Q: I hate the latest update with a passion. Lost all my music.  How do I revert to the previous Itunes?

I think I have a fix for this - I left the current version of the downloaded iTunes alone, but reverted my library back to a prior version.  Just right click on your iTunes library (to find this, go to your start menu, and type *.xml in the search bar) and select the option to restore to a prior version.  Then pick one from before the time you downloaded the latest iTunes update.

Hope that helps!

SJ

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash

Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping.  Note that in iTunes 11 an "empty" library may show your past purchases with links to stream or download them.

In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.

See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.

When you get it all working make a backup!

Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library, or a backup of it, then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.

tt2

You can restore much of the look & feel of the previous version with these shortcuts:

• ALT to temporarily display the menu bar
• CTRL+B to show or hide the menu bar
• CTRL+S to show or hide the sidebar
• CTRL+/ to  show or hide the status bar (won't hide for me on Win XP)
• Click the magnifying glass top right and untick Search Entire Library to restore the old search behaviour
• Use View > Hide <Media Kind> in the cloud or Edit > Preferences > Store and untick Show iTunes in the cloud purchases to hide the cloud items. The second method eliminates the cloud status column (and may let iTunes start up more quickly)
• If you don't like having different colours for the text and background in the Albums view use Edit > Preferences > General and untick Use custom colours for open albums, movies, etc. .

Should you still feel the need to roll back to iTunes 10.7 first download a copy of the 32 bit installer or 64 bit installer as appropriate, uninstall iTunes and supporting software, i.e. Apple Application Support & Apple Mobile Device Support. Reboot. Restore the pre-upgrade version of your library database as per the diagram below, then install iTunes 10.7.

See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to scan the media folder and catch up with any changes made since the backup file was created.

tt2

I agree, this is the worse update ever. Apple has lost its way. I was looking for a new phone - looks like it will not be an Apple.