I lost my hard drive, can I retrieve my itunes library?

I lost my hard drive, can I retrieve my itunes library from my Ipod Nano?

It has always been very basic to always maintain a backup copy of your computer.
Have you failed to do this?
If so, not good, then you can transfer itunes purchases from the ipod: File>Devices>Transfer Purchases

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My computers hard drive has stoped working, how can I retrieve my Itunes library from my computer?

My computers hard drive has stoped working. How can I retrieve my itunes library? My back ups were on this hard drive as well.
When I brought my computer to be fixed they said they would retrieve photos and music and documents but loose my programs. That being said I am not sure if I will recover my music from itunes because it may fall under the program category. I support itunes by purchasing from itunes, but now i am in a position where i may loose years of purchassing music and it has me feeling a little bit sick to be honest...the stress this is causing is really big. DÙoes anyone have any experience with this type of problem?
Help is appreciated, thank you.

If the data is recoverable from the drive then they should have recovered the entire iTunes folder which includes the library database. Restore this into the <User's Music> folder of a replacement system, install iTunes, and it should be as before.
See also Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device. Even if you don't have one there should be some useful links...
tt2

Syncing -whenever I connect my iPad to my computer it ejects my external hard drive which is where my iTunes library is stored? What's the deal???

Syncing -whenever I connect my iPad to my computer it ejects my external hard drive which is where my iTunes library is stored? What's the deal???
Anyone know how to fix this?

You can't connect directly to the external drive, but should be able to use iTunes Home Sharing via the laptop.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH1453

New MacBook pro how do I add external hard drive which has my entire iTunes library on it. Do I just drag external drive icon into iTunes preference box that shows where new itunes library is now located ie. On the MacBook pro.

how do I add external hard drive which contains my entire iTunes library to new MacBook Pro. i want to keep iTunes library on external hard drive. But I want all my iTunes information: artist, songs, albums, playlists on my new MacBook Pro. I know about going to iTunes preferences- advanced-itunes media folder location. At this point I don't know what to do Do I drag external icon into iTunes media folder location box. I want to keep music files on external hard drive. I don't want to use macbook pro memory for my very large music files.

I will request that your query be relocated to the iPhoto forum where knowledgeable iPhoto users will be able to assist you.
Ciao.

Lost hard drive, can I retrieve music from ipod?

I need some help I lost my hard drive and didn't back-up my iTunes so I lost everything. Is there a way to transfer the music from my iPod to either my computer or to iTunes? Any help would be appreciated.

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Here are a few options...
YamiPod
MacMuse: Computer Crashed
You can also search the Discussions and/or the Internet (via Google) for more options.
btabz

Trying to use my Lacie external hard drive to back up my iTunes library.

For some reason, I cannot send my iTunes song files to my external hard drive. My PC recognizes my hard drive (I formatted it) and it lets me save text files to the hard drive but it will not let me save my musci library to it. I am trying to transfer my iTunes library from my PC to my new Mac laptop and also just wanted to back up my iTunes library. Any help would be great.

