files in Fxx folders show in my itunes directory.

iTunes stores tracks with pseudo-random four letter file names in the Fxx folders and writes out a database to the device so that it knows where to find things. The aim, presumably, is to prevent iPods being used for casual piracy. Have you manually copied content from the iPod's drive into C:\?

tt2

Is E: the drive letter that iTunes assigned to your iPod in Explorer? Otherwise, the presence of the ipod_control folder can only be the result of specific action to copy this and its content from your iPod to the E: drive. This could be a leftover from when you "did try some time ago (unsuccessfully) to copy from one ipod to another on the same pc by treating them both as disk drives" - this can't be done as a one-step operation, though it is possible to copy the iPod_control\music folder from an iPod to your PC, add the resulting media files to iTunes (where the obfuscated file names become irrelevant since - in most cases - iTunes will recover the metadata contained in the media files and use this for the new additions to the library). You can then use iTunes as normal to sync that content to a second iPod. See tt2's user tip on Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device for more information.

"itunes trawls the entire computer for files" describes something that happens only when iTunes is first installed when or when you create a new library. Indeed, one of the most common complaints about iTunes is that it does not automatically look for new content to be added to its library - for those who want this functionality there are third-party add-ons that provide it (e.g., iTunes Folder Watch). Are you seeing this behavior every time you start iTunes? If so, this suggests something awry with your iTunes installation, which can probably only be resolved by removing all components of iTunes and re-installing - see Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates.

"it seems there is a lot of file detail confusion between the itunes library and the way files are tagged in windows" - actually, it is relatively straightforward, though there are some scenarios that can make it seem confusing. Unless you are using WAV files, iTunes will store most metadata within tags in the media files. The exceptions are iTunes-specific information like date added, last played, playcount, ratings, etc. - these are only stored in the iTunes database (the iTunes Library.itl file). Confusion can arise, though, since the metadata that's stored in the media files is also stored in the database, and that the latter is not automatically updated to match any updates made within the media files outside of iTunes. This is one of the reasons why it is not a good idea to modify metadata using other tools after media has been added to the iTunes library - any changes you make will only be visible (and update the database) when iTunes opens the media files to play them.

Also, MP3 files can include multiple versions of some tags - these are located in different places within the .mp3 file and can, in some cases, contain different values for the "same" tag. A third-party tool may, for example, update the value in an ID3v1 tag but leave that in the corresponding ID3v2 tag unchanged - when iTunes imports or opens the file, it generally will pick up the ID3v2 version (iTunes' "native" MP3 tagging uses ID3v2.3) and so the changes won't be seen.

"changing file details in windows is a RPIA" - indeed, and as noted above, inadvisable. It is perfectly possible (and in some cases desirable), however, to use 3rd party tools to edit/update metadata associated with media files before they are added to the iTunes library (I use foobar 2000 for this, mainly because it handles bulk updates far better than iTunes), but once your media is in iTunes you should only use iTunes to make changes to it,

"itunes column headings (album/album by artist/album by year, etc) is utterly unclear" - these are just sorting options within iTunes' Songs view - switching between these doesn't modify metadata in any way.

• Album - sorts songs by album (and then by disc number and track number); if present, values in the Sort Album tag take preference over the Album value
• Album by Artist - actually specifies a "double sort", first by artist (with preference order of tags being Sort Album Artist, Album Artist, Sort Artist, Artist), then by album (as above) within each artist
• Album by Year - effectively a "triple sort" in that ordering will be by artist, then by values in the Year tag, and then by album (where the last component is significant only if the library/playlist being sorted contains two or more releases by an artist with the same Year value).

As mentioned iTunes should ask whether or not you want to let it scan for media when it is first run. Although there appears to be a binary choice between letting it do so or visiting the iTunes Store, other choices exist, such as dragging and dropping media to the iTunes window, or enabling the menu bar with Ctrl+B and then using the File > Add Folder to Library option.

See Grouping tracks into albums for some ideas on logical organization of the iTunes library. Gracenotes has particular shortcomings when it comes to classical content. For me the artist in this case is the composer and the performer information is of less interest. Ideally there would be a few more fields in the global databases that are used, but it is possible to make something that works in iTunes as it is.

