Clean up itunes

My Itunes account is old, abused and has been moved around many times. Numerous fixes need to be made. What is the best way to accomplish this?
Thank you in advance for your help, it is greatly appreciated!

Songs are not correct,
? Wrong track name? Get info on the track and correct the name.
finding songs within the wrong album
Get info on the track and correct the album information.
, duplicates
How to find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2905
http://www.araxis.com/find-duplicate-files/ (free trial)
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/dupin.php (commercial)
post by turingtest2 - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3555601 - different types of duplicates and techniques
burned from my extensive CD collection.
You burn something to a CD. Your rip it from a CD to a computer.
Again, specific remedies for specific issues if we know what they are. I believe there are some general iTunes cleanup utilities out there but I would consider letting one loose on my collection a nightmare. Frankly if my collection got into such a bad state as that then any application is not going to know an better than me, and likely know a lot less but then do major modifications on false information. Ack, it reminds me of my mother coming in to straighten and "organize" my room!

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Slicked computer clean, downloaded itunes and now it won't recognize my ipod, says it is synced with another library. How do I correct this?

Slicked computer clean, downloaded itunes and now it won't recognize my ipod, says it is synced with another itunes library. It isn't. How do I fix this?

If no backup exists....
Recover media from iPod
See this post from forum regular Zevoneer for options on moving your iPod data back to your computer.
tt2

Is there a utility that cleans up itunes?

Is there a utility program available that automatically cleans up things like band names... The Hollies to Hollies... makes all the genre uniform for a group/performer, corrects spelling... etc???
Thanks

I am not aware of anything like that but you can do a lot of that in bulk in iTunes. When you select a bunch of tracks at the same time, do a Get Info on the batch, you can now change tags that will be applied to all the selected tracks.
So for example, you could select all the tracks by a band, get info on the whole batch then assign a single Genre to the whole batch. Or you could type in "Hollies" for the search term, get all the tracks that show up as The Hollies and just Hollies, select them all, then retype the band name ONCE to be applied evenly to all of them.
Patrick

Third Party Programs to Organize, Clean up Itunes

Can anyone recommend a program that does a nice, efficient, clean, easy organization of ITunes. I would like to remove duplicates by batching them for deletion, correct spelling automatically, organize files, fill in the blanks cover art, genre, track #.

Robert Bauermeister wrote:
I need a MAC program that will work with Snow Leopard. Thanks though!
Then why did you post in the Using iTunes for Windows forum? You'll probably get better answers if youngest in the Using iTunes for Mac Forum.
Best of luck.

Clean install, iTunes, iLife...

I am about to upgrade to Snow Leopard. I want to do a clean install. I'm assuming the upgrade will give me the option to erase/wipe/re-format and then install Snow Leopard, right?
The only thing "critical" on my Mac is the iTunes library. It's backed up on Time Machine and an external drive. Is that good enough? Any tricks here?
My MobileMe account and stuff on the cloud and iPHone is mess. My 400 contacts just quadrupled and my calendar is totally unusable. (Time shift/duplicates). While upgrading the iMac, I intend to wipe all of that stuff off the cloud and phone. This should be good enough to ensure that there is no chance all that garbage comes back "off the cloud" and trashes my contacts on the clean iMac, right? This makes sense to me, but maybe I'm not thinking of something.
Thanks,
Jack

Boerne wrote:
I am about to upgrade to Snow Leopard. I want to do a clean install.
why? is there something wrong with your system? if not doing a regular install is just fine given that you have a TM backup.
I'm assuming the upgrade will give me the option to erase/wipe/re-format and then install Snow Leopard, right?
to do that you need to reformat the hard drive using disk utility once you boot from the leopard install DVD. Disk Utility is in the Utilities menu.
The only thing "critical" on my Mac is the iTunes library. It's backed up on Time Machine and an external drive. Is that good enough?
yes.
Any tricks here?
no. after you install snow leopard, control-click on Tm in the dock and choose 'browse other Tm disks'. this will let you browse your TM backups and restore what you want where you want to. restore the itunes library to your new Music folder.
My MobileMe account and stuff on the cloud and iPHone is mess. My 400 contacts just quadrupled and my calendar is totally unusable. (Time shift/duplicates). While upgrading the iMac, I intend to wipe all of that stuff off the cloud and phone. This should be good enough to ensure that there is no chance all that garbage comes back "off the cloud" and trashes my contacts on the clean iMac, right?
I don't use mobileme but I'm not at all sure about that.
This makes sense to me, but maybe I'm not thinking of something.
you can (and should) erase all your mobileme cloud data now before upgrading if you don't need it.
Thanks,
Jack

Cleaning up Itunes

Is there any easy way to clean up deleted music from playlist or do i need to go through and delete each song individually? if I have two copys of one song, is there an easy way to consolidate my music?

