add ability to do more searches such as ratings. For me I would like to see this in games.

We read in this forum and we are willing to answer all your questions.

ABOUT ACTIVATION

The config.bin in the appdata contains the settings of MediaBase in encrypted way. As people mentioned here already: Yes, it is exactly the system volume information what it is tied to.

This has nothing to do the databases you generate! You are free to copy them on other computers and use them - even with the Demo version.

Btw: MediaBase does communicate with our servers only in three cases: Activation, Update and SocialConnect.

All this communication is (especially in the Giveawayoftheday version where we switched off the update feature, so that people will not loose their activation status by accident) user initiated.

What MediaBase sends in these cases are the following parameters:
Activation (Licensed to/Key)
Update (Licensed to/Key)
Social Connect (Licensed to/Key/Socialnetwork ID)

All other communication (web imports) are in no way related with our servers.

You can easily check this with software like Wireshark. We are tied to German privacy police and therefore will not collect more data as it is needed.

To keep things short: In no way we will use your submitted data for any other purposes than the intended way.

We are aware of the situation that people have problems to activate MediaBase. This is why we extended the giveaway period as our license server can from time to time not handle the requests.

Best regards
Patrick | Team Blitz UG (haftungsbeschränkt)

@38: Meh. If you write your programs to work with both .NET Framework and Mono, you'll be fine. Sure, I know there's no official support for Mac and Linux by Microsoft, but Mono sure beats using Java for everything. (I personally have a dislike of Java for some reason. I think it's a lack of decent non-specialty Java based programs out there.)

I agree about features that put an app ahead of the others.
(Phone) code scanning seems to growing.

Also, manual entry is "dead". app must grab tags etc from anywhere it can. I guess the best, other than the privacy drawbacks, are visitor-contributed databases on the net.
Maybe there's a way to integrate beat/tune-analysis databases?

Theres a free program way better that this one at http://www.coollector.com/ I installed it yesterday you can scan your computer for video files AVI,MP4 etc and add them to your database
Excellent program.

Tried to run after install. Would not run - needed .NET 3.5 or higher. Spent over 1 hour trying to install NET. Finally finished and then instlled this program. Okay but will not run. Now it says it cannot find RUNTIME file. Total waste of time abd definitely not worth any money unless you enjoy total frustration.

Gentlemen(and/or women): scanning the GAOTD MediaBase download with ZoneAlarm Extreme Security Suite caused my tri-core AMD PC running XP Pro sp3 to freeze up, and the only way that I found to get out of it was to do a hard system reboot. I certainly trust that this is not as suspicious of an event as it would otherwise appear to be on the surface, as I am still hoping to complete installation of the program if the problems noted above can be cleared up. By the way, where do we go tomorrow for the latest status on this situation, especially now that the developers have extended the activation date?

Installed, got a product key...

But every time I try to enter the license, it locks up {not responding}... I cleared the program with Norton's firewall, ran as adminstrator... no joy... I have a current build of the .NET installed (only way to run Microsoft Studio). Only so many times I'm willing to try to install something... so off it went. Sorry.

3rd party activate stage beyond GOATD's own? Sorry, i pass!

To be blunt i distrust the activation routine unless TeamBlitz unveils what does it transfer and why.

@19
.Net does *not* easily run nor is supported by microsoft on any non-MS operating system, which rules out MacOS & Linux.

There is a 3rd party emulation software called "mono" but don't count on that. It hardly kept up with the microsofts evolution of .net and its future is still unclear after the layoff of the developers attached to the project. A company has spawned of that incident so things might be clearer in the future.

Best things to aknowledge would be that .net itself is quite robust & speedy for an interpreted language and its library set imho is well designed. However for true platform coverage Java (for windows + linux + macos + android uses) or Qt-based (for any major platform) would be much more preferable.

MediaBase looked like a valuable tool, as I have more than 3000 CD's and 700 hrs of music on VHS and Super Beta. Registration was simple and worked as advertised. The problems became evident when I tried to enter a disc. The entry boxes for date, genre and format are not accessible at all, Thinking I could find the secret to this in help, I only found that there are limitations on the GOTD license and a full license must be purchased for full functionality. (ex: only 50 records allowed per database) I never was able to wiggle enough function out of this copy to make it remotely useful. Kudos to the developers for coming here and attempting to resolve the problems brought forth, though. I uninstalled it using Revo Uninstaller, free and which leaves nothing behind!

I have Windows 7 Ultimate.

Installed and registered the program. I opened the program and the opening screen of this application appeared. It did nothing. I then ask it to make a new database. It did nothing. I pressed several other buttons, and they did nothing. I pressed statistics and the program crashed.

