Impossible to restore my iTunes library from a backup

Two days ago I subscribed to MobileMe and synchronized everything. Yesterday, I created a new MobileMe account and cancelled the first. Everything works fine.
But I lost my iTunes library yesterday afternoon. In the iTunes folder: iTunes Music, iTunes Applications and Album Artwork still have all their items, but I can not see any music, playlists, software or anything when I start iTunes! It looks like new and empty...
I tried restoring my iTunes library as suggested:
1. repaired authorizations on my hard disk and backup disk;
2. followed the recommendations in Apple Technical note No HT1451 ( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451 ) - no luck;
3. attempted to restore my iTunes library by using Time Machine… (BTW, it appears that TM does not backup "iTunes Music Library.xml"…!?);
4. I used Onyx in order to find out if "iTunes Music Library.xml" might be hidden on my HD or backup, but did not find it in any location.
Nothing seems to work… My iTunes library is kaput… I'm out of my wits.
Could it be an interference caused by MobileMe?
Message was edited by: fdboucher

Oh well… not much help really…
Anyway, I did at least recover all my music, podcasts and other files, by throwing away ALL the iTunes preferences plists in my User>Library>Preferences file.
But I'm still ****** at not being able to recover my playlists… The only "iTunes Music Library.xml" that is available does not hold that information. Earlier versions are not to be found on my Backup disk.
1. Is that file "iTunes Music Library.xml" THE file that holds all the information on playlist content and music ratings, play history etc.?
2. Is that file "iTunes Music Library.xml" recoverable from my iPhone? Or elsewhere? Is it hidden somewhere in my backup?
Thanks for your consideration.

Similar Messages

  • How do I restore my iTunes library from a backup?

    Like an idiot I deleted my Itunes library after backing it up to an external HD. After doing this I deleted my original iTunes library and lo and behold I had no music. I thought I would be able to play them from the external HD but this wasn't the case. I did restart iTunes with the option key pressed and I was asked where I want to take my music from, but when I selected the copy I had made I got a window pop up
    http://img.skitch.com/20091004-r8me3yehp85rmtrdj2qhff8udb.jpg
    I since copied the folder back from my external HD (but not using Time Machine as I use another HD for that), but how can I restore all my playlists I had before, is this possible?

    All your playlist info is in the iTunes Music Library.xml file. If you deleted that, you are out of luck. If you can find the iTunes Music Library.xml file in your backup, see if this document can help you: How to re-create your iTunes library, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451

  • My mac hard drive crashed. Can I restore my iTunes library from my iPod to my new hard drive?

    My mac hard drive crashed, and had to be replaced. Can I restore my iTunes library from my iPod to my new hard drive? About 2500 songs, some from iTunes store, most from other online sources or my own CDs.

    To restore non-purchased music on the iTunes Store to iTunes from the iPod, you need a third-party application as Senuti > http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/ You can use others, but this has worked perfectly for me

  • HT1751 Hi, I tried to restore my itunes library from an external drive and did everything that's written here step by step.when I chose the itunes library to import itunes just said that its accessing the itunes store but nothung happened. I'm working on

    Hi, I tried to restore my itunes library from an external drive and did everything that's written here step by step. when I chose the itunes library to import itunes just said that its accessing the itunes store but nothing happened. Does anyone know how to do this so that all my playlists are also imported and not just the music itself?

    When I have done this, all I did was network the two machines and copy the contents of the iTunes folder to the other machine, and that's it.
    My understanding (which may not be 100% correct) is that the one file that is absolutely necessary is iTunes Library, and that the XML file is actually a copy auto-generated from the iTunes Library, appearing in a different format only for non-iTunes apps that take advantage of the iTunes Library data.
    As far as I know, if you simply have the Library (database) file and all your original music files, iTunes on that computer should operate as it did on your old computer. I believe that the Album Artwork, Genius Data, and XML files can be regenerated from the Library file. Not sure about the Extras file.

  • Restoring itunes library from a backup

    I copied my iTunes folder into a backup drive. My hard drive died, and now I want to "re-connect" my iTunes with its library. How can I do it? Simply pointing iTunes to the library location doesn't work.
    I need to be able to sync my iphone, etc... Help!

    When restoring Itunes library from a backup DVD, will it overwrite anything already in the library?
    No.
    (47058)

  • I want to restore my iTunes Library from Time Machine

    I want to restore my iTunes Library from Time Machine, but when I enter the Time Machine, I don't know where to look for it. Can anyone help?
    Thanks,
    Paul

    Your iTunes Library is typically in…
    Your  home directory > Music > iTunes
    … and if you restore that entire folder it will revert your iTunes Library in total to the state it was as of the date and time you select in Time Machine.

  • How can I restore my iTunes library from iPod after a HD crash?

