Can't locate file would you like Itunes to locate it?

I have over 31 Gb of music in my PC.. when I open up I tunes and all the display art or music cover get displayed when i go to play one it says Itunes can't loctae the file would you liek to search for it .. well I know where all the itunes music is located and in looking at mu I tunes library of 1000's of titles looks like 80% of them are displaying the exclamation point telling me that files in not where it should be .. Is there a simpler way of having all my files at the same time do one massive search.. or better still can I or should I delete this playset ... and reinstall my 31 GB of tunes instead ..???
rsvp

Hi,
Take a look at this thread, especially the post by Turingtest at the bottom, it may be the answer.

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'would you like iTunes to use the location of ....... to find other missing

Hiiiiii
i posted a thread yesterday about me being an idiot deleting my iTunes media folder accidentally and it now coming up with the dreaded ''!'' and claiming 'the song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?' which is expected.
even though i deleted the iTunes media folder, the files in this were only copy's of the original files; so every song that i have in my itunes are still on my drive, but are located in various folders around my macbook, the majority being in 'Albums from Old Computer' and 'Downloads' ..saying this i could easily just drag and drop them all into my iTunes like i did when i first imported them, but its the fact i have just spend the last 4 days organising them all. they now all have artwork, correct album names, genre's etc.
i dont really want to have to go through all 2748 songs individually and manually locate them, which i can easily do for a couple of songs, just not that many!
but heres the dilema.. when i click on 'Locate' after it asks me weather or not i would like to locate the file as the original could not be found, i find the correct file, and all is fine, it lets me play this song from now on. But what i havnt seen before is the next prompt after i have located the file saying 'Would you like the iTunes to use the location of '.....' to find other missing files in your library?' ..i hadnt seen this option before and i was happy to click yes 'find files' ..but, no files are found? even though there are a fair ammount of song files that are in the same location as the song i have just located !?
thanks in advance for any attempts at helping me out!x

you might find this useful:
_*Music Folder Files Not Added v2.0*_
This application will list the file paths of the files in your designated "iTunes Media" folder which are not in iTunes' library. Additionally, you can select a different parent folder and its contents will be compared to the iTunes library. Options to Add a selection of found files to iTunes or move them to the Trash.
JGG

I transferred my music to a larger hard drive and when I went to sync to iTunes there half my library had a '!' next to the songs. After I located one song the question 'would you like itunes to find other missing files' came up. What does this mean?

I recently transferred my music from one external hard drive to another and when I went to sync it to iTunes half my music had a '!' symbol on the left side, which meant that the songs weren't located. When I went to locate one of the songs it asked me if I wanted iTunes to find other missing files, which I said yes. What happens next and what is iTunes doing to find the missing files?

iTunes is a database. When you import songs to the database, it records the location of that song, so that when you play, or sync the song iTunes knows where to look for it.
When you moved your music to a different location, iTunes can't find it because you didn't tell iTunes that you moved the music.
You'll have to re-add those songs that you moved to your itunes library. Your best bet is going to be to delete all the songs in your library and then go to File > Add folder to library > and then find your music folder on the new external hard drive.
Also, the external drive HAS to be connected in order for iTunes to find it.

Cannot find file, would you like to locate it?

I know others have seen this message and they have found where the song or songs were located, but I cannot find where they are located. It has not happened to all of the songs but about 25% of them. How do I locate them so I can play them again? How do I prevent it from happening again?
Please advise. you can also email me at [email protected]

You might have changed the name of a folder in which you stored much of your music. I recently changed the name of a major music folder in my computer, and I had to recover all of the files. Think: Have you changed any folder names recently? If nothing else, search for the name of one of the songs on Windows. This will help you find the other ones. Since they were all lost at the same time, they're bound to be related by a parent folder. Recovering each individual song is a pain, though. You may want to just upload them by the folder once you re-locate them, rather than telling iTunes where each and every song is individually.
You could've also deleted the folder that the music was located in. If you've emptied it out of your recycling bin, say bye-bye to your music.
Dell Windows XP

Firefox is having problems loading website with ASPX search results. i get a stupid pop-up saying this is a ASPX file would you like to save or open!!

since firefox 4.0 i get problems with sites the contain a search engine.
Google works fine,
but for an example:
http://stagemarkt.nl/zoekresultaten.aspx?c=95070&p=eindhoven
This is a site to search job offers in the netherlands for education.
It simple WONT open the website keeps whining about the website beeing an ASPX file and if i want to open or save the file,
If i choose open and select firefox the pop-up keeps retruning if i choose save i just get a file stored on my HDD witch i cant open with firefox this is pretty annoiing.
Kind regards,
Bart

Unfortunenatly this doesnt help me.
Like i said before it is a problem since the last update of firefox.
I already deleted cache and cookies the problem also ONLY appears in firefox.
I have allready turnd of my firewal and virus scanner.
So if you have any other solution wich ISNT a standa5rd awnser i would be gladly appreciated.

