Backup
Hard disk don't believe in eternal life. They might last long but one day they crash. Dropping the unit, theft, fire, etc. there are some sound reasons to backup your music collection.
What to backup
Of course all your music files.
You might also backup the library but almost all of the information in the library is also written in the tags. If you import your music files, almost all of the information is restored.
Items not saved in tags (so not restored when you rescan)
- custom tags
- personal ratings
- play count
- date added, date last played
Beware that tagging WAV is not supported in WMP.
A simple check is to tag a song and move it to another computer or a portable.
If all your meta data is in place, you are fine.
Try this with all the different audio formats you are using.
Play list are stored in the music directory in a folder aptly called Playlist
Cover art is stored in the same folder as the album.
These are system files and therefore hidden by
default.
You can store the album art in the song just like any other tag.