iTunes unable to locate original files

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trey552005 Author

Level 1

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iTunes unable to locate original files

I just moved the 'iTunes Music" folder on my hard drive on to a second larger hard drive that is internally located in the same computer because there was not enough space for all my video on the smaller drive. I didn't want to separate my music from my videos, so when I moved the whole folder, I went into preferences and changed the location of my library to where it was on the new drive. All of my videos instantly worked and I didnt have to go threw and relocate them manually by browsing, but all of my songs are not working, and it says it cant find the original file. I could browse and locate them manually but that would take a long time because I have over 2,000 songs. I have iTunes version 8.1.1 if that is relevant.

Thanks for the help
Trey

15' macbook pro, Mac Pro, 3G iphone, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Apr 13, 2009 1:14 PM

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Answer 1

dmbuchta

Level 1

0 points

Apr 13, 2009 1:20 PM in response to trey552005

I have the same problem. I have just purchased my external hard drive and I wanted to put all of my music on it. I get most of my music from limewire, so I copied all the songs from there onto my external hard drive. However, now when I go to play a song on my iTunes, an exclamation point pops up next to the song and says it can not find the location. I have thousands of songs on my iTunes and don't feel like going through each one and "finding the location." Is there a way that I can copy/ move my music on the external hard drive without it saying I have to find the location and getting rid of the exclamation point?

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Answer 2

ajay84

Level 1

5 points

Apr 14, 2009 1:58 PM in response to trey552005

the same has happened to me. i used a restore program to get all the files off my ipod after my macbook's hard drive was replaced, and most of the songs have the error message saying they can't be found, yet i can find them in spot light. i started going through all of the songs with exclamation marks against them, but iTunes doesn't save the information!

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Answer 3

Schlagme

Level 1

0 points

Apr 15, 2009 1:44 PM in response to trey552005

I switched computers and tried to reload all my backed up itunes files. It loaded the files fine the first time. After I logged off the files disappeared from my Itunes. Apple tech told me to add itunes folder to library. It worked fine until i logged off again. I tried it several times because my files never stayed on itunes. Finnaly I added two new CD's into my library and I went to file Libray and I entered consolidated Library. This brought everything I had before and then some to my itunes library. I logged off, shutdown and even hibernated and my files still remain. I was able to create playlist, my movies, podcast, there all there. Hope this helps.

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Answer 4

Apr 15, 2009 2:52 PM in response to trey552005

Same here! I tried playing a song and it said it could not be found.

Also with some of my videos too.

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Answer 5

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Apr 15, 2009 3:08 PM in response to trey552005

I just moved the 'iTunes Music" folder on my hard drive

Bummer. Wrong way to do it.

Quit iTunes.
Move the musci folder back to where it was.
Open iTunes prefs -> Advanced and set the *iTunes music folder location* to where you want the music to be located.
Then go to File -> Library -> Consolidate.
This will copy everything to the location set in prefs and use that.

Then you can delete \Music\iTunes\ iTunes music folder.

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Answer 6

Jul 17, 2015 8:42 PM in response to trey552005

So, I had a similar problem - my 125GB MacBook Air was running out of room with my 63GB of iTunes Media looming over it. I copied the entire iTunes folder over to an external hard drive into a folder called "Media." Afterwards, I opened iTunes>Preferences>Advanced and changed the location of the directory to "iTunes" inside the "Media" folder. Afterwards, I proceeded to delete the files from my Air's hard drive. My music seemed to be working fine. So I opened iTunes later and tried to play some tunes, and got the same error message you guys got. Here were my problems: 1) My music had been working (I suspect) because the files I was playing were still on the computer, in the trash. 2) iTunes asks you for the directory of "iTunes Media" not "iTunes," - the former is located in the latter - and was therefore unable to locate the files in their default locations. You only NEED to move your iTunes Media folder for the process you're talking about, but I personally like to keep it all together in one location. Hope this helps! 🙂

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