Backing up library (including ratings and playlists)

i know the directions are on apple's website and also ilounge but i dont understand them... could someone please explain to me how to backup my music including playlists and ratings.

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 lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. 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.
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!
You should be able to go back to the last backup before recent events, recover that version of the library with all your ratings, bring it up to date with any changes, then back up for the future. Good luck.
tt2

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I moved iTunes folder location, now all my personal song ratings and playlists are gone. How can I get them back? All the iTunes files are intact, just in a new location. Running iTunes 11.1.5.5

I moved iTunes folder location, now all my personal song ratings and playlists are gone. How can I get them back? All the iTunes files are intact, just in a new location. Running iTunes 11.1.5.5 on Windows 7

Put everything back the way it was.
Them move the folder correctly.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364

How Can I Get My Ratings and Playlists to Mirror Across Multiple Accounts?

I'm sharing my music across two accounts on my Mac by placing my iTunes folder in the Shared folder, with an alias to that in each User's Music folder. It works fine, but the User of the other account would like the benefit of all my Playlists, and would especially like to have all My Ratings.
How can I get My Ratings and Playlists to mirror across multiple accounts? I would've thought simply importing the <iTunes Music Library.xml> file would do it, but since we're both using the same iTunes folder, we must already be using the same XML file, right?

The answer about where the ratings, etc. are stored is not an easy one, but the best I can figure is that it is a combination of the iTunes Music Library.xml, the iTunes Library file, and the com.apple.iTunes.plist. Apparently, the com.apple.iTunes.plist (in the under User/Library/Preferences) references the other two files. If you close iTunes, take the com.apple.iTunes.plist out of the user's Library/Preferences folder and then reopen iTunes, you will see that all the ratings, play counts, etc. (track information) will have disappeared. If you close iTunes, replace the com.apple.iTunes.plist, then reopen iTunes, the track information will be restored. The playlists, which are not part of the track information, seem to function independently of the com.apple.iTunes.plist, but if you share the whole iTunes folder across accounts, this should include the playlists. When I back up my iTunes library to another folder, I back up a copy of the current com.apple.iTunes.plist from my User/Library/Preference folder. I think that the way this works across multiple accounts is that the com.apple.iTunes.plist reads track information from the other files in the iTunes folder, because if you throw away the com.apple.iTunes.plist from one user account, it affects all the other user accounts sharing the same iTunes folder.

Carrying Over Song Ratings and Playlists to New Install of iTunes

Hi All,
Hoping someone can help here. I've had my iTunes music on a NAS drive for a few years, but lately I've found iTunes to be freezing virtually every two seconds when reading my files.
I tried removing all the old iTunes files (.itl and .xml files after backing them up) and then importing the folder with all my music and video files again.
Now iTunes is super quick, but I've lost all my ratings (c9,000 tracks) and all my playlists.
Is there some way to use the XML or .itl files to re-create all the ratings and playlists on top of this fresh import?
Many Thanks
F

OK after 5 hours of beating my mouse I have the answer.
Open Itunes.
Select your entire list and delete it. (If this makes you nervous start with one album. I wouldn't trust me either.) It will ask if you want to send to the recycle or keep the file in your media file. I chose to keep as I didn't want to drag them back out if I was wrong. Interesting that when I tried this again while writing these instructions. It didn't ask me a second time.
Now you that have that deleted your list/library. At the top left Click <FILE > then <ADD FILE TO LIBRARY>
This will bring up a new window.
On the left side of the new window. (my computer anyway) there is a list. Click <MUSIC> then double click the <iTunes folder>. Then Double click <iTunes MUSIC>
Now you are looking at all your artists folders. Select them all. You can click while holding the CTRL button to select all of them. They will self fill in at the bottom above the select folder button. click the <SELECT FOLDER> button.
TA DA ! Now you list/library is being repopulated with your music. Now wasn't that fun?
I even tried it again as I wrote out these instructions. No problems here. Please try this with one album first.
If this works for you please come back and say so. That way people will know it's a good work through. If it does not work for you please say so in CAPS So people will know it may not for them.
This solution was pure trial and error. On a Toshiba Satellite running WINDOWS Vista Home premium. No warranty expressed or implied. Your mileage may vary. If swallowed do not induce vomiting (that's gross).

Since you can no longer backup to disk, how to restore from external drive without losing all ratings and playlists

since you can no longer backup to disk, how to restore from external drive without losing all ratings and playlists?