HJB

#9: "... My PC records almost 200 GB per day, most HDTV, try downloading that."

If it helps, that's a bit apples vs. oranges... if you collect video the way some folks do MP3s, then recording/saving cable, broadcast, &/or satellite streams is much more efficient, since you can have several stations or channels being recorded at once. On-line streaming, whether you're talking music from a locker or video from Netflix or Hulu isn't about collecting anything at all. If there's something you want to watch, you watch it then & there, streaming what you want on demand. It's almost the opposite of the Tivo or vcr sort of experience, because there's no need to save something you can't watch when it's on -- many feel that ideally it'll someday work with video like music, where you can stream whatever you want, wherever you are. Far as quality goes, many [but not all] Blu-Rays are 1st, with on-line streaming or cable/sat fighting for 2nd, depending on who encoded the video at what settings, & factors like the condition of the cable lines, sat reception etc., e.g. where I live, the on-line video for TNT, USA & so on are better quality than the same thing on cable HD, yet the occasional movie on on one of the other channels, like AMC, actually has beaten the Blu-Ray version.

#11: "This uses .NET... Why cant software writers use the MS programming language instead of using the “band-aid” of .NET? I have removed all traces of .NET from my computer and it runs faster!"

If it helps at all putting .NET into perspective...
For lots & lots of reasons there aren't enough US coders, or that's at least the Microsoft point of view, joined by several other companies, schools etc. .NET & other Microsoft tech may make it easier/faster, the same way Windows improved over DOS from a developer standpoint -- they no longer have to include display or printer drivers for example in each & every app. Tech is getting to the point where you tell the coding software what you want, & it writes the program. At any rate, .NET is here & apps that many consider necessary use it, so the point is often moot.

OTOH adding .NET to Windows adds complexity & size, both of which make things less efficient & more prone to trouble -- the more there is, the more there is to go wrong. You'll have no trouble at all finding lots of folks who'll say the same about Windows itself. Not liking .NET, or Windows for that matter, are legitimate points of view -- we all have own own opinions.

When it comes to MediaBase, while it doesn't hurt the dev(s) to hear criticism of their app, also please realize it might not be available at the asking price, or at all if they had to code it some other way. We can all voice our opinions without getting harsh. :-)

* * *


#19: "This program’s configuration seems tied to the system drive’s volume serial number."

Yes, it's tied to something system specific, & has to phone home to activate. I wasted a bit of time testing this out on a few Windows installs. Try to *shortcut* registration, & registration won't work at all from that point on. Mentioned as a warning, it threw me a curve because if an app wouldn't work with Any registration, couldn't say 100% it was system specific. :-)

* * *

#26: "Crashed twice just hung up on the splash screen."

Can't say if it's causing your problems or not, but when I experienced similar I tracked it to the D3D portion of display drivers. Whether you want to try today's GOTD again or not, it might not hurt to double check the driver version for your graphics hardware, though I've seen enough issues updating those that I always back up 1st. [If you're running current AMD/ATI graphics the latest regular driver is 11.6, with the most recent hotfix = 11.6b, which came out last week].

Updates on some topics:


STATISTIC MENU CRASH
I recently found out why on some machines the Statistics menu is crashing.

For everybody who has exactly this issue:
1. Please navigate to your installation directory of MediaBase
2. Go to the folder Library and copy both DataVisualization.DLL files to the root installation directory of MediaBase

This will fix your issue!



UNINSTALLING MEDIABASE

As some people mentioned the uninstall of MediaBase will not delete the contents of the installation directory. This is due to people who loosed their custom templates in the past. If you've got rid of MediaBase, simply uninstall the application via the Software menu and additionally delete the content in the Program files-folder.


Again sorry for any inconvenience while testing MediaBae.

Best regards
Patrick | Team Blitz UG (haftungsbeschränkt)

fuabr, I just want to say again how much I appreciate your reviews.

Always informative.Always detailed.

Today's example is no exception. You detailed all the good the product had to offer then you go into detail into what is lacking and what to expect from it's use.

What else could I ask for to make an informed decision.

Not only that, then you give more information on other similar/better software and how it's use differs.

I am left with good solid information to decide what direction to take.

Thanks again for continuing to post here. I look forward to what you have to say. GOTD gains my continued interest here because of your reviews.

Thank you.

Hello again,

First of all:
Everybody who have problems with activating his copy of MediaBase. Please try just some minutes later again. We constantly monitor our license server and we keep registration for all Giveaway Of The Day keys valid until 12/07/2011, so that everybody has the chance to use all features MediaBase is offering.