You can Use iTunes for Backing up your Music, but I do not favor this mehtod.
It works fine for music files BUT: I prefer more control and completeness over my backup process. It is also very important to note that a large limitation of using iTunes to manage the backup is that the iTunes method does not create or maintain backups of the two meta-data files (iTunes Library.itl & iTunes Music Library.xml) where your Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, etc. are stored. See: What are the iTunes Library files?
If you are heavily invested in your Library data (Playlists, Play Counts, Ratings, Last Played, Date Added, etc.), it is crucial that you also make and archive multiple backups of your ‘iTunes Library.itl’ file.
If your music is located under one common Folder (e.g.-‘iTunes’), then it is easiest to physically copy that folder and all its sub-folders in one simple process. It can be done quickly, and incrementally – several times a day, when necessary. In the case of any data loss, just re-copy your entire (or partial) music library back to wherever it was, placing it in the main Folder that the previous iTunes expected. Along with the ‘iTunes Library.itl’ metadata file, this completes a full ‘restore’ of your music to the time of your last backup.
Use of a backup software program will greatly help. It will allow you to easily perform incremental backups of only the files that have changed. WinXP has such a facility built-in. I use a free program called FileSync ( http://www.fileware.com ). There are many out there. Some use Zipped files or proprietary formats, others use standard file formats. I like FileSync as it uses normal file formats that can be viewed/managed via any Windows program or utility.
iTunes Files to Backup (anytime you make additions or changes to the Music or Library that you want to retain)
1) All music files in their current folder structure (usually located in and under the ‘iTunes Music’ folder)
2) The Library database file: ‘iTunes Library.itl’ located in the ‘iTunes’ folder
3) The Library XML file: ‘iTunes Music Library.xml’ located in the ‘iTunes’ folder
4) Any XML playlist files created for Playlist retention
5) The two iTunes.pref files (optional)
-- C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunes.pref
-- C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer Inc\iTunes.pref
6) The XML file of Ratings, Play Counts and Last Played attributes saved from the main Library and created by Otto’s SaveRatings script (also optional, but recommended):
“Download this: http://ottodestruct.com/itunes/SaveRatings.zip . It's a program, just run it like any other program. Run it on the machine where you're copying the info from BEFORE you move the files to the new machine. Click the "Save Ratings" button and it'll create a ratings.xml file. Now when you move the files, move the program and this file as well. Then after you make your new iTunes library, run it again and click the "Restore Ratings" button. Voila, all your information is back in the Library. Well, most of it anyway, it's not perfect. It'll tell you what songs it couldn't figure out though, and there's usually not very many.”
Here's a list of possible ways to copy your music files from your main iTunes computer to another storage medium for backup purposes.
1) Use an External Hard Drive to store the complete iTunes meta-data files and underlying Music Folder structure and songs from your main computer. They are quite cheap now, for their storage volume. This is my preferred main medium.
2) If you have Two Computers:
2a) Connect them through a router
2b) Connect them using a Direct (w/Mac) or Crossover (PC/PC) Ethernet cable (See: http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3001.html)
2c) Connect them via a USB-to-USB Network Bridge. See: here as an example.
Copy the files and folders from one computer to the other. Use the second PC as your backup repository.
3) Burn several DVDs (at 4.7+ GBs each) with the music data files and store them safely. Re-writable ones are good for backup purposes (if your DVD drive can manage these).
4) Burn 6x more on CDs (at 700MB each) than in #3 above and store them safely in more space Re-writable ones are good for backup purposes (if your CD drive can manage these).
5) Use a larger USB Flash drive (1GB – 4+GBs) to store the files only if you have a small amount ripped music or have multiple and/or jumbo USB drives at your disposal that will fit your music library.
6) Use the Second Internal Hard Drive (if available) of your PC -- not optimum, as you really want to physically separate the storage of backups from the originals, but good as a tertiary storage device.
By keeping only one copy of your music (other than on the iPod), you are not truly 'backed-up' and are running a high risk of losing your music. Music files on just the iPod and the computer is not considered having any backup. If you cannot store your complete music files on the computer’s internal HD, then create and maintain at least two external sets (any multiple combinations of ExHDs, DVDs, CDs).
You need at least two full sets of your music, not including what is on the iPod:
-- One full set on the PC within iTunes (on internal HD or ExHD)
-- One full set on an separate external backup medium (CD/DVD/ExHD/other)
-- One (full or partial) set on the iPod
It is a good policy to backup all your important data. It is a very smart policy to back it up on more than one medium.

HT201250 can't find item lost on hard drive, can i find it on time machine ?

i have lost a spreadsheet. how can i locate it on my time machine backup disk?

Enter your time machine backup (from the TM menu) and search for the item in there - then restore the most recent version of it.

I can't retrieve my itunes library

Here is my question, I recently deleted my old account on my computer and when I created a new account i lost all my files. Except for my Itunes, it seems that whenm I plugged in my I pod to the computer is synced to a new library and now I can't get to my old library. I do have all my stuff on my ipod though. Can someone please help me, this is dribing me nuts not being able to get into my library.

