I am confused by all the library files in ITunes which seem repetitiive but not completely. Is it possible to amalgamate them all into one file only?

What do you mean by "all the library files"? There are just four with "Library" in the name:

• iTunes Library.itl is the iTunes database, containing details about all your songs (including their location), playcounts, playlists, etc. iTunes won't work without this.
• iTunes Library.xml is a copy of a subset of the iTunes database in a format that 3rd party applications can read. iTunes never reads this file - you could delete it, but iTunes would recreate it.
• iTunes Library Extras.itdb contains information related to the Gracenote service that iTunes uses to look up and retrieve information about CDs that you import.
• iTunes Library Genius.itdb is, as the name suggests, used by the Genius feature in iTunes.

Each has a specific purpose and certainly can't be "amalgamated"!

Can you be more specific about the files you're referring to? Overall, the structure of a "well formed" library is like this:

The five files listed in the iTunes folder are the four "library" files I listed in my previous file, plus the "sentinel" file (which is normally hidden in Windows) which is associated with maintaining the integrity of the iTunes database. The Previous iTunes Libraries folder contains date-stamped copies of the library database file - these are generated by the iTunes update process if and when the new version being installed requires a change to the database structure. These files aren't used by iTunes when in operation, but act as a partial backup mechanism should you want/need to roll back to an earlier release. Otherwise you have:

• the Album Artwork folder which contains (in an iTunes-specific format) both all the artwork images retrieved from the iTunes Store and cached versions of all artwork images used to speed up display.
• the iTunes Media folder, which contains several subfolders based on the media kinds you have present in your library. In the "standard" layout (as found when you configure iTunes to organize your library for you) you'll find - within the Music folder - one folder for each artist, each containing one folder for each album by that artist, where each of these contains the actual media files (.m4a, .mp3, etc.) containing your music. The iTunes Preferences.plist file lurking in the iTunes Media folder determines the actual folder structure in place (this was changed between iTunes 8 and 9, though iTunes will still work if the library is in the "old" layout.

Does this help? If not, posting a screen shot showing the files you're referring to would be useful!

If you are referring to dated library files of the form iTunes Libary yyyy-dd-mm.itl these are created during some iTunes updates in a folder called Previous iTunes Libraries. In some cases where the active library isn't updated properly users can end up connected to one of these files, and indeed sometimes the whole process can be repeated nesting deeper.

Using Windows Explorer to access an .itl file opens iTunes, but it doesn't change which .itl file is actually opened. This might explain why you think each has the same content. To confirm which library is active press and hold shift as you launch iTunes. You should get an option to choose or create a library. Click choose and note down which folder is shown to you. The active .itl will be the one in this folder with the most recent modification date. Or use my script iTunesITLPath.

Find out the location of the active media folder from Edit > Preferences > Advanced.

The two paths may give an indication of what is non-standard about your set up.

The user tip Make a split library portable has some advice on putting a library into a standard form. Typically I keep about three backup copies of the most recent .itl files in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. When all is running smoothly the main library folder should have no .tmp files in it.

tt2

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

If you have been sending .itl files to the recycle bin please restore any that are still in there.

Navigate to the folder iTunes, type *.itl in the box in the top right-hand corner of the Explorer window, and use the little widget below that to select the Details view. Enable, if necessary, the columns Size, Date Modified and Folder. The file you want to use should probably be the largest file. To check the contents of this library file use the shift-start iTunes method to get the choose or create a library dialog, browse to the folder that has been revealed and open the relevant file.

Assuming the quest is successful please post back the path to this file. I will suggest steps to get your library back into proper order.

tt2

Sorry for my lack of clarity.

Navigate to the folder iTunes using Windows Explorer.

Type *.itl in the search box at top right.

The results should be something like this:

tt2

Looks like you are searching in iTunes. You need to search in Windows Explorer:

1. Go to the iTunes folder
2. Type "*.itl" in the search box
3. All the files that match this pattern will be listed
4. You may need to select Details from the Windows Explorer dropdown - once you done this you can right-click on the row containing column headings so that you can see the info that will be helpful here - Name, Folder, Date Modified, Size will be the most useful.

You're still looking at the search function in iTunes - you need to go back to where you were in the screenshot posted in your fourth post in this thread:

In this case you appear to be two levels down from where you should be starting to search - you should be seeing the content of your iTunes folder (this looks like you've ended up with three nested sets of "Previous iTunes Libraries" folders). The aim is to find one version of the iTunes Library.itl that is up to date and start from there to try and repair your library. Uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes is not going to make any difference ... I'm not sure how you've ended up with the current folders/files you've shown but you should have:

• One iTunes Library.itl file that is used by and updated by iTunes - this will have no date or number appended to its file name, and will be located in your iTunes folder
• Within that iTunes folder there should be one Previous iTunes Library folder that contains nothing but the dated copies of the iTunes Library.itl file that are created by iTunes during some updates