For deleting missing tracks (with "!") check out this tip:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?128@@.689d6b14
To view all duplicate songs, use Edit->Show duplicate tracks.
You can also search Doug's Apple script site for useful script to help with these tasks:
http://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/index.php
Hope that helps!

Tool to clean out iTunes Match duplicates

I have ~3000 songs in my library and all of these songs have been imported into iTunes from a CD.
Some albums have multiple disks and after importing them, iTunes Match thinks that the album "Now 80: ... Disk 1" and Now 80: ... Disk 2" are two different albums. It has joined the those two albums into one album called "Now 80" but it has kept the "Now 80: ... Disk 1" and Now 80: ... Disk 2" albums as well. Unfortunatley, this has happened to quite a few albums.
My question is this: does you know a way or a tool that can clean up this problem?
Thank you.

Sounds like you may need to do some editing of the metadata. For example, is the "album" tag the same for both discs, or is it different? Do you have any data entered in the "sort album" field?

How do I clean up iTunes Mobile Applications folder that has old versions of apps?

I am using the latest iTunes 11.0.3 on my recently new iMac. Previously I had iTunes on my MacPro. The media folder was located on one of the extra (non-boot) volumes on the MacPro (MP). When I got my iMac I changed (in the Advanced section of Preferences) the location of the media folder to point to the same folder on the MP volume as I had been using. Everything seems to work fine. I can plug in my iPhone 4s and sync which goes thru a backup step.
I was then poking around in the iTunes media folder on the MP and found that the Mobile Applications (MA) folder was full of older versions of the apps on my iPhone. They dated back to 2009, 2010 and most were 2011. A few were 2012 or 2013. I would like to get rid of the old versions as they take up space. Being that old I doubt they are useful for anything anyway. But my question is how?
I have read and searched for other threads on this topic and have not found a solution. It appears that iTunes is supposed to toss old versions into the trash. I suspect it is doing that now but for some reason has lost track of these older version. The problem here is I don't know what happened.
My inclination is to take all these app .ipa files and dump them... then do an iPhone sync and have it repopulate this MA folder. But I wasn't sure iTunes would do that. So I selected one app that is currently installed on my iPhone, found several older .ipa files in the MA folder that correspond to that app and deleted all of them. I then sync'd my iPhone and watched it go thru the Backup step. When it was done I checked my MA folder but it still had NO .ipa file for that app. Why is that? To make sure the backup step didn't place it someone unexpected, I did a system wide search for that app name (the core part of the name, not including any version numbers, etc) but it found only one match. It was old (2011) located on an all-together different MA folder so did not come from this iPhone sync.
I wish someone would clearly document what goes on during an iPhone sync when the backup location is iTunes (not iCloud). Does iTunes store the current version of each app in the MA folder? I didn't see that happen in my example above.
What does it mean to remove all .ipa files from your MA folder? It would seem that it doesn't matter EXCEPT for apps no longer available in the App Store. Otherwise I could re-install them, right?
What can I delete safely without ill consequences?
How can i indentify what to remove if I should keep the latest version around?
Help would be appreciated.
To be clear:
* I use iTunes to store my Backups, not iCloud.
* I have used Consolidate after making sure that Keep iTunes Media Folder Organizaed is checked and Copy File to iTunes Media folder is checked. It did not help here.
* Given the dates of the .ipa files in my MA folder, this problem pre-dated my recent addition of my iMac.
* I believe I'm using a new local (to my iMac) iTunes library file but my media folder is on the MP as described above. When I access iTunes app on my MP it too accesses the same media folder. It is used primarily for adding music and movies to, not iPhone apps as I now sync on the iMac.

