Reset the Player
ZEN Vision W, ZEN Vision, ZEN MicroPhoto, ZEN Micro, and ZEN PMC
These players have a removable battery. To reset these players:
- Turn off your player (if possible).
- Detach the power cable if connected
- Remove the battery from the player.
- Wait for 5 seconds, and re-insert the battery.
ZEN V, ZEN V Plus, ZEN Vision:M, ZEN Sleek Photo, ZEN Sleek and ZEN Touch
These players have an integrated battery. To reset these players:
- Turn off your player (if possible).
- Push the end of a pin-like object (for example, a straightened paper clip) into the reset hole, press gently and remove.
DO NOT insert any objects into the microphone.
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Power on the player.
If resetting the player while it is detached from a PC does not resolve the difficulty, connect the player to a PC with Windows XP installed. Wait for 10 to 15 seconds, and then try the reset procedure again.
Fully Charge the Player's Battery
Charging with a Power Adapter
To charge your player with a power adapter (if shipped with your player or purchased separately), turn off the player, connect it to its power adapter with the included cable, and then plug the adapter into a wall outlet. Power adapters can be purchased separately at www.epartsandmore.com.
The player will turn on automatically and display the charging icon. It will be fully charged when you see the fully charged icon.
Charging via a USB port
To charge your player via a USB port, turn off the player, and connect it directly to a USB port at the back of your PC using the included USB cable or USB Synchronization cable.
Note: Avoid connecting the MP3 player to USB hubs or USB ports located on the front of a PC, a keyboard or a monitor. If a USB hub is used, make sure the hub is powered (has an external power source).
For continuous battery charging, make sure that your PC does not enter Standby or Hibernate mode during the charge cycle. To verify your PC's power settings, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double click Power Options.
Charging a depleted battery
If you have not used or charged your MP3 player for a long time, the player's battery can become depleted or discharged. When the player is connected to a PC, Windows may not immediately detect the player as being connected. It also might not show any sign of activity (with the exception of the power LED).
Another symptom of a depleted battery is that the player turns off immediately when it is switched on.
To charge a depleted battery, follow these instructions:
- Turn off the player.
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Connect the player directly to a USB port located at the back of the PC with the supplied cable.
Restarting the Player into its Recovery Mode / Rescue Mode
All hard drive based players and some flash memory based players (ZEN V and ZEN V Plus) have a recovery mode (also known as rescue mode) that you can access to clean up the player, or format the player.
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Clean Up |
Scans the player and removes invalid links from its music library.
Does not affect music files themselves. |
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Format (All) |
Caution! Erases all content!
Save a copy of your player's content before formatting. |
|
Reload OS/Firmware |
Caution! Erases your player's firmware.
DO NOT select the Reload Firmware option unless you have access to a PC and you have downloaded the necessary firmware to install. |
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Reboot |
Reboots the device. |
There is no clean up utility for flash memory player such as ZEN Nano, ZEN Nano Plus, or any MuVo series. To resolve any firmware related issues, you will need to connect the player to a PC, and reload the player's firmware.
Verifying USB and Cable Connections
Connect the player directly to a USB port located at the back of the PC with the supplied cable
Note: Avoid connecting the MP3 player to USB hubs or USB ports located on the front of a PC, a keyboard or a monitor. If a USB hub is used, make sure the hub is powered (has an external power source).
If the player is already connected to a USB port at the back of the PC, disconnect it, and connect it to a different USB port
Try a different USB cable
Check the battery status of your player (see the procedure above)
Uninstall and reinstall the drivers for your player
- Click Start, Settings, Control Panel and System.
- Select the Hardware Tab and click the Device Manager button. For Vista, type "Device Manager" into the Search window.
- Locate and highlight the Creative MP3 (Media) players. The MP3 (Media) players may be listed under Other Devices or Unknown Devices.
- Click Actions, and then select Uninstall.
- Click Actions again, and then select Scan for hardware changes.
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Follow the directions on the screen to reinstall the device drivers.
