Restoring itunes using time machine

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Level 1

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Restoring itunes using time machine

Hi everyone,

I'm not hugely computer literate so please be gentle.

I managed to delete my ENTIRE itunes folder... apps, music, playlists, etc. Is it possible to restore itunes exactly as it was? I have a time machine back up from yesterday that would work.

So far I've managed to use TM to get all the music, apps and video back so I'm not stressed but it was basic and messy and not as organised as itunes was before I deleted everything.

So can you help? Can I restore itunes using time machine or not?

imac 7.1, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Oct 2, 2010 3:32 AM

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Answer 1

Jolly Giant

Level 7

25,464 points

Oct 2, 2010 4:44 AM in response to hel0108

hel0108 wrote:
Can I restore itunes using time machine or not?

yes.

check Pondini's user tip: http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/15.html.

J GG

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Answer 2

hel0108 Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 2, 2010 6:16 AM in response to Jolly Giant

Yes I had seen that. I understand that's how you restore address book, iphoto and mail and to do specific files but not itunes. In fact, this was actually how I restored the itunes files. It doesn't tell me how to restore itunes to look exactly as it did before I deleted it though unless I'm missing something.

Any other ideas?

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Answer 3

Jolly Giant

Level 7

25,464 points

Oct 2, 2010 6:32 AM in response to hel0108

hel0108 wrote:
... but not itunes.

really ?

well, all it takes is to quite iTunes, make finder the active application, open the music folder (<MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music ), then enter time machine.

go back to a time where you're sure your iTunes was in the desired state, then hit restore.

this is how time machine saved my bacon twice after i screwed up my iTunes library ...

J GG

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Answer 4

Oct 25, 2010 5:49 AM in response to Jolly Giant

Hi, im actually in the same boat here, im in the process of re installing my OS and i want to restore Iphoto and itunes as it was. So correct me if im wrong, all i have to do is on my Mac go to this folder (/users//music )and than jump into time machine ? That would take me directly to the folder i have in view on my mac ? Once i hit restore, will this restore all my apps, songs, iphone and ipod back ups etc ? Thanks for your help all.

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Answer 5

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Oct 25, 2010 8:53 AM in response to TheShield

TheShield wrote:
Hi, im actually in the same boat here, im in the process of re installing my OS and i want to restore Iphoto and itunes as it was. So correct me if im wrong, all i have to do is on my Mac go to this folder (<MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music )and than jump into time machine ? That would take me directly to the folder i have in view on my mac ? Once i hit restore, will this restore all my apps, songs, iphone and ipod back ups etc ? Thanks for your help all.

Probably not. 😟

How and why are you reinstalling OSX?

Assuming you erased your internal HD before installing OSX, your best bet is to use +Setup Assistant+ when it reboots to transfer your apps, users, and data from your backups. See #19 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

If you don't do that, but set up a user account instead, that account probably won't be recognized as the same one on your backups, so you won't have permission to restore from them.

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