News came out today that Microsoft is going to stop making Zune devices due to a lack of sales. The good news about this is, if you’ve never owned an MP3 player, or want to upgrade, you’ll more than likely be able to pick one up for a great price.
Here we’ll take a look at setting up a Zune Player with the Zune Desktop software, and getting your music synced up with it. Even if you don’t have a Zune you can use the desktop player which is actually quite nice.
1. Download and install the Zune Desktop software.
2. Accept the Software License Terms.
3. Then wait while the software completes the installation.
4. When it’s done go ahead and launch Zune Desktop.
5. It kicks of with a short video, but you can just click Skip if you want to get down to business.
6. You have the option to just click Start and go with the defaults. However, you might not want Zune Desktop to take all of your media needs. I click on Settings because I have a large collection of media, and it can take a while for it all to collect. Also, you might have another player that you use for different media types.
7. Now you can change how Zune grabs your content by adding or removing media folders.
8. Select the types of files you want to associate with the Zune Player.
9. A cool feature when getting started is entering in some of your favorite bands or artists that work with the Smart DJ feature.
10. Then you can sign in with your Windows Live ID or create a new account if you don’t have one already.
11. Now you can start discovering music through the Zune Marketplace based on the artists you entered in the steps above.
12. If this is the first time you’ve used the Zune Marketplace you can get a free 14 day free trial.
Setup Zune Device
Assuming you’re starting out with a new Zune that you should of gotten at a huge discount, let’s take a look at setting it up and using the Zune software.
For this tutorial we’re using a 4 GB Zune…not a Zune HD, but the process of using it is the same.
1. Out of the box plug in your Zune for it to power up. Once it gets about 25% charged your PC should see it. If it doesn’t automatically launch the Zune software go ahead and launch it yourself. The first thing you’ll see is there’s a required update.
2. Wait while the update to your Zune completes.
3. If everything updates successfully, you should see the following message and can begin using your Zune with the software.
4. Give your Zune a name.
5. Then link your account with your Zune, or if you want or skip the step for now…you can always set it up later.
6. Now go through and choose your sync options. These choices are up to you…if you like things to happen automatically select All for each category of Media. If you like to have full control check Manual.
7. Finally, decide if you want to help improve the Zune software from Microsoft by reporting device errors. If you’re worried about privacy you might not want to participate.
8. Now you’re ready to go. You should see the Zune icon in the lower left corner of the software.
9. To add content to your Zune, simply drag and drop your music, photos, and other media to the Zune icon. Here’s an example of adding a full album, but you can add individual songs if you want to.
10. Click on the Zune icon again and you’ll see the amount of space you have left on it and recently added content.
That’s all there is to it. Disconnect your Zune and start listening to you favorite music. Even though Microsoft is giving up on the Zune device, they will continue to support the Zune software. If you need to get an MP3 player on the cheap, you should be able to find some good deals on a Zune in the days and weeks to come.