Windows Update for those with official and non-official access. A support (KB) article is expected soon.

Norm

So if my music is already messed up, I know there is no way to fix it.

But, I was wondering how can I change the settings of WMP so that it does not edit the metadata and destroy any songs I might add in the future, or destroy these songs again when I download them again.

Hello Zax,

in library mode press alt key to show menus select tools then options then on the Privacy tab uncheck the items that mention internet.



Also if you are ever prompted to update media information - say no

that should do it

Cool. Thanks Barman

Your welcome

Hi Nigel,

There's no option to uncheck this




There's always this - if it works on 7 ( that tweak I mean - the app. seems to work perfectly )



SIW2

I don't have the same look as yours, have the old looking options window. I've looked everywhere to try to get access to uncheck it. Can't find it. Even opened WMP with RUn as admin. The WMP 12 privacy statement under the customer experience improvement program states that: Prerelease versions of Windows Media Player come with CEIP turned on. It says you can turn it off but the method does nothing.

You can however, go to File in the menu bar and check "Work Offline".

Windows Media Player 12 Privacy Statement

Perhaps we''l be able to find the registry key for it - if we dig around enough.

SIW2

Yes, I'm sure. I'm sure they made this inaccessible on purpose.

Airbot said:

I don't have the same look as yours, have the old looking options window. I've looked everywhere to try to get access to uncheck it. Can't find it. Even opened WMP with RUn as admin. The WMP 12 privacy statement under the customer experience improvement program states that: Prerelease versions of Windows Media Player come with CEIP turned on. It says you can turn it off but the method does nothing.

You can however, go to File in the menu bar and check "Work Offline".

Windows Media Player 12 Privacy Statement

Click to expand...

Working offline (disconnecting from the Internet) is the most secure mode in which to use the Player. Keep in mind, however, that many Player features are unavailable when you work offline. For example, if you attempt to access an online store when working offline, the Player displays a page informing you that the computer must be connected to the Internet to use this feature. Other features that require an Internet connection include:

• Acquiring content
• Retrieving and displaying media information, including album art
• Finding, viewing, and updating album information
• Finding and viewing DVD information
• Acquiring and restoring media usage rights
• Downloading codecs, visualizations, portable device drivers, plug-ins, and skins
• Checking for updates to the Player, and performing security upgrades
• Setting the secure clock on portable devices based on Windows Media DRM 10 for Portable Devices
• Browsing Windows Media Player Web Help

Security and Windows Media Player 12

Norm

norm you beat me to it...lol

it seems that it has to do with files that have metadata that is bigger than 16kb...
hmmm

so now its a for sure that this 7000 beta wont be the one released to the general public (unless they dont count this patch (for the CTP beta) as another build) huh??

what exactly happens to the mp3's? after i installed i noticed that like 50% of the songs i transfered to my ipod have the first 10 seconds cut off and i thought W7 did it

yes if you have metadata thats bigger than 16kb then WMP will corrupt the 1st 10 seconds of your song....

Damn! It happened to me to a few songs, but I thought I must have had them like this always...

grrr