Hi there.

I know this question has been asked before and, believe me, I've read every post on the subject!

What I'm trying to achieve is randomly playing tracks from the HDD (ideally) or the SD card at a push. The issue is I don't understand all the talk of roots, layers, directories etc. Do they apply to the way the music is saved to the SD card or transfered to the HDD?

I'm using Windows media player with Windows 7 if thats relevent.

Could someone please provide a novice, terminology free, paint by numbers guide for the technically unaware before I go potty!

Place a single MP3 file at the root of the card /hdd, not in any folder and play this as the first track with random selected. Once this track has finished it will play randomly across all the folders.

Hey mannyo

Thanks for your reply but what is this "root" you speak of? What do I need to hit on the Columbus to put the single file into the root and what do I hit to to put the following tracks in the right place? New folder? Save to here?

Sorry to be such a noob but I really do need the paint by numbers approach :think:

A 'root' directory (or 'folder' - same thing) is the highest level directory, in other words it is immediately under the drive letter. On a Windows PC/Laptop/etc it would be C:\

Normally you would want to create a new directory in order to help you contain your files (music or whatever) in a known location.

If you are listening to a music track on your Columbus from an SD/SDHC card, CD/DVD, Aux, etc and decide you want to copy it to your hard drive you would...

Press the button MEDIA followed by the function key Selection,

Press 'COPY' - to save title or folder to the hard drive,

Then you are asked...

Insert file/folder here - saves directly to the current (root) folder of the hardrive

...or...

New folder - creates a new folder (you may want different folders for different moods or occasions)

If you want to 'Mix' (ie, Shuffle) the tracks using EXTRAS, then I believe they all have to be in the same directory (folder) but mannyo above may be correct, I have yet to try it.

By the way, I also use Windows Media Player with Windows 7 but it's not relevent as it doesn't matter how you get the music files on to the SD/SDHC card - or whatever media you are using.

I hope this helps, if not come back with your questions. Most things are difficult the first time you try them.

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Yee-flippin-ha!

With combining the two replies the job is done. I think I was giving the Columbus more credit than it deserved

Thanks for your help guys. My sanity is intact...ish!