    My computer HD crashed and had to be replaced....
    I've just installed iTunes and connected my iPod, I can't find a way to restore the iTunes library from the iPod.
    I keep all my music on an external HD, everything that is on the iPod (~140GB) is on the external HD (and more) so I don't want to restore the library from the iPod to the HD nor recreate playlists, etc.
    What can I do?
    Thanks for your help

    Check out the following post. It will work with your iPod video.
    Be very careful when connecting an iPod full of music to an empty iTunes library.There is very real risk of permanently losing all the music.
    To prevent auto sync, before you connect the iPod go to the iTunes preferences and select "devices", then select "disable automatic syncing for iPhones and iPods".
    An alternative method is to connect the iPod whilst holding down the 'control+shift' keys and do not let them go until your iPod appears in iTunes.
    If you see a message that your iPod is associated with a different library and asks if you want to link to a new one, make sure you press "Cancel".
    If you should click on "Erase and Sync" will erase all the content currently on your iPod and it will be replaced with the content of the iTunes library you just connected to.
    When you've pressed cancel your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list under "devices" and allow you to change the update setting to manage the iPod content manually, and that will let you use your iPod for the time being without the risk of accidentally erasing the contents.
    Then do any of the following to transfer your music from iPod back to the computer/iTunes.
    For iTunes version 7 or later, then you can transfer purchased iTunes store music from the iPod to an authorized computer by using the "file/transfer purchases from iPod" menu. Note that the maximum of 5 authorized computers applies here.
    Find out how to do that here.
    How to copy iTunes purchases from an iPod or iPhone to a computer.
    For all other non purchased content (your own CDs etc), check out the instructions/suggestions here.
    Music from iPod to computer (using option 2). This a manual method using "hidden folders" and although it works, it is a little more involved than other methods.
    Much easier ways are to use one of the many 3rd party programs that copy music from the iPod to the computer.
    One of the most recommended is Yamipod. This is a free program that transfers music from iPod back to the computer. However, it does not transfer playcounts/ratings etc.
    Other free programs are Pod Player, SharePod and Floola and iDump and iPodRobot.
    If you want to recover just the structure of playlists from the iPod (and not the actual song files themselves), there's iRepo for Windows. which I understand has this feature along with all the standard features for these programs.
    iPodRip also has the feature enabling you to reconstruct playlists.
    There is also CopyTrans. This does preserve ratings/playcounts etc if those are important to you but this program is not free. It also supports video transfer.
    More information is contained here.
    Copying content from your iPod to your computer - The Definitive Guide.

  • I'm sorry for repeating this, but i have not found a clear answer. i have a macbook wit iTunes library, an iMac, and a time capsule. how can i transfer my itunes library from TC backup to the iMac? thank you -

    i'm sorry for repeating this, but i have not found a clear, step-by-step answer in several hours.
    i have a macbook with iTunes library, a new iMac, and a new time capsule. how can i transfer my itunes library from TC backup to the iMac?
    (sharing the iTunes library between the macbook & iMack requires both machines and seems silly ...)
    thank you -

    No.

  • From some reason (i'm not sure why..) my whole iphoto library got deleted. I restored the whole library from my backup. The photos are blank but steel have the photo info. (date, res., size etc.) Do you know what's the prob.? why can't i see my pics.

    from some reason (i'm not sure why..) my whole iphoto library got deleted. I restored the whole library from my backup. Now all the photos are blank but steel have the photo info. (date, res., size etc.) Do you know what's the prob.? why can't i see my pics.

    It's says that file does not exist. How come? And why does it still show the image info.?
    Where can i find those files (i have a daily backup)
    The original image files are missing form your iPhoto library or iPhoto cannot find them, because the link to the originals has been broken. The image info is stored in the internal libraries, independent of the original files. That is, why you are still seeing them.
    I restored the whole library from my backup.
    Try restoring from an older backup, from before you first noticed the problem. 
    How large is the library, that you restored? Is the file size large enough to hold all your photos, or has the size been reduced?  If the library is still large, the photos may still be inside, even if iPhoto cannot find them.
    It's says that file does not exist. How come?
    What happened, before your iPhoto library got deleted? Which applications have you been running, or which new software have installed or upgraded?  Have you moved the library to a different disk or tried to use it from different user account or access it over the network?

  • How can I restore my itunes library from iphone 4?

    My backup files failed to restore my itunes library music after I had to reinstall Win 7. I followed all the instructions from Apple but my music library is empty. It now shows duplicate folders in my itunes file under 'My Music.'
    Is there a third party software that will let me back up my iphone music so it will not get erased by itunes? Or is there some way to use icloud to send my iphone music to itunes?

    lol, nevermind. I came across an article that made it easy. For anyone else with this problem it's real simple.
    Open itunes
    File>Add Folder to Library
    select 'itunes' and it will add your music to your library
    Although it went through all my apps asking if I want to replace or don't replace with newer, when it finished all my music appeared in itunes just like I left it before reinstalling Win 7. Easy Peasy. I've seen others with same problem but nobody seemed to have this easy solution.
    Now I can finally plug in my iphone and sync without losing all my music from my iphone.

  • Restoring the iTunes library from an iPad to a "new" macbook pro

    Hi! Really need help here, so this is what happened:
    The hard disk of my macbook pro crashed and I sent it for repair.
    After the repair, all the data e.g. itunes library, iphotos library
    are gone (sigh, i didnt do a backup at all)
    So now, the macbook pro is technically "new" and thankfully everything in my itunes library
    is still intact in my iPad. I'm trying to sync it back to the mac. Well thats the only way for me to restore the whole library
    Is this possible? Please let me know how to do it
    MANY MANY THANKS!!!!

