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Q: All songs duplicated on restore -Windows 10

I had iTunes installed on Dell Inspiron running Windows 7 the motherboard fried so I have just replaced it with an Asus core i7 running Windows 10 to which the latest version 12.4.1.6 of iTunes loaded.

I have a backup copy of the iTunes folder and have tried to restore my library to the new PC approx. 13,000 songs.

However when I access iTunes it has duplicated every single song (see below) and of course has also duplicated the memory used. Note each song has 2 entries one is blank and the other entry shows the play count.

 

itunes issue 1.png

itunes issue 2.png

 

I tried to delete the blank items but then I get an ! exclamation mark appearing and a box stating that it is unable to locate the song so had to restore those back from the recycle bin.

How can I restore my iTunes back to its original status with the historic play count, any assistance would be much appreciated.

Finally please note this is not to be confused with the deletion of duplicate songs where users may have downloaded 2 versions of the same song at different times, this duplication has occurred when I have tried to restore to a new laptop.

After 5 hours of trying to work this out any assistance from the iTunes community experts would be greatly appreciated.  

Windows 10

Posted on Jun 25, 2016 7:48 AM

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Q: All songs duplicated on restore -Windows 10

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  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Jul 4, 2016 9:48 AM in response to Mod Mod World!
    Level 10 (85,368 points)
    iPod
    Jul 4, 2016 9:48 AM in response to Mod Mod World!

    iTunes may create duplicates if the same content is repeatedly added from outside the media folder when it is set to make copies of anything that is added to the library, or is added from an external drive that hosts the media folder that was offline when iTunes was launched.

     

     

    Apple's official advice on duplicates is here: Find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library. It is a manual process and the article fails to explain some of the potential pitfalls such as lost ratings and playlist membership, or that sometimes the same file can be represented by multiple entries in the library and that deleting one and recycling the file will break any others.

     

    Start in the Songs view. Use View > Show Duplicate Items (pre iTunes 12.4) or File > Library > Show Duplicate Items (post 12.4) and then click Same Album to display exact duplicates as this is normally a more useful selection. You need to manually select all but one of each group to remove. Sorting the list by Date Added may make it easier to select the appropriate tracks, however this works best when performed immediately after the dupes have been created. If you have multiple entries in iTunes connected to the same file on the hard drive then don't send to the recycle bin.

     

    Use my DeDuper script (Windows only) if you're not sure, don't want to do it by hand, or want to preserve ratings, play counts and playlist membership. See this thread for background on the script, this post for detailed instructions, and please take note of the warning to backup your library before deduping.

     

    (If you don't see the menu bar press ALT to show it temporarily or CTRL+B to keep it displayed.)

     

     

    The most recent version of the script can tidy dead links as long as there is at least one live duplicate to merge stats and playlist membership to, and should cope sensibly when the same file has been added via multiple paths.

     

     

    tt2

  • by Mod Mod World!,

    Mod Mod World! Mod Mod World! Jul 23, 2016 2:01 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 23, 2016 2:01 PM in response to turingtest2

    tt2 Thank you, Thank you, Thank you !!!!!!!

     

    My personal thanks for spending the time in articulating the issue and providing the additional solution links which is really appreciated. I have spent some time just getting comfortable with what is required given the risk in messing with 15k of iTunes song records. 

     

    Your 'deduper' worked a treat, I executed in phases and had a few 'an error occurred whilst recycling a file' but just accepted these and they actually work and still have the play count.

     

    You have made my weekend, thank you So much tt2, in the Mod World you are above genius status, you are a legend !!!

     

    A bit cheeky but one final ask 'oh great one', can you please raise 'iTunes Cover flow' from the dead and focus on delivering a Windows 10 version first, it will make you a millionaire !!!!! 

     

    You're a star tt2 !!!!!

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Jul 23, 2016 3:36 PM in response to Mod Mod World!
    Level 10 (85,368 points)
    iPod
    Jul 23, 2016 3:36 PM in response to Mod Mod World!

    You're welcome.

     

    I had a soft spot for cover flow too. 

     

    tt2