ITunes works best with mp3 files when they have a single ID3v2.3 tag. v1 limits most strings to 30 characters and supports fewer fields. Many players and tagging programs can and both a V1 & V2.x tag in parallel but iTunes doesn't always play nicely when these are present and may fail to process metadata changes correctly.

This is my post on deduping.

iTunes may create duplicates if the same content is repeatedly added from outside the media folder when it is set to make copies of anything that is added to the library, or is added from an external drive that hosts the media folder that was offline when iTunes was launched.

Apple's official advice on duplicates is here: Find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library. It is a manual process and the article fails to explain some of the potential pitfalls such as lost ratings and playlist membership, or that sometimes the same file can be represented by multiple entries in the library and that deleting one and recycling the file will break any others.

Use Shift > View > Show Exact Duplicate Items to display duplicates as this is normally a more useful selection. You need to manually select all but one of each group to remove. Sorting the list by Date Added may make it easier to select the appropriate tracks, however this works best when performed immediately after the dupes have been created. If you have multiple entries in iTunes connected to the same file on the hard drive then don't send to the recycle bin.

Use my DeDuper script (Windows only) if you're not sure, don't want to do it by hand, or want to preserve ratings, play counts and playlist membership. See this thread for background, this post for detailed instructions, and please take note of the warning to backup your library before deduping.

(If you don't see the menu bar press ALT to show it temporarily or CTRL+B to keep it displayed.)

The most recent version of the script can tidy dead links as long as there is at least one live duplicate to merge stats and playlist membership to, and should cope sensibly when the same file has been added via multiple paths.

tt2

This may be too late to be useful (unless you have a backup from your E: drive that you can use to start again!) but when moving an iTunes library between drives (or between PCs) it is much easier to replicate the complete library structure, including the library database and other supporting files/folders, as well as the media files and folders. To do this successfully, everything should be contained within a single parent folder and look something like this:

See tt2's notes on Make a split library portable for the steps that may be necessary to bring your library into this layout. Moving files and folders around in other ways is just about guaranteed to produce problems, typically those associated with iTunes being unable to locate the media files for items in its library database.

Once you've done this you can SHIFT-start iTunes and select the library file on the external drive, with all your library content - including playlists, ratings, play counts, etc. - being retained. My own setup is not dissimilar to yours, in that my library (structured as above) is on an external USB drive, which I regularly back up / replicate to three other systems (all of which also use external drives).

With respect to tagging systems, you're right that most aspects of the way that "standards" are defined for creating and storing metadata for media in MP3/AAC/etc. formats is primarily targeted at "popular" music and does have some apparent limitations when applied to classical music. It is, however, possible to work around these limitations.

For example, I tag everything in the "classical" segment of my library setting the Artist value to the orchestra / conductor / soloists / etc., but put the composer's name in the Sort Artist field. So, in your example, any recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony would have "Beethoven, Ludvig van" in the Sort Artist tag (with variations to use Album Artist and Sort Album Artist where the album includes recordings by different artists/ensembles). Similarly, I set the Album value to the name of the work(s) included in the recording, but set the Sort Album value to the composer's name followed by the year of composition (using Opus nos. or equivalent would also work here). This isn't really set up to make searching easier, but has the advantage that in Albums view I can sort by Artist and then by Title with the results actually being ordered by composer and then by date of composition. I'm using a different iTunes library at the moment but I can follow up with some illustrative screenshots shortly ...

You're welcome. 🙂

You know where to find us if you have further questions. 😉

tt2

Yes, the bruce ipod folder on your desktop bears all the hallmarks of an earlier media recovery from iPod attempt. As long as the content is all stashed safely somewhere else now you can throw that folder away. It certainly isn't part of any standard iTunes setup.

tt2

1. The Windows column title Name is the filename, which isn't really exposed in iTunes. You can use the Get Info > File tab to see the filepath which ends with the filename.
   
2. iTunes doesn't pay any attention to the physical layout of the files on the drive, what matters is what the metadata says. If in iTunes you reveal artist, album artist, album, sort artist, sort album artist, sort album, track # & disc # you should be able to see most of the data that has an impact. Compilation isn't exposed in the list, and some split album issues are caused by invisible characters such as trailing spaces. The Grouping article should cover all of the potential causes and treatments. In the case of the Berlioz Requiem each track has been given a distinct album name rather than them all sharing a common one.

tt2

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2