Song could not be used b/c orignal file could not be found

Hi Everyone,
Ok, I screwed up something and I think it was the "link" to my itunes files. Here is my situation. When I choose certain songs the following dialogue box appears "The song "xxxxxxxxxx" could not be used because the oroginal file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I have been doing this all evening. Is there a short cut that will re-establish the connection? Thanks for your time and help

Quit iTunes ...... Relaunch iTunes while holding down the OPTION key.
Choose: reload "Music Library"
Quit iTunes ...... Repair Permissions (Disk Utility) .... RESTART computer.
Launch iTunes.
DIXIE

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When I try to sync, it will tell me that some of my songs can not be found, almost 100 of them. Any suggestion how to fix this?

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iPod touches or any iDevices from Apple sync only to one computer. If you sync to a different computer, all your music will be replace with the music from the new computer's iTunes. If the music were purchased from iTunes, you can re-download them again otherwise the music on iPod touch will be deleted. Do you have iTunes backup?

The song could not be used because the original file couldn't be found

About a week or two ago I loaded up my iTunes to find that most of my music could not be played. Upon clicking on the songs I got the message "The song '__' could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" This was weird because none of my music was missing from my computer and it was in the same file location that it has been in all along. I went into the preferences and noticed that the iTunes media file location was different and I changed it back to what it was before. This helped with about half of the files but I still have about 1500 that I will have to "locate" in order to play. This is a solution, but unfortunately it is very time consuming. Does anyone have a solution that could ultimately fix this and save me the time?
Thanks,
Stunray
Message was edited by: Stunray

*Adding new items/removing orphans*
Try iTunes Folder Watch or iTunes Library Updater. Folder Watch is much faster on the adding files front, can be set to run in the background and includes a useful exclusion feature, however it’s really slow at removing orphans. iTLU is better for this although doing it manually after looking at a list of proposed removals generated by Folder Watch is probably faster still. iTLU can also be set to update iTunes when you've used 3rd party tools to change tag info.
tt2

Error message: Song can not be found.

I went to play a song I originally purchased on iTunes years ago and have played many times, then got this error message:
"The song "White Room" could not be used because the original file could not be found."
What do I do now? Can I re-download the file from the music store? If so, how? Thanks.

Hello Auroria,
After reviewing your post, it sounds like you want to download a past purchase. I would recommend that you read this article, it may be able to help the issue.
Download past purchases - Apple Support
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a nice day,
Mario

I am trying to transfer songs from my ipod to my iphone but it says the songs can not be found on the ipod but I can play them on the ipod.

The iTunes library says I do not own them and they can not be found on my iPod. But I can still see and play the songs on the ipod. But when I try to sync them they do not appear.

It is not possible to sync music directly between an iPod and an iPhone. The music must be in an iTunes library and that must be used to sync the music to each device.

Error: [songname] was not copied to iPod because the song can not be found

I know that from my searches, this topic has been touched on but I am unable to locate a solution. So my apologies in advanced if asked and answered.
When updating, iTunes tells me that some songs cannot be copied because they cannot be found. However, the songs are clearly in the iTunes folder. I also have a backup copy of my entire library and adding them back from that library does not work either.
Here is what I have discovered about these files: some are songs that were in an album by themself and then the rest of the album was added later. Some of the songs are in the format of .mp3 and some are in the format of .m4a. None of the affected songs are purchased from iTunes; none of my purchased music is problematic.
This problem seems to be growing. At first it was just one song, then it grew to 48 and then to 59. The songs play just fine in iTunes, but cannot be copied to the iPod. I checked the properties of the songs, and none of them are read-only. There should not be a problem with permissions on this computer as I am the administrator and gave myself full priveleges on installation.
Clearly there is something wrong with these songs that prevents their being copied. Does anyone have any idea what is going on?
At the risk of getting flamed, please don't respond just to gripe about Apple, etc. I am looking for solutions, not commiseration.
Thanks in advance!

