Author Topic: Clone new installation of MusicBee?  (Read 1167 times)

nu417bee

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I need to establish MusicBee on a new computer. I have over time customized my main view on my old machine considerably. Is there a way to copy or clone the settings from one installation of Musicbee on my old computer to my new computer, or do I have to start over from scratch? Both old and new computers are operating the latest version of MusicBee under Windows 10.

Thanks.

psychoadept

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Which version are you using: installer, portable, or Microsoft store?
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nu417bee

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version 3.4.8033.  I believe I ended up getting it from the Microsoft store when I discovered that option. I've started figuring out how to get the column browser working in new computer installation, but haven't figured out yet how to set the displayed fields in the tracks view. I see that there are options to save settings. Is this the way to transfer all my settings from my old computer to the new?

sveakul

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version 3.4.8033.  I believe I ended up getting it from the Microsoft store when I discovered that option. I've started figuring out how to get the column browser working in new computer installation, but haven't figured out yet how to set the displayed fields in the tracks view. I see that there are options to save settings. Is this the way to transfer all my settings from my old computer to the new?
Menu/View/Import-Export/Export(Import) Panel Arrangement will handle things like columns, views, etc.  There is also Menu/Edit/Saved Settings/Save(load) Settings Snapshot, but unless your other PC has the same audio hardware, file locations, etc. it won't be relevant.

BTW, in Track view, just right-click the Tracks header bar and choose "Set Displayed Fields."

You are going to run into limitations eventually (no incremental manual updates etc.) using the Microsoft Store version you say you believe you have, you might want to consider the Portable Version for a fresh install.

nu417bee

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I greatly appreciate your suggestions. I'll be getting to work on this soon. I have downloaded the portable version to do a fresh install. What differences should I expect to see with the portable version compared to the desktop version I've recently downloaded?

Do I need to uninstall the desktop version I've begun to play with before I do the fresh install?

phred

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There are no functional differences between the Installer and the Portable. The regularly issued patches can be applied to either. They can -not- be applied to the Store version.

The big advantage to the Portable, is that moving it to a new PC is as simple as copying the entire directory to the new machine.

I would leave the Installer version in place until you've got the Portable set up to your liking. You may want to reference how you have things set up as you're configuring the Portable. And yes, they can both be opened at the same time. Just don't make any changes to your music files. Oncne you have Portable set up you can uninstall the Installer version.

Place the Portable in an non-UAC directory, such as C:\MusicBee. And definitely not in the same directory as your currently installed version.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

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nu417bee

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I've installed the portable version and imported my song files to the library. The UI has no column browser and I can't find any reference to in menus. Could you tell me how to set up/display a column browser? Sorry for the stupid question as I've used it extensively before on my old computer. dah

phred

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The UI has no column browser and I can't find any reference to in menus.
Click the 'panel arrangement' button which is to the left of the search bar (upper right.) It's a box with lines in it. Under 'available elements' click on 'column browser' and drag it to the main panel on the left side.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here

nu417bee

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Thanks to your help, I have a functioning MusicBee installation on my new computer. However, I can't seem to figure to how to have the artwork display as it does on my old computer. On the latter, artist thumbnails show up in the left panel, and the album artwork shows up in the right bottom corner of the screen that corresponds to the track being played. Even though I copied the identical tracks on the old computer to the new, most of the artist thumbnails are blank  on the new installation and when they aren't, the album cover artwork for tracks that are playing fails to appear in the bottom right corner. Rather, I just get another thumbnail of the artist, not the album associated with the track. Can someone help me with this? Thanks again.

hiccup

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…the album cover artwork for tracks that are playing fails to appear in the bottom right corner. Rather, I just get another thumbnail of the artist, not the album associated with the track. Can someone help me with this? Thanks again.
It might be good to familiarize yourself a little bit better with what all the available panels are meant to do exactly, and how you can locate them at a position that you like. (phred already gave a pointer on that I think)

Then if you still have questions, it would be good if you could refer to the exact names of the panels that you have problems with?

psychoadept

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In addition to what hiccup said, keep in mind that artist artwork and thumbnails (not album) will have to be downloaded anew by MusicBee. If you have an internet connection (and MusicBee is not blocked by a firewall or something) that should happen automatically.

Album artwork will depend on where it is stored. You may need to tweak your settings in Tags (1) to match your artwork storage, embedded vs external file, etc.
MusicBee Wiki
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Latest beta patch (3.5)
(Unzip and overwrite existing program files)

phred

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And in general, you should take a look at the Anatomy of MusicBee.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here