1. How do I switch iTunes to another iTunes Music Library? To specify another library for iTunes hold down the SHIFT key when clicking the iTunes icon and keep holding the SHIFT key until iTunes prompts you to selected another library. You can also use our Library Switcher for iTunes product.
   
2. How do I manually select song entries for duplicate removal - to select a specific entry click on the entry -- this allows for one entry selected at a time. To select a range of entries, use click + SHIFT. To select one or more entries, use click + CTRL. Once the desired entries are selected, do the remove operaation.
   
3. How do I activate the product once I have purchased it? When you buy the product you will receive a receipt containing the Activation ID ([Activation ID: ...]) for the product. This Activation ID is what is used to activate or unlock the product. If the apliication is already running click on the Help menu then click on the Activate menu. If the application is not running, start the program and you will see a window to enter your activation information in. An activation window will be displayed from which you can enter the Activation ID,your name and email. You can copy the Activation ID to the clipboard and then paste it in if you desire. For more information on the clipboard click here.
4. If I remove a duplicate is the actual duplicate file on disk removed? By default, no. If you desire to have the duplicate music library entry AND the actual file removed you have to indicate so in your preferences. The default is not to remove the actual files in case of accidental deletes of music you have paid for. See the Edit->Preferences menu to change this setting.
5. How does Dupe Eliminator determine what is a duplicate? The program has dupe criteria used to determine what is a duplicate. The dupe criteria by default are Song Name, Artist and Album. What this means is that in order for a song to be a duplicate of another song it must have the same Song Name, Artist and Album. Every person does not necessary have the same criteria for what a duplicate is. That is why the program provide many alternatives:
   • "Song Name"
   • "Song Name/Artist"
   • "Song Name/Size"
   • "Song Name/Artist/Kind"
   • "Song Name/Artist/Album"
   • “Song Name/Artist/Size"
   • "Song Name/Size/Kind"
   • "Song Name/Artist/Size/Kind"
   • "Song Name/Artist/Album/Kind"
   • "Song Name/Artist/Album/Size"
   • "Song Name/Artist/Album/Size/Kind"
     • For example to find dupes for songs with the same song name and artist use “Song Name/Artist”
6. Does Dupe Eliminator have any settings to determine what is kept as the original when a dupe is found? Yes,this is called original criteria and it is use a method other than the default method for determining what the original is.By default, the first entry found is the original and the next entries found matching the dupe criteria are duplicates.The original criteria alternatives:
   • "First Entry Found"
   • "Most Played"
   • "Newest Date Added"
   • "Oldest Date Added"
   • "Largest File Size"
   • "Smallest File Size"
   • "Longest Filename"
   • "Shortest Filename"
   • "Longest Time (Length)"
   • "Shortest Time (Length)"
   • "Highest Bit Rate"
   • "Lowest Bit Rate"
   • "AIFF Audio File"
   • "MPEG Audio File"
   • "AAC Audio File"
   • "Protected AAC Audio File"
   • "Quicktime Audio File"
   • "WAV Audio File"
   • "Protected MPEG-4 Video File"
   • "MPEG-4 Video File"
   • "Quicktime Movie File"
   • "With Artwork"
   • For example, if you want the original kept to be the song namethat is an MP3 file choose “MPEG Audio File”. If two song files are found but the second one, which would normally be considered the duplicate, is an MP3 file and the first is AAC, the MP3 file will be kepy as the original and the AAC file will be the duplicate.
7. What is AutoClean? AutoClean is a special mode the program can run in that finds your duplicates and then automatically without requiring you to do so removes the found duplicates. When the -AutoClean parameter is passed as an argument to the program on startup, the program will run AutoClean then exit. If you click the AutoClean toolbar button, the program display will shrink to AutoClean mode and when completed return to the normal display.
8. Is iTunes used by the Dupe Eliminator? Yes, the program requires iTunes and if it is not installed will display an information message asking if you want to install iTunes. If necessary the program starts iTunes, minimizes iTunes and then makes requests to iTunes to acquire your Music Library information. When deletes are done, the program talks with iTunes to remove the entry from your Music Library. If you are also deleting it from the disk, the program will delete the actual file.
9. How do I upgrade to new versions of Dupe Eliminator? Upgrades are free for minor versions i.e. if you buy version 1.1 you are entitled to the upgrades 1.2, 1.3 etc... Major versions, e.g. 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 etc... require a new Activation ID so if you bought version 1.1 you would have to pay for version 2.0, 3.2, etc... For minor version upgrades, download and install the new version then activate it using your current Activation ID. If you lose you Activation ID, send an email to Customer Service and we will resend it.
10. How do I check for new versions? You can check for updates from the Help-->Check for updates menu.
11. Where are the Dupe Eliminator preferences files stored? They are store in the installation directory \config directory.
12. Are preferences such as dupe and original criteria stored by user? Yes, the current Windows user name is displayed in the Dupe Eliminator title area. If the username is Tom, preferences are stored in .\config\Tom_preferences.cfg. The default settings are stored in .\config\preferences.cfg.
13. How does Dupe Eliminator know which iTunes Music Library to use? It uses the Music Library that your iTunes installation uses. No matter where you have iTunes installed, when you start iTunes and look at your library it is the same library Dupe Eliminator uses. Dupe Eliminator interfaces with iTunes to request and process your Music Library. Dupe Eliminator does not access the Music Library directory only through iTunes. This ensures that all the information is current and in sync.
14. Can I sort the displayed information? Yes by clicking on a heading in the display you can sort by that column or toggle an existing sort between ascending and descending. The sort directory (ascending and descending) is indicated in the sort column heading using up and down arrows.
15. What are the check marks in the column headings? You will see check marks in column headings that are in your dupe criteria. See your preferences (Edit->preferences or click on information area above the display headings) to view and change your preferences.
16. How do I schedule Dupe Eliminator to do an AutoClean at a specific time? Dupe Eliminator can be schedule to run in the background and do an AutoClean silently. To do so you must use Windows to schedule Dupe Eliminator to run in AutoClean mode using the -AutoClean parameter.Click on the schedule menu then select Dupe Eliminator from the program list. Click here for a screen snapshot of an example.
17. What is the System tray icon the small icon in the lower right-hand corner of my screen? This area is called the Windows system tray and contains icons for quick access to functionality for applications. Dupe Eliminator, when running, adds an icon here when clicked displays a menu of the most commonly used program functions.
18. When starting Dupe Eliminator for iTunes I get the error 'JVM could not be started' What is this? - Dupe Eliminator for iTunes uses Java and when the applications starts memory is reserved for the program. The default program settings allow for a maximum memory size of 2GB to be available to the program. If you are on a system where 2GB is not available you will get this error. To fix it you need to override Dupe Eliminator for iTunes build-in defaults. To do this you need to add one parameter when running the application.
1. Right-click on the Dupe Eliminator for iTunes desktop icon and click on properties.
   
2. Location Target and add-J-Xmx512M to the end of the target. e.g."c:\apps\DupeEliminator.exe" -J-Xmx512M

This tells the program to use at the most 512MB (512 megabytes) -- adjust as needed. You can also add -J-Xms20M which is the minimum amout of memory (20MB) to start the application with.