Q: how do use itunes on external hard drive to a new computer

The "missing file" error happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, one of its parent folders, or the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout, or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.

Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to Get Info, then click No when asked to try to locate the track. (Due to a bug in iTunes 12 you currently have to say No twice!) Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, a folder renamed, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. If the difference between the two paths is an additional Music folder in one path then this is a layout issue. I can explain further if that is the case.

In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links. Although it says something like "use the same location" it expects to find the tracks in the same artist & album layout that it generates, not all in one big folder.

If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.

If you want me to try to provide specific advice please post back the following details:

1. The location of the media folder under Edit > Preferences > Advanced
2. The location of a sample missing track shown under Get Info > File > Location that begins file://localhost/
3. The true path to the file whose details you gave in 2.

tt2

Thanks for your help, here's the information:

1. The location of the media folder under Edit > Preferences > Advanced
   • C:\James Files\Music\iTunes Music
2. The location of a sample missing track shown under Get Info > File > Location that begins file://localhost/
   • /C:/Documents and Settings/Jam/My Documents/My Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Music/Compilations/MTV Party To Go Vol. 6/10 Back & Forth (Mr. Lee's Club Mix).m4a
3. The true path to the file whose details you gave in 2.
   • All the music is stored at C:\James Files\Music\iTunes Music

Thanks!

Take a look atMake a split library portable. Since things are broken now you might as well put them in the standard layout before trying to fix them.

I would move the library files to C:\iTunes, then move the iTunes Music folder inside that and rename it as C:\iTunes\iTunes Media. Shift-start-iTunes and use the choose option to connect to the C:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl, then under Edit > Preferences > Advanced click the reset button which should set the media folder to C:\iTunes\iTunes Media. Don't consolidate if prompted. Close iTunes and reopen. You may well find that iTunes can now see the content. If not select a track, press Ctrl+I to Get Info. then locate the lost track. Hopefully iTunes will offer to scan for the other lost files and reconnect to them. If not try my script.

tt2