"Would you like iTunes to choose a selection of songs?" Doesn't work for me

Having a 4GB ipod mini and a library of more than 7,000 songs, I've had to learn to put up with changing sizes of multiple playlist before every sync until I was able to get 3 or 4 of them in my ipod the way I wanted it. So I had high expectations for the new "Automatically fill free space with songs" option in iTunes 9, but what a disappointment...what I thought this option would do for me was to let me check 3 or 4 of my playlists without having to worry about their size anymore, then iTunes would select some songs from those playlists until it filled the available space on my ipod, instead iTunes lets me know that my playlists won't fit and asks me whether I want iTunes to choose a selection of songs, then if I say yes, it just goes ahead and does a completely random selection out of my entire library, disregarding my selected playlists completely... is it just me or wouldn't it been better to fill the ipod with a selection of songs from the checked for sync playlists?

Yes, it still works to select a number of songs and drop it onto the left hand source list either on top of where it says "Playlists" or on the edge so that it doesn't add the selection to an existing playlist. That is how I am currently building my playlists. The keyboard shortcut would speed up this process tremendously.

ITunes tells me "Could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I can locate it and all my other music, but can only open one song at a time. How do I set it to open all my music whenever I want it?

iTunes tells me my song selection: "Could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I can locate it and all my other music, but can only open one song at a time. How do I set it to open all my music whenever I want?
Message was edited by: Woildbill

I just spent several hours dealing with this when switching to a new PC. It was extremely frustrating as I knew my files were on my external HD but no matter how many times I copied my old iTunes folder over the files were still missing...because dummy me had forgotten to "unhide folders" on my new PC and my old files were actually stored in a hidden folder created long long ago.
This is how I did it on Windows 7 with iTunes 10
1. Look in iTunes Advanced Preferences to see where iTunes is saving files. (Edit, Preferences, Advanced)
Example: C:/Users/Woildbill/My Music/iTunes/Music
2. Ensure you are able to see hidden files - Control Panel, Folder Option, View, Show Hidden Files
3. Use Your Computer's Search Function to Locate the Missing File (Start, Search, type name of song - I started my search in "My Music" folder but be sure to expand to entire Computer if not found right away)
4. In Search Results, right-click found folder and select properties. This will tell you where the file is actually stored.
5. Use Windows Explorer (right-click start) to navigate to the location of the file. It is likley your other missing files are in the same location.
6. In Windows Explorer, copy the newly located files to the iTumes location from Step 1 and everything should work again.
Hope this helps!

After upgrading iTunes I can no longer play my songs. It says that "The song ________ could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I have NO clue where to look.

After I recently Upgraded iTunes I can no longer play any movies or songs. It says that "The song ______ can no longer be playe because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?" I have no clue where to look as I'm not tech savvy. I did look in previous itunes libraries file and it's empty. Any and all help is appreciated.

The links below illustrate how your iTunes should look if you use default settings in preferences. If you don't use those settings then you have to know what you're doing.
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/message/13025536 and https://discussions.apple.com/message/17457605
The above links also illustrate the Media folder and its subfolders. Look for a file in there in the logical structure by folder artist and album. If you're lucky, linking one file will get an offer to link others and it iwll all come together again.
I see you are running OSX 10.5.8 it would help to know which version of iTunes you use now and which one you used before.

My iTunes account sayscould not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it? whenever i click on a song and i didn't move the songs anywhere. I don't know if i saved them to my hard drive so i can't find any songs

I downloaded something that was told to me to get to put some of my itunes songs onto my android phone. I think it synced my account, though. Whenever i click on a song an exclamation point comes up and something pops up and says "could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" and i don't remember ever backing up my songs (this computer is fairly new) and now none of my songs come up. I have no idea what to do but ive spent hundreds of dollars on this account purchasing from the itunes store. Please help me!