    If you do not have access to the iTunes Library on your Old computer... or its Backup...
    See these 2 Links...
    Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991
    Syncing to a New Computer...
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141

  • How to restore iphoto & iTunes library from time machine?

    My imac has had its hardrive replaced - (unfortunate) - and I am wanting to restore the files fom itunes and Iphoto only.  I have tried for many hours following other posts, support, but have so far not had any luck.  What is an "Idiots" way to achive this, hort of taking my mac back to apple and get them to do it for me!

    Open Finder and go to Music folder. Then, open Time Machine and restore the iTunes folder. Open Pictures folder and restore iPhoto Library of Time Machine

  • Can you restore an iTunes Library from an iPod Touch??

    I had a hard drive crash on my PC and lost my iTunes Library. Can I recreate it from my iPod Touch? My fear is that I'll connect my iPod and everything will be erased. I have not yet downloaded new iTunes s/w.
    Jim

    Open iTunes first and go to Edit>Preferences>Devices and check the box "Prevent iPods and iPhones from syncing automatically" and choose Ok before connecting your device.
    iTunes will only give you the option to 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
    Purchased applications can be downloaded over again, see this article for details: How to redownload purchased applications from the App Store
    For everything else (music from CDs etc.) there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod Touch or iPhone. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer data (such as playcounts and ratings), movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well.
    A selection of iPod/iPhone to iTunes utilities:
    Senuti Mac Only (iPod Touch & iPhone compatible)
    SharePod Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
    TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
    iPodRip Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
    Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
    iPod Music Liberator 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)
    Once you have recovered everything from the iPod and your iTunes library has been rebuilt it will be safe to sync again.
    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

  • Trying to figure out how to restore an iPhoto Library from a backup onto a new system.

    I had an old imac that  died but I have backups of everything. I want to restore the iPhoto Libary to another system on another login
    The old system was an iMac that was running I think either 10.5.8 or 10.6 and I think iPhoto6. I want to restore from a backup onto a newer iMac running 10.8.1 with iPhoto 9.3.2. When I go to the backup I see the iphoto libray, but it does not show the icon I was expecting. What I see is
    Not the icon I thought I would see. When I double click I get a terminal window and I can see all of the files
    So how can I get these photos onto my new system?
    Thanks

    The backup was made via Time Machine. I want to take an account from an old machine to a different newer machine in the house. I tried using the migration assitant to move files onto the new system and all seems well except for photos. When iPhoto startes up it appears to recognize the photos and I can see thumbnails when I flip through, but I do not see full sized photos. How can i see all of the full sixe photos and make sure the conversion pulled my pictures over?

  • When I try to restore my iTunes library from DVD, iTunes stops copying the files after some minutes

    On 2 of my 9 DVDs, iTunes stops copying and I can't do anything with iTunes anymore. I have to reboot my computer. So I'm not able to bring back all my files. Has anyone got help?

    Thanks but I already did read all of the help notes, which aren't very helpful for this.  I did find out the problem- Apple.....they evidently changed one of the major upsides to their old software- being able to back up your entire library onto dvd's- so you can longer do that or restore from the dvds created from older versions of itunes.  I suspect greed is at play in that Apple now wants you to pay $24.95 per year to use a "cloud" service where they back it up for you.  I can buy a lifetime supply of back up dvds for one year's worth of cloud.  So I am now looking into other music software as I am Appled-out.  There is no reason for them to take away the back up portion of the software other than to sell you thrir cloud service.  As we have already given them a ton of money for 5 Ipods and a bunch of music, I think we have contributed enough.  Time to look to solutions outside of the Apple money tree.  But thank you for reading and replying.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Request.getParameter() not working correctly for Check Boxes!

    Hi, I am writing my own custom form action in cq5.4 and I need to access the fields of my form. I have a checkbox component on my form named 'cbox' and now I want to access it. So this is the code I'm writing in the JSP String name = request.getParam

  • Extra-ordinary depreciation is not shown on the Asset History Sheet

    Hi, When doing a disposal of assets via transaction ABAVN, the extra-ordinary depreciation is not shown on the asset history sheet in the "Deprec for the year" column. How can I show it on the asset history sheet? Thank you for your feedback. Kind re

  • SAP SRM PORTAL WORKFLOW

    Hello All. i have a bidder approval workflow. I have to call a function module that will create an LDAP account. So I'am using an activity step in the standard WF, and calling this function module (attached to a BO method--delegation). The FM, wants

  • 16:9 with added effects becomes 4:3 when I export it.

    I have recorded some footage in 16:9, imported it in iMovie HD, edited it, added some effects, and now I´m trying to export the project to my camera. The problem is only that the parts where I have added an effect turns into 4:3 once I export it. The

  • I have multiple windows open in firefox but tab opened in one window appear in another window

    I think the question has all the details... its very irritating that when you are trying to read content of one website in multi tabs in a single window but the new links opened randomly opens in another window