Portable Mediamonkey

Version 4.0 and higher

Simply check the option "Portable Install" during the setup wizard, and choose the folder where MediaMonkey should be installed.

Version 3.0

This is an overview of how to set up MediaMonkey for USB stick, external drive, or shared network install for version 3.0-3.2 only.

• For an easy way , follow these steps :

1. Install Media Monkey to your HDD

2. Go to  :

<windows drive>:\users\<user name>\AppData\Local\MediaMonkey\  --- for Windows 7 & Vista)
<windows drive>:\documents & settings\<user name>\Application Data\Local\MediaMonkey\  --- for Windows XP --- need editing cause i forgot the exact WinXP address

and move MM.DB and MediaMonkey.ini to the installed location (usually in c:\Program Files\MediaMonkey)

3. Copy the installed MediaMonkey (everything in the folder) from your PC (usually in c:\Program Files\MediaMonkey) to the flash drive (i.e. f:\MediMonkey\)

4. open your flash drive and explore to the directory which you just copied Media Monkey to.

5. Edit the MediaMonkey.ini ([system] section) like this  :

[System]
DBName=MM.DB    * in case you want to run it from a flash drive or \\192.168.x.x\<folder>\...\MM.DB  if you want to run the database from a network 
TempDir=\Temp\   * in case you want to run it from a flash drive or \\192.168.x.x\<folder>\...\Temp\  if you want to use a network palce
CacheDir=\VirtualCD\   * in case you want to run it from a flash drive or \\192.168.x.x\<folder>\...\VirtualCD\  if you want to use a network palce
PreviewDir=\Previews\   * in case you want to run it from a flash drive or \\192.168.x.x\<folder>\...\Previews\  if you want to use a network palce

note that the "DBName=MM.DB" does not exist and you should add it yourself

6. Save and exit

note that the drive letter of the flash drive should remain the same if the your music collection is on the flash drive too ( it should be or why you want to use a portable MediaMonkey anyway ? )

Also if you don't move the MM.DB and MediaMonkey.ini you cant access the correct database.

And if you want to know more details of what you are doing , you should read the rest of this article

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First, read the FAQs for Shared Settings and Changing the location of the library database.

These 2 articles provide the background necessary to understand what needs to be done.

Once you understand the FAQs, then you will also understand that the process outlined below requires your device to always have the same drive letter (or UNC network path if you are using a NAS or server). You can manually assign a letter in the Windows Control Panel > Computer Management > Disk Manager. For Shared Network drives, even if you have created a mapped drive shortcut, you should use the UNC path. For example, if your shared network drive is named NETDRIVE and is mapped to drive letter z:, use \\NETDRIVE\<folder>\<filename> for any references in the ini file, do not use z:\<folder>\<filename>. By using the UNC network path you are protected from problems from having the drive mapped to a different letter on other computers on the network.

Another important point is that MediaMonkey also stores some settings in the registry. These settings are generally the UI settings/positions and 'Gold' key if you have one, among other things. These settings will not be portable between computers, but normally you won't need them to be once you're all set up. You will likely have to activate your gold license the first time you access MediaMonkey on the device from a new computer.

Finally, you should understand that both articles can be done independently. You can have shared settings while still having independent databases, or you can have independent settings while having a shared database.

What we are going to do, is combine both functions so that both settings and library are stored in one location (your USB stick/external drive/network folder).

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NOTE: When you are looking for the default mediamonkey.ini or mm.db, you may have to enable "View hidden/system files" in your windows explorer options or search.

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• Move your existing MediaMonkey program folder or install a fresh copy to your destination device (USB stick, external drive, network share). Installing a fresh copy works better.

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• Move your Mediamonkey.ini from the default user location to the program location you moved or installed MM to on your destination device. Your user Mediamonkey.ini should reside in the same location as the Mediamonkey.exe (rename or overwrite any existing Mediamonkey.ini in the program folder). If you are using a network share drive as the "Device", and you are moving an existing ini file from the c:\users\<username>\appdata\local\MediaMonkey directory, it is important to edit the following lines of the ini file so that they have paths that are accessable from all computers on the network.

From:

TempDir=c:\users\<username>\appdata\local\Temp\

CacheDir=c:\users\<username>\appdata\local\MediaMonkey\VirtualCD\

PreviewDir=c:\users\<username>\appdata\local\MediaMonkey\Previews\

To, for example,:

TempDir=\\<shared network folder>\<MediaMonkey Program Folder>\Temp\

CacheDir=\\<shared network folder>\<MediaMonkey Program Folder>\VirtualCD\

PreviewDir=\\<shared network folder>\<MediaMonkey Program Folder>\Previews\

Without this change, you will get an error saying there is a problem creating the Temp, Virtual CD and Previews folders upon start-up on any computers other than the computer which had the original ini file. If you want to retain your existing versions of these files, you can move them from the original locations to the new locations in the shared network folder.

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• To have a shared database, you must now edit the Mediamonkey.ini and follow the directions in the FAQ by adding the appropriate entry and path. You can let MM create a new database there or move your existing database to the new location on the destination device. Once again, if you are using a shared network folder, use the UNC path, not the mapped drive letter.

Now, you should have a MM install on your device, your MediaMonkey folder should contain your existing Mediamonkey.ini, and your Mediamonkey.ini should point to your database also located somewhere on the device.

If your music is also on the device, then you should be able to access everything as one package. If your music is located elsewhere, then you must also have access to that location in order to play the music from that location. If you plan on running MM from a shared network drive and the music is also on the shared network drive, then once again, it is important that the path for the location of the music be the UNC name, not a mapped drive letter. If you don't make this conversion, the network version of MM won't work on any computer which has the network drive mapped to a different letter than the computer from which the music on the network drive was added to the DB. This topic explains how to make the change to the UNC name from a mapped drive letter http://mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33788&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a. Another more manual way to accomplish this is to start with a new DB and add the music to your DB by using the network path in the add/rescan dialog window rather than the mapped drive path. However, this method causes you to lose everything else in your DB other than your music.

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For example, I have all of my music, my MediaMonkey program folder, Mediamonkey.ini and MM3.db all located on my external drive J: and I can run MM and access my music from there as long as I make sure that the drive always gets J: when connected to any computer. But ... depending on your operating system, reconnection to shared network drives by letter can be haphazard. It is always better to use a UNC (e.g. \\network-device\sharename\mm.db) or static IP address (e.g. \\192.168.1.x\sharename\mm.db)

Hopefully this information is helpful in getting your portable or network monkey working. Here is a thread which discusses setting up MM on a shared network drive http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34083.