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problems with restoring my iTunes library after performing an HP backup and system recovery

Hello,

Last Sunday night/Monday morning, I had to perform a system recovery (from the discs supplied by HP) on my HP Compaq Presario SR5310F 32-bit desktop computer running Windows Vista Home Premium, (on the recommendation of samone at HP) and just backing up my 90+ GB iTunes library took 12 hours (the actual system recovery took only about 2-1/2 hours, the following morning). After the recovery process was complete, I 'restored' the backed-up files by either double-clicking or just opening the first backup file (the one whose file name ends in '.1') and following the prompts, which placed the files into something called the 'System Restore Files' folder. I thought I could just restore my iTunes library by dragging and dropping the music, video and iTunes folder files from this System Restore Files folder back into their original places on my computer, but while the song titles did show up in my iTunes library, whenever I tried to actually play one, an exclamation point would appear beside the song's title and I'd get the error message 'iTunes cannot find the file'; when I clicked on 'Find missing file'--or whatever it's called--the C < Users < [username] < Music folder would open, and it would be completely blank, with only the words 'This folder is empty' appearing in it. (And BTW, before you try to recommend the 'Finding missing content in iTunes' or 'How to find missing music in iTunes' articles to me, I should point out that I did try all of the steps in those articles, but my iTunes library was still completely empty at that point, despite trying those steps; that was why I finally tried 'dragging and dropping all of those files back into the Desktop, Downloads, Documents--yes, some really large download files, not from iTunes, showed up in the Documents folder--and also a couple of downloaded music files--again, not from iTunes--showd up 'loose' [by 'loose', I mean not in one of the folders (e.g., Documents, Downloads etc.) in my [username] subfolder] in my [username] subfolder, after which, I was able to get most of my song and video titles listed in iTunes again, but they just won't PLAY! Also, it appears I'm missing about 5 GB from my iTunes library now, as it's saying that I only have about 85.15 GB worth of files in it, where before I had 90+ GB worth of files in it.)

BTW, I can play the files I moved to Desktop, Downloads, etc. if I right-click on the individual files in these locations and then click on 'Play' or 'Open With', but they just won't play in iTunes.

And one more thing: I stupidly deleted my 2 iTunes podcast file titles after I discovered that these, too, would not play; is there any way I can recover these--and my iTunes library--without performing yet ANOTHER system recovery and starting over 'from scratch'? (But if that's what I'll have to do, I'll do it--or else I'll just give up and start all over again with the new computer I plan to buy over the Labor Day weekend [it'll be a 64-bit Windows 7 computer, I know that much at least], as most of my music was ripped from CDs or else downloaded from places like Bandcamp or Amazon MP3, and these downloads were saved to a series of USB flash drives; I was informed that if worst came to worst, I could redownload my iTunes purchases, but my 2 podcasts will be lost forever, as iTunes doesn't 'keep' those--or words to that effect...)

P.S. The computer I'm using has only a 250 GB hard drive, of which 223 GB were available, I couldn't perform the 'Consolidate' function so I could properly back up my iTunes library, as, what with the accumulated Windows downloads (I got this computer in February 2008) and other programs, I had only a few (< 10) GB free--not enough to consolidate the iTunes library, and second, the computer malfunctioned just prior to my performing the system recovery, so that I could no longer log on in 'normal' mode, only in the various safe modes. A lady at Microsoft told me I could back up my iTunes library by logging on in safe mode with networking (since I could do that, albeit with the error message 'Your account has been loaded with a temporary profile') and pasting my iTunes library to my external hard drive, but when I tried this, I got a message listing my iTunes library as '(empty)' when I clicked on iTunes in 'All Programs', and needless to say, my iTunes library wouldn't even open in any of the safe modes (I don't know whether it was 'just' my computer, or whether the lady didn't know what she was talking about--she does work for Microsoft, after all).

Compaq Presario SR5310 desktop PC-OTHER, Windows Vista

Posted on Jun 13, 2012 11:27 AM

Best reply

turingtest2

Level 10

272,811 points

Posted on Jun 13, 2012 1:46 PM

Not sure at this point if this is a permissions issue or the library being confused as to where things are.

