Q: All the content from my iTunes library has disappeared

I feel like a noob asking this but I know I'm not, at least not really ... anyway, just like the others I lost the content of my extensive (music) library bar the downloads which apple put in the cloud. Tried the renaming and other suggestons but to no avail. I rebuild my library the last two days, luckily it's still in there after rebooting but i'm afraid I might loose it all again and have to start all over again.

After rebuilding my music labrary I haven't seen change in the modification date of any .itl file in the main folder, only in the previous iTunes Libary folder, to be exact the following files, which all have the date of today.

iTunes Libary 2011-07-25 Extras.itdb 
iTunes Libary 2011-07-25 Genius.itdb

iTunes Libary 2011-07-25.itl
iTunes Libary 2011-07-25.xml

Can I get rid of the unmodified library files (which has various dates in the file name or should I keep it all there, just to be safe?

Can I copy these 4 files to another location as some sort of extra back up and put them back when something like this happens again or ...

I set-up SyncToy to sync my entire iTunes folder but I whish Apple would just add a simple (automatic) library back-up function so that if this happens again you just have to go back to a self scheduled - for instance once a week or once a month - back-upped file. It would save a lot of time.

Oh and btw, not using AGV, didn't have any updates to the computer or iTunes (at least not that I know of) so no idea why I lost my library overnight.

Ah Kishio, glad it's not just me, I get the error message every time I open up iTunes, saying the CD/DVD drives are not found or words to that effect

How did you get round this, it's asking me to re-install itunes on the boot up message???

Cheers

Cruzer,

I'm not very literate when it comes to the inner workings of a computer.

I beleive I lost my music library to an AVG update, and I think that I lost my CD/DVD drives from an itunes update. Both incidents happened within a couple of days.

Since my library was gone, I re-installed itunes to remove that error message. But my pc continued not to be able to locate the CD drive or even display an icon and did nothing when a disc was insterted.

Again, being illiterate here, I took the pc to the local Best Buy-Geek Squad store. The tech simply re-installed the CD/DVD drivers that were still on the pc. I wish I could tell you were he went and what he did.

If anybody else determines how, please share for future reference.

Sorry, I can't be more helpful.

Good luck!

Kishio

ReneD1971 wrote:

 

I feel like a noob asking this but I know I'm not, at least not really ... anyway, just like the others I lost the content of my extensive (music) library bar the downloads which apple put in the cloud. Tried the renaming and other suggestons but to no avail. I rebuild my library the last two days, luckily it's still in there after rebooting but i'm afraid I might loose it all again and have to start all over again.

 

After rebuilding my music labrary I haven't seen change in the modification date of any .itl file in the main folder, only in the previous iTunes Libary folder, to be exact the following files, which all have the date of today.

 

iTunes Libary 2011-07-25 Extras.itdb 
iTunes Libary 2011-07-25 Genius.itdb

iTunes Libary 2011-07-25.itl
iTunes Libary 2011-07-25.xml

Instead of copying and renaming a file from the Previous iTunes Libraries folder up to the main iTunes folder as prescribed you have connected to an older library file from July 2011. My guess is that you should have more recent previous libraries in the same folder, typically one from December 2012 if not more recently. You should copy the most recent of these to your iTunes folder and rename as iTunes Library.itl then press and hold down shift as you launch iTunes and keep holding until asked to choose or create a library. Click choose and browse to the newly renamed file.

tt2

Thanks for the fix, using the .tmp file worked for me. Just a heads up: this isn't unique to users running AVG-- I've never used it and my library disappeared as well.

Thanks, I know. It happens sometimes simply when upgrading iTunes, but of late AVG users seem to have had it happen to them more often than usual. It might be a good idea to add an exception to your iTunes folder in whatever AV package you use to reduce the risk of it happening again.

tt2

Thanks for the info, but it didn't work.

Did you try all of the suggestions?

Is your media still present on the hard drive?

Are there .tmp files in the iTunes folder?

Are there .itl files in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder?

If you have AVG did you try removing it?

If you have an iPod or iOS device did you try to recover the library from that?

tt2

I am having the same problem, and don't really understand the "rename files" suggestions... I went to my previous libraries but they don't have all my music either, so I don't understand how the instructions here are going to work... I wish there was someone I could talk to in person. I will check back again after work. I've been messing with this for hours.

Perhaps I've confused things by including the .itl extension in the rename instructions when it isn't visible for you. If you don't see the .itl extension displayed then you don't need to add it to files copied from the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. To rename a file select it and press F2, or use the menus or right-click options.

Your iTunes folder might look something like this:

... and the Previous iTunes Folder might look like this:

1. With iTunes closed, highlight the current iTunes Library file with the itl logo and rename it as iTunes Library (Corrupt), or similar.
2. Choose one of the files in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder or one of the .tmp files in your main iTunes folder and press CTRL+C to copy it.
3. In the main iTunes folder press CTRL+V to paste.
4. Rename the copied file as iTunes Library if it came from the Previous iTunes Libraries folder or iTunes Library.itl if renaming a .tmp file (the .itl will disappear once renamed).
5. Start iTunes.

In the case of a renamed .tmp file you may find that iTunes reports it as damaged. In this case the file you copied isn't a valid library file and you'll need to try another.

These steps should restore a working library, however if the conditions that caused problems originally are still present, e.g. interference from a third party application like AVG, then the restored library may be deleted again. If that happens, which should be evident because new .tmp files are generated, then remove the other software before trying again.

If you've performed the steps above and it still hasn't resolved things then perhaps iTunes is connected to a library file in a different location. Search the computer for all files of the form *.itl and check which has the most recent modified date. When you've worked out which file should be restored copy it to the main iTunes folder, rename as iTunes Library then press & hold down shift as you start iTunes and use the option to choose a library file to open, then browse to your main iTunes folder and open the iTunes Library file you've placed there.

Please note that while double-clicking an iTunes library file in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder will open iTunes it will open the last .itl file that iTunes opened, not necessarily the file you selected. You can check last modified dates to see which file is really being used. To swtich from one library file to another use the method in the paragraph above.

tt2

Thanks turingtest2.  Am at work right now, but will try again when I get home. Hope this works cause as I said before, did not work when I tried yesterday (Sunday).  Interesting comment re the AVG as my AVG came with my internet provider and this is the first time that I have had any problems with this.  By the way, my AVG provider is McAffee and not sure if I can exclude ITunes when it automatically scans files/folders.  And your other comment regarding recovering library from my IPod - well unfortunately, I did not put my whole library in my IPod, just a playlist.  Manually re-importing all my music is ugh!!!  But, thanks for all your help.  As I say, I will try this when I get home.  Many thanks, again.

You're welcome. Good luck.

tt2

Hi tt2.  I was just reading your answer "perhaps I've confused things..." above and remembered that when I told you that I had already tried going to my back-up to restore my music, I forgot to tell you that my back, ITunesLibrary.itl also only contained the purchased music from the ITunes Stores.  The reason I know that is becasue when I clicked on that icon, it opened the library containing the exact same songs as when I initially opened ITunes.  I will probably have to go to my Previous ITunes Library folder and copy an old icon.  My latest one, that I remember seing, is dated December 2012.  And then follow the steps you outlined.  I will try! Hope I do this right.

I'm sure you will get there.

tt2

Thanks for the confidence and if not, then back to manually importing all my old music!