iTunes File Location on PC

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iTunes File Location on PC

I used to have my library completly organized. My music files were all stored in 1 main folder (iTunes).

Ex: iTunes>Music>(Artist)>(Album)>(Song)

My hard drive crashed so i had to rebuild my iTunes library. Now the file storage is more like this:

Ex: iTunes>Music>(_)>(Album)>(Song) -----> yes there is an underscore folder.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, how can I correct this to show like my original example of Artist>Album>Song for files on my PC? Am I importing them incorrectly? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Ronnie

HP Pavillion dv6000, Windows XP

Posted on Aug 4, 2008 3:41 PM

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Answer 1

PT

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Aug 4, 2008 3:59 PM in response to ronnierobjr

When you rebuilt the library, where did you get the media from? External hard drive, CDs, DVDs, etc.?
And how exactly did you go about rebuilding it?
Patrick

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Answer 2

ronnierobjr Author

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Aug 4, 2008 4:06 PM in response to PT

I had the mp3 files on a DVD. I think I just copied them to a folder then imported them to iTunes. The thing that gets me is that in my Music folder there is now a "_" folder where the majority of the music is now stored (probably the files I imported from the DVD, but not 100% sure). The files used to be stored like this: iTunes>Music>Elvis>Greatest Hits>Jail House Rock

Now when I download a song, I put it in the main music folder and it just stays as a file in a main folder however the file was named. It could read: Elvis P-Jail House Rock(1).mp3

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Answer 3

PT

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Aug 4, 2008 4:13 PM in response to ronnierobjr

Sounds like you do NOT have the option checked in preferences to keep your library organized? Check and report back.
Patrick

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Answer 4

ronnierobjr Author

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Aug 4, 2008 4:19 PM in response to PT

The option to keep your library organized it checked, but the option to Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library is not checked. What do you think? I really appreciate your help with this. I keep all files organized in the iTunes program, but it freaks me out that they are stored strangely in folders on my PC.

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Answer 5

PT

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Aug 4, 2008 4:20 PM in response to ronnierobjr

Yes check it. The keep organized option I believe only works for files IN the iTunes Music folder (or whatever folder you specify to be that folder in preferences) so unless the files are copied in there, they won't be organized the way you are used to doing.
Patrick

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Answer 6

ronnierobjr Author

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Aug 4, 2008 4:23 PM in response to PT

Do you know if there is a reason a _ folder was created, and inside that the files are stored by Album Name? So inside the _ folder I have 100's of folders that are named for Music Albums and have no idea what Artist goes with most.

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Answer 7

PT

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Aug 4, 2008 4:25 PM in response to ronnierobjr

Likely the underscore character was substituted for another character that shouldn't be used for file or folder names like "?" or "*" or maybe an unprintable control character.
By the way, how large is your library and how much free space do you have (in case we need to try a little consolidating trick to get things back the way they were)?
Patrick

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Answer 8

ronnierobjr Author

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Aug 4, 2008 4:33 PM in response to PT

I have roughly 6,500 songs in my library with about 16GB free space on my PC hardrive and 60GB on an external hardrive.

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Answer 9

PT

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Aug 4, 2008 4:45 PM in response to ronnierobjr

So how big is the library is storage size? 6500 songs, maybe 30-ish gigabytes I assume?
OK did you check the Copy to folder option and if so did it change anything?
Patrick

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Answer 10

ronnierobjr Author

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Aug 4, 2008 4:50 PM in response to PT

I will have to wait until I can get to my laptop and try that. I will keep you posted. Do you have an e-mail address I can use to contact you? I do understand if you don't want to post it on here. I just want to be able to continue this discussion.

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Answer 11

PT

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Aug 4, 2008 5:00 PM in response to ronnierobjr

You can just post back here again. The moderators of these group's discourage posting of personal info in these discussion boards including email addresses.
When you get back to the laptop and if checking that box does not work, here is what I would suggest next.
So Copy to iTunes Music folder is turned on and so is Keep organized. Now go to the preference where you can set the location of your iTunes Music folder. Create an iTunes Music folder on your external and then change the preference to use that folder. OK out of there. Now use the consolidate command. iTunes will COPY everything in your library to your external drive and SHOULD organize it back the way it was.
If that works. To put everything back onto your internal drive, first delete the old iTunes Music folder on your internal drive (with the 30+ gigs of stuff in it) keeping in mind that anything NOT in the iTunes library in this folder will be lost (so back up anything you think you want that is NOT in the iTunes library). Now open iTunes, your EXTERNAL drive located library should be there. Now change the iTunes Music folder location back to your internal drive where you want it. OK out of there and consolidate again. Everything will be copied back to the internal drive and in the way you like it.
Hopefully when you change those checkmarks to copy to the iTunes music folder and keep organized, iTunes will clean everything up and you won't have to do the double consolidation (which for 30+ gigs can take a good hour).
Also, please note, that there is risk associated with moving all the stuff around, deleting to free up room, and moving it all back. There is a risk of losing stuff, so either free up enough room on the external to backup your current library AND be able to consolidate over to it as well, find another drive to back up onto, onto a network, etc. or assume the risk (i.e. these are my suggestions of a way to fix your folder but I can not guarantee everything will work perfectly).
Good luck!
Patrick

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Answer 12

ronnierobjr Author

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Aug 5, 2008 6:40 AM in response to PT

I tried this, and yes it did help to organize any loose files, I am still getting maybe 90% of my 6,500 song library stored in the "_" folder. I looked at the files individually and it seems the prob might be the way the files are named. Instead of a normal: Elvis Presley - Jail House Rock.mps, the file is named simply: Jail House Rock.mp3, 01 Jail House Rock.mp3 or 01 Jail House Rock.m4a. I'm not real sure what all of that means. Any suggestions? Thanks!

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Answer 13

PT

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Aug 5, 2008 7:47 AM in response to ronnierobjr

Well if there is not a lot of them, the solution might be to delete them from the library, but answer NO to moving them to the trash or removing them from the hard drive.
Now move the underscore folder to the desktop (if it is in your iTunes Music folder). Now try re-adding it by dragging and dropping it onto the iTunes window and see if it now correctly copies them back in to the folder structure you expect.
Patrick

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Answer 14

ronnierobjr Author

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Aug 5, 2008 9:04 AM in response to PT

Well that sounds like an idea that would work, because I believe it was a miscue in how I imported the songs to the library. Problem is, it's probably 90% of the 6500 songs that are in this _ folder. I am not sure which ones in the actual library belong to this folder to delete. Suggestions?

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