WMP Album Art Fixed in 7077 Halleluja!

After being broken since WMP11 automatically fetching album art is fixed in Windows 7 build 7077. Thank you Microsoft!

Just tried it with The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die, was instant, it's never been instant. This IS good news.

You mean you get folder images back in explorer for your music collection?

Also. I always set up a toolbar on my taskbar pointing to my music folder. I used to be able to right click an entry here and select 'play with media player' to load into the app. No longer - now I have to navigate all the way into the specific directory and click play all on the menu bar. Please tell me that has been fixed.

Jac said:

You mean you get folder images back in explorer for your music collection?

Also. I always set up a toolbar on my taskbar pointing to my music folder. I used to be able to right click an entry here and select 'play with media player' to load into the app. No longer - now I have to navigate all the way into the specific directory and click play all on the menu bar. Please tell me that has been fixed.

Click to expand...

Just add the folder(s) to you music library then you can jump straight to it from any explorer window and either right click -> play, or select song(s) and press play in the taskbar. (this works on build 7000, 7077 and all builds in between)

It's quicker and more intuitive doing it my way. Libraries are a waste of time imo.

My method = left click "music'" toolbar, right click album folder and click play with media player. Easy - two clicks from a resource that is always available to me on the taskbar.

Jac said:

You mean you get folder images back in explorer for your music collection?

Also. I always set up a toolbar on my taskbar pointing to my music folder. I used to be able to right click an entry here and select 'play with media player' to load into the app. No longer - now I have to navigate all the way into the specific directory and click play all on the menu bar. Please tell me that has been fixed.

Click to expand...

Yup folder images are back in Explorer for your music collection.

Jac said:

It's quicker and more intuitive doing it my way. Libraries are a waste of time imo.

My method = left click "music'" toolbar, right click album folder and click play with media player. Easy - two clicks from a resource that is always available to me on the taskbar.

Click to expand...

Do you check out every book in the library when you go? How do you choose which one to read? Do your musical tastes change over time -- have some hot bands this week and others later? How much music do you have? How's at arranged? Just how many music folder are there in your toolbar?

How about you don't just count libraries out yet -- you're missing another of their important aspects: Jump Lists. Just as a right click on the Explorer taskbar icon bring up a list of pinned and recent folders, a right click on the WMP icon brings up a list of pinned and recent folders, static playlists, years, ratings, contributing artists, composers, parental ratings, and most importantly autoplaylists. Works for Videos, Pictures and Recorded TV too. You just need to click a single option in WMP to activate this:


Now play those folders, playlists, etc. from Explorer or right from within WMP and right click the WMP icon on the taskbar:


Now what is it about that approach, albeit different, that fails to suit your requirements?

Well. I don't have things pinned to my taskbar. That is quite a bad UI development in my opinion. It's not intuitive and looks messy. All my various media are located in specific folders on a seperate drive to my OS. On the taskbar I have a toolbar pointing to my music folder.



I click said toolbar and thus



I glide my mouse smoothly to the album or song I want to listen to



This is where it gets curious. I noticed that the Portishead album gives me the option to play in media player - like I was always used to. However almost all the other folders are missing the option. I don't know why. Am I missing something obvious

I'm all for change and have tried using Libraries and pinning elements to the taskbar but found that the way I am use to working is simpler and more efficient. UI changes should be offered not enforced. I like using Quick Launch. I like using toolbars. I hope this is just an oversight.

Reminds me of the time Adobe decided they would remove thumbnails to force people to use their cludgy, bloated 'Bridge' crap.

select and right click on the folder(s) that don't give you the option to play your mp3 in media player and check if the customize tab is set on "Music".

Chris34 said:

select and right click on the folder(s) that don't give you the option to play your mp3 in media player and check if the customize tab is set on "Music".

Click to expand...

It's that "Also apply template to subfolders" option that's really important...

baarod said:

It's that "Also apply template to subfolders" option that's really important...

Click to expand...

Yes, I forgot to precise that
But it's only important if you do change this option when selecting the root folder where all your other album folders are, as selecting this option on a single folder that only has music files in it doesn't do anything more.
I.e: C:\My music collection root folder\where all your albums are stored\
and you select that option on "My music collection root folder"

Problem solved - Thanks very much.

I selected my Music folder and made the change, making sure that 'apply to subfolders' was ticked. Everything is now as I like.