I transferred some music (.mp3) to my clipzip via Windows Media Player and it appears that they successfully transferred, but when I look in the clip zip, I can’t find anything! What am I not doing?
I checked the user manual and the instructions to transfer music to the clip zip are not the same as what I did to transfer the music (I just did what I always did with my other mp3 player to transfer files.) As the files were transferring, the Clip Zip actually said “transferring”, but the new music is not there and I’m pretty sure I looked everywhere.
Please help! I’d really like to use my clip zip on my 16 mile run tomorrow…2+ hours of running would be so much nicer with some music. 
Hey - I’m not an expert on this - I think the last time I used Windows Media Player to transfer files was 3 or more years ago with a Creative Zen.
And I’m sure some more knowledgeable people will post soon. But you can go into Windows Explorer and to your music folders and just copy & paste (ie. drag and drop) your music files directly into the music folder of your Zip. This is a lot easier than using any program, I find.
And what you’ve copied over should show up just fine.
Okay, I’m probably gonna sound like a complete ■■■■■ here but… when I connect the clip zip to my computer, shouldn’t it appear in My Computer (i.e. so that I can open the Clip Zip Music Folder so I CAN drag and drop songs?) Nothing appears in My Computer when I connect the clip zip. 
Something else which has ocurred to me: If you do use a program like Windows Media Player, then, under the Zip’s settings make sure that it is in MTP mode. (this is easily checkable on the Zip itself.)
For dragging and dropping, make sure it’s in MSC mode.
Yeah, my fault for being a bit slow: Again, if you want to use WMP then make sure it’s in MTP mode (go into Settings on the Zip).
For drag and drop use MSC (again in the Zip’s settings). It should show up fine under My Computer.
When I first transferred music to my Zip, I made the mistake of not checking these settings (I think it was set to auto-detect) and I couldn’t copy files properly until I had set the Zip to MSC.
@girlnpointer wrote:
I checked the user manual and the instructions to transfer music to the clip zip are not the same as what I did to transfer the music (I just did what I always did with my other mp3 player to transfer files.)
What exactly did you do vs. what the manual says to do?
@girlnpointer wrote:
As the files were transferring, the Clip Zip actually said “transferring”, but the new music is not there and I’m pretty sure I looked everywhere.
Did you look under ‘Unknown’? If the player cannot read the ID3 tags of the files, it will lump them all together under this label. You can also scroll down to Folders in the Music menu and see if they are listed there.
What exactly did you do vs. what the manual says to do?
-
Opened Windows Media Player
-
On the vertical side bar where it says “Now Playing”, “Media Guide”, etc. I chose “Copy to CD or Device”.
-
I then selected the songs to copy to the device, chose “Sansa Clip Zip” in the drop down menu for the device to copy the songs to, and then pressed “Copy”. As each song copied over, it changed the song’s “copy” status to “Complete” (except for a couple that had errors) and the songs then appeared to be on the device along with the preloaded songs that come on the Sansa when you purchase it.
However, when I checked everywhere on the Sansa (i.e. Podcast, Audiobooks, the “Folder” file under Music, recently added, artists, songs, albums, etc.) none of the songs were there. I also tried turning the clip zip off and on again.
I then repeated the entire process, making sure the USB settings were for MTP.
I would love to just drag and drop, but I can’t find the the clip zip on My Computer (so that I CAN drop files into the Music folder) when I hook it up to my computer. (I mean, shouldn’t it appear in My Computer when you hook it up to the computer–just like a when you hook up a flash drive???)
Look, I just have an old XP netbook… If you have selected MSC on your Zip then it should just show up…
Not sure what more I can advise you, but that is just bad luck it would seem. I didn’t read the manual, either, but the Zip, in my case, has acted just like any other mp3 player I’ve had…
Reading your post again, it should be pretty obvious: your PC should recognise the Zip as a 4 or 8Gb Mass storage device…
If it isn’t, then something is wrong.
So am I just screwed? Will I ever be able to get songs on this thing? Is there a helpline I can call? I was so excited about using this little thing (I say “little” because my previous mp3 player was an old, ancient, and monstrously large Dell DJ…yeah, I don’t update that often) and now I’m just frustrated.
In the U.S.: 1-866-SANDISK (726-3475). And other SanDisk contact information: http://www.sandisk.com/sandisk-support/contact-us
I am having the exact same problem. I copied a CD to my PC and then copied it to my brand new sandisk clip. When I connect the sandisk to the computer it reads the device as if the music is on there but, when I try to play only the preloaded music shows?!
How do you “drag and drop”?
@janinelargent wrote:
I am having the exact same problem. I copied a CD to my PC and then copied it to my brand new sandisk clip. When I connect the sandisk to the computer it reads the device as if the music is on there but, when I try to play only the preloaded music shows?!
When you say you copy the CD to your PC, what exactly did you do? And are the songs on the CD already in a “ripped” format that a player can play, such as the mp3 format?
As a general matter, audio CDs have music in an audio format. Portable players do not play the audio format. Rather, a “ripper” on your computer must be used to rip the audio files into a ripped format that players will play, such as the mp3 format.
@janinelargent wrote:
How do you “drag and drop”?
You connect your sansa player in MSC if u want to drag n drop.
u can either select it from ur players Setting>>system setings>>USB mode.
or u can switch off ta player and press the center button while connecting it to ur PC,
then ur computer will detect ur player as a removable storage, and u can simply drag and drop like u do for a removable storage.
If you “drag and drop” music files to your Clip Zip, and they do not show on the device, this is most likely caused by missing metadata in your music file. The Sansa navigates through the music files based upon their embedded ID3 tags. This is the song name, artist, album, and genre data that is normally added automatically when “ripping” your CDs to a portable format.
If this information has been omitted, or is of the wrong format, the somgs may appear “missing” on the player.
All files have a file name that you can try locating by going to folder view on the device. On the clip Zip,co to Music > Folders > Internal Memory > MSC or MTP depending upon which mode was used for transfer, and you can then search alphabetically for the file.
To fix this situation, you can use an ID3 tag editor utility like MP3Tag. With proper tags, it’s easier to search for your music via Album / Genre / Song / Artist depending upon your mood.
Bob :smileyvery-happy:
The op needs to know the difference between MTP and MSC mode and use one or the other. If you use WMP to transfer music, stay with MTP, but unless you are using protected music you’re better off with MSC mode and staying away from WMP. Do not use auto detect, it will switch to MTP mode if WMP is detected on you computer.
I would format and start over, then set to MSC. Drag the folders into the music folder of the device when using internal memory. You can just drop folders into the root of external memory. You should be able to navigate ok in folder view if the files do not have ID tags.
Winamp works well with the clip in MSC mode and is useful if you want to create playlists. Just run winamp using the clip as the source and save your playlist into the music directory of the clip or the root of external card. You can only access playlist entries on the same media source.
If you mix and match MSC and MTP modes, you will have problems seeing files in windows although everything should show on the clip.
