Zune Tips
Here is a compilation of various tips I’ve discovered while visiting different forums and blogs.
The Lock Button
I’ve fallen into this trap, so I thought I’d mention it to everyone. On the top of the Zune is a small switch known as the lock button, which is used to deactivate the buttons and front touchpad. It’s often used when you’re listen to music and you want to put your Zune in it’s case or in your bag and you don’t want to accidentally press one of it’s buttons. I had activated the lock button when I slid my Zune in it’s slip cover case, and forgot that it was locked. The next day I plugged my Zune into the charging sync cable and the screen lit up but none of the buttons appeared to work. Since my Zune is brand new, I immediately thought it was defective and needed to be returned. After I realized that the lock button was on, I was at ease when the buttons began to work again. So note, if your device appears to be locked up, check the lock button!
Avoiding “Transcoding” When Syncing Video Files
If you notice that your video files are taking a long time to sync (like several hours), then they are probably being converted (or “Transcoded”) by the Zune Software. Why is that? Because they are formatted within the parameters specified for the Zune devices. Zune.net’s support page explains the proper parameters for video files, and not all 3rd-party video converter programs will adhere to them. Check out my “Video Conversion” page for more information on how I convert my video files which avoid the transcoding process.
Changing the Background Image on your Zune
Very simple procedure. Either download or create a 240 x 320 pixel image to be used as your new background and sync it with your Zune device. Now, on your Zune go to “Pictures” and display that background picture. With the picture displayed, click the center pad button and select “Apply as Background” from the menu. Now when you go back to the main display, you’ll see your new background!
Registering your Zune With Microsoft
Don’t forget to register your Zune with Microsoft (for Warranty claims). To do so, go to service.zune.net and enter your information (Note: your Serial Number is on the back of the Zune device at the bottom. It’s in really, really tiny print!). After you register, you’ll see the warranty expiration date for your Zune.
Important Button Combinations
The small quick-start guide that came with my Zune 80 explained that holding down the “Play” button will turn my Zune off. Well, that’s not entirely true. Holding the play button down will merely put your Zune in “sleep” mode, where you can wake it up by pressing any button (so long as the lock button isn’t activated). So, power is still being used to keep your Zune snoozing until you wake it up. What if you want to save your battery power (say, on a long flight)? Is there a way to really turn it off?
Why, yes there is a way by using a combination of buttons on your Zune. If you hold down the Back Button and Down button simultaneously, the Zune will really turn off. If you then hold down the Play button, the Zune will turn back on (note, it will take about 20 seconds for the Zune to completely power up). Below are a few useful combination buttons you can use:
- Back Button + Down Button = Turn Off
- Back Button + Up Button = Reset (or Reboot)
So if your device locks up for some reason, you can always try the reboot button sequence. Now, you need to be careful as the following button combinations can be a bit dangerous:
- Back Button + Center Button + Right Button = Delete all Content
- Back Button + Center Button + Left Button = Delete all Content and Delete Firmware
So, you really don’t want to accidentally hit those last two button combinations when you’re out of town and away from your Desktop PC!
Zune Warranty
Your Zune should have a 1-year warranty (from the date of purchase). You should register your Zune at service.zune.net soon after you buy it so you don’t have any issues in the future if you need to send it in for repair. If you are having problems with your Zune, you can call the service number at 877-GET-ZUNE for support. If they deem that your problem is hardware related, they will initiate a repair order that entails Microsoft sending you a FedEx box for your Zune to be shipped to their repair facility in Texas. Note, that if your Zune show any kind of damage (e.g., scratches on the screen or a broken screen, dents, etc.) the Zune repair facility will send it back to you unrepaired.
duke said,
January 29, 2008 at 4:38 pm
thanx for the great info.