ITunes has been a disaster for me. It is filled with all sorts of things and there is no way to reorganize any of it. I'm forced to use iTunes because I have an iPhone but the experience has convinced me that it is best to avoid Apple products and I would recommend that course for others.
The operative word here is "avoid." For products like the iPhone and iPad for which Apple has a superior product there is no choice. The problem is Apple control. That means that everything is compatible with everything else which is good. It also means that everything is limited to products that serve Apple's bottom line, which is questionable.
Hopefully, now that Apple's creative genius has sadly left us, other companies will step forward to create products that will allow us to avoid the complications of Apple. I have found iTunes to be the principal complication. iTunes regularly updates itself, practically every Sunday, and then I have to restart my computer which interrupts all the tasks that I have underway.
Despite all these updates I don't use iTunes except for the iPhone and even that is problematic. The entire experience makes me glad that I don't have an Apple since it must be very difficult for Apple users to work with Apple constantly demanding updates and restarts and proprietary software and the like.
If you're not an Apple customer, but you've been listening their hype with their execs pacing a stage clad in jeans, then read this and heed. My experience with iTunes is a warning for all. Watch out. Apple is not your friend. It's a corporation bent on control, monopoly power and coerced profiteering. We may all soon need nets to save us when Apple drives us out the window.

How can I clean up iTunes files?

I have duplicate and triplicate albums and songs in iTunes, How can I get rid of them without loosing them?

I trust you've sorted this out by now but this thread just popped up in the "More Like This" box and in an effort to make this thread useful for the next visitor...
See http://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/audiobooks.asp for tips.
tt2

Clean up itunes folders in windows7

Hello all, I have recently uninstalled and reinstalled itunes to the computer a few times.
There are now multiple "Previous itunes library", "album artwork" and "itunes media" folders on the computer.
I like to keep things organized. In the left tree structure you can see 3 "previous itunes library" folders. This makes me crazy. Whats would be the correct one's if any to delete?

Hi,
You need Doug's applescript - "Super Remove Dead Tracks" You can get it here - http://dougscripts.com/itunes/ixarch/arch.php?my=2007-03#032007a
Regards

How do I clean out iTunes so that I can update with what is on my iPod

I have content in iTunes that I do not want on my iPod. The content I want to keep is on the iPod. How can I get rid of what is in iTunes and replace with content on my iPod?

Use the instructions in this Apple support document to rebuild your iTunes library from scratch.
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
You won't be importing previous playlists. You'll want to delete all the media from your PC and then use one of the suggestions in this older thread to help copy all the content that is currently on your iPod to your new iTunes library.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?start=0&tstart=0
B-rock

Cleaning Up iTunes Library

My music library contains duplicates of songs (some on my original hard drive and on my back up copy of external hard drive). I want to clear the library and have one list of songs.
How do I do this without losing the purchased songs as well.
I like to do the housekeeping on occassion and when I click on the library for it to be able to locate the song. Right now, because I may remove the external hard drive, it will tell me that it is unable to locate the song.
Assistance is greatly appreciated.

There are many applications out there to remove 'dead links' in itunes. I know idleTunes will do this.
I'd suggest you disconnect the external drive, then run idleTunes and tell it to remove dead links.

Can you wipe a macbook clean using itunes?

We lease Apple equipment to Charter Schools and upon the end of a lease, sometimes we need to remarket items. Is there any way to factory reset a M516LL/A) MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009 that has a password, that we do not have. I have done it with ipads using iteunes....any thought or help?

To change the password:
With 10.4, 10.5 or 10.6 put your install DVD into the optical drive (CD/DVD drive) and reboot. Be sure to either use the disc that came with your Mac, or, if you installed a later Mac OS X version from disc, use the newer disc. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option Key until the Install Disk shows up) until the apple shows up. That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Reset Password. After resetting the password use Startup Disk from the same menu to choose your hard drive for startup and restart.
With 10.4, 10.5 or 10.6 if you don’t have an install disk check this article. http://www.macyourself.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-withou t-an-installer-disc/
If you're running 10.7 Lion check this article
http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/24/reset-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-password/
With 10.8 restart holding the Command and R keys, then from the drop down
of actions, choose Terminal. When Terminal opens type:
resetpassword
and press enter.
You will get a reset password window from which you can select the user you want to reset, the admin account in your case. Type a new password twice, do not do anything with the hint box. Click Save, then confirm you want to do this reset. Then click apply to the user's home directory, and click the apple in the left corner, and choose Restart.

Clean install of iTunes???

