Synchronize Zune Music Between 2 PCs Successfully

Out of the box we left the Zune software to synchronize the downloaded music and playlists to the default locations.

This has proven to be a bear to manage as the device then locks a portion of its storage to the PC the downloaded content came from originally.

So, we needed to come up with a method where the path to the downloaded music was the same on both PCs (home and office) and have it synchronize between them.

Enter Windows Live Mesh:

In order for this process the following must be kept in mind:

• The path to the root Zune folders _must_ be the same!

So, since the profile names on both PCs on both PCs are identical we set up the following paths:

1. PC1:
   1. C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\Zune\Music
   2. C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\Zune\Photos
   3. C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\Zune\Podcasts
   4. C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\Zune\Videos
2. PC2:
   1. C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\Zune\Music
   2. C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\Zune\Photos
   3. C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\Zune\Podcasts
   4. C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\Zune\Videos

We then directed Live Mesh to sync the root Zune folder between the two PCs.

Once the synchronization process has completed between the two PCs we will wipe both of them and start fresh.

NOTE:

• If there are files already on both PCs named the same then Live Mesh will create a copy with (PCName) appended to the file name. Once the synchronization has completed it is safe to delete them.
• On PC per device must be the sync master for that device’s Zune software.
  • We will set the HTC HD7 to sync from the office PC and the Zune HD to sync from the home office PC.
  • Any new content will be synced to both devices eventually!

This methodology is certainly better than what we started to do. The reason why we looked into a different setup was because all of the music downloaded last night to the HD7 refused to be recognized by the Zune software on the office PC.

Windows Live Mesh can be downloaded from here:

• Windows Live Mesh 2011

UPDATE: Do _not_ seed one side. It Live Mesh will push those files _back_ to the second PC.

So, the best thing to do is to make sure all of the music needed is on one device and one PC and have that sync to the second PC and the second device.

Since Live Mesh has a remote desktop feature built-in we will be using it to connect to PC1 to download any additional music.

Thus, this method, while it will work, requires a bit of self control over music downloading on PC2. :S

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer