FAQ: Miscellaneous

Will MP3 Collector run under Vista 64 bit?

MP3 Collector is Vista 32 bit proof, but will NOT work with the 64 bit versions.
In the upcoming major upgrade of Music Collector 9 with integrated MP3 Collector we will have fixed this.

Will your software run under Windows 7?

All latest versions of the Collectorz.com software run smoothly under Windows 7.
If you're upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7, please visit this support page for assistance.

Please notice that MP3 Collector is Vista/Windows 7 32 bit proof, but will NOT work with the 64 bit versions.
In the upcoming major upgrade of Music Collector 9 with integrated MP3 Collector we will have fixed this.

Do you have an Affiliate Program?

Yes we have.
The Collectorz.com Affiliate Program can be found here.

Publish the Collectorz.com banners with your unique affiliate ID in it and receive a 15% commission on every sale.

Are you working on a Mac version?

We are sorry to disappoint you but we are not working on a Mac version.

Our focus is on the Mac editions of Music, Movie and Book Collector. The time involved in the further development of these products has our priority. We are working however on Connect.
Collectorz.com Connect is our new online service for cataloging and sharing collections.
This is a platform independent solution and you organize your collections in your browser. Connect is a fully web-based application, no downloads or installs needed.
You can also browse your collection from any mobile device that connects to the internet.

Sign up for the Connect Preview Club to receive the latest updates on Connect by email. You'll be the first to try Connect!

In the meantime we recommend downloading the free trial of the Windows edition, if you have access to a Windows machine of course.
We also know our Windows versions run fine using either Parallels or BootCamp on your Mac.

Do you have a program for my collection of ...... ?

We receive daily requests to develop software for other collections.

Stamps, sports cards, coins but also trains, action figures, wine, beanie kids and many many more.

We don't have a specific collection manager for these type of collections nor have we plans to develop them.
What you can do is try and install the free trial of Photo Collector.

You can customize all kinds of fields and add pictures to the item.
The options found under menu Tools | Field Names and Tools | Edit Lists will allow you to customize the program to be better suited for your collectibles.

The programs are limited only by your imagination.

I've set my software to the Wingdings font! Now what?

It can be hard to reset your font when all you see are little icons instead of real letters.

Select 6th Menu item from the left of the top of your program (this is the Tools menu).
From this drop down menu, select the white square Icon with the three V's (this is the Options button)
In the option menu on the first tab you can see a button next to a dropdown menu, Click it (this is the Reset button)
Now click the button located top right (this is the Okay button)

The above steps have been made visual in the screenshot to the right.

Press Alt
Press T
Press O
In the option menu on the first tab you can see a button next to a dropdown menu, Click it (this is the Reset button)
Now click the button located top right (this is the Okay button)

Can I run the software from a USB stick or external drive?

Basically that is possible, but you will have to keep a few things in mind.

Specific program settings like column width, screen size etc are placed in the Windows registry. So if you start the program on a different computer, these preferences will not be available.

The license information is also placed in the registry, so when you move to another computer you will have to validate the software again. Be sure to have the license information with you. It can be found in menu Help | Your License Info.
Create a text file of your license information on the USB stick or external drive, that way you always have it at the ready.

Can I add audio files to Music Collector?

Music Collector is designed specifically for cataloguing physical media with music: Cds, lps, records, tapes, etc. Through the Edit Track screen you can setup a link to an audio file. It can be tedious though to setup all these links manually. We do have a product called MP3 Collector that is designed specifically for managing audio file.

Once you catalog your audio files in MP3 Collector you can import the MP3 Collector database into Music Collector through Tools | MP3 | Import MP3 Collection. This import will delete existing MP3 Collector entries previously imported into Music Collector, and a new complete import is done of the "at-that-point-existing-MP3" entries of MP3 Collector.

MP3 entries in Music Collector can't be changed.

It is not possible to edit the import data from MP3 Collector. We don't allow this feature because the changes would be overwritten next time you do an import.

How do I access my collection after upgrading to Vista/Windows 7?

After upgrading your existing Windows (XP) version to Vista or Windows 7, you may encounter various problems or error messages, like:

An error message 'Failed to create backup' or 'Failed to create lock file' when opening the program
Searching infosources no longer returns cover images

These problems originate from having upgraded your existing XP installation to Vista/Windows 7 in combination with the fact that previous versions of our software were not 100% Vista/Windows 7 compatible. The core of the problem is that Vista or 7 doesn't allow programs to write to any location under the "Program Files" folder.

The current versions of our software are Vista/Windows 7 compatible: for fresh installations they create new databases and images in your Documents folder by default. However, existing installations still try to write to the Program Files folder, causing the above problems.

To solve this, please follow these steps carefully:

Close your Collectorz.com software.
Using Windows Explorer, move your database file(s), all images and all thumbnails to C:\Users\[user name]\Documents\Movie Collector.
By default, their old locations are under
C:\Program Files\Collectorz.com\Movie Collector\Data
(Movie Collector is an example here, please replace with your own product name)
Start the software, and use File | Open to open the database from the new location.
Select Tools | Options from the main menu, and update all Folder settings to the new locations:
- On the General tab: change "User Files Folder" to
  C:\Users\[user name]\Documents\Movie Collector\.
  If this folder does not exist, create it with the 'Make New Folder' button in the Browse for Folder dialog.
- On the Images tab: change "Default folder for Images" to
  C:\Users\[user name]\Documents\Movie Collector\Images
- On the Images tab: change "Default folder for Thumbnail Files" to
  C:\Users\[user name]\Documents\Movie Collector\Thumbnails
- On the Backup tab: change "Backup folder" to
  C:\Users\[user name]\Documents\Movie Collector\Backup.
  If this folder does not exist, create it with the 'Make New Folder' button in the Browse for Folder dialog.
Use Tools | Maintenance | Update File Links to update all image links to the new location.
For instructions on how to use this screen, please see the Helpfile (search for 'repair files').

These instructions assume a working knowledge of Windows, e.g. how to copy files and use Windows Explorer. If you are not comfortable doing that, please ask a friend or colleague to help you. Since this is outside the scope of our product support, we regret we cannot help you with that.

How do I uninstall the software?

The Windows versions can be uninstalled from the control panel.
Click the "add / remove software" icon, and you will find the software under Collectorz.com.

For the Mac, you can drag the .app file to the trash-bin. Our software also places a database file and templates on the computer. You can remove them manually.
They are placed in the folder
~/Library/Application Support/ so for example
~/Library/Application Support/Movie Collector can be removed as well.