How do I point iTunes to a new drive after my Windows hard drive crashed?

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How do I point iTunes to a new drive after my Windows hard drive crashed?

I'll try to keep this short, but as detailed as I can be. I had 2 hard drives, a boot drive and a storage drive. iTunes was installed on the boot drive and my iTunes library was on the storage drive. I got the blue screen of death along with some other issues and had to replace several parts including the boot drive with a fresh Windows install. I got Windows installed and downloaded iTunes. All of my music is still on the storage drive under D:/iTunes/iTunes Music. I'm pretty sure I'll have to redownload the movies, but my biggest concern is music. I was not able to import/export my library because my Windows OS crashed and won't be able to at all. Is there a way I can point iTunes to the folder that contains all of my music on the storage drive or would I have to do it one album at a time? Doing it one at a time would be a nightmare as I have about 220GB of music and it would be an absolute nightmare to do it one at a time. I tried going to Edit-Advanced and changing the location in iTunes, but it doesn't recognize any of the music in the library. Help, please!

Windows, Windows 6

Posted on Mar 9, 2023 10:04 AM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

272,921 points

Mar 9, 2023 11:47 AM in response to gpd461

Essentially yes. That said I would suggest a couple of additional steps:

First check that you don't have an existing iTunes Library.itl file in D:\iTunes that you can reconnect to. If you do then you should be able to hold down shift as you launch iTunes, open that file, and recover your library, playlists, etc.

Otherwise...

Rename your existing D:\iTunes folder as D:\Not iTunes.
Hold down shift when launching iTunes so that you get an option to choose or create a library.
Click create library and save the new library as iTunes in D:\
Delete the folder D:\iTunes\iTunes Media that has been created.
Drag your folder D:\Not iTunes\iTunes Music into D:\iTunes then rename it to D:\iTunes\iTunes Media.
Now use File > Add Folder to Library... and select the D:\iTunes\iTunes Media folder.

The reason I suggest this is to avoid accidentally duplicating all of your media by using a different media folder for the library and location that you're going to import from. iTunes now uses the name iTunes Media for the media folder, and although you're supposed to be able to select a different folder some users find that any non-standard path doesn't stick.

If you have any .wav files in your library media folder would be interpreted as Unknown Aritst/Unknown Album when reimported. Under Edit > Preferences > Advanced turn off the option to Keep the iTunes Media folder organized before you import the media folder, then see a script called TagFromFilename to apply the details that should remain in the filepath to the library when run on a selection of .wav tracks. Once you have recovered this information you can turn Keep organized on again.

tt2

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Answer 2

gpd461 Author

Level 1

31 points

Mar 9, 2023 10:56 AM in response to Niel

So create a new library in the storage drive and drag the music folder into the new one on the storage drive? I’m just double checking before I try it and I did something wrong, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

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Answer 3

gpd461 Author

Level 1

31 points

Mar 10, 2023 12:58 AM in response to turingtest2

I platonically love you right now. I followed your instructs step by step and it took less than 5 minutes. I opened iTunes and the music played, the beat went on and oh man, no panic today. Thanks a TON for the help and for the more in-depth answer. It worked like a charm.

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