1). Connect your iPod to your computer. When you get the message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod.
2). When your iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual, that will let you continue to use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default: Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
3). Once you are connected and your iPod is safely in manual mode there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. iTunes will only let you copy your iTunes Store purchases directly from an iPod to the computer, you'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
For everything else (music from CDs, other downloads and including iTunes purchased songs and in some cases, videos and games) there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
A selection of iPod to iTunes utilities:
TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
SharePod Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod2PC Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
YamiPod Mac and Windows
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows
Floola Mac & Windows
iPodRip Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide
4). Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync.
5). I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive

Hard Drive crash, creating a new iTunes Library from my iPhone

Hi,
My hard drive crashed with my iPhone back up and all my pictures, music etc. I have no back up.
I need now to make sure my iPhone is backed up and get my photo's off the phone. So I have created a new iTunes and iPhoto file and copied the pictures across. But when going through the options for my iPhone in iTunes, I am fearful of wiping the information on my phone. It does not appear I can pull the information from my iPhone to my iTunes account, instead my phone will be wiped and the non existant music on my iTunes account wil replace my collection...
I understand the need to protect against priracy, but come on, the phone has the same serial number!!
How to I get around this and create a back up without deleting stuff?
Thanks

Hi,
I am about to do this (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2584477?start=15&tstart=0), but having lost all my photo's on my old hard drive, I am afraid I will lose them on my iPhone!
Can someone tell me if the 'Library' photo's where kept as well as the 'Camera Roll' photo's?
I cannot figure out if the photo's from the 'Library' (on the phone) have been included in the back-up.
Thanks

HT1660 can i retrieve my itunes library? I have changed computers and cannot find my downloads

I bought lots of records from itunes back in 2009 but now cannot retrieve them from the itunes library. Are they now lost and forgotten or can I find them somehow?

Did the backup of the old computer die as well?
Many times when user's state "my computer has died" this is simply not true... the drive may still be very usable and therefore able to access the data on the drive.

How do i put the song from the hard drive back in the new itunes library?

I had a laptop with music in the itunes library. I put the music from there in a hard drive. I bought a new laptop. How do i put the songs from the hard drive back into the itunes library on my new laptop.

A possible cause is a problem with the file places.sqlite that stores the bookmarks and the history.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Bookmarks+not+saved#w_places-database-file

How can I retrieve my itunes library on a new computer after my older ipod dies and cannot be turned on?

A while back my early model iPod died and I have no desire or money to replace it. I invested a small fortune in my library and it was quite a blow when my pc died eventually as well. I still have the old broken ipod, (good for it's serial number but that's about it), and am using a new computer that I would like to try and retrieve my extensive itunes library on. I know somewhere in the labrynth that is apple support there is something about getting your library back with the use of your broken device's serial number but cannot find it back. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks in Advance...

A while back my early model iPod died and I have no desire or money to replace it. I invested a small fortune in my library and it was quite a blow when my pc died eventually as well. I still have the old broken ipod, (good for it's serial number but that's about it), and am using a new computer that I would like to try and retrieve my extensive itunes library on. I know somewhere in the labrynth that is apple support there is something about getting your library back with the use of your broken device's serial number but cannot find it back. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks in Advance...

Refreshed computer, now everything is gone. Can I retrieve my itunes library?

I had to refresh my computer, I backed up my itunes library on computer before I did. After I did my itunes was gone and had to download itunes again. All my music and photos are gone, is there anyway I get retrieve them? Everything is still on my iphone and ipad.

That's a backup of the iPhone, not a backup of the iTunes library. Use the Transfer Purchases function in iTunes, and follow these instructions.
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HT203167 lost my hard drive how can i get songs from ipod back to new computer

I lost my hard drive and want to get my music back on my new computer. How can I get songs from my ipod to my computer? I am afraid to sync it and losing what is on my ipod. Any help would be appreciated.

It has always been very basic to always maintain a backup copy of your computer for this very occasion.
Use your backup copy to put everything back.
If for some reason you have failed to maintain a backup, not good, then you can transfer itunes purchases from your ipod: File>Transfer Purchases

I lost my hard drive contents and itunes wasn't backed up. Can I recover the library from my iPad?

I lost my hard drive contents and itunes wasn't backed up. Can I recover the library from my iPad?

You won't be able to recover you entire library from your iPad but you can recover some of its contents by transferring the purchases back to iTunes. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848 This will not transfer anything you did not purchase from iTunes, for example music or video files you had stored on the HD and you put into iTunes. Without a backup that information is gone. One very important thing to keep in mind. Once you sync the iPad to the new iTunes it will remove all the afore mentioned music or video files from the iPad. Do not sync with iTunes if you want to keep those files. Hope that helps.

I lost my hard drive, can I retrieve my itunes library?

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