zune software and understanding how syncing works

well, after messing w/my Zune Flash 8GB continuously for the last 3 days, i think i finally understand how syncing and managing media on the zune works. at first, it is not very intuitive and a bit backwards (at least imo) but once you understand how it works, things get easier so here's my quickie intro to understanding syncing w/the zune device and zune software (version 2.0+)


the zune software piece is the one all controller of media on your zune device (30, 80, 8 or 4). as of now, you cannot remove/edit meta data or files on the zune itself, all of this must be done in the zune software.

to sync items, you basically can do it 3 ways:

1. by file


2. by playlist


3. by folder

however, to remove or unsync/never sync w/the device, you have to go into each folder in the zune software and select all of the media files in your collection (not the device) and then right-click > never sync to remove the sync relationship for those files. this will in turn remove the files from your zune too.

you can also remove the media from your zune to unsync files also.  YOU MUST unsync the files from your collection to truly delete a file from your zune.  if you only delete it from the device, it will resync back the next time you plug in.  a bit annoying.

also, if you have a playlist of music synced and remove an item from the playlist in your collection (not the zune device), it also in turn will remove the item from your zune's playlist and collection.

so hopefully that will give you a quick understanding of how basic syncing works. i hope Microsoft adds more functionality in regards to syncing like being able to see a full list of all of your synced items and also being able to remove synced folders vs having to go to each folder and then unsyncing them manually. smart playlists is also a must needed thing; i personally use them in Media Player a ton.

thats all for now.