Creative Zen V

First of all, I hope you mad a backup of it's content, becouse there is
no other way, it need to be fomated from it's service menu.

1. Make sure bthat your Zen is turned off and has a full battery.
2. Press and hold the Play/Pause button and Back/Options button simultaneously.
3.The Recovery Mode screen appears when the player, and three menu items are shown: Clean Up, Format and Reboot.
4.Format your ZEN and then do a clean up.
5. When done reboot.
6. Hook it up to your computer an reflash to the latest firmware, you can download the tool here to flash your firmware:
http://ccfiles.creative.com/ManualDn/Applications/PDE/10398/0x8CCCF7FC/CT-RT_PCAPP_2_00_05.exe

I had the same problem....ok here's what you do, make sure the ZEN is off first then switch it on my pushing the switch down (like usual).So switch it on and press the play/pause button at the same time. It may take a couple of tries but after you get it, the screen will say "Recovery Mode" at the top. Now go down to "Clean Up" and click it. It will then ask, "Disk cleanup will be performed. Continue?" Click yes. When it's done, turn off the ZEN and turn it back on. Does it work!? Ha I'm a 13 year old genius.

I would run the recovery console from the player itself. Make sure the Touch's power supply is plugged in (and unplugged from a PC) then to access the recovery mode of the Touch, hold down the Play/Pause button while inserting a straightened paper clip into the reset hole on your player, give it about five seconds then remove the paper clip.
Next, keep on holding the Play/Pause button until the Rescue Mode screen appears. After you see the rescue mode menu, you can release the play/pause button.
I would try a "clean up" first, as this is less intrusive and will not erase data.

Hi,

To resolve this problem, establish that the player is charging correctly as follows:

1. Connect the player to a USB port on the back of a desktop PC, to a powered hub, or to a power adapter (separately available).
2. Check the display for the charging icon .
• As the display times out after a few seconds, press any button on the player to reactivate the display.
• If the battery is fully depleted, the charging icon may not be displayed. Cup the player in your hands to check that the blue power LED behind the Play/Pause and Options buttons is glowing on and off repeatedly. This indicates that the player is successfully charging. After 1 hour of charging, power on the unit to activate the display. The charging icon should be displayed.
3. Allow the player to charge for at least 6 hours. During this time, if charging from a USB port, please ensure your PC does not enter a power conservation mode (Standby, Sleep, or Hibernate) as this will interrupt charging.

If the player does not indicate a charge, or will not power on after at least 6 hours of charging, please contact Customer Support.
Creative recommends updating your ZEN V or ZEN V Plus firmware to take advantage of new features and functionality. To learn more, click here.

Hope this helps

Chris (ziraffa)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8g0sh7pc54
1. Fully charge the unit
2. Get a song to play
3. Lock the device
4. Wait for black screen and leave it like that for 20 seconds
5. Hold the play/pause button down and move the side switch out of lock mode, then push all the way down (like you're turning it off) and release (back to middle position)
6. Release the play/pause button

Hello,

Have you tried to load the firmware? First you'll need to download the firmware to your PC from Creative's website: Click here. After you've downloaded it, connect your Zen via USB to your PC and open the firmware icon, then click "Upgrade."

For more detailed instructions on how to troubleshoot your Zen, click here

I was having the same problem.
Go to SYSTEM/PLAYER SETTINGS/IDLE SLEEP.
The default setting is 5 min, change to OFF and it seems to work.
When playing a track, press PAUSE and either leave it alone or, LOCK the player and when you UNLOCK the player it should continue were you left off.
Hope it works.

I just got done fixing my daughter's Zen V 1GB which was frozen by holding down and keeping the play/pause button pressed and then powering it up. This will put the unit into recovery mode.

I selected "Clean Up" and this fixed the problem. I will assume the other options are a little more destructive to the stuff you've uploaded to it. Hope this helps!

You will need to put the Zen into recovery mode and erase the firmware, then reload the firmware. Follow these steps:

To Erase the Firmware:

1. Get a paperclip and straighten it out.

2. Hold down the Play/Pause button, and put the paperclip through the reset hole. Release the paperclip while continuing to press the Play/Pause button until you see the screen change.

3. Select "Reload Firmware."

To Load the new Firmware:

Go to www.Creative.com/support --> downloads. Click through the navigation and download the latest Zen Touch firmware. Reboot your computer, then plug in your Zen via USB cable. Double-click the firmware icon and then click upgrade.

hard disk is bad.
can you format?

1. Detach the Zen player from your PC , and ensure that the Zen Sleek is turned off.

2. Connect the power supply to the player.
3. Hold down the Play/Pause button while inserting a paper clip into the Reset hole
underneath your player, beside the data/power connector. Keep on holding the
Play/Pause button while you release the Reset button. The Rescue Mode screen will
then appear.
4. After the recovery mode has started, release the Play/Pause button

It will display the following options.
Clean Up Scans the player and removes invalid links from its music library.
Does not affect music files themselves.
Format (All) Caution! Erases all content!
Save a copy of your player's content before formatting.
Reload OS/ Firmware Caution! Erases your player's firmware.
DO NOT select the Reload Firmware option unless you have access to a PC and you have downloaded the necessary firmware to install.
Reboot Reboots the device.