Itunes refuses to accept different files location!

I just had to reinstall Itunes (12.10.1.2) but before doing so, I'd backed up libraries & playlists etc. I like to have Itunes on a different partition to Windows and always have done. But Itunes seems to not like that much & keeps insisting on changing the files location to C:/ no matter how I've tried to stop it from doing so.


So now even though I've imported all said libraries & playlists etc, Itunes keeps complaining that it can't locate 95% of the previous songs that were in the library - oddly just pulling in 5 (out of 64 or so).


Is there any way to force it to accept my preferred location, or am I just going to have to put all my music into the C: drive regardless??


Thanks.

Windows, Windows 6

Posted on Sep 20, 2023 1:31 PM

Reply
3 replies

Oct 14, 2023 7:01 AM in response to TikkiRo

There is a bug in recent builds of iTunes that, at least for some users, seems to stop the media folder preference from being saved properly. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community and put your library in a shape that isn't affected by the issue, and is easier to backup and move around in future.




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, or that you've been too aggressive when deleting duplicates. See Getting iTunes & Windows Media Player to play nicely if you're trying to access your media with any other media players.


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 this post 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:

  1. The location of the media folder under Edit > Preferences > Advanced
  2. The location of a sample missing track shown under Get Info > File > Location that begins file://localhost/
  3. The true path to the file whose details you gave in 2


Note the addition of file://localhost/ (and the flipped direction of slashes in Windows) is normal for a file that isn't quite where iTunes is expecting to find it.


tt2

Oct 14, 2023 9:47 AM in response to turingtest2

Hi TT2

Thanks SO much for your info as it makes future PC work easier when I can appreciate better what IT is up to and what I need to do to prevent issues next time. I've sort of just let it do its own thing this time as I couldn't hang about but your information is superb and much helpful for enabling me to get my current library updated etc.


Truly appreciate you taking the time & trouble to provide such a comprehensive reply!

Itunes refuses to accept different files location!

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