Replying to my own post since I don't see how to edit.
I have some more information that may help if someone can determine the significance.
I EXPORTED one of the playlists that contains 2 of the above described problem songs. I converted the text file to a table and then noted that in the last column (column 27) that there is a PATH to the song. All other songs do not have this in the path. The path does not refer to the current location of the file, either.
The first song that this happened to does not appear on any playlists so I did not discover this.
The rest of the songs got "lost" after I added some old playlists back to my Library that I had exported. In one particular playlist two of the songs had the wrong path in the Location column, and neither was found. However, the rest of the songs had a blank field in that column and were found just fine. So.... I think I may be onto something, for all those who have this problem. However, the only way to actually do this without a supercomputer would be to make a playlist of all the not-copy-able songs, export the playlist and carefully look for that path data.
I would love to hear if anyone has tried this for this problem. I don't want to keep replying to my own posts, but I honestly think I cracked this "bug". The problem appears to be that the data in the database gets errors in it during the moving/addition of a song from another place on the system, regardless of the settings in iTunes. In my case, I consolidated my library, allowed iTunes to organize my music and I am a fanatic about spelling and so forth for song titles and related information.
--CRN

HT1399 My songs can't be played because the original files can't be found. What can I do?

I can't play my songs on my computer because the original files can't be found. I can, however, play them on my ipod. I tried to re-download my purchases but itunes won't allow me to do so. What can I do to retrieve my music files on my computer?

If you still have the 'pointers' to the tracks on your computer's iTunes (even if the files themselves aren't on there) then it won't let you re-download them as it assumes that they are still there - if you delete the 'pointers' then you should be able to copy your Apple purchases back from the iPod via File > Transfer Purchases, and depending on which country that you are in you might also be able to re-download them for free. For music bought from other sources or copied from CDs you will either need to copy them back onto your computer from a backup, or you need to get a third-party program that can copy them off the iPod

I deleted half of my songs from windows media player by mistake and can't play the songs on my I tunes library because the files can't be found. is there a way to reinstall them back to my library without having to buy them again?

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tt2

Receiving error message "The song "example" cannot be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?". I have not changed any file names ...

Ive searched this error message and tried to remedy, with no luck.

Yes, with no luck ... But I'm not exactly a computer tech. I searched with spotlight with no results.

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THANK YOU

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Sly

I have some albums on my itunes that were transfered from my ipod, and some that were put on itunes from CDs. Now the 1st 10 songs of every album say that the original file can't be found, and i cant find them anywhere.

One day, they were there and working, the next they were all like this. There is a lot of money in these, and i would like to be able to keep using them.

WhyItuneswhy wrote:
It seems to be that every few months or so I can't move songs around
Never move songs around by hand, iTunes will lose track of the files that you move.
Your iTunes library is normally stored in C:\Users\<User>\Music\iTunes.
The iTunes application stored in C:\Program Files\iTunes is meant to hold a selection of dll files that are needed by the program. Leavel them alone unless you are actively Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates.
If you know where you've moved things to my script FindTracks may be able to reconnect iTunes to the relocated tracks.
tt2

What does "The song "Blue On Blue" could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" mean?

i've dowloaded some music to my mac from i tunes but it shows a '!' in the list and it says it can't be used because the origional file can't be found. why? how can i fix this?

It means when you click on a track in iTunes the application looks up in its database which file is associated with that information and goes and plays it, but in your case it cannot find the file. It is asking you to tell it (or not) which file it is supposed to play. You fix it by answering "yes" and then guiding iTunes to the file it is supposed to play when you click on the track.