The "missing file" thing happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. The way that you've backed up and restored things might have caused iTunes to expect the files to be in the wrong location or layout.

Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive. Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library hasn't been restored to the correct place then it might be possbile to move it now you know

Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes .

tt2

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56 replies

Jun 16, 2012 1:50 PM in response to turingtest2

I tried dong wt you said, and since that worked, I deleted the redundant (and now empty) iTunes and iTunes Media folders--now I'm off to run SybcToy again, and I'll post a screenshot of the results (yes, I do know how to take screenshots, I'm just not quite sure how to post them here--but I do see an 'Insert Image' icon at the top of this message, hope it works).

Apologetically yours,

TPD

Jun 16, 2012 1:53 PM in response to turingtest2

Sorry--I meant 'SyncToy', not 'SybcToy'--I was always the worst student in my high school typing class!

TPD

turingtest2

Level 10

272,811 points

Jun 16, 2012 2:27 PM in response to The Petite Demoness

Having taken a screenshot I generally use Paint.NET to crop and annotate images. Once your image is saved on your computer you can use the camera insert tool to add it into a post here.

tt2

Jun 16, 2012 3:21 PM in response to turingtest2

Windows Vista computers have a built-in screenshot-taking progrm called the 'Snipping Tool'; after I take my screenshots, I use whatever the website or e-mail that I'm using/composing at the time uses to send the screenshots.

That said, here are the results of my latest SyncToy run:

The preview:

The first set of results after the run ended:

And the detailed error report after the third run ended:

As you can see, SyncToy still could not find the file I mentioned to you before--well, at least I *think* it's the same file...

Aplogetically yours,

TPD

turingtest2

Level 10

272,811 points

Jun 16, 2012 3:27 PM in response to The Petite Demoness

"Cannot read from the source file" suggests the source files are corrupt in some fashion. Try copying each one at time onto the desktop. If you are successful replace the original file in its folder with the copy you made on the desktop.

tt2

Jun 16, 2012 3:28 PM in response to turingtest2

Oh, by the way, the other five files are MP3 files (not from iTunes) that I don't recall ever having seen in my iTunes library, or even remember downloading--would it be safe to assume that I must have deleted these files earlier, so that it is now safe to use SyncToy's 'Delete' option on these files? I don't recognize these MP3 files at all, and the way they're numbered (01, 02, 03, 04, 05) leads me to believe they're all by the same artist and from the same download.

TPD

turingtest2

Level 10

272,811 points

Jun 16, 2012 3:41 PM in response to The Petite Demoness

If you run a SyncToy preview again it will list these remaining files. I believe you can right-click on an entry and open the source file location so you can get a proper look at what it is trying to copy.

SyncToy can't attempt to copy files that don't exist. It also doesn't have a "delete" function as such. When using the Synchronize action with a folder pair that has already been synchronized subsequent additions, renames or deletions on either side are mirrored in the other folder. In Echo mode the actions are only copied left to right, meaning that you can, for instance, decide to delete the backup copy of a movie without SyncToy later removing the original, but if you remove the original then SyncToy would later remove the backup. In Contribute mode additions and renames are mirrored left to right but files copied to the right are never deleted.

tt2

Jun 16, 2012 5:03 PM in response to turingtest2

Okay, I think I've got it!

After I foolowed your instructions to right-click on the files in the preview to see where SyncToy thought they should be, I found that the MP3s were indeed all by the same artist and from the same EP, and that that folder was empty (because I'd deleted that downloaded EP several months ago), so I had to go back into first my computer's C drive and delete those files and folders (artist and album, as I'd only had the one EP by that particular artist); I then had to go into my external hard drive's iTunes folder and repeat the process.

As for the other file/folder (the one in Album Artwork), I followed your suggestion to copy the folder to the desktop, and then I deleted the original folder, and then I recopied the folder I'd copied to the desktop back to the original file's original location in Album Artwork\Cache, after which I ran SyncToy again, and this time it found NO errors!