Rob said,
March 28, 2008 at 9:39 am
good stuff, didn’t know that it only went for a sleep rather than turning itself off.
good tip
zunetips said,
March 29, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Rob: Neither did I. But it’s good to know how to really turn off your Zune to save battery power.
estsban said,
December 15, 2008 at 8:33 am
thanx a lot… i thought i ve lost it…
your a zune savior
zunetips said,
December 15, 2008 at 8:45 am
estsban – You’re welcome. I’m glad you found the information useful.
Mike said,
December 19, 2008 at 2:41 pm
I was wondering if you can help me. My return button on my 4gb zune dosen’t work. Do you know why?
zunetips said,
December 19, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Mike – When you say “return button” I’m assuming you mean the back button (left most button on the front of the Zune). I’m not sure why yours is not working. I would guess it’s a hardware issue. If your Zune is still under warranty, I suggest you send it into the Microsoft Repair Center to get it fixed. If it is out-of-warranty, I might try opening up the Zune and see if I can fix it myself (you need to be some what handy with electronics and fearless). http://www.rapidrepair.com has instructions on how to open up a Zune and they also provide tools if needed (in fact, you could see if rapidrepair.com would fix it). Otherwise, you might search the forum postings on http://www.zunescene.com to see if someone else had the same issue and see if they were able to resolve it.
Lori said,
January 11, 2009 at 9:08 am
I have a 30gb zune, it has worked great for a year now until last week. I was watchting a movie and when it was finished the battery was low so instead of plugging it into the computer like I usually do I used the AC adapter (which I had never done before since I have owned it). came back after about 5 minutes and the battery icon wasn’t moving, when I unplugged it, it said “low battery”. It was time to close so I put it in the case, put it in my purse and went home. When I got there I turned it on and it said the same thing “low battery”. I plugged it into my computer and usually when I do this the zune program automatically will boot up. Nothing happened. I tried all the reset ricks like pushing the back and up buttons and emptying the hard drive, still nothing. I left it there overnight and the next morning it still said “low battery”. When I got home that night I tried to plug it into the AC adapter again but I couldn’t even get the screen to come on. I have left it plugged into my computer for several days now and still nothing. I have ordered a new battery but Im not sure if this will fix the problem. Does anybody know, if this means Im going to have to replace the hard drive and motherboard also? I love this zune because they just don’t make the screens this big anymore. Please feel free to email me with any sudgestions. I have also looked online for a program that will scan the zune and tell me what is wrong but I haven’t had any success with that either my email is happy_2_be_here@hotmail.com Thanks
zunetips said,
January 11, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Lori – It’s hard for me to say whether it’s a battery issue or not (probably 50-50 chance). What I would do, is order the $20 battery from http://www.rapidrepair.com and try to install it myself, then see if charging the device works. If not, then it must be the motherboard. I believe you can get the motherboard from rapidrepair.com, but at that point you’ll need to way the option of repair vs buying a new unit. Good luck, and please let us know if the battery replacement fixes the problem!
mike said,
February 4, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I tried to delete albums from my Zune 4GB. I was logged on to the Microsoft Zune site, and I had the Zune connected to my laptop via the USB port.
The albums deleted from my Zune site but not from the Zune itself. I thought I was synched OK to do this. Now, the albums are not on the Zune site but they are still on my Zune. How do I delete the albums/songs from the Zune itself now??
Thanks
zunetips said,
February 4, 2009 at 5:30 pm
In the Zune Software on your Desktop PC, connect your Zune and then click “Device” on the top line then “Videos” or “Music” to see those items on your Zune device. You can then right-click on the individual items and delete them from your Zune if you wish.
Mike said,
March 1, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I have 8 albums loaded in the Zune program but I cannot drag them or individual songs to my Zune. As info, these were all loaded in my Zune but my wife accidently deleted them by pushing the forward and backwards buttons at the same time. Actually, the entire Zune emptied, but I was able to reload about 2/3 of the music, but it won’t let me drag and drop about 8 albums. Any ideas? Thanks,
zunetips said,
March 1, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Mike: Do you have enough room for those 8 albums? Also, where did you get them? Are they DRM protected?