My own opinion is that you should install the later appropriate version of Silverkeeper. That said, I would in fact recommend if you can wait a few days for an answer, that you email the La Cie Silverkeeper backup team via the email link on the site at http://www.lacie.com/silverkeeper/
They are careful to say they are not officially providing a backup service, but when I emailed them with a query regarding usage about a year ago after downloading Silverkeeper for myself, I got a reply within a couple of days that cleared up my question.

I've recently messed up my Mac OS X Lion by deleting Aperture, but I need to get my data out of the computer. And by the way, I've got an important project in Final Cut Pro X. Is there any way I can back it up (including fxs and positions of the clip) ?

Hello everyone
I've recently messed up my Mac OS X Lion by deleting Aperture, but I need to get my data out of the computer. I've tried to repair it using DU, but it said I needed to backup all my data and reinstall the OS. How do I backup my data to an external drive?
And by the way, I've got an important project in Final Cut Pro X. Is there any way I can back it up (including fxs and positions of the clip) ?
Hope you guys can help me!

You need to back up 2 folders, Final Cut Events and Final Cut Projects which by default are located on your Movies Folder. You can always check by clicking on a clip inside Fianl Cut X and selecting Show in Finder in the contextual menu for the selected clip.

Transfer Music Ratings and Playlists from iPhone 5c to Macbook Air iTunes

Hi,
My iPhone 5c used to sync with my old Windows laptop via iTunes and both devices held all music information on them such as iTunes rating, playlist information and the selected songs to be synced (there are more songs on my iTunes on my laptop than my iPhone). All of these songs are also saved on an external hard drive. None were purchased through iTunes.
When my old Windows laptop died, it died abruptly so I did not have chance to consolidate the iTunes media folder. I have now bought a new MacBook Air to replace my old Windows laptop.
When I plug in my iPhone 5c to my new MacBook Air, when iTunes offers to sync it advises all information on my iPhone will be lost.
Is it possible to transfer the ratings and playlists from my iPhone to iTunes on my MacBook Air, at least for the corresponding songs that exist on my iPhone? Note I have the original songs on an external hard drive so the song files themselves do not have to copy across. All the files in the iPhone exist in the external hard drive.

Below are the steps about how to transfer playlist from iphone to itunes:
Step 1: To create a playlist on your iPhone or other iOS device, open the Music app and then tap on Playlists at the bottom left of the screen. Once there, tap on Add Playlist… at the top of the screen. Here you will be prompted to name your new playlist. Enter a name and then tap on Save.
Step 2: Each song will have a blue “plus” sign to its right. Tap on the sign next to each song to add it to your new playlist. When you finish choosing songs, tap on Done at the top right of the screen to finish creating your playlist.
Step 3: Connect your iPhone to your Mac or PC either via a cable or wirelessly and click on it from the menu on the left pane.
Step 4: From the tabs at the top of the iTunes Window, check the Sync Music option and also check the Selected playlists, artists, albums and genres. Then select the playlist you just created from the list below. To start syncing, click on the Apply button.
Step 5: Syncing will then start and after it is complete, you will see that the playlist you just created on your iPhone is now also on iTunes under Playlists on the left pane of the iTunes window. Or vyou can use iPhone Transfer.

How do I update iTunes without loosing my existing library ratings and playlists?

I am so tired of deleting the songs the program cannot find because I did an update! with over 7500 songs loaded this takes a while, I loose all my ratings and songs in my playlists. The songs don't go away I just have to add the file folder again so it can find the songs. Fine, but then I am left with over 7500 "duplicates" that were originally loaded with ratings and sorted into playlists. Anyone know about this?

The "missing file" thing 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 say no when asked 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. I can provide a step by step guide if you give me the two paths.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps and locate the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links. 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.
Or see this post on deduplication.
tt2

Ratings and Playlist

so i have a pc laptop, with all my music on a seperate hard drive.
this weekend i had to create a new user account on my laptop.
i had to reinstall itunes.
i then added the folder of all my music.
in doing so i lost all my ratings and my play list (though the play list are still on my iphone).
how do i get my ratings and play lists back in itunes?

