Zune Tips Weblog

There may be times when you want to remove all content on your Zune device and start fresh. I did this recently when I got my Zune 80 back from the repair center. To do this, you can connect your Zune to your PC and start up the Zune Software. Next, under the “Settings” and “Device” heading you’ll see a page as shown below:

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If you click on the “Clear All Content” button, every music, video, picture, and podcast file will be erased from your Zune device. This is useful when you want to remove all the preloaded files that come with a new Zune.

Warning: Make sure you have all your music/video/picture files archived in a safe place, as you don’t want to have the Zune software delete them! (Especially if you’ve defined your Zune monitored folders).

I’ve come across a lot of forum postings by Zune newbies asking how to sync music, picture, and video files to their new Zunes. In my opinion, the easiest way is to set up sync folders on your PC which the Zune Software will monitor and sync the contents. So how do you do this? The graphic image below show the setup page in the Zune Software for defining the sync folders:

(click on image to enlarge it)

You get to this setup screen in your Zune Software under “Settings” and “Software”. Here, you can define one or more monitored folders for Music, Pictures, Video, and Podcasts (individually). Once you do this, you can copy any appropriate file into them to have that file synced with your Zune. Note, that you can’t put a music file (.mp3) in the video sync folder and expect the Zune to sync it. Also, all of these files are being synced, so removing a file from this sync folder will also remove it from your Zune device the next time you sync it.

After receiving my refurbished Zune 80 from the Microsoft Repair Center, I began the process of syncing my music, picture, video, and podcast files to it’s empty 80 GB drive. Everything seemed to work smoothly (at first), but then I ran into problems. It seemed that certain music files wouldn’t sync, and my video files would get stuck at “7%” during the syncing process. I tried everything I could think of to correct this: rebooting the Zune device, reinstalling the Zune Software on my PC, rebooting my PC, etc. Nothing seemed to correct this syncing issue. My fear, was that this refurbished Zune unit was defective and I would have to send it back and wait another 2 weeks to get a replacement!

So for the next few hours, I scoured the various Zune forums and Microsoft Knowledge Base looking for a possible solution. It seemed that a few others had the same problem, but I tried all the steps that were recommended for resolution. Ultimately, I concluded that the culprit was most likely a defective USB hub that I was using for my Zune connection.

To reduce the number of wires and cables running from my desk to my PC, I installed a powerstrip and small powered USB hub to the bottom surface of my desk. I then plugged my Zune dock into this USB hub, and it seemed to work fine up until I sent my Zune in for repair. Over the past two weeks, I noticed that my CD Card reader (which was plugged into this USB hub) wasn’t working consistently, and I had to unplug and replug in the USB-to-PC cable for the USB hub to get it working again. So, putting two-and-two together I concluded that the problem may be with this hub. Read the rest of this entry »