ITunes Library cannot find my music nor movie.

Question

I have spend long nights now, but cannot figure out what is happening:
I have a brand new iMAC PC and am switching from Windows to MAC so everything is new. Actually I though I could connect my iPod just like that, but no...after different kind of problems I managed to move all music files to iTunes Music (incl folders with PODCASTs and MOVIES), using an external HHD, so far so good. But there is no way I can import the music and movie to the library. Podcasts rolled over without any problems and now I have only some fotos & podcast on my iTouch!
Importing from a CD works fine! And when I click on Music & movies under the library it is filled with 'old' files which cannot be found and I am also unable to delete these.
Another thing which I find strange, when looking up a song in FINDER and clicking on it, it opens and plays, but not in iTunes.
Can anyone help???Much appreciated, because I so dissapointed....THX

Answer 1

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't normally lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping.  Note that in iTunes 11 an "empty" library may show your past purchases with links to stream or download them.
In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
Alternatively, depending on exactly when and why the library went missing, there may be a more recent .tmp file in the main iTunes folder that can be renamed as iTunes Library.itl to restore the library to a recent state.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
When you get it all working make a backup!
Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library, or a backup of it, then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
Would you mind telling me which anti-virus package you use? It may be that it is disturbing iTunes when it tries to write out the fresh database, as it does after almost any activity with your library. I'm noticing more of this type of problem than usual and trying to see if there is any pattern. It may help to prevent a repeat of the problem if you look at the advanced options for your AV package and see if you can find a way to exclude the main iTunes library folder (and subfolders if possible) from any real-time scanning process.
tt2