Tunes works through a database file which has a list of your tracks. When you click on a track it looks up in the database which file it needs to play, then plays the file. If something breaks this link then you get ! The two main ways to get ! are to move a file from where iTunes expects it to be, or to delete it altogether. I don't know which has happened in your case. You can try using Spotlight to find a file for the one referred to in a broken link. If the files have been moved then they need to be moved back. If they were deleted completely you will have to restore them from a backup or download them again from the iTunes Store and rebuild your library.

Moved iTunes library to an ext hard drive to make space on my int drive... Followed steps from apple. Now I cannot access my music... It says: "File could not be used because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?"

Moved iTunes library to an ext hard drive to make space on my int drive... Followed steps from apple. Now I cannot access my music... It says: "File could not be used because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?"
I moved my iTunes library to my external hard drive some time ago and I followed the directions listed here on the apple support page. It did copy my library and now is on my hard drive... I can open iTunes and use it to sync all of my devices but I would like to play my music... I can see all of my music files but can not play them if I click on an album or song it says the following: "(file name) could not be used because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?" I click locate but do not know where to go from there? I need a way to access all files and not to hunt down one at a time on my hard drive... I am pretty sure I deleted the original library to make space on my internal drive which was the reason for moving it. I have tried and tried to fix it and do not have a lot of time to do so with a one and two year old at my house who do not like it whenI sit down at my computer. What to do??? Any help is much appreciated!!!

See Make a split library portable. Move all of the bits of the library together in the the correct shape and it should work. Or undo exactly what you did and then start over.
If you're a former Windows user don't try merging two folders together that have the same name by dropping one into the same folders as the other, as that goes badly on a Mac.
tt2

After installing iTunes 10.5 update i get the following message when trying to play any song in my Library "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" how do i fix this??

I have an iPod Classic and work on Windows 7.
i recently installed iTunes 10.5 update and since then i cannot play any of the songs in the Library - i get the following message
"The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
what happened to all my songs (almost 2000) How can i get them back into my music library?
Please help - i do not want to spend another week downloading all my cd's onto my computer !!!!!

Try my script FindTracks. Select a few of the missing files to start with then run the script. Choose No at the first prompt so that you can check how it works track by track, then confirm or edit the location of the media folder where your files are. Once you are happy with how it behaves let it process larger numbers of tracks automatically.
tt2

ITunes will no longer play my music, all the albumss are there but it if I click on a song to play it I get a message saying " The song (name of song) could not be played because the original file coul not be found. Would you like to locate it."

iTunes will no longer play my music, all the albumss are there but it if I click on a song to play it I get a message saying " The song (name of song) could not be played because the original file coul not be found. Would you like to locate it."

You get this message because iTunes can’t find the file. This can happen for a number of reasons:
The song file or a folder in its path was renamed
The song file or the folder it is in has been moved
The song file has been deleted
The device containing the song files e.g. external drive is not accessible or the drive letter has changed.
Do any of these aply to you?

HT204406 The song "If We Are the Body" could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it? This notice keeps coming up even though I have iTunes Match. What do I do?

The song “If We Are the Body” could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it? This notice keeps coming up even though I have iTunes Match. What do I do?

This usually means the original music file has been been deleted from the HDD. If you feel it has not then click "locate" and navigate to where the song file is on the HDD and choose it. You can use Spotlight to locate it if necessary.

When I double click on a song in my iTunes Library i receive the following: the song "....." could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?

Greetings all
When i double click on a song in my iTunes library the following appears:
The song "......" could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?
Hope you can help
revds

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

Some of the songs I have downloaded onto i tunes won't play when I select it to do so. The error message I get is "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" How can I get my songs to play?

Some of the songs I have downloaded into i tunes won't play when I select it to do so. The error message I get is "The song can not be used because the original file can not be found. Would you like to locate it?" When I select yes I'm sent to a screen that has my i tunes library listed. When I select the song in question I'm asked if I would like to open the song. When I select this option I get nothing. The songs I have downloaded must be somewhere because they are listed in my i tunes library and on the screen I've been sent to. I can't the songs to play however. This is not true of all of my songs but it is true of quite a few of them. Actually, one song is too many. How do I get my music to play that seems to be locked up somewhere in the computer?

Presuming they're on your computer, right click on them and then follow the prompts to locate hte file on your computer.

Can't locate file would you like Itunes to locate it?

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