How to Import/Export WMP 12 library?

President Kush · 25 Jul 2013

I will be doing a clean install of W7 professional (same OS I'm currently running). I have all my other info backed up but the one remaining thing I don't know how to backup is my WMP 12 library. Note, I am NOT talking about windows "libraries" that show up in the left hand column of explorer windows; I do not use those at all. All of my media is stored on a separate partition on the same physical HDD as the OS, so all file paths will remain the same.

This is the data I am talking about:

I want to know how to export this data so I can save it to a external drive. Then after the clean install, I can Import it back. The end goal being, when I open WMP 12, all this data will show up in the WMP 12 library just as it currently does. When clicking on music>artists/albums/genres I want everything (album art, ID3 data, etc.) to show up after the clean install that is currently there, laid out and organized the same exact way. I don't want to have to manually add it all back because it took countless hours to add it all in the first place.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

ThrashZone · 25 Jul 2013

Although it better to add this location to your Windows 7 library system as a new library and point wmp to this location,
You can Open wmp,
Click on Organize on the top right and Manage library,
Music and click on the Add button,
Navigate to this location and click on Include.
You can also use this tutorial to switch the Default save location to this external device,
Change the default save location,
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Customize-a-library
https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/595-library-set-save-folder.html

whs · 25 Jul 2013

All of my media is stored on a separate partition on the same physical HDD as the OS

All you have to do is to INCLUDE those folders into the appropriate library (right click on the folders) and WMP will eventually find the music/video files automatically.

President Kush · 27 Jul 2013

I know I can do that. I was looking for a way to do it without rebuilding the library though. So its just instantly back 100% the same as I had it. Like with website favorites for example, I can Just navigate to the favorites folder and copy it. Then on the new machine I can paste it, and as soon as I open up browser, all favorites are there.

Which brings up a good point also. Maybe it can't be done with just files, maybe it has something to do with the registry. Like with the above example of favorites, copying the favorites will result in the same favorites on new machine/install, but they will all revert to alphabetical order. IF you export the registry menu order on original then use it on the new machine/install, now you will not just have the same favorites but they'll be in the same exact order.

This is what I'm looking to do, only with WMP library.

ThrashZone · 27 Jul 2013

Depends on your definition of "Clean install" because anything left behind doesn't sound to clean to me.

President Kush · 28 Jul 2013

I found the answer elsewhere, thought I'd share it incase anyone else is interested.

copy files from the following directory and insert them on new install or computer:
C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player

wavemaker54 · 11 Oct 2013

President Kush, thanks, you saved me heaps of time. It was exactly the information I was looking for. I dreaded having to restore a massive library manually.

agaafar · 30 Dec 2014

I copied folder C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player from win 7 to win 8.1 new installation, however the new library has no album art!!
songs data and rating have been transferred.
Any suggestion for the album art issue ?

efthaqur · 02 Jan 2017

agaafar said:

I copied folder C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player from win 7 to win 8.1 new installation, however the new library has no album art!!
songs data and rating have been transferred.
Any suggestion for the album art issue ?

I think a hidden folder named "Art Cache" was not copied that is the reason!