I recently upgraded from an old Windows XP laptop to a new Windows 7 laptop, which comes with a new username and a new file structure. When I tried to migrate my iTunes library over, the library pointed at the old obsolete file structure, so iTunes was not able to recognize any of the music in my library. Is there any way to get iTunes to match on the old songs in their new homes?
Just copy the entire /My Documents/ My Music/iTunes/ folder to /Music/ folder on the new computer.
Then launch iTunes normally.
That is all you need to do. You don't need to import anything.
If we could just correct the first couple lines in all my 2779 files, we'd be golden.
Simple.
Quit iTunes.
Go to /Music/iTunes. and copy the file *iTunes library.xml* to the desktop.
Open the *iTunes library.xml* with a text editor.
Find
*C:/Documents and Settings/Chao/My Documents/*
and replace with
C:/Users/the_streets/Documents/ Save it to the desktop.
Open iTunes.
File > Library > Import playlist and select the edited iTunes library.xml on the desktop.
I get an error that say "The file 'iTunes Music Library' cannot be imported. An unknown error occurred (-50)."
Maybe this has something to do with administrator settings? I've had some issues with those since moving to Windows 7. If you know how I can loosen msoft's security a little, maybe we can have some better results that way.
I have a related question. I have reformated my computer a few times and each time I reinstalled my iTunes library it counted this as a transfer to a new computer. Now I'm at the end of the allowed transfer times for some songs but the newest songs have never been "transferred". So what will happen if I reformat my computer once again: will the whole library refuse to be transferred or just the songs which have reached the limit?
each time I reinstalled my iTunes library it counted this as a transfer to a new computer
If you format/reinstall the OS before you deauthorize the ocmputer, it will be counted as a new install.
You need to iTunes menu Store > Deauthorize BEFORE you format/reinstall the OS.
Well, I thought my question was related in the general sense that this thread was about moving the iTunes library and my issue was also about moving the library (from a backup HD to a newly formatted computer).
Anyway, thanks for your reply, Chris. Much appreciated.
I had a motherboard meltdown on my 7 month old HP PC. They were very good about repairing it and returning the computer like new. Before I sent it back, the contract technician removed my still intact hard drive and replaced it with an identical, new hard drive. I have the "old" drive in a dock, and all files/data are in there. I copied the entire iTunes folder from the old drive to the new drive, placing it in the Music library.
I would like to be able to reinstall iTunes on the PC and have iTunes recognize the folder and its contents, including music, movies, podcasts, and especially playlists. I've tried firing up iTunes after install, and although the music count on the bottom of the window is correct, some of the songs are showing an exclamation point when I try to play them,and my playlists are empty whenn I click on them. I assume this means that the file paths are somehow corrupted for some of the songs. Help please!