In my next posts I will try to answer all technical issues here on this page right away. Please have in mind that we offer technical support, both in our board and via E-Mail at support@team-blitz.de

MediaBase seems to be a nice, small database app, that *may* be a bit trouble-prone -- I had problems testing in a couple of VMs [Virtual Machines], which *may* mean that more users will have problems with MediaBase using their regular Windows systems... in one case it had .NET problems, & in another I think it was D3D causing the app to crash. There are 5 categories [Music, Movies etc.], & after selecting one you create a new entry, with several fields for every database record, & you can also import text & Excel files, or Migrate from All My Movies/Books/Software or Ant Movie Catalog. MediaBase isn't a database on the order of MySQL or SQLite, storing data in formatted text files, so you won't get the benefits those SQL databases provide, like faster, more flexible searching. Both a pro & a con depending on your point of view, MediaBase is more for simple cataloging, & doesn't try to be a do-everything app like MediaMonkey -- more features make things more complicated, but added features are worth it if you need them, e.g. Wordpad vs. Word. And while MediaBase does include a help file, I think you'll still spend some time playing/exploring to try & figure things out -- it took me an extra moment to find "SocialConnect" under the Edit menu, & there's nothing about the YouTube button in Help, nor does it have a tooltip [I'm assuming it activates if you add a url for a YouTube trailer to a database record].

Installing MediaBase isn't bad at all, but you'll have to do some work yourself if you decide to remove it, as uninstall left both folders & registry entries behind. The "MediaBase (GOTD)" program folder holds 24 files, 10 folders, ~ 11 MB, while the new "MediaBase" folder in User App/Application Data just holds a small configuration file. In the registry you'll get a new Team Blitz ... key, one new key for uninstall, & a couple of new keys under Classes -- if you want to cleanup after uninstall search "Team Blitz" & "MediaBase" in regedit. MediaBase uses .NET, which accounts for most of the slightly higher than normal resource use while the software's idle, not doing anything, plus it uses files for both D3D 8 & 9. Direct 3D & .NET are just part of how the developer chose to code MediaBase -- chances are most people have both, so unless something doesn't work because of D3D &/or .NET, no big deal.

A big thankyou to Team Blitz for coming here, answering our questions and offering their support.

Can't find any functionality for import via directory/MP3 tags. Makes application useless imho. There are much better freeware programs out there.

Installed fine on a windows 7 ultimate 64x system, website gave me a code, but it's literally invisible. When the program opens up the windows borders are visible, however the contents are not. You can see right through the Authentication and MediaBase windows to the windows or desktop behind it. I can't even put in the registration information.

Here is a screenshot. PICTURE

Running Windows Vista Home Premium

Well I was looking Forward to this software, downloaded it and installed it with no problems. Went to the Form provided in the Readme text and recieved the License Key with no problem. Ran the Program twice and it Crashed twice just hung up on the splash screen. so I Changed the permissions to Administrator and Reran the program and the program finally started.

I went to install the License code Given under the help menu in the Register section and again the program crashed and Hung up. All three windows went black. So I have unistalled the software in which after the unistall process left about 5 or 6 left over folders having about 5 megs of data in them and had to remove them manually.

Did not get a chance to try the software or even see how the database would work.

Not impressed gave my first thumbs down on GOTD. Although I appreciate being given the chance to try the software for free. Thank you GOTD and Team Blitz for the offer.

This sounded like an ok app but as soon as I started it,it would crash every time. Couldn't register it as it would crash before that point.So no good,will have to look elsewhere for something that will work. I'm running Windows XP Pro.

I was really looking forward to using this as i just spent a lot of time trying to track down a video on my pc that i had no idea where it was. This program would save me all the trouble.

When I installed and started mediabase i got an error :

MediaBase has encountered an error and will be shut down.

Tried to start it again, and again after another reboot, and again with AVAST disabled, but no luck.

I have XP SP3 , .NET 4.0, IE 8, and all are up to date.

bummer :(

If the developer of this software thinks that the people will enter manually the existing data base from their own hard drives, it is not going to happen.
This is no more then a search software without any practical applications.
Just uninstalled it.

I forgot to mention, the GUI theme looks a bit funny, especially the MenuStrip and the menus. What's wrong with the standard forms components?

DataCrow can perform the same functions and is free. DataCrow is also available in a portable version.
While the current version of DataCrow (3.9.9)has a somewhat dated interface, the database software itself is quite robust. A new version of DataCrow (4.0) has been promised for quite some time. It will probably have even more features and an improved GUI.

