Can't import entire iTunes library from external hard drive

I recently had to reset my IBM ThinkPad T40 (Windows XP) to factory settings. Of course, I backuped up my iTunes library on an external hard drive, and there didn't seem to be any problems doing so. (I've had to do the same thing before) But I can't re-import the entire library now! It only imports about a thousand songs (I had about 5,000), and I get an error message saying "The file iTunes Library.itl~ cannot be imported becuase it does not appear to be a valid exported file.") I also tried to import a previous back-up (stored in a different folder, and it wouldn't import all of those files, either -- no more than in the more recent backup files) either. I've tried re-downloading the iTunes software several times. Help!!!!
Thanks!!!
PS: Is there a way to sync my iPod to import songs from that BACK into itunes?
IBM ThinkPad T40   Windows XP  

This seems to have deleted ALL of my iTunes. The folder (and all iTunes files) is still there on my backup, but now the newly-installed iTunes won't import ANYTHING (It at least imported about 1,000 (out of 5,000) songs before. But now it says all files are invalid, regardless of where I attempt to import them from. (although the names of some playlists import -- but they're empty files) It appears that SOME of the music files are located on the backup copy, but simply won't import. Perhaps they're corrupted?

Similar Messages

  • Backup and restoring itunes library from external hard drive?

    is there a way to backup and restore my itunes library to external hard drive and not through the internal itunes backup utility cos i have over 20gbs of music and i want to keep my album art and renamed songs etc. because i will be reformating my pc and dont want to go through painful task of manually adding stuff again.

    Try this...
    *Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
    Grab SyncToy 2.0, a free tool from MS. Use it to create a backup copy of your iTunes library & any other media folders onto another hard drive or network share. After making the initial backup copy use SyncToy to periodically synchronise the backup copy with your library and only the changed files will be copied saving lots of time.
    When the time comes to reformat your PC, do a final sync, then open iTunes & deauthorise the PC, reformat & rebuild Windows, copy the backup folders back to the same location as they were previously, install iTunes and it should all work perfectly.
    tt2

  • Can't restore itunes library from external hard drive

    Prior to my hard drive crashing, I dragged my entire itunes folder (with all sub folders) to a firelite external hard drive. I replaced the power book HD, and I want to put my backed up library on the new HD. I dragged the folder from the firelite to the music folder (in place of the itunes folder that was already there). Unfortunately, the itunes library is still empty. Am I missing something?

    Yes, the relative location is the same, the user account has the same short and long lame as before.
    I did try to use the preferences to point to the backed up itunes folder. Once when it was on the eHD and once when I put it in the music folder. Unfortunatley no luck.
    I will try your idea about using "Consolidate Library"
    One other interesting thing I tried a few days ago was to follow the procedure outlined in the apple support section about restoring the library. It has you move the libray xml file to the desk top, trashing one of the other files (I forgot which) and then choosing the xml file placed on the desk top upon starting itunes. I thought it was kind of odd to select the very xml file I was having trouble with so I chose the backed up xml file. It put all of the playlist folders back in duplicate, but the library was still empty (probably becuase the xml file is just a reference file and I hadn't loaded any actual music files) If the consolidate doesn't work, mabye I'll try that again, but also put the folder with the actual files on the computer as well
    I'll let you know how "Consolidate" works, thanks for your suggestions!

  • Migrating iTunes library from external hard drive to new laptop

    Hi there, I am wondering if anyone can help me please? I am a complete newbie to this forum thing, I am just getting into this cosmic sharing world but find myself utterly frustrated with iTunes and my new laptop - with little help on the Support pages, so i am venturing into the unkown and seeking help from anyone out there.........slightly scary for me, this really is my first post on a forum - so be gentle with me :0)
    On my old steam driven laptop I had to move my iTunes library to an external hard drive, my 250MB hard drive just wasn't enough (I know pathetic wasn't it). All ok there and I have been using it no problem. I have now upgraded (finally!!) to a new wonderful laptop (with webcam and all sorts!)but I am at the end of my tether trying to get my iTunes library from my external hard drive to appear in the Library on the laptop. boo hoo.
    I have tried changing the file location in the Advance section of preferences, i have tried choosing the library after holding down the shift key on start up (you see not a complete numpty). They all appear to work as i don't get any error messages, but the songs just don't appear in the library. Am i being a complete numb nuts here? what am i missing?
    If anyone can help i would be really grateful as this is spoiling the euphoric feeling i have of my lovely new laptop!
    cheers Latte

    tonybassplayer wrote:
    Thank Chris I have just done that. How do I now get them in to Itunes ?
    If you simply copy the iTUnes folder to /Music/ and launch iTUnes, everythign will be there. No need to import anything.
    This will work the same with iPhoto.
    Simply copy the Photo library to /Pictures/ folder and launch iPhoto.

  • How do i restory my entire itunes library from the hard drive of a new laptop to itunes?

