Before some of your media syncs to your Zune, it may need to be converted. This usually happens with large, high-resolution video and picture files.
Once a media file is converted, as long as it isn't changed, the converted file is saved in a conversion cache folder on your computer so that it doesn't have to be converted again.
You can't prevent a song, video, or picture from being converted as long as it's in your collection and set to sync with your Zune. However, you can control some aspects of the conversion process:
Access file-conversion settings in Zune software
| Action | How to |
| Choose the quality to which songs will be converted when syncing to your Zune. | Select the maximum source quality, and the setting to which songs will be converted on your player if they exceed the maximum. |
Change the location of the converted file cache on your computer | Click Change folder under Conversion Location and choose a new folder. |
Clear the converted file cache | Click Clear history. |
Set the size of the conversion cache | In the text box next to Amount of space to use, type a number for the number of megabytes of hard-disk space you want to reserve for the conversion cache. |
Set the conversion process to work in the background | Select the Allow files to convert in the background check box. |
To optimize the quality level of your video files and to format them for playback on your player, Zune software may need to convert the video file during the sync process, depending on the format of the source file. If you have a large number of videos, it may take Zune software some time to complete this transcoding.