HI,

Any plans for a Mac version?

Pinky

Hmm... This program's configuration seems tied to the system drive's volume serial number. I suppose that's to keep people from sharing licenses, but it may also mean that your program settings can't be moved (though the database should be free to be moved anywhere).

@10: You don't appreciate how much easier it is to write a program using C# and WPF. There isn't really a "MS programming language", unless you're referring to C++ and assembly (used to write Windows). The reason for .NET to exist is easier interoperability. It's almost write once, run anywhere. It's useful for games, where you can write it for Windows, and it will run on Linux and Mac OS as easily. There's also less memory management to keep track of. And to be honest, any C# and VB programs written these days require .NET Framework. I don't like the bloat, but I do like the convenience (of writing, that is). And back to your "MS programming language", C# is actually started by Microsoft, and as far as I know, used .NET Framework exclusively. So to answer your question, it's not possible because "MS programming language" is tightly tied in with .NET Framework. So get used to it.

I should write about this some time.

#7, Team Blitz, regarding scanner support, in the US some sites are selling a very cheap barcode scanner which has been out of production for about a decade. Use of webcams as barcode scanners is common, but some people don't want to bring their media to the scanner. While you can buy pricey portable scanners, it's more common now just to use the camera on smartphones to scan barcodes.

Personally, I don't mind the .NET usage since I need it on my computer for other things. But the lack of scan and UPC support kills it for me.

Note to developer: MANY people can scan barcodes now...using their smartphones and a free app.

Registration successful... kept getting the server did not respond in time... kept trying to register with first last name as user name and reg code... FINALLY WORKED. Registered ok after many many attempts...

I am interested in this software, as I have a large collection of music, videos, books, software, etc. Thing is, I can't find a simple 'scan' button. Is there any way to automatically add everything, or do we have to add everything one by one?

Also, off-topic, but why is BoostSpeed being advertised again (especially after some of use had our keys revoked due to 'underestimating the response', according to Auslogics..?)

Downloaded & installed on Vista Ultimate 64bit all ok. Received serial number but when I try to register the product it returns an error "Server did not respond in time". Rebooted, reran registration several times - no joy.
Would be nice if it had a function to search my hard disk for file types eg *.avi, .mkv, .mp3 etc & retrieve details into the database.

This uses .NET, so I will have to pass on this one.
Why cant software writers use the MS programming language instead of using the "band-aid" of .NET? I have removed all traces of .NET from my computer and it runs faster!

I had hoped for the application to be able to scan all my media automatically, including hard drives and catalogue what I have stored, (as well as the available option to interrogate CD's, DVD's etc) but it seems to have to functionality to be able to carry out this global search, so this would be a very time consuming operation to catalogue all that I have stored on my machine and external drives, so unfortunately, not something that will be useful to me.

Although other media databases have been offered on GOTD, I was looking forward to something different. The install was very clean. You must allow whatever Internet access it wants during registration, else you'll have to request a new key.

I like that this covers a variety of media, but things went downhill from there. You need to change your global search source (import) options. After that, you can search and import data, but it's cumbersome, requiring too many keystrokes, and few fields are populated afterwards. Also, you can't tell the difference between multiple search results with the exact same title until you import the data.

Doesn't scan your media. Doesn't scan using UPC, etc., codes. Doesn't handle your own written media (most such programs will assign a number to external discs, etc.)

For me, always crashed on Statistics, which exposed a massive no-no, the database isn't saved after each entry.

Search was incremental and swift, although that was with just a few entries.

A number of glaring language translation/spelling errors.

Has a l-o-n-g way to go to be competitive. Take Windows 7 Media Center. Just about everything is an active link. You get reviews, similar shows/movies, other shows/movies containing cast members or by the director, writers, etc. The DVD Menu button on the remote will bring up your movies and show their DVD covers (even if recorded off TV), break them down by category, and you have all of the usual extensive information on each one. I'm tired of some people here pushing their own agenda. Yes, I have a lot of DVDs, almost never buy them. Most things I buy are Blu-Ray. "Streaming media?" Yeah, it's called cable TV. My PC records almost 200 GB per day, most HDTV, try downloading that. Right now, I have 19.5 TB (raw) online, and I'll soon add a multiple CableCard tuner, so I'll be recording even more HDTV. Of course, WMC 7 does handle on-demand streaming Internet media and services like Netflix. WMC handles a bunch of other media like pictures and music (including FM), and of course there's WMP 12 and Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011. Add to that the power of Windows Search. Programs which track external media need to have similar features in order to be competitive. Someone was complaining about the up-front cost of HDDs, but I've frequently seen them for $30/TB, which is probably competitive with optical media and far more convenient from many perspectives. Realistically, I find HDD reliability to be comparable to optical media, there are pros and cons of each, but I've never had a HDD outright fail, ever. I have one OEM drive which has defects, it's in use but I'll be replacing it. Half of my external drives are in quick-swap docks.