    I recently got a new laptop and would like to transfer my itunes from the old to the new. I backed up the itunes library to an external hard drive, and have transferred it to the hard drive of the new laptop (I haven't deleted the library from the old laptop). I am operating on windows. I am now stuck and can't seem to restore my entire itunes library to itunes. The items purchased from the itunes store are in the library on the new laptop, but the rest of my music is not. How do I restore it to my itunes library? I have tried opening itunes while holding down shift and selecting "choose library" option, but when I select the itunes folder, it doesn't appear in the library.
    help?!

    Hello ggjsa,
    Congratulations on your new laptop!  I understand that you have copied your old iTunes Library to your new computer, but you are still not seeing the music.  I recommend reviewing Part 5 in the section titled "External drive" in the following article:
    iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4527
    If you are still having trouble transferring the library using this method, you may want to try using the Home Sharing method in the article. 
    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
    Best,
    Sheila M.

  • Backing up entire iTunes Library on external hard drive?

    I have recently purchased an external hard drive to backup all media on my computer (photos, music etc).
    However, having searched apple.com for backup advice, the only instructions available refer to creating backup discs on an a CD.
    I have already copied my Itunes Library to the external hard drive. However, please can someone confirm that this is sufficient and if, in the event that everything goes wrong, the $800 of music that I have from iTunes won't disappear.
    Thanks for you help

    Unfortunately the iTunes backup only works with DVD/CDs.
    You can simply copy your iTunes directory to the external disk, or you can use backup software outside iTunes to manage it for you. If you have XP pro you already have a backup program. If you have the home edition, it has to be installed from the Windows CD if you got one with your PC.
    There is a good article on backup here:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1522195&#1522195

  • How to get ITunes library from external hard drive to new PC

    have ITunes folder from dying PC saved on external hard drive. PC now dead. New PC has Windows7, and have loaded ITunes.
    Now need to know exactly what to do to get all that lovely music from the external hard drive onto the new Windows7 PC. The ITunes folder has the following inside it:
    ITunesMusic folder in it, which looks like all the music is in there.
    Album Artwork folder
    ITunesLibrary.itl
    ITunesMusicLibrary.xml
    ITunesLibraryGenius.itdb
    ITunesLibraryExtras.itdb
    What do I do, and in what order? I'm thinking I should NOT need to plug in the ipod, since everything is saved on the external drive. (I don't want to accidentally wipe the Ipod, since I'm pretty sure it is set to automatically sync.....)
    the whole point of doing frequent backups was to not lose anything. Note: did NOT use apple for backups, just regular backup program. Can see the files and folders, just need to knkow what to do.
    Thanks in advance for the help!

    Drag and drop the whole folder into the iTunes application.
    The iTunes application meaning your library once iTunes is open

  • How do I transfer iTunes Library from external hard drive to another drive?

    I have filled by 160GB drive with my iTunes music library so I am purchasing a 400GB external drive. I want to transfer the entire library to the bigger drive. Can I simply drag via fire wire then entire libarary to the new drive and then "tell" by iTunes Mac where it is? Any step by step would be appreciated.
    Thank you.

    I just posted this to another topic, but it applies here as well. Hopefully there's no prohibition on cross-posting on this board, my apologies to all if there is:
    "I haven't read the whole thread, so someone could have already mentioned this, but I did the same thing, move my music library to an external drive. The Help articles are helpful, but only up to a point. When that didn't work, I called up AppleCare support up, and they took me through all the standard steps, and got stumped at the same point I did. Finally she suggested trying something, and that ended up doing the trick. So here in brief is what you do:
    1) Copy over your "iTunes Music" folder to the external hard drive
    2) Go into Advanced preferences to have iTunes look for the "iTunes Music" folder in the new location. If you're like me, your music won't appear in the Library.
    3) In iTunes, go to the Library window (which is probably blank), then in a Finder window, find the icon for the "iTunes Music" folder in the new location. Drag that icon onto the Library window.
    You should now see a progress window pop up showing all the songs that it's populating the Library window with."
    20" Intel iMac 14" iBook G4, 233 MHz Beige G3   Mac OS X (10.4.5)  

  • Need to move iTunes library from external hard drive to Mac desktop.

    I moved my iTunes library from my Mac desktop to an external hard drive. I needed to do this so the Apple Store could do maintenance work on my computer and I didn't want to lose my files. How do I move the iTunes library back to my Mac desktop?

    Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings:  Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive.  Open iTunes and immediately hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) so you get a prompt to select a library, then guide it to the 'iTunes Library.itl' file in the moved iTunes folder.
    If you put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music  then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there.  (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)

  • How to import previous Itunes database from external hard drive into Itunes on new computer

    I need to know how to import a previous iTunes data base that is saved onto an external hard drive into the iTunes library on my new computer

    There's only one way to do this.
    Copy the iPhoto Library from the old machine to the Pictures Folder on the new machine. You have to copy it as a single item. Then open it, don't import it.
    Regards
    TD

  • How to transfer my ITunes library from External Hard Drive to Mac Book Pro

    I recently had an issue with my Mac Book(OS X Yosemite)  Had to take it to the store and they fixed it (replaced graphics mother board or something like that) Before that  I backed up the whole laptop on an external hard drive. When I connect the external hard drive I can open all my files, not sure how to transfer it, I see the External hard drive and can drag it but where do i drag it because on my Mac Book I can't  find Music. Should I drag it to the desktop and then drag it to the music when I disconnect the external ? Thanks

    Choose Home from the Finder's Go menu, double-click the Music item, and drag it there.
    (123001)

  • HT1451 No longer able to add itunes library from external hard drive.

    Its been about a year since I used itunes because my old pc burned out. I was using an external hard drive to store my itunes libraryand my preferences were set to advanced preferences / itunes media folder location / F:\itunes data, and was working fine when I needed to reinstall itunes before now. Now when I choose it, nothing comes up, no saved apps, books or music not in the cloud. In fact, I don't even see apps anymore.
    Anyone know why this no longer works, and how do I get it back, get it all back?

    Hello there, bpbiv.
    The following Knowledge Base article should provide some assistance in redirecting iTunes:
    iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364
    Since you already have the folder located on the external drive just point it to that location, you wont need to perform the portion of creating a new folder.
    If the issue persists and reinstalling iTunes is necessary, refer to this Knowledge Base article as the uninstall/reinstall steps do need to be performed in a very particular order:
    Removing and Reinstalling iTunes, QuickTime, and other software components for Windows XP
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1925
    Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
    Cheers,
    Pedro D.

  • I have just transferred my iTunes library from a hard drive previously connected to a windows laptop to a MacBook Pro and now all my options for editing info are greyed out. I have seen the answers if still using windows but could find a similar situation

    I have just transferred my iTunes library from a hard drive previously connected to a windows laptop to a MacBook Pro and now all my options for editing info are greyed out. I have seen the answers if still using windows but could find a similar situation to this one.

    Eels290776 wrote:
    if my external hard drive is not connected to either of my machines, and I download something onto my iMac and then something different onto my Macbook, where are my machines going to be storing the new downloaded media
    when the drive is not connected, +iTunes media folder location+ will default back to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music/iTunes/iTunes music (or media)
    and when I next connect the external hard drive how will I easily get the newly downloaded media onto the external HD
    you'd have to point +iTunes media folder location+ back to the external via preferences > advanced > iTunes media folder location, then file > library, organize library > consolidate files
    and essentially, to have it easily readable on both machines?
    in that case it might be best to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external. then, on each machine, launch iTunes while pressing option on your keyboard. when prompted, click on +choose library+ and navigate to the iTunes folder on the external.
    note only one iTunes can access the iTunes library @ a time !
    also, make sure the external is mounted on either machine before launching iTunes.
    JGG

  • Hi, I had to re install my itunes library from a hard drive to my new laptop. Now I cant sync my iphone because itunes thinks all songs are new and basically doubling all albums. Should i restore iphone or is there a better way?

    hi, i had to re install my itunes library from a hard drive to my new laptop. Now itunes thinks i am trying to add new albums and saying there isnt enoug space. should i restore or is there a better way.

    Have you tried exporting a 10 second section of the footage to see if the issue shows up once the seqeunce is actually exported from the timeline. I edit on CS5 with windows 7 pro at work quite often and have no issues so I assure you that isn't the issue. I also edit with AVCHD footage when at home and work quite freqeuntly as well so I'm positive that isn't the issue. It sounds like a GPU driver has been corrupted in the way it interacts with premiere pro. What type of GPU do you have? If it supports MPE's GPU acceleration have you tried turning it off and seeing if that makes any difference?
    Anyways though try to export a 10 second test section of your timeline to see if when the clip is exported from premiere it will play normally in windows media player or vlc or w/e media player you want to use. If it exports fine then you can almost be positive it's a corrupted video card driver. If that's the case I'd re-install your GPU's driver and also check your gpu makers website to see if they have a updated driver avaiable.

  • Can't transfer iPhoto Library FROM external hard drive to iMac

    I just bought a new iMac.  Before I said goodbye to my old computer (a MacBook), I dutifully backed up my iPhoto library onto an external hard drive.  Upon setting up my iMac, I easily accessed the iPhoto library on my HD, but I didn't import it.  I was able to see all photos, albums, etc.
    But when I went to import the entire iPhoto library into my iMac's hard drive (into the Pictures folder), it wouldn't import.  A mesage comes up that says "Preparing to copy" and the blue-and-white bar just spins and spins, without actually copying anything.  So, it's weird -- there's clearly communication between iMac and external HD, but I can't take the iPhoto library off the hard drive to make it my new computer's iPhoto library.
    Any hints?  Thanks.

    Have you tried restarting your machine?

Maybe you are looking for