library disappeared!!! please help!!!

Dear friend,

first of all thank you for your kind answer.
What yiu say is absolutely clear but it doesn't unfortunaltely solve my problem and, to boot, it's giving me problems I thought I had overcome already.
🙂

So, allow me to formulate more questions hoping you'll be so kind to answer again.
I'll write then as in a questionnaire, so making it easier to answer.

1. I did what you told me to do.
But in my iTunes folder the only library files I have are a couple of years old.
Any idea why?

2. I had actually already tried to recover my library doing shift >>> select new library >>> previous library but.....of course no results.
Only old libraries and, so, with only half files Ihave today and with no recent modificatins, like playlists, new covers, new data...

3. If *some* old libraries are there, though, why not a single file updated to the last modification??

4 .And, speaking of which, what are those old libraries???
Which dates/changes/historical events 🙂 do they refer to?

5. It's perfectly clear when you say changing library location refers to *future* files, not to past ones.
How can I change then, the location of library, should I need it?
(in case I's change my computer, i.e.).

6. You say I have to back up my library.
I'll tell you what.
I save all my music stuff in a folder I called *MUSIC* (300 gigas).
And I use the *copy files* option, so I have an extra folder (iTunes) (300 more gigas).
And then all this stuff (600 gigas) is copied into ANOTHER external drive.
More backkup than that......but it's still no use if there's nowhere where I can find my latest iTunes DB, isnt't there?

7.Finally, when all is said and done, isn't the best way to *really* find all my stuff organized again having the whole thing into an iPod (3 classics in my case 🙂 ) and then do the opposite action, meaning going from the iPods to the computer?

I really thank you for your answer and I hope you'll be so patient to try again.
🙂

Beppe

if the last post was too long, I apologize

I'll try to summarize all questions in one:

Can anybody tell me, at least, where the itunes library ULTIMATE AND LAST MODIFIED file is?
(i've got plenty of them and I don't know which one to choose, not one is modified with today's date and I don't' know why the other ones don't' get automatically deleted and finally if I can delete them myself)

Thanks again
🙂

Beppe

Perfect, it's all clear.

And then, yes, when I said I saved my *whole* iTunes stuff, I meant *all* stuff, including files like libraries and all.
Actually I told iTunes to copy the entire iTunes backed up folder and actually my library is now back.

🙂

Still I don't understand why this blessed 🙂 .itl file doesn't carry the date of the last change applied to the iTunes library, so to confuse me (and other people, I guess.

And, speaking of which, where are the covers?

Copying the whole saved iTunes folder let me recover everything (the covers I added myself) but not the covers that were already there, like those ones downloaded from iTUnes.

Do you know why?

Which means it's always convenient to upload my own covers and neglect the covers downloaded by the program as the latter are not saved in the iTunes folder.
Am I wrong?

PS
thanks again

thanks again.

so I've remained just the very last question:
where is the .ilt file updated to the very last modification I made???

i've just renamed some albums, for instance, but there's no .itl file in the folder which carries the 08th January date.
The latest is the 07th, but no 08th.
Is the latest the *right* file all the same, even if it doesn't carry the time of the last modifications?
Does it carry the latest modifications?
Should I upload my library again as I did, is that the file I have to point iTunes to when i do Shift >>> change library?

thanks a lot, mate.
you've been really very helpful!!!

I've printed everything and now I'm going to study the whole stuff.
🙂

Thanks again