Hello everybody,

I am trying to answer some of the questions appearing here.

First of all I want to thank you for the great suggestions appearing here so far and the emails we received. We will for sure improve the Help and Look&Feel.

a) We are not of the opinion the tool is dispensable, if you have a large amount of media.
b) Right now we don't have Scanner support for UPC, since most people don't have one lying around - sorry about that.
c) My Cubes aren't drifting :D

If you have problems with registration or errors, please write us some details to support@team-blitz.de this way we might be able to help you. Some people were not treating our registration server well the last hour - I don't want to point fingers here, but I want to apologize for the registration not responding for some short minutes.

I am out for lunch now, but I will post another Feedback from our side in the evening.

All the best,
Rene | Team Blitz

It keeps on crashing under windows 7.
When it does not crash on start up, it freezes when i am trying to import data from an xls or a csv file.

Does it have UPC support? If I can build a list using Red Laser or something like that then use it to import titles, I'm on board. Otherwise, I just don't have time for all that typing.

If you downloaded Saturdays gamegiveaway CubeDrift - it was though that there was no save feature. It seems the game was packaged with profile data already included which had unlocked all of the levels. GMMan discovered that if you delete a specific file from the data folder the game will then save where you left off, and will also indicate which levels have been unlocked. Most levels are locked until you unlock then, although every 10 to 12 levels a number of un-played levels will unlock so that you have a small selection of un-played levels to choose from. You can read GMMan’s information in the comments section of the gamegiveaway for this Saturday. I wont post the link just in case the post then gets thrown to the spam folder.

Here's what GMMan wrote:

Actually, CubeDrift does have a “save” function. It will indicate what levels you’ve finished on the level select screen (as gold). You can skip up to 10 levels (available ones are in blue). After those ones they are all locked (in grey). The game will actually resume on the first level you did not complete.

The only reason that non of the above worked was because the game shipped with a completed profile. Just delete data\ogpice.cdx to reset the profile.

The .cdx format is simple. It’s in a key/value format. Each level is numbered and takes up two lines. The first line is the level number, and the second is the level completion state (either “u” for unfinished, or “d” for done). Repeat for each level in the level pack. The file is automatically generated upon starting a level pack.

At first look this software may seem like it should be freeware.
But check it out it may actually be very useful.
I would not buy this myself, but it is useful and offers what no freeware out there does.

Yes this uses .NET, now to hear the cry babies....

I just installed it on my Win 7 and it seems to be a dispensable tool.

Thank You GOTD this software is amazing Ive been looking for something like this to organize my music software games & movies. You can even take stuff off your usb storage as well. I like the fact that not only does it keep an inventory of all your items it allows you to log what you have lent or someone has borrowed & not returned. You can also check web for music books in batches etc.. from what I saw on a quick view of the menu. Product Installed easily running on windows 7 64 bit license code sent right away.
Thanks again Media Base & GOTD
Thumbs Up!
Katie

Hello again,

thanks to everybody for your response.

We constantly monitor our license server to keep things up and running. If you have problems with registering the software, please have a look in your firewall if MediaBase is blocked from internet access. If this is not the case, you can easily try to re-submit the license and name via "About MediaBase" -> "Register". This should work 99% of the time.

People who have anyway problems will until tomorrow have the opportunity to activate their copy, as we putted the keys valid until the 12/07/2011.

The crashing of the statistics we cannot reproduce on our test machines (Windows XP SP3, Windows 7 Professional). Neither on an empty database, nor on a database with items inside. It is absolutely interesting for us to gather more information about this issue, so contact us simply at support@team-blitz.de or in our support board on http://www.team-blitz.de/support and we will figure out what is going wrong in your case.

About the settings file. The settings file is indeed locked to the System volume information on your computer. This not means that you cannot copy your MediaBase databases. You even can open your database with a Demo version of MediaBase in a modus, where you can edit and view but not add new items. Beside of this, License owners are free to re-install and activate MediaBase again. We offer 12 activation slots, with every month one recovered.

About mobile versions of MediaBase:
As some of you maybe already have recognized, we offer MediaBase Mobile for Windows Mobile handsets free of charge. Based on your feedback, we will consider to support more platforms all the time (Android, Windows Phone 7, ...?).

Best regards
Patrick