Q: Locating files

The music files on drive G:/ are not in a media or iTunes file so do I right click on drive G:/  select properties and so on ?

Yes.

tt2

Did that then tried to run the FindTracks script again but unfortunately it didn't work !

I'm in the midst of restoring my iPhone, but as soon as that is done I'll test and then post up a new version that can give a bit more information about the object that is causing the error. I'm guessing it is another issue that has arisen out of your media folder being the root of a drive.

tt2

OK that fine. As I live in the UK I'm now off to bed.

That took a little longer than I thought. Download a fresh copy of the script and try again. It should hopefully now reveal which folder is producing the permission denied error, and you may be able to continue past it. Let me know what folder is causing the problem and I should be able to get the script to ignore it.

tt2

Hi. Sorry for not being in touch for a while, I've been a bit busy with other things. Last night I eventually managed to get my iTunes working again.

I downloaded your revised version of the script and ran it again but an error occurred because of a file on drive G that had nothing to do with iTunes.

I suddenly remembered when you told me to repair the security permissions on drive G they were some files that I had to skip because access was denied. This is why I think the script did no work.

There was an iTunes folder on drive G although all my music files were not stored within it, they were mixed up with a whole number of other things stored within the drive. There was also an empty iTunes media file within the iTunes folder. I then decided to move all my music files into the empty media file, reset the location of my music in  edit / preferences / advanced / G:\iTunes\iTunes Media  and ran the script again entering the new location for the music on the script (G:\iTunes\iTunes Media)

Everything worked perfectly.

I really want to thank you for all the time and effort you have provided to sort this problem out for me, and it has also been an educational experience into some of the workings of iTunes. I'm not finished yet though, my next task will be to make my split library portable as you suggested, so I will take a look at that next and will probably be in touch for more advice.

Regards, Alex 

Sounds like progress. Now that G:\iTunes\iTunes Media is your media folder it should be easy to move the library files into G:\iTunes to make the library portable.

tt2

Hi. Eventually have everything working as it should, I hope, with the entire iTunes consolidated on drive G (external hard drive). I did follow your instructions and everything worked well for a while but I don't know whether I messed up but something went wrong.

I then decided to delete everything related to iTunes on drive G except album artwork and media and then disconnected it from the computer.

Then downloaded iTunes again but instead of instructing a repair had it completely remove iTunes from the computer. I then reconnected G and reinstalled iTunes to the computer to DRIVE G. All I then had to do was add my media folder to the new iTunes and everything now seems OK. Would be interested to know what you think of this solution ?

However I still have a question. I have lost all my playlists on iTunes but still have them stored on my ipod. Is it possible to transfer then back to iTunes on the computer and if so, how ?

Regards, Alex

Have you created a new split library, or a new portable one?

See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device - there are a couple of scripts that I have written that are linked to near the end, one of which recovers playlists.

tt2

Is it just a portable if it is only stored on G ?

The library files and media should all be set out in a standard layout, as shown in Make a split library portable. And then you backup the entire working library to a second drive. Otherwise you're likely to find yourself back in the same position not too far down the line.

tt2

OK thanks. Will try again tomorrow.

Alex

I think last time everything was listed in the right format until I tried to access my music on my computer from a different location such as Alex's music for example and then it seemed to mess the iTunes format up.How do I stop this ?

What do mean access the media from a different location? The idea was to get all of your media stored in G:\iTunes\iTunes Media\... and the library files stored in G:\iTunes. That way your library would survive a drive letter change, or being moved to a new computer, and a clone of the iTunes folder will be a fully working backup of the library. All access is made via iTunes rather than Windows Explorer. If you want to use other media applications take a look at Getting iTunes & Windows Media Player to play nicely for ideas. Once the library is working properly then if your main drive has room for the entire library you could copy the folder G:\iTunes into User's Music, switch to that copy of the library, and use the G: drive as the backup copy rather than an additional drive.

tt2