MediaBrowser

redsoxm16 said:

Ok, the way i get my metadata now is via a program called meta<browser/>
if you guys need metadata that is the program to have IMO

+1 man, this is an excellent (backup) application for metadata

DemonSeed said:

I Found A very good way to speed things up.

Washy said:

I found MediaBrowser took a lot of time to sift through the large amount of image cache files so I took the time to figure out how to run MediaBrowser from RAM. Once the cache was cleared and rebuilt in RAM, the program loads thumbnails instantly. I no longer have to wait for all the thumbnails to appear and especially when using the Vanilla theme and the high res backdrops.

Note that this was done using Windows 7 build 7260 32bit Version. It should work with Vista/Windows7 systems.

What your going to need is RAM drive software and Windows Vista or Windows 7. RAM Drive software I've tested with are:

QSoft RAMDISK $20 -- ramdisk.tk -- 32Bit and 64Bit Versions Available
RamDisk 10 for Desktop Systems $60 ** Note you need version 10 for Windows7/Vista -- RamDisk - Microsoft Certified Software -- 32Bit and 64Bit Versions Available
Free Ramdisk $0--Free Ramdisk for Windows Vista, XP, 2000 and 2003 Server » My Digital Life - Thanks for the tip FeLix 32Bit ONLY Version Only

Both Programs save your RAMDRIVE to hard disk prior to shutdown and restore on bootup.
If your system has 4GB of RAM and using a 32bit OS like I am, those 2 programs can use that 1GB of System RAM that is unused.

Step 1
Download and install the RAM Disk software of your choice. Ramdisk 10 has a nice GUI and is easier to install and setup but is more expensive. You can download it as trialware and is fully functional for 15 days. QSoft RAMDISK is cheaper but I suggest you read the instruction carefully. The instructions say to go to control panel and select Add New Hardware to kick things off, but in Windows 7 the Add New Hardware button is gone. Instead click the Start Orb and search for hdwwiz.exe. I set my RAMDRIVE to 992MB. My current MediaBrowser folder with the cache and ImagesByName folder are already taking up 600+ MB.

Step 2
Once your RAM drive is setup, format it with a quick NTFS filesystem and create a "ProgramData" folder inside it. After that navigate to C:\ProgramData\ (It may be hidden, if so go to folder options in the control panel and check show hidden files) and right click the MediaBrowser folder and select copy, then paste it into your newly created ProgramData folder on your RAMDRIVE.

Step 3
Delete the MediaBrowser folder in C:\ProgramData\. (Or move it to your desktop to create a backup if something going wrong)

Step 4
If you haven't heard Vista/Windows 7 make use of soft/hard links much like *nix. The command is MKLINK in dos. If you want more information on it, Google it.
Click the Start Orb and Search cmd.exe and type the following :

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser DriveLetterofyourRAMDRIVE:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser

Optional Step 5
Make sure you add correct user permissions if your using exenders ie. xbox360 to the new MediaBrowser folder on your RAMDRIVE for all your xbox360 users.

Edit: If you think your lacking RAM, you can just put one or 2 folders on your RAM Drive. For instance, if you just wanted to put the ImageCache folder on your RAMDRIVE you would just copy the ImageCache onto your RAMDRIVE keeping the same directory structure. After pasting, delete the original folder from the C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ directory. Next you edit the MKLINK command:

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImageCache DriveLetterofyourRAMDRIVE:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImageCache

Thats it.


Cheers,

Washy

I have been playing with the ram drive, and have now moved almost everything MB related to the ram drive.
I have moved the Cache folder, ImagesByName folder,Plugins folder, RSS folder, StartupFolder, and even the folder I keep my Startup Icons in. + to top it off I uninstalled MediaBrowser and then reinstalled it to the Ram Drive.

I can now TRULY SEE A SPEED BOOST!!! The only thing that is still on a HDD is the image cache (because its just to big) and the CustomStyles.mcml, Fonts_DoNotEdit.mcml, MediaBrowserXml.config, Styles_DoNotEdit.mcml.

I gave MB 1GB on the Ram Drive and with all of tha in Ram its only using 768mb. And like I said I can really see improvement!

   Note

Yea I did it in my norm, moving pix so I'm sure you know the drill by now. If not...
*** I am using animated pix in this post that you can not see move with Internet Explorer. If you are using Firefox, Safari, or Opera your good, just skip over this next part.
If your using any other web browser please just for this, download this Portitable Web Browser and run the opera.exe and it will open, then browse back to this page, and you wont miss a thing.

This is on the Hdd side of things...


This is on the Ram Side of things...


So you know its all true!


P.S.> You probably saw that link for my image cache, it was just to move it to another drive. As you can see my C:/ partition was a little full so I moved it to another hdd. The reason I had to leave the Image Cache on a hdd is my Image Cache is 7.25gb and I only have 6gb of RAm.


This is the commands I used.

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\Cache J:\Cache

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImageCache J:\ImageCache

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\StartupFolder J:\StartupFolder

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\Plugins J:\Plugins

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\RSS J:\RSS

MKLINK /J C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName J:\ImagesByName

Anyone that wants to try this, Be sure to backup anything that you put on the Ram Drive. I did not and I had a power outage and lost everything that was on the Ram Drive, so be sure to make a backup image and keep it in a safe place!

How much physical memory do you have? I only have 2 GB, would a ram drive work ok for me with that amount of memory?

I have 6gb in mine. If you are using a x86 OS and wanted to add more ram you could add up to 4gb, Knowing that a x86 OS will only be able to use 3gb of that the Ram Drive can still use that Free unused gb that the OS can't use.

But to give you a direct answer, yes you can set a side 512mb of your ram and move everything MB Cache related except the Image Cache and you should see some improvement.

Cool thanks Man!