ITunes for Windows freezes when importing a library. I have a large but not huge library of mostly iTunes purchased music on two authorized computers and would like to sync the files, export the library as a playlist, and import it on the other computer.

Question

I am running iTunes for Windows 10.2.2 on Windows 7 Home. I have my iTunes library on both this computer and another authorized machine running Windows 7 Professional. I have a large but not enormous library, as I'm one of those people who doesn't pirate, use torrents, borrow from a dozen friends, or whatever other shades of gray you might imagine. It's mostly iTunes purchases with my old CD collection imported. I have started using the following technique to sync my libraries between my two authorized computers, an ability which you can probably all agree should one day be added to iTunes -- that would be different from Home Sharing, because the music would be stored locally and thus available on the road. With the added benefit of the entire library being backed up on the other machine in real-time. Anyway, when I switch from my desktop to laptop and vice versa, I use the following technique:
Connect both machines to the home network. One machine is the "Active" machine, which has most recently been used for iTunes media, purchases, ratings, etc.
On the "Active" machine, File-->Library-->Export. Save the file as "Library.xml" on the shared drive of the other machine.
Right-click "Library.xml" where it's been saved, and open another file that has two lines in it: The root path of the iTunes library on one machine and the root path of the iTunes library on the other machine.
Do a find/replace all in Notepad to make the library XML file point to where the files will be saved on the "Inactive" machine.
Run Microsoft SyncToy to synchronize the files between both music libraries; the most recent files win. This avoids copying the entire multi-gigabyte library over the network.
Open iTunes on the "Inactive" machine.
Go to Music, Select All, Delete. Keep files.
Do the same for Movies, Music Videos.
Go down to Playlists, select the top one, hold down the delete button until they're all gone.
File-->Library-->Import Playlist. Choose the "Library.xml" file you saved.
First a status bar comes up that says, "Importing library." It has the continually-scrolling progress bar, not the one that starts on the left and steadily creeps right. Then after about 30 seconds, that clears out. Wait. Typically a few minutes. Eventually a status bar will pop up saying something like, "Evaluating gapless playback information," or something like that.
The "Inactive" computer is now the "Active" computer. I can now play my library, it has all my playlists and metadata from the other machine.
Delete all the duplicate playlists named "Music," "Genius," "Purchased," and "iTunes DJ."
Well, I just upgraded to iTunes 10.2.2 a few days ago and tried to do this again like I've done it dozens of times before. Now, iTunes just goes unresponsive after the library import. It got through the "Importing library" bar to the long wait and stopped. I can still multiprocess and use other programs, but iTunes is hovering back there not responding to clicks. Task Manager doesn't seem to think iTunes is using my CPU, and I don't see my hard drive rattling. Any thoughts on why iTunes might hang up when importing a large library?
... Also, please help lobby Apple to come up with a network sync tool built into iTunes for a user with multiple authorized computers. Something different than Home Sharing so I can pull my laptop off the network and still have the synced library with me. And all my metadata changes will sync. The technique I use seems a little kludgey, don't you think?

Answer 1

iTunes isn't an editor. You need an app that's intended for editing audio files, like Adobe Audition (http://www.adobe.com/products/audition.html) or Audacity (free in the App Store).