Getting iTunes to display all the music in a folder.

Thanks. It would seem that at various points in the past you have had the working library file stored in this folder, as it contains Album Artwork and Previous iTunes Libraries subfolders. I suggest the following course of action. The media folder has sometimes been set to iTunes and sometimes iTunes\iTunes Media. It should have always been the latter.

1. With iTunes closed rename the folder D:\iTunes as D:\Old iTunes
2. Press and hold down shift as you launch iTunes and keep holding until you are asked to choose or create a library
3. Click the create library option
4. Create a new library called iTunes in D:\
5. In Windows Explorer move the folder D:\Old iTunes inside D:\iTunes\iTunes Media
6. In Tunes use the menu option File > Add Folder to Library... and select the folder D:\iTunes\iTunes Media
7. iTunes will add all of the content that it recognizes within the iTunes Media folder and its subfolders, rearranging things by media kind. Files may be moved, but won't be duplicated. Any content that it doesn't know how to deal with will be left behind in that Old iTunes folder, and can probably be discarded

If there are duplicates in the resulting library (which might be the case because of the past confusion with the media folder) see Duplicate songs in iTunes - Apple Community. As everything has been added at essentially the same time you would be best using my DeDuper script to resolve if this is an issue.

tt2

See Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community. This will move over the library complete with playlists, ratings, play counts, date added, etc. iTunes doesn't scan the contents of the designated media folder. They could be imported using File > Add Folder to Library, but that won't rebuild the playlists and other information that isn't stored within track tags.

tt2

The USB thing you've heard about is probably something like this: Amazon SATA to USB cable.

Extracting the database is required if you want your old playlists, ratings, play counts, date added values etc. If you just want the media in your library you can use File > Add Folder to Library... to add in all the items in the media folder. I would make sure that the media under Edit > Preferences > Advanced is set to the iTunes Media folder on the external drive before you start so importing the media doesn't result in new copies of the files being created on another path, e.g. on the C: drive.

You might also turn off the Keep... and Copy... options before import to ensure that no files are moved during the import. This would leave things in the right places if you decide you want to try to reclaim the library from the old system drive at a later date, and should be done if you have any files in .wav format in your library. Reimporting these results in a loss of metadata (all you get is the filename as a song title) and if iTunes is managing the media folder such files would get moved to Unknown Artist\Unknown Album. I have a tool that can rebuild metadata from the path in such cases if needed. Sorry if it is all still confusing. This detail probably isn't relevant to you, but I'd rather warn you first just in case it is, than find out when it is too late to help.

tt2

You'll need to read the user tip carefully. Chances are you have a split library where the library database is in the default location in the C: drive on your old computer, with the media on the external drive. If you move the drive from one machine to the other you have the media, but not the database. This can be copied over as is, using a temporary copy on the same drive for example, or you can rearrange things to get the library in a portable shape first. If the library remains split use the same drive letter on both machines. When you access the database copied from your old computer you will then see all the playlists, ratings, play counts, etc.

tt2

Can I first ask what items you can see in the iTunes folder on your external drive? It would be easier to give specific instructions if I know the exact path involved. What is the drive letter? I.e. is the iTunes folder at D:\iTunes, E:\iTunes or which? Does the iTunes folder just contain an iTunes Media subfolder, or are there other items such as Album Artwork or iTunes Library.itl?

tt2

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2