How to fix a damaged ITunes library?

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How to fix a damaged ITunes library?

So I logged on this morning and opened ITunes to find it completely blank. No error message, just a blank ITunes slate. I went to My Music, clicked on Itunes and found an icon for ITunes Library(damaged). I cannot readily tell what's damaged about it. Any ideas for fixing it would be much appreciated

Compaq, Windows XP

Posted on Sep 14, 2008 3:07 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 14, 2008 4:05 PM in response to Macahol1

In your /My Music/iTunes/ directory, do you have any files named "temp file#.tmp"? If so, delete these files. Move iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml to your desktop. Go into iTunes, and choose File > Library > Import Playlist (in iTunes 8) or File > Import (in iTunes 7) and choose the iTunes Music Library.xml file that was placed on your desktop. This will reset data such as playcounts and date added, but your music files and playlists should be in tact.

CG

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Answer 2

Macahol1 Author

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Sep 14, 2008 7:51 PM in response to Macahol1

Thanks, CG

However, when I imported iTunes Music Library.xml, nothing happened. I tried to open iTunes Music Library.xml to see what was in there, but got the following message:

"To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this file from showing active content that could access your computer. Click here for options..." followed by a warning that if I allowed the blocked content, I ran the risk of bad things, such as giving someone else access to my computer.

Also, I checked my recycle bin, and found a number of iTunes files there, but restoring them didn't do the trick, either.

Any other ideas? Thanks!!!

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Answer 3

Sep 15, 2008 6:36 AM in response to Macahol1

If you look in \My Music\iTunes\Previous iTunes Libraries\ do you have any files indicating they are "damaged", or, better yet, do you happen to have an iTunes Library file with a date on it that is just before you opened iTunes to an empty library? If so, try renaming that file to remove the date (so that it is simply called iTunes Library.itl) and then moving it up one directory to \My Music\iTunes\. If prompted to replace an already existing file, say yes. Normally, the iTunes Music Library.xml file will rebuild this file if need be. I'm not sure if it can work the other way around, but I suppose it's worth a try.

CG

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Answer 4

Macahol1 Author

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Sep 15, 2008 8:29 PM in response to Macahol1

Thanks CG,

I have an ITunes Library(damaged) file, but was unable to repair it using your suggestion. Any other ideas?

Many thanks!

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Answer 5

Sep 16, 2008 7:52 AM in response to Macahol1

At this point, unless you have a recent backup copy of these files somewhere, you might just want to recreate them by adding your music files back into your iTunes library. In iTunes, select your File menu and go to Add Folder to Library. Choose the iTunes Music folder inside \My Music\iTunes\. This should list your music files back in your library, however, it will not include your playlists.

If you are concerned about your playlists, I know there are some 3rd party applications that can be used to recover playlist data from an iPod. iRepo is the first that comes to mind:
http://www.purpleghost.com/index.php?q=irepo

CG

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Answer 6

Macahol1 Author

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Sep 16, 2008 6:46 PM in response to Macahol1

Maybe I'll give the IRepo a try, so I can at least salvage what's on my ipod. I'm begining to fear that everything has been wiped clean.

Anyway, much obliged for the advice, CG

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