Syncing ipod to itunes with exclamation marks

Question

Hi,
I was wondering if I sync my ipod with exclamation marks on some of my songs in itunes, will those songs disappear from my ipod if I sync it? There are quite a few songs in my playlist that have exclamation marks next to them saying that they can't be found, however they are already on my ipod. I have been afraid to hook up my ipod to add new songs I've added for fear the ones I already have on it that now can't be found will dissappear. I did move some of the songs to an external hard drive to make some room on my computer hard drive, but some I can't find. Can you help me?

Answer 1

You should understand how iTunes managed your music.
If you move, edit, delete or otherwise change a music file listed in the iTunes Library with a program or tool other than iTunes, you may end up with a "!" in front of the song name or a message like “the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" It is important to note that iTunes does not keep track of music file changes made outside of iTunes.
See these Threads for ways of finding &/or removing the Broken Links:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=818692#818692
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=607582
EASIER:
Download this to your Desktop: http://ottodestruct.com/itunes/FindDeadTracks.txt (right-click, save-link-as)
and this, as well: http://ottodestruct.com/itunes/RemoveDeadTracks.txt (right-click, save-link-as)
Rename each to FindDeadTracks.js & RemoveDeadTracks.js respectively.
Run iTunes.
1) While iTunes is running, double click FindDeadTracks.js to run the script.
It will give you a list of all the exclamation marked tracks.
2) While iTunes is running, double click RemoveDeadTracks.js to run the script.
It will remove all the exclamation marked tracks.
This well-written iLounge Article is a must-read for anyone who wants a better understanding of how iTunes manages your music.
Best of Luck