THANK YOU!!!

Now, before I mark your last reply as 'This solved my problem', I have just one--no, two--more questions: First of all, all of the downloaded-by-iTunes album artwork is missing; is there any 'easy' way to restore it all, or do I just have to right-click on each album cover and select 'Get Album Artwork' for each album, and second, how do I go about using SyncToy to transfer my iTunes library from my external hard drive to my Windows 7 computer when I get it? (I'm sorry, I don't quite understand that part.)

Thank you very much,

TPD

turingtest2

Level 10

272,811 points

Jun 17, 2012 12:29 AM in response to The Petite Demoness

The Album Artwork folder should contain two subfolders Cache and Download, inside each should be a single folder with a 16 digit hexadecimal number for a name, (same name inside each of Cache & Download). Inside the folders with the hex names should be folders numbered 00-15, which in turn can contain folders numbered 00-15, and these too can contain numbered folders. The last set of folders may or may not contain files with long hex filenames and .itc2 extensions. These files are the artwork images, either cached from the tag in the cache folder or downloaded from the store in the download folder.

The Album Artwork folder should contain only these numbered folders and *.itc2 files. If there are any media files in here then they have been put there by mistake and should be moved to Automatically add to iTunes so that they can be absorbed into the library.

I don't know the exact details, but when iTunes is attempting to display art for an album it uses the albums properties to tell it where in that folder structure it should find the image. If the image is there it can be displayed. I suspect that in the moving and merging of folders it is possible that you have two sets of folders inside Cache & Download. It is possible that something isn't quite right in there.

With iTunes closed you should be able to delete the Album Artwork folder, start iTunes and slowly scroll the entire library in Grid view to rebuild the cache. Having regenerated thumbnails for all your embedded artwork, create a smart playlist with the rule Has artwork is false, select the contents of the list and click Get Album Artwork to attempt to get fresh store art for the remainder.

If that all works out delete the Album Artwork folder in the backup location before using SyncToy so that afterwards it will only contain the "clean" copy of the folder rather than a mix of the old and new.

When you get a new computer you can use SyncToy in sync mode with C:\Users\<User>\Music\iTunes as the left-hand folder to copy the library into the new machine, then change the action to Contribute mode for subsequent backups. You should copy the library in before installing iTunes so there is no conflict with the new empty library iTunes would otherwise create.

tt2

Jun 17, 2012 5:02 AM in response to turingtest2

Well, your suggestion worked for most of the remainder of the 'missing' album artwork---there are still some albums that I shall just have to go and find the artwork for, and embed it manually, but all in all, it worked out very well, and you've saved me a ton of trouble!

Also, thanks for the information on how to use SyncToy with a new computer--it turned out that I had a completely wrong notion of how to go about doing so, so I'm glad I asked you first.

And now, I shall mark your reply 'This solved my question', but I am not going to turn off the email notifications yet, in case you (or anyone else) would happen to have something else to add.

(I wish I could pay you what your extremely sound advice has been worth to me, but I'm afraid there isn't enough money in the world for that, let alone my [limited] bank account.)

By the way, iTunes semms to me to be a BEAST to deal with (I had to completely uninstall and reinstall iTunes on my computer back in January, and I hope never to have to do that again), but Windows Vista is even WORSE--I just hope that Windows 7 really *is* 'better', as most of the people who have Windows 7 computers say, but from some of the forum posts I've seen, the 64-bit version (which is what I'm planning to get) isn't particularly iTunes-friendly--but at least I know I can come back to this forum for help with installing and using iTunes on my new Windows 7 computer when I get it in a few months.

Again, thank you VERY much!

TPD

turingtest2

Level 10

272,811 points

Jun 17, 2012 5:14 AM in response to The Petite Demoness

You're welcome.

Can't say I like Vista any, Windows 7 is certainly an improvment over it, though personally I'm still quite happy back on XP for now with my older, slower, computers.

tt2

problems with restoring my iTunes library after performing an HP backup and system recovery