AMG All Music Guide= song info for Windows Media Player, if I lose camera power do I lose my pictures?
Q: The recent question about importing music for an iPod caught my attention. I do not have a portable music player, but I have the same problem when importing CDs to listen on my computer. I use Windows Media Player and my PC is always connected to the internet via DSL whenever the computer is turned on. However, I find that when I copy CDs, sometimes the song information is there and sometimes it isn’t. I always thought it had to do with coding on the CDs. It is quite frustrating because the songs then are listed in the Windows Media Player music library as unknown artist, track 1, track 2, etc. I go through Windows Explorer and put them in folders by artist and change the file names to the song titles. The titles I have typed in then show up in the wide screen version of Windows Media Player, but on any play lists, the songs are still identified only as track 1, track 2, etc. –which is very frustrating, because every CD has track 1, track 2, so you can’t tell them apart.
Any guidance you can offer would be appreciated!
-Helen Huntley, St. Petersburg, FL
A: Windows Media Player uses a service called AMG All Music Guide, not Gracenote. Many music fans feel that Gracenote has a more complete database with more accurate information. What you are probably experiencing is shortcomings in the AMG database. Yours is not the first complaint I have seen.
Over time AMG is likely to fill in the gaps. Until AMG delivers the same level of information as Gracenote, you may want to consider using iTunes as your computer music manager. It’s a very intuitive, easy-to-use program that runs on Windows as well as Macintosh computers, and it is available as a free download at www.apple.com. Once you have both programs on your PC you can try importing the same CD with both programs and see if one database has the information and the other does not.
Q: If my digital camera batteries die while they are in the camera, will I lose the pictures stored on the memory card, the way your computer resets when the power goes out on your computer? I heard there is a way your pictures can be damaged if the camera power goes out.
-Tricia Etheridge, Ridgeland, SC
A: If the batteries die while you are taking a picture or reviewing them on the screen, there is a small chance you will corrupt the information on the card, which can damage your pictures. Most cameras shut off when the power drops below a certain level to protect you from this.
What you are thinking of is interrupting the camera’s read/write process. It is important to never open the memory card door immediately after taking a picture. You’re your camera is writing the picture data to the card and if the process is interrupted, the data can be damaged and your pictures lost.
Your camera’s warning lights will normally blink while the camera is writing to the card. If you wait a few seconds after the picture is taken, you should be fine. If you make it a practice to turn off the camera before removing the memory card, you will be protected as well. If you turn off the camera while it is reading or writing from the card, it will complete the operation before shutting down.
