Fixing the numerous iTunes Exclamation Point's

My mistake... Step 8 should have read:

Close iTunes. Rename the folder D:\My Music as D:\iTunes. Hold down shift as you start iTunes and open D:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl. Check that files play normally. Confirm under Edit > Preferences > Advanced that the media folder is now given as D:\iTunes\iTunes Media, if not correct then close and reopen iTunes.

Sorry for the confusion/added stress. 😕

You should probably use File > Library > Add folder to library and select D:\iTunes\iTunes Media to add in any tracks that are in the media folders but not connected to the library.

The DeDuper script should help clean any dupes.

If you've got any inconsistencies in the naming of albums or bands the tracks may be spread across multiple folders. The article Grouping tracks into albums gives details of how to tidy up. As you correct things in iTunes it should reorganize the media to reflect the changes.

If Windows Media Player has ever been connected to your for files then there will be artwork spread around. When iTunes moves files about it leaves these behind so you can have folders containing a bunch of hidden images and nothing else. The script CleanDeadArt can help here.

tt2

Cool All good now. Might hold off on adding media until my wife checks her playlists and is satisfied with everything. Unfortunately one of her library .itl files was corrupted so we are using an earlier back up. It is 99.9% all good though. Downloaded that windows sync tool and will now back up itunes folder to an external drive, which will also make it portable!

Will spend some time removing dupes etc and replacing all the album art which was also wiped out. Any good scripts for that?

One thing I have noticed after moving everything and renaming it, is I have the original Music file along with one that iTunes created in the iTunes media folder swelling everything to 125gbs in size is this because it has copied everything over using the organising tool?

Alot of tracks or maybe all of then are linked to this folder. So I probably shouldn't delete it. It doesn't concern me greatly apart from a size issue.

Probably a good idea not to add any folders to itunes for the time being as I don't want to dupe everything...

Message was edited by: Fearganainim

By this point if all has gone well all your media should be inside D:\iTunes\iTunes Media in a layout similar to the one on the right in this image.

Any other copies elsewhere on the C:\ or the D:\ drives should be redunant and can be deleted. Do some spot checks first. Get info. summary tab on single tracks will show you where they are stored. If you restored the old D:\My Music folder then that should be a clone of the library that isn't needed. It is a good idea to rename folders and test things before deleting just to be on the safe side. If you find a folder contain a mystery album somewhere that isn't in your library move it into the Automatically Add to iTunes folder to add it to the library without leaving behind a copy.

Adding the media folder shouldn't create any duplicates at this stage, just add any unlinked files. But you could try iTunes Folder Watch as this can scan the folder and give you a list of things it thinks could be usefully added so you can decide for yourself.

tt2

Ok this is weird. The other files not in side the music folder contain not only music but artwork as well. All the songs in iTunes are linked to the Music folder in iTunes Media. Would it be advisable to merge the other folders into the music folder? Or delete and re acquire the art?

It would appear that the files outside the music folder are the original files from D: My Music.

Again my only concern is the space that they are taking up.

I think the confusion over renaming - missing library - restore caused the problems. If you'd stopped at the moment the library went awol then we could have got things back on track without doubling up on the files.

The album artwork in folders is generated by Windows Media Player, iTunes doesn't create them or have any use for them so that really isn't a problem. The only issue would be if there were originally files in D:\My Music\Music that weren't connected to iTunes as these won't have a matching file in the new D:\iTunes\iTunes Media folders.

Look inside the some typical D:\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\<Artist>\<Album> folders and just make sure there is no doubling of files there. (I can't think why there would be but since things didn't go entirely to plan, who knows?)

tt2

Ok I tried something and removed the folders to a separate folder. I tested a few tracks to see if all was ok and noticed that as I played them they were again being added in folders to the iTunes media folder. Not quite sure what is going on here...

Check the current value of the iTunes Media folder under Edit > Preferences > Advanced.

While you are there what are the current settings for Keep... & Copy...?

Pick a typical track in your library (from the iTunes interface). What is its location as reported on Get Info > Summary tab?

Are you playing files from the iTunes interface or Windows Explorer, and if explorer which folder are you in? If you play files from Explorer that are not currently part of the library they will be added to it and depending on your settings for Keep... and Copy... and the location of the file, the file could be moved within or copied to the iTunes Media folder.

tt2

D:\iTunes\iTunes Media is the media folder location and I have the "keep media folders organised" ticked and copy button is unticked

Get info folder path has changed to D:\iTunes\iTunes Media\ Artist\etc as opposed to D:\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\ Artist etc, which is what it was before I put all the copied media into a separate folder.

I am playing the files using iTunes in order to keep testing as I go.

When I used the FindTracks script all media was in D:\My Music\Music and iTunes linked to them there. We were not using the default iTunes media folder at all.

I guess renaming the files has confused it a bit.

Earlier when following your steps, iTunes auto organized the library with out asking. I think that's where things started to go astray.

Eek, that's not right. 😕

Under File > Library > Organize Library... is the Rearrange... checkbox greyed out? If not tick this and click OK.

tt2

Ya it didn't give me that option earlier.

Should I put the files back before I tick the reorganise box?

No. Just tick the box and click OK. iTunes will rearrange things (again) by itself.

tt2

Done ! And the path has reverted back to where it should be.

That other folder is 90gb + so I'm going to move it to one of my externals as a spare back up.

I will also create one using the sync app.

And one backed up to cloud...

I discovered that some of the missing tracks are dupes so that solved that mystery.

The others 75 approx are missing and will have to be re acquired.

The Library is much tidier thanks to you. Thank You.

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

It's not too hard to track down an email address for me, but I check it much less frequently than the forums... Tagging on to any thread I've posted in usually gets my attention.

tt2