deborahfromstillwater

Q: missing a few perviously purchased songs  (!)  and i-tunes helper not running


I keep getting errors when making a new playlist, saying "file cannot be found".      So I tried the recommended diagnostics tests-  that shows "I-tune helper not running"     Are the two related?   how can I find the missing music and get it back into my account?

Posted on Jan 3, 2016 2:33 PM

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Q: missing a few perviously purchased songs  (!)  and i-tunes helper not running

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  • by turingtest2,Solvedanswer

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Jan 11, 2016 9:35 AM in response to deborahfromstillwater
    Level 10 (85,813 points)
    iPod
    Jan 11, 2016 9:35 AM in response to deborahfromstillwater

    I don't think the two are connected. I'm actually not certain what the role of iTunes Helper is, but at a guess it is what launches iTunes when you connect your devices, if you have that option enabled.

     

     

    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. If everything is where it is supposed to be try Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows.

     

    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" I think it expects to find the tracks in the same artist & album layout they were in previously, with one systematic change to the path.

     

    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

  • by deborahfromstillwater,

    deborahfromstillwater deborahfromstillwater Jan 11, 2016 9:43 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 11, 2016 9:43 AM in response to turingtest2

    Thank you much for the detailed response.    It seems to be working, tho I still get the   mark often.  I may have messed up when trying to consolidate duplicate entries.    I will refer back to this set of instructions often.   Again, THANK YOU! 

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Jan 11, 2016 10:07 AM in response to deborahfromstillwater
    Level 10 (85,813 points)
    iPod
    Jan 11, 2016 10:07 AM in response to deborahfromstillwater

    You're welcome.

     

    If you haven't spotted and fixed all the existing broken tracks yet then try this:

     

    Lost & Found playlists

    Create a playlist called Found, select everything in Music and drag it into the Found playlist. Create a smart playlist called Lost matching All the rules Playlist is Music and Playlist is not Found. Your lost tracks will be in this playlist. They can be deleted with Ctrl+A and then Shift+Delete.

     

    Or use iTunes Folder Watch and enable its option to check for dead tracks on startup.

     

     

     

    See also this post on duplicates Re: If I delete a song from the itunes duplicate list, does it have any effect on the existing playlists?

     

     

     

    If new tracks are going missing over time then see Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy (which you should be doing anyway) and also Getting iTunes & Windows Media Player to play nicely which might be a reason why files are moving.

     

     

    tt2