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iTunes for Windows: Enable Half-Star Ratings
Posted by Mitch on Jan 24, 2009 under Software Tips | 20 CommentsI enjoy using half-stars to ratings in iTunes for Windows because the 5 star rating system alone is a little limited. I had tons of music rated 4 stars that really didn’t deserve that rating, but were too good for a 3 star rating. Mac users have been able to do this for months, but Apple hasn’t opened it up as a menu-enabled feature for the Windows version. Luckily I found a tweak that allows this feature to be enabled. I’ve tested this in version iTunes 7, 8 and 9 and it works great!
iTunes for Windows half-star ratings
1. Make sure you are closed out of the iTunes application.
2. Navigate to your iTunesPrefs.xml file. It’s normally located in one of the locations below.
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes in Windows XP
or
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes in Vista and Windows 7.
3. Open the file using a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad.
4. Scroll down to where is says:
<key>User Preferences</key>
<dict>
5. Below that line, type the following:
<key>allow-half-stars</key>
<data>
dHJ1ZQ==
</data>
6. Close and save the iTunesPrefs.xml file.
Now, the next time you open iTunes, you should be able to give songs a rating using half-stars. The new half-star rating system is even compatible with any iPod devices you sync up with.
As Matt said, if it not then changed to a read only afterwards, no change will take place. I am also running a 2G/3G 8GB iTouch though that irrelevant to this process. This is a great improvement that I don’t see why Apple disallows by default.
I’ll echo what Maxim said: I had to make my iTunesPrefs.xml file Read-Only for the changes to stick.
Also, the half stars do NOT show up on my iPod, but I’ve got a rather old one (2nd gen). Not sure if they show up on the newer ones or not.
But how do you actually use the half stars in itunes once you add in the text
Thanks a lot…
[...] help me because my desktop runs Windows Vista (groan). After some more poking around I came across this helpful post and it worked [...]
Thanks, it works.
If you haven’t result, try to make iTunesPrefs.xml “Read Only”, after editing. My iTunes (9.0.2.25) changed it the next time i run it until i’ve done it.
hmm that’s weird i have windows vista and I can’t seem for the life of me to find “\AppData\” file under username. any ideas?
It’s a hidden folder, make it appear in folder and search settings
Wicked! Thanks, it works great!
AMAZING. I’ve wanted this feature for as long as I’ve been using Itunes
It seems my comment was eaten :-
I meant to write
(key)allow-half-stars(/key)
(string)true(/string)
where the () are replaced by angle brackets.
It also seems that half stars are not supported on iPod (I have only tested this on iPod touch, though, and half-stars are rounded down). Can anyone confirm? Perhaps there is a way to enable it on iPods too
The prefs file allows you to use strings, so this may be more understandable:
allow-half-stars
true
thankyou thankyou thankyou!!
been trying to do this for ages
xx
I was just wondering if this resets
already assigned ratings when you do this?
thanks xoxo
Yo, it worked for me. Ive been trying to do this forever. Thanks
it does not work with me.
i did exactly what you said and yet i can’t use half stars.
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7989/ipodyw3.jpg
What’s wrong ?
how did you did it ?
i try it but when i open itunes i can’t use half stars.
here is what i have done :
http://forums.macgeneration.com/attachments/aide-itunes/20015d1234011189-probleme-classement-ipod.jpg
Can you notice anything wrong ?
I’ve just done this now and it works great, thanks alot!
Thanks! That’s what i’m lookin’ for!
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