Creative Zen MP3 32/16/8/4/2 GB helpful Tips.

Yesterday I purchased Creative Zen MP3 Player for myself and it seems to be very attractive buy. I am running Windows XP in my computer. I wanted to know more about the Creative Zen MP3. How do I start up using my new Zen. Does anyone have any tips for using the device in an efficient way? How can I charge my Creative Zen Mp3? What are the dos and don’ts that I should remember? Anybody with any related suggestions, please come forward and reply the thread. Your suggestions and help will be appreciated.

The first thing that everyone notices first is the condition of your Creative Zen MP3. Whether the screen of the MP3 player has developed scratches in it or not? Following are some handy tips to prevent the screen from getting scratches in it:

• You should use the genuine products which are provided by the Creative Zen itself, like you can use Zen Cloth Bag. This bag comes with all the products and units which help us in preventing to develop scratches on the MP3 Player screen.
• You can purchase the Zen clear plastic case (#70AB216000012) provided by Creative.
• You can use Screen protector (#70AB216000013) by Creative. It will help to protect the LCD protector screen from dust and scratches. You can also use a "generic" PDA screen protector which can easily fit the LCD screen of Zen.

These are few indications which will confirm that your Creative Zen is defective:

• The Zen LCD screen will show “complete white screen” or a "totally blank black screen".
• The “Recovery Mode” menu screen won’t start.
• Unable to charge the Zen.
• Appearance of cracks or distortion of the Zen LCD screen.
• The Zen clock shows inaccurate time.
• If you are facing anyone of the following problems, you should contact the nearest Creative stores and get your problem solved.

You should perform clean up or format your Zen’s firmware by booting into the Recovery Mode, if you come across anyone of the following problems.

• If you are unable to detect your MP3 player Creative MediaSource or Windows Media Player.
• If the battery of the player drains before the expected time.
• Unable to perform file transfer when connected to your computer.
• Errors related to firmware is always displayed.
• The LCD displays is showing some "Firmware Problem" message
• No response from your player.
• The performance is annoying and bad.

Following are the steps to boot into the Recovery Mode

• Switch OFF the player if it is turned ON.
• Hold the play/pause button for a while.
• Push the end of a metal paper clip gently into the reset gap.
• Push the on/off/lock switch towards the ON option.
• The recovery mode screen with the following four menu items will appears:
• < Clean Up> < Format All><Reload Firmware> < Reboot>
• Select the options as per your requirement.

These are few tips by which you can increase/decrease the playing time of your Creative Zen MP3 player:

• Setting the Play-back volume low/high – It is obvious that more output requires more power, so if the volume is set high, the playing time will decrease at a faster rate.
• Bit Rates and the format of the file that you are playing will increase/decrease your playing time. Normally WMA files have got higher bit rate than the usual MP3 format files, thus taking more power then the MP3 files to play.
• Allow the battery of the player to discharge (drain up) completely from time-to-time and then fully recharge it. Fully charged battery means the green symbol battery is not flashing and plug/key symbol is embedded in the center of the battery. The battery is 100% charge when it satisfies both the condition.
• Make sure that your Creative Zen Flash Mp3 player’s firmware is upgraded to the latest available version of it. This will help you in getting the best possible output from your Zen Flash player.
• Always remember to lock your Zen player while playing music. This will minimize the usage of the battery for lightning the backlight when it is not locked.