Creative zen xtra + file transfer?

nomadness.net FAQ said:

Does the Zen have drive letter, mass storage device, driverless support etc.?

The Zen Micro is able to do this for data only. You can assign up to a maximum of 2Gb for a data partition. There is purported to be a firmware release in November for the Zen Touch that will allow MTP support with Windows Media Player 10, that is the ability to transfer with WMP10 without the need for drivers. In summary the other Zens cannot do this. It cannot appear as a drive letter, similar to how a mass storage device appears with driverless support.

There are several applications which will allow you to view the Nomad as a device in Windows Explorer, but it's important to understand this will not allow you to: run applications, access the Nomad through applications e.g. Microsoft Word, and will also require that you install drivers first. A list of applications that allow you to view the Nomad as a device follow, note these are repeated elsewhere in the FAQ, with download links, information etc.:

Notmad Explorer - Arguably the best product available, but shareware.
Microsoft's Digital Media Edition - Free, but the functionality is extremely limited.
Nomad Explorer - This shipped with some Zens, and was available for a short time as a download, but has been pulled for download from Creative's site due to issues and was never replaced.
Creative File Manager 2 - principally designed for data files.

Note, there are no 3rd party firmware or hacks that will allow the drive letter and/or driverless functionality, and Creative have not mentioned any plans to this effect either.

Also note, even if this functionality were added it would fundamentally change the way the device works. If the Music Library based on tag data were to remain it would necessitate that everytime files were added a scan of the disk would be required taking a relatively large amount of time to check what files were present and to add the tag data. If the Music Library were to be removed then the device it would have to be navigated by folders and files instead, which would not be liked by a large number of users.

If drive letter support is the most important feature for you then check the Zen Micro, MuVo and MuVo² range of players which have this, and use folder and file navigation.

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