iTunes keeps losing my library every 2-3 days!

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.

Alternatively, depending on exactly when and why the library went missing, there may be a more recent .tmp file in the main iTunes folder that can be renamed as iTunes Library.itl to restore the library to a recent state. Look for a recent .tmp file that is similar in size to the .itl files in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. If it has happened repeatedly you may want the earliest such file generated since the last iTunes upgrade.

If applicable, 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.

I've noticed more of these missing library posts of late and a common factor to most since I started asking is AVG Anti-Virus. It seems in some cases it might be at least part of the reason why the library file disappears. Try excluding the iTunes folder from any AV scanning process.

tt2

With luck you have several .tmp files. Put Windows Explorer in Details view. As far as I can tell iTunes makes .tmp files when updating each of the database files. For my library these are in the order (smallest) iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library.itl, iTunes (Music) Library.xml, iTunes Library Genius.itdb. (Largest).

tt2

Interesting. I've had the same problem over the last couple of months. I completely removed and uninstalled iTunes last night thinking there may be something underlying that's causing the problem. However, I too use AVG. I just wanted to post and mention that since it seems some trend seems to be happening here. I'll also exclude iTunes folders from the AVG scans and hope for improvement

I am also having this problem. Has been going on for a few weeks now. Initially I thought it was because I hadn't upgraded in a while, but after getting the latest version the problem persists. My library disappears every couple of days and there are no previous libraries to back from. Interestingly I have recently started using AVG as well. Anyone found any solutions to this very frustrating issue?

AVG have issued a patch which should stop it happening again. Repair instructions are given above.

tt2

OK, I am sooooooooo glad I found this thread, 'cause I thought I was going nuts.

I, too, have Free AVG and have, since reading this thread, added the iTunes folder as an exception in AVG for both Scanning and Resident Shield. I will be curious to see if this stops the madness.

I am so sick of re-adding my iTunes music library of nearly 9,000 songs, let alone then re-adding my ringtones folder, my mobile apps (IPAs) folder, etc.

Fingers crossed. And, if this - indeed - results in finding AVG as the culprit behind this mess, I think they ought to give us a one year subscription refund (jk: AVG is free).

Thanks for getting this thread started!!!

You'll need to download the latest updates to the AVG scanning engine or the problem may reoccur. Before the latest patch released yesterday it would seem that AVG wasn't honouring its exceptions so that wasn't proving an effective workaround, however I've now seen a couple of positive posts that with AVG fully updated things are behaving properly.

tt2

Updating AVG and adding the iTunes folder the the exceptions didn't seem to work for me. However I have removed AVG completely (now using Microsoft Security Essentials) and not had any problems yet!! Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again.

I just got this same issue.. all my playlists are completely wiped yesterday... even though i have not upgraded/updated anything yesterday.. what's going on....

AVG? Or a crash? Or you shut down the computer while iTunes was still writing out the database? Has it happened more than once?

Ditch AVG if you have it in favour of MSE. Fix the library using the suggestions above. Make a backup. Keep it up to date.

tt2

itunes 11 keeps losing my library repeatedly as well, and I'm not using AVG. Using Norton 360 and getting the same results. Any suggestions?

Make a backup. Keep it up to date.

Exclude the iTunes folder from real-tme scanning.

If that doesn't help temporarily disable Norton and see if the problem goes away. If so change your AV.

tt2

Thanks. Will try that.

On the off-chance it's not the AV, I've made copies of the library and playlist files and stored them elsewhere on my HD and on an external HD. At the very least I should be able to recover these if itunes loses them again, which seems likely.

An update on this.

Have continued to muck about with this demented bit of software for the past couple of weeks off and on.

Have explored other options. Mediamonkey looks pretty good but I'm not crazy about the interface. Too complex and a bit cryptic, but the program looks like it probably functions better than itunes. At least it seems to be able to find your library where you left it. Too soon to tell yet. Will play with it some more when I have time and make a decision as to whether to switch later.

In the meantime itunes 11 has continued to lose my music library just about every day like clockwork. Swear to God this thing was designed with Alzheimers as part of it's code. Building on work by turingtest2, I think I've figured out how to squash this particular bug.

I don't think it has anything to do with my AV program. Am running Norton 360. Turned it off. It made no difference. itunes still lost my library. Didn't like running without my AV on anyway. Likewise, replacing the itunes library file with a previous itunes library file from the 'previous itunes libraries' folder only helped a little. If you do that, you can at least recover your library (minus song ratings, checked and unchecked selections, etc.) every time this idiot program loses it again. It's still really irritating to have to rebuild your library every other day.

In one of his previous posts, turingtest2 also suggested that replacing the corrupted itunes library file with one of the iT ##.temp files in the itunes folder also might work. I thought I'd give this a try and it seemed to work for me. As per instructions in turingtest2's previous post:

- Go into the itunes folder and relabel the current 'iTunes Library' file as 'iTunes Library (Corrupt)'.

- Pick the most recent 'iT xx.temp', generally the one with the highest number in the "##' space, and relabel it as your new 'iTunes Library' file.

- When you do this, iTunes will warn you that doing this could make the program unstable. Like it isn't already?

- I went ahead and did it anyway. I felt that at worst I might have to uninstall itunes and then reinstall it and rebuild my library again, which I've done at least half a dozen times by now. Nothing bad happened. It now seems to remember where my library is when I restart it. My sense is that it has nothing to do with your AV program or anything else. Just sloppy progamming by Apple.

A word of warning; if you download any further updates for itunes, it will again commence losing your library and you'll have to repeat the above sequence of actions. It might help to do this immediately before restarting itunes after downloading the update. Don't know for sure as I haven't tried it yet.

With regard to playlists; go to > File / > Library / > Export Playlist. Save all of your playlists somewhere outside the iTunes folder. Your 'My Music' folder will do just fine. Also recommend saving a copy of each playlist to an external hard drive or CD ROM, just in case. If iTunes loses your playlist after doing this go to: > File / > Library / Import Playlist and just reload your playlists from wherever you left them.

Hope this saves many felow users & music lovers a lot of time & frustration. Good luck. With itunes 11 you'll need it...