Verifying Operating System Settings
If you are using Windows 2000, ME or Windows 98SE instead of Windows XP or Vista, and you have a ZEN player loaded with MTP firmware (also known as PlaysForSure, or P4S), you will need to install and use Windows Media Player 9 from the Easy Start CD included with select MP3 player.
If you cannot locate the Easy Start CD, you can download the necessary drivers from Creative Labs' support site. The file name is
P4S_PCDRV_US_1_01_00.exe.
Note: Online music subscription or video subscription services are supported under Windows XP or Vista only. The Easy Start CD referenced here is currently available in North America only. In other regions, MTP devices are only supported under Windows XP or Vista.
If you are using Windows XP or Vista, your player is properly detected in Windows, and reported "working properly" in Device Manager (see below), yet Windows Media Player, Creative Media Explorer, or other PlaysForSure compatible applications fail to detect it, you will need to modify a registry entry.
- Click Start and then Run. Type regedit and then click Ok to open the Registry Editor. If using Vista, type regedit into the Search window.
- Click on the plus sign (+) next to My Computer to expand it. Continue to expand the following entries: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ENUM
- Locate and click the USB category. In the menu bar, click Edit, and then Permissions.
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Select Everyone on the Group or user names section. In the Permissions for Everyone section, check the Allow box for Full Control and Read.
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If the Everyone entry is missing from the Group or user names, click Add and type Everyone into the Enter the object names to select dialog and click on the OK button. In the Permissions for Everyone section, check the Allow box for Full Control and Read (see above)
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Click OK
Verify the Driver Installation
If the player is not being recognized in any programs, please check in the Device Manager to see that the player is installed properly and recognied in Windows.
- Make sure the player is connected to a USB port on the back of the PC.
- Click on Programs (or All Programs), Settings and Control Panel.
- Double click on System. For Vista, right click on Computer and choose Properties.
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Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
- Find Portable Devices and click the + next to it.
- Look for the player under the Portable Devices category, right-click on it and select Properties.
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In the properties window for the player, select the General tab and make sure the Device status is listed as This device is working properly.
If the player is not listed in the Device Manager
- Verify the player is connected to a USB port on the PC.
- Cleanup the player from Recovery Mode.
- Format the player from Recovery Mode.
If the Device status is listed as This device is disabled. (Code 22), enable the device.
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Click on the Enable Device button.
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In the Device Problems Troubleshooting Wizard, click the Next button.
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Once Windows has finished enabling the player, click on Finish.
Installing the latest firmware for your player
If it is available, Creative strongly recommends that you download and install the latest firmware for your player, as well as the latest Windows Media updates and Service Pack updates for your PC.
Latest firmware can be downloaded at www.creative.com; and latest Windows updates can be downloaded at http://update.microsoft.com/.
For detailed information about firmware enhancement and fixes, and thorough instructions on how to update a firmware, please refer to the firmware's Web Release Notes (Click on the Show Details tab at the download site).
If you get a Firmware Problem error message before or after updating the firmware, it is recommended that you format your player via the player's Recovery Mode. For instruction about your specific player, please refer to "How to format a Creative MP3 player" on Creative's web site.
Testing the player on a different PC
If the firmware update reportedly could not detect or recognize your player connected to your PC after you have installed the latest update from
www.microsoft.com/ and after you have tried a different USB cable and USB port, it is recommended that you try the player on a different PC to rule out any hardware or software conflicts between your PC and the MP3 player.
Most Creative MP3 players do not require a driver to be installed in a Windows XP system, so you can try the player easily on a different Windows XP PC.
Formatting the player
Corrupt media files can prevent the player from functioning properly. If uploading and cleaning up the player's firmware does not resolve the difficulty, it will be necessary to format the player.
Note: Formatting a player will remove all contents!
For instructions about your specific player, please refer to "How to format a Creative MP3 player" on Creative's web site.
If you have a flash memory player such as ZEN Nano, ZEN Nano Plus, or any of the MuVo players, you can format it with Windows Formatter. Open My Computer, and locate the Removable Drive assigned to your player, right click on it and select Format.
