"song could not be used because the original file could not be found"

If you didn't get a prompt that was because iTunes scanned the library and didn't find that it was connected to any media in that folder. You should find it contains empty Automatically Add to iTunes and Downloads folders, plus a copy of the .plist. If I'm right it is safe to go, otherwise use File > Library > Organize Files > Consolidate files first.

If you're interested in bringing the library up to date use File > Library > Organize Files > Rearrange files in the folder "iTunes Music". This will move music files into a Music subfolder inside the media folder. When that is done, close iTunes, rename iTunes Music as iTunes Media then restart iTunes. The media folder preference should be automatically reset (but you can correct it if not) and your library will then be in standard form making the next move and backing up easier.

tt2

Hi tt2,

a)

similar problem related I think to my daugther downloading some of the tracks to her external drive last month.

Most of the tracks have an exclamation mark and point to I:/

file://localhost/I:/backups/personal/iTunes Music/Adele/21/01 Rolling In The Deep.m4a

actual location is

A:\MUSIC\itunes\Adele\21\01 Rolling In The Deep.m4a

I used your FindTracks program but that seems to do it one track at the time?

Any way to do this globally?

b)

It seems that my latest albums/tracks (uploaded from CD not from itune store) get stored in a sublevel \music

A:\MUSIC\itunes\Music

despite my iTunes Media folder pointing only to A:\MUSIC\itunes

any issue with this?

Thanks

MT

Hi,

That's one mighty big floppy disk you must have in that A: drive. 😝

a)

Select all the tracks you have a problem with, run the script, direct it to the media folder A:\MUSIC\iTunes if it doesn't guess correctly by itself, use the automatic fix option.

b)

The correct layout for music prior to iTunes 9 was <Media Folder>\<Artist>\<Album>, since iTunes 9 it has been <Media Folder>\Music\<Artist>\<Album> to fit in with the general pattern of <Media Folder>\<Media Kind>\<Subfolders> so it would seem that at some point your library has switched from the old layout to the new one. To fix this (assuming you're happy to leave iTunes in charge of the layout) use File > Library > Organize Library, tick whichever boxes are available to tick, and click OK, then go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced untick Keep iTunes Media folder organized, click OK, then go back in and enable the option again to trigger the restructure.

Where are the library files stored? You may find my postmake a split library portable and this backup tip useful.

tt2

I fooled around and found the answer for me. I opened I Tues and went to the search box at the top. I typed in the name of the playlist, hit search, and by magic (or luck), my play list reappeared and all items could be played.

I can only underscore the articulately expressed frustrations of ericfromseaford years ago. I made the mistake of buying a new computer and trying to transfer data, including iTunes, from my old computer to the new one. Dozens of tunes legitimately purchased (because that's the ethically correct way to do it if you care about the law and the artists it's there to protect) were lost and unavailable to redownload from Apple. The titles were in "My Music" but the corresponding music files could not be found. The details are complicated but no suggestion in a forum like this one worked. Apple has decided that it's understandable interest in anti-theft can come at the expense of legitimate purchasers like me and ericfromseaford. Apple can claim a history of almost miraculous achievements and It's not the end of the world if I can't recover a hundred bucks worth of music. However it's always frustrating and disappointing when the advertised miracle doesn't work and the miracle worker turns his back you you with a shrug.

After searching for hours online, and then reading this thread entirely, I'm now completely convinced this is a screw up from Apple, and that the home sharing option destroys your library.

I have had an existing itunes library hosted on my dropbox for over 6 years. Worked flawlessly and all I have to do is make sure that any computer (mac or PC) uses that library. I made sure the itunes media folder is always in the root (not buried) and it worked perfectly, updated the library and playlists dynamically across 2 macs a PC.

The problem (disaster) came when I wanted to add some music to an ipod and ripped some CD's on a new laptop and they were saved locally instead of to the dropbox library. Simple enough fix though right? According to apple: export the playlist and copy the media files over to the dropbox folder, then import the playlist.

Wrong. Didn't work no matter how I tried it.I tried locating the file and it just won't work.

So apple's official solution is to use home sharing. Why? Because the ipod was registered to the imac, but the new songs were on the laptop (again, let's remember the dropbox solution would be fine if I hadn't forgotten to use the dropbox library rather than the default local location when i started using itunes on the laptop). I believe this is what screwed me. I switched it on home sharing and yay! it let me access both playlists by using the little selector in the top left corner. So I tried copying the playlist from one to other. Physically impossible - Itunes does not allow this function. OK, so basically home sharing is really only of any use if you're paying directly from your computer. Completely useless for getting music from one computer to another or god forbid, on to another device, like an ipod.

So I try repointing the laptop's library to the dropbox itunes folder, as I'm thinking let's just have the master sing folder and I'll copy the new music locally from my drive to the dropbox folder. Great, it can see the tracks in laptops itunes now but when i go to play them I get the dreaded "can't locate files" with the little exclamation mark next to them. So i try to locate them and use the "try to locate all the other files using the same location?" Sure.

Then disaster: Suddenly most of the songs in my entire library have the exclamation, not just the new ones. in other words now my old and perfectly fine itunes library has magically deleted or moved all of music files. And as other people describe in this thread, some are in completely random locations, and some just gone altogether.

I was able to however to use the locate function for the new music from the ripped CD's on the laptop (although one track just straight up disappeared), so now at least I haven't done all that ripping for nothing. But my entire historical library is a giant mess and some music files just gone.

After hours of trying everything I figure out a solution. The music is still all on the ipod and I used a program called iRip to pull off the music and playlists off the ipod in to the laptop (now pointing to the dropbox itunes folder) and voila! I have all my music back. I'm not affiliated with whoever makes that program and I'll also admit it was a bit buggy (it stopped halfway through the original import so I had to start again from where it left off, but got there in the end).

So if you're library gets messed with and you have all the content on another device, such as ipad, ipod etc, just rip it all off the device back in to a new itunes folder and away you go!

It boggles my mind I have to use a third party program to get my music back, when apple messes up the file locations. This is one of those cases where copyright protection infringes and restricts on someone who has actually legally bought their music.

One other thing I would note is that i think the "allow itunes to organize your library" option COMBINED with home sharing is what screwed my libraries.

The reason I'm sharing this is that there are over 100 threads on this and hopefully this will help someone else!

See Is there any way to edit an itunes library.itl file? for an older thread where I have created a tool that can export selected data from a pervious version of the datebase, then reimport it into the current one. It can't repair everything, but it might help your recover some of your lost ratings and stats.

See Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy for a suggested backup regime.

tt2