Error:  Original file cannot be found, would you like to locate it?

My computer crashed, so I bought a new laptop.  I have everything backed up on an external hard drive.  I tried to transfer everything from the external drive to my new laptop, and now all of my music appears to be listed in itunes.  However, when i try to play a music file I'm getting an error that says the original file cannot be found, would you like to locate it?  Any ideas?

Select a broken track and press ctrl-i to Get Info. Look on the summary tab for the location where iTunes "thinks" the file should be. Where is it really? Post back the two locations and I can suggest the best approach.
tt2

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    Basically, the computer thinks the music is 'lost'. Follow the prompts and try to locate it. It should navigate to the files and redraw the links which should make that pop up go away

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    Select a broken track and press ctrl-i to Get Info. Look on the summary tab for the location where iTunes "thinks" the file should be. Where is it really? Post back the two locations and I can suggest the best approach.
    tt2

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    i installed itunes to my new computer and transfered all my playlist from the older computer. the software came with the new computer hp link up. the problem
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    DIXIE

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    When I try to listen to the songs I purchased from iTunes last week, I get the error message, "could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it?"  What do I do to fix this problem or locate the song?
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    I am getting this same message.  I recently bought a new Macbook Pro and the geeks transferred my files from my mini-mac.  Perhaps they did not transfer something critical?  I follow the "locate" option when it asks to find my files and I get a file folder that has a red circle with a white bar in the middle. 
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  • My partner deleted my itunes (10) library. I use a WD external back-up and retrieved my itunes library, but when i try to play a song i get the message 'could not be used because the original file could not be found Would you like to locate it?'

    My partner deleted, by accident my itunes library. I have an iMac 10.6.7, Itunes 10. I use an WD passport as an external back up and retrieved my itunes library but now get the message "could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" so itunes is not recognised the exclamation marked songs, how do i get the retrieved files recognised. At times I get fed-up with Apple blocking files being used, although I like the product its restrictions are so silly!

    You not only have to retrieve the library file from the backup drive but the actual music files (usually stored within the "iTunes Media" folder) as well.

  • Song could not be used file not found would you like to locate it?

    I receive the following message when I try to play a song from my library in Itunes:
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    The songs that were purchased from Itunes play with no problem but all the others have this message. There are thousands of songs stored and it would be impossible to do this for every song. Any reason why this happed and any suggestions on how to get these songs to play without locating every file?

    What worked for me was to delete all the songs from my library (but keep the files!) and then drag & drop the folder containing all the music files into my library: See: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6471379#6471379

  • When i try play a song i get this message " the song could not be used because your original file could not be found, would you like to locate.  I tunes works on my iPad

    OSX 10.9.5

    I am getting this same message.  I recently bought a new Macbook Pro and the geeks transferred my files from my mini-mac.  Perhaps they did not transfer something critical?  I follow the "locate" option when it asks to find my files and I get a file folder that has a red circle with a white bar in the middle. 
    I have the same issues with my downloaded movies but my apps all seem to be fine.
    Even more confusing - it seems to allow random songs to play and download on my Macbook and other devices.  But most of my music - whether downloaded from iTunes or my CD collection comes up with that message about the original file. 
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  • Song can not be used cause original file cant be found. do you want to locate it. but doesnt work and cant nplay song. help

    song cant be found. do you want to locate it. but doesnt work and cant play songs. I have a ! in a circle before each music file. help.

    Did you navigate to /Music/iTunes/iTunes media/Music/ and find yoru song?

  • "song could not be found would you like to locate it? "

    I get this message alot i guess because i keep all my music on an external harddrive. When i got a new harddrive and put my songs on it alot of the "paths" suddenly did not work. if the computer cannot find the song all i have to did is say i would like to locate it and then type the name of the song in and it finds it every time. The problem comes when i have to do this say a hundred times because i have a ton of music. Can i make itunes or automater do that for me? If that doesn't make sense please leave a comment and i'll get back to you thanks again.

    iTUnes isn't like other programs in windows that "Watch" folders and files for changes. What I mean buy this is players like WIndows Media Player (WMP for short) Winamp and others will "Watch" for changes you make. If you go into "My MUsic" folder and chage the name of a song file or move it from one folder to another, these players will catch that change usually and update there library.
    Sadly iTUnes for windows does not do this. If you change ANYTHING, like the name of the file or the folder its in, or move it from one folder to another, iTUnes looses track of its location and puts a ! mark beside the songs.
    The only way to fix it is either put the files and folders back to the way they were OR manually go thru the library and show iTUnes where each file is.

  • TS4062 i cannot sync all the songs/artists i want with i tunes I am getting the message "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found would you like to locate it" but it cant... most of my music on i tunes is now saying this I h

    Help I cannot

    Hello Imelda2
    You would need to locate those songs on your computer. Check out the article below for tips on how to locate the files and relink them.
    iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1408
    Regards,
    -Norm G.

  • 'Original file could not be found'  Would you like to locate it?

    I gotta admit to being pretty sick of seeing this message, when trying to edit/play songs from itunes.
    Could someone please tell me where I'm going wrong.
    All my music is on an Ext HDD simply because there is more than my laptop can handle. I have changed the preference settings so that the itunes music folder location is this one folder on the HDD. All of the music was transferred to the ipod from this particular folder on the HDD.
    However, I almost always have this message pop up. The strange thing is that it also seems random as in, some songs can't be found one day and a different batch the next day! I know that in computer software terms, that doesn't make sense but that is the way it appears.
    Thanks..

    You're welcome!
    +the ITunes folder that is automatically created from the beginning and defaults to My Documents, has been moved to the designated music folder in the HD, thats right isn't it?+
    Maybe, depends how you did things. If you just changed iTunes Edit > preferences > Advanced tab > music folder location, that only affects future music that you add.
    Older files will still be on the default C: drive unless you did the Consolidate library command.
    Also, you might have a few itunes database ITL libraries floating around, one on your C: drive and another on your G: drive.
    You can open different libraries by starting itunes, and immediately *press & hold* the shift key.
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iTunesWin/7.6/en/15502.html
    Mayeb someone else will chime in with thoughts.

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