garnert
Level 1
(4 points)
Q: I Tunes major frustration
I had to uninstall and re-install I Tunes today due to the fact that it was not storing any new albums etc into my PC files. Yes I had checked all the instructions on how to sync files but nothing happened so thought a reinstall would sort things out.
Now my major blood boil is because when I checked all albums/ songs in I tunes now they are showing an exclamation mark next to them telling me I need to relocate the files. I have almost 4000 songs and 90% are now showing that I need to check the files. Each time I find the file and get rid of the exclamation mark and move onto the next I have to re-open user/ Itunes/ media/ music then find the track in the album and click on it. I Tunes then graciously removes the exclamation mark. Am I going to have to do this 4000 times?
I dont know what has happened to ITunes but it has become less and less user friendly with each update and I am about ready to chuck the whole programme into the long grass!!
Can anyone help please?
iPod touch, iOS 5, Using a PC with Windows 7
turingtest2
Level 10
(84,884 points)
The "missing file" issue with exclamation marks 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, or you've moved a non-portable library to a different path (see Make a split library portable for details). 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. Look on the file 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, or when playing a track, 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, or the library has been moved from OS X to Windows, 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 for an explanation of how it works. It might need some tweaking if your media is in a non-standard layout.
If you want me to try to provide specific advice please post back the following details:
- The location of the media folder under Edit > Preferences > Advanced
- The location of a sample missing track shown under Get Info > File > Location that begins file://localhost/
- The true path to the file whose details you gave in 2
tt2