Will said,
March 3, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I have a very very very small chip in the corner of my zune. do you think that they will repair it????
zunetips said,
March 3, 2009 at 9:52 pm
What model Zune do you have? I don’t think the Microsoft Repair Center will fix it (under warranty or not), but you might have http://www.rapidrepair.com fix it (or buy the case from them and repair it yourself).
Will said,
March 4, 2009 at 3:29 pm
No i am sorry you misunderstood my question. My Zune wont turn on and i have tried a lot of stuff but it won’t work so i am sending it in to zune support to fix. will they fix it eventhough there is a small chip in the corner
zunetips said,
March 4, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Will: I’m not sure. It will depend on whether they think you damaged your Zune by dropping it and that was the cause of the problem. If it’s still under warranty I would send it in an see what happens…
Mike B said,
March 25, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I have a Zune 4 Gig. I click on an album to play, and then I click “play all”. Then I click back and choose another album, and click “add to now playing”. Here is where my problem starts. The 1st song on the 1st album starts playing, once that 1st song is over, the 1st song on the album I added starts to play. In other words, I don’t hear any songs on the 1st album except for the very first one and then the Zune starts playing the 2nd album I added to now playing. What do I do to get all of the songs on the 1st album to play before the “add to now playing ” album kicks in??
Thanks
tyler said,
July 6, 2009 at 11:09 pm
i have a 4gb zune and my scroll pad wont work and nothing happens when you push the center button but my play and back buttons both work how do i fix this?
zunetips said,
July 7, 2009 at 7:05 am
tyler: All I can recommend is that you do a “soft-reset” to see if that helps, and if not try a “hard-reset” (see the “Zune Tips” page for details). If that doesn’t work, then the problem is most like hardware-related and you’ll need to send in your Zune for repair or decide on getting a new one.
pretoria said,
October 2, 2009 at 3:37 pm
i have a 4GB Zune that won’t turn on or respond to the computer when i plug it in, and the computer doesn’t recongnize that its plugged in either. i tried the delete all content and firmware option and my computer actually showed signs of knowing that it was plugged in by saying USB device not recognized. but it didn’t do anything else after that. but another problem i’m facing is the fact that my warranty is expired and i bought my Zune at circuit city so they closed down and plus i don’t have enough money to get it fixed because my mom won’t let me. i need something that i can do to fix it myself or by the computer. i am really out of luck and desperately need help since my Zune has been this way for almost six months and i can’t live without music.
zunetips said,
October 3, 2009 at 11:32 am
pretoria: You need to rule out if the problem is with your Zune or with the computer you are trying to connect to. I suggest you install the Zune Software on a different computer, and see if you can make a connection with your Zune. If you can, then that tells me the problem might be a fried USB port on your original computer.
Also, I suggest you make sure your sync cable is working properly. Can you borrow a sync cable from a friend and see if that works?
pretoria said,
October 17, 2009 at 1:09 pm
i guess so, but the problem is that i only have 1 computer in my house that has a usb port.
zunetips said,
October 17, 2009 at 1:19 pm
pretoria: If you only have one computer available, then you won’t be able to rule out if the problem is with your Zune or with the computer. Sorry.
My wife recently was having some problems with her Zune 120, where the up and down buttons didn’t work (they just didn’t do anything). Because the up button didn’t work, I could do the back button+up button to do a reset. So, I told her to let the Zune 120 drain of power completely by playing a video over and over. She did so until all the power was gone from the Zune. I then had her charge it up again, and it self-reset and worked fine. You might try that, since it’s something easy to test out.
pretoria said,
October 18, 2009 at 5:17 pm
thnaks for the advice. i got a friend’s usb cable and i’m guna try that solution. hopefully it’ll work.
pretoria said,
October 21, 2009 at 3:35 am
but i also think it isn’t a fried usb port because my sister has an iPod and it connects to the computer judt fine…..so i’m guessing it’s a fried sync cable instead.