All the ratings & play lists, etc are in an itunes database file named
iTunesLibrary.itl
It is probably still sitting in the old user account folders.
On XP the path is
C:\Documents and Settings\ USERNAME \My Documents\My Music\iTunes
Here is a good article on moving iTunes stuff around without losing ratings, etc..
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive

Transfer iTunes environment (including ratings and last played)

I want to use iTunes on a different computer to access my current music library, but I want to preserve my ratings, last time played, etc. I have seen earlier posts about transfering music library, but they don't preserve the environment. Doing it manually isn't really an option.
Originally, my PC was under powered but had large discs, so once I had loaded the library, I used my laptop to import the mp3 files across my network. My PC has since been upgraded, so I would like to use iTunes from my PC, but keep the rating system and "last time played" information from my laptop.
Essentially, the path names are the same except for the drive name. I tried making a copy of the "iTunes Music Library.xml" file and doing a global replace of the drive name in the path field, but the iTunes on my PC seemed to ignore any changes I had made, or at least didn't retain ratings and last time played.
Any suggestions on how this is done? I am familiar with XML and comfortable experimenting and making changes. My guess is that I wasn't able to correctly set the "Library Persistent ID" field. Is that associated with the library or the computer (or both)?
PC Windows 2000

All you have to do is change the drives letter to the same one iTunes library presently is on, then copy the library file over to the PC and import it in iTUnes

Since upgrading to the latest Itunes my ratings and playlists are GONE!!!!!

hey all,
Since I upgraded to Itunes 7 I cannot see any of my ratings or playlists on my computer. But I still have the playlists and ratings on my Ipod!?!?!?!!? What is UP? HELPPPPPPP??? Also, when I first opened the new Itunes it did not see any of my music even though it was looking in the right folder. So I simply grabbed all the songs and dumped them right into Itunes. Now it sees the songs ONLY (no playlists and ratings). HHHHHHEEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!

i'm having the same problem! what should i do???
any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Does backing up library preserve events and slideshows?

Does backing up iphoto library preserve events and slideshows?

If you back up the Library, yes.
Most Simple Back Up
Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.
Slightly more complex:
Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically. Examples of such apps: Chronosync or DejaVu . But are many others. Search on MacUpdate

Lost iTunes ratings and playlists

Used Migration Assistant after installing Leopard. It moved my tunes but not the ratings and the playlists. Tried recopying from backup, same result.
Any ideas?
BB

Hey I was searching for some information and I saw you had a partial answer to what I needed help for. I was wondering if you could help me as I've been looking for quite a few days now still needing help... I can get my xml and itl file but what do I do???
I recently purchased an 80gb Ipod because my old Ipod's (3g 40gb) battery was nearly dead. I don't store my songs on my computer but I still have them on my old ipod. What I want to do is I want to transfer EVERYTHING from my old to new ipod (playlist, playcount, date of last played, ratings). Basically have the same data from my old ipod on my newer one. But I mean when I transfer my songs through iTunes and all, the data that I want to transfer as well doesn't carry over, just the songs (play count, ratings, etc. goes blank). Can you help me please!?! How can I transfer play counts, ratings, dates, and playlist?
PLEASE HELP!

How to Backup ratings and playlists?

If I needed to completely restore my PC, and choose to re-install itunes, how would I backup the ratings for all the songs, and backup my playlists? How would I make these effective after the restore/recovery?

The most important file is the itunes database ITL file.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
Always back this up before updating itunes!
And remember to deauthorize your CP before reinstalling windows.

Issues after transferring to new PC - filenames, ratings and playlists

Apologies if this is a common query - though I can't find anything similar on the forums.
I recently consolidated my iTunes library (i.e. MP3s were moved to same folders as iTunes purchases) in order to transfer my files to a new computer. Having moved them across, and added them to iTunes on my new PC, there are three issues I'm having:
1 - ratings have all gone. Is there a way to recover these?
2 - smart playlists - do I have to export them to XML on my old PC to transfer them?
3 - filenames. Consolidation made a bit of a mess of my music folders and files. Is there a way to rename files and folders, and move files into new folders, without having to then create a new library from scratch (which would cause ratings to vanish)?
Many thanks in advance for any help. Let me know if I need to add more detail.

I am surprised that there does not appear to be more people with the same problem - I would have thought that this was quite a common issue, and also one quite easliy solved.
jhuk123 - were you running Windows XP on your old pc and transferring to Vista by any chance? I wondered whether problems were occuring due to different routings paths to the folders where the music and data were stored. Also on my old PC I stored all music ina different location to the default I tunes folder so do not know if this has added to my problem.
Very grateful if someone can help us out with this.

Backing up library (including ratings and playlists)

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