Orignal file could not be found

Last night i was sorting out my lap top puttin all of ma trance into a file.
Now today most of my music has this error message:
"The song "example song 1" could not be used because the orignal file could not be found. Would you like to locate it."
The problem is not where the file is i no where they are, but i have that many songs that i wud have to locate it would take me forever.
Is there a way for me to like make itunes auto find all of ma songs so i dnt have to go thru this grueling process of finding all my music.
Please and thanks

Other than telling iTunes where they are on a one by one basis, your only other options are:
1) to undo the sorting you did so that the file structure returns to what it was before you made the changes or
2) to start with a new iTunes library. Regrettably, this method will lose your playlists and related information (Ratings, Play Counts, Dates Last Played, etc.).
If that's not a deal-breaker for you, delete the current entries in your Library by highlighting them - iTunes Edit menu > Select All - and then right-clicking > Delete . You remove the entries from your Library but keep the files themselves in your iTunes Music folder, assuming that's where they are in the first place.
You can then add them back into your Library by selecting the iTunes Music folder in Windows Explorer and dragging it into the Library entry in the iTunes Source List (left-hand column).

On some of my files there is a ! in front of it, if I try to play the song, I get an error message; "The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" Then when I click "Locate", I get nothing.

I'm really dumbfounded on this one and it's driving me bonkers!!!! On some of my music files there is a ! in front of it, if I try to play the song, I get an error message; "The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
This began to happen when Chuck made playlists2burn on2CD-and then he would delete the playlist; sending all the song files into oblivion. Certain songs have a ! right next to the file name, and as I stated before, i get that error message:
"The song "_____" could not be used, because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
So I click on "Locate". No help. I get a menu with folders that say "catroot" and other folders which names I cannot remember, but I scroll PAST the file folders, & it's just a bunch of ".DLL" files.....I don't understand what any of the names of the folders mean...it's frustr8ing-coz this is my 2nd iTouch, my 1st one got stolen & I can't afford2buy my music back at this time & i NEVER before had a single problem with losing song file locations.
              Is there anyone out there who has been through this frustrating game of chasing your tail?....<that's how I feel>
If so I would be ever so gr8ful if maybe someone with the knowledge would be so kind as 2 tell me how/where 2 retrieve these songs & how to put everything back where it belongs, I would be 4ever gr8ful !!!
I can't afford 2 replace the songs just like I'm unable 2 buy back my old music from my stolen iTouch....man that was an awesome collection-someday I'll be able 2 afford 2 do that & I would like 2 have all the new music that I paid 4 but cannot find when I got my new iTouch....that would just be wonderful.
             I hope someone sees this post that can help me retrieve these files....losing $100.00 of iTunes is a REAL BUMMER!!!!!!
                                                  ThanQ SO very much!
                                                                         [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] .
                                                                                           You can also find me on Facebook, my given name is Tiffinie Trimmer, &
                                                                                            that's my Facebook "handle". ThanQ 4 taking the time 2 read all of this!
                                                                                            hope 2 get a reply someday....I'll B checking all my emails & my Facebook, as well
                                                                                            as marking this page in my FAVORITES so I can find it fast! Take Care!!!

I was not complete clear.
Since you never changed the settings in the advanced section of iTunes preferecnes, you have to chech that your music is really in the location setted in the folders reported in the advanced section. If not you have 2 ways: reset the position of this folders or in the actual disk organisation or in the pointing on the preferences.
If you press the reset button you just give to itunes its default setting as for the position of the music files: probably this will be a good choice if you have never changed any default preference.
But before I would check the folders and see if the songs are really there
In my iTune I have this, and I believe it is the default.
Users/YOURHOMEFOLDERNAME/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music

I can no longer play my music from iTunes on my computer. i get the error prompt: The song (name) could not be used because the original file could not be found. What do I do?

not sure what to add other than to repeat myself. ive lost ability to play music from my iTunes library on my computer. Everything is there but i get an error message that says '"The song (name) could not be found. Would you like to locate it? Then it gives me the option to locate or cancel. i can't do that for 3800 songs!! i have all my music in separate folders by album and all individual selections in an external hard drive. i can play from there but thats clicking on one number at a time. i lost my capability in the process of Microsoft correcting a problem with my outlook program. Why, i haven't a clue. help!!

This happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes .
tt2

Song could not be used b/c orignal file could not be found

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