Hi
I would like to clean install iTunes 7.x over iTunes 8.x. How would i do this?
Thanks
NBK

You must uninstall iTunes 8 before installing the previous version.
If you want a complete removal here are some steps:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1925
I assume you have an installer for iTunes 7?
I think you can get it from here:
http://support.apple.com/downloads/#itunes%207%20windows
otherwise google FileHippo itunes.
After you install it it will not open because the library was created with a later version. You have to rebuild your library from iTunes Music Library.xml.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451

After upgrading to Itunes 7.2, it won't launch without crashing

Itunes was working fine on my pc. When I opened it, it prompted me to install an updated version of Itunes and Quicktimes. I followed the prompts and installed it. After it installed, I launched Itunes and it crashed with "Itunes has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience." I sent the report to Microsoft, without any results.
In my application event log, I see 2 events:
Faulting application itunes.exe, version 7.2.0.34, faulting module itunes.exe, version 7.2.0.34, fault address 0x00a33ac0.
Fault bucket 438926550.
I then went to Apple's support website and followed these steps:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93976
I followed the links below:
Completely Remove iTunes and QuickTime (Click for more)
Note: Songs you purchased from the iTunes Store or imported from CDs are saved in your My Music folder by default and are not deleted by removing iTunes.
Quit iTunes.
On the Start menu, click Control Panel.
Windows XP and Windows 2000: In Control Panel, open Add or Remove Programs.
Windows Vista: In Control Panel, click Uninstall a program. Alternately, in Classic View of Control Panel, click Programs and Features.
Select iTunes from the list of currently installed programs, then click Remove or Uninstall.
In Windows XP and Windows 2000, when asked if you would like to remove iTunes, select Yes.
In Windows Vista, if your permission is needed to continue, click Continue.
After uninstalling iTunes, do not restart if you are prompted to.
If other entries were present for iTunes remove those as well.
In Add or Remove Programs or Programs and Features, remove any iPod Updater applications that are listed in the same fashion as iTunes was removed.
In Add or Remove Programs or Programs and Features, remove any QuickTime installations that are listed in the same fashion as iTunes was removed.
Restart your computer.
After the computer restarts, open Local Disk C: in My Computer/Computer or whichever disk programs are installed on.
Open the Program Files folder.
Right-click the iTunes folder and select Delete and choose Yes when asked to confirm the deletion. Note: This folder may have already been deleted if iTunes was successfully removed in steps 1-8.
Right click the iPod folder and select Delete and choose Yes when asked to confirm the deletion.
Right-click the QuickTime folder and select Delete and choose Yes when asked to confirm the deletion.
Delete the QuickTime and QuicktimeVR files located in the C:\Windows\system32\folder.
Right-click on the Recycle Bin and on the shortcut menu, click Empty Recycle Bin.
Restart your computer.
Install the latest version of iTunes from http://www.apple.com/itunes/download.
Empty your Temp directory and restart (Click for more)
On the Start menu, click My Computer/Computer (or double-click My Computer on the Desktop).
In My Computer/Computer, open Local Disk C:.
Windows XP and Windows 2000: Open Documents and Settings. Windows Vista: Open Users.
Double-click the folder that bears your username.
If you see a Local Settings folder, skip to step 9. If you don't see a Local Settings folder, proceed to the next step.
Windows XP and Windows 2000: On the Tools menu, click Folder Options. Windows Vista: On the Organize menu, select Folder and Search Options.
Select the "Show hidden files and folders" button.
Click OK.
Double-click Local Settings. If Windows needs your permission to continue, click Continue.
Right-click on the Temp folder and on the shortcut menu, click Delete.
In the confirmation dialog that appears, click Yes.
If you are unable to delete the Temp folder, close all programs, especially those in the Notification area (system tray) of the Windows Task bar shown below and repeat step 10.
Restart your computer.
Install the latest version of iTunes from http://www.apple.com/itunes/download.
Clean up iTunes installer files on the computer (Click for more)
You can download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility from Microsoft, which will clean up any leftover installer files that may be causing issues with your current installation. To do this:
Click here first, and read the important information about the software.
Click the "Download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility package now" link on that page to download a file titled msicuu2.exe.
Open the msicuu2.exe file and follow the prompts to install it.
On the Start menu, point to All Programs and then click Windows Install Cleanup; the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility window appears, listing software that is currently installed on your computer.
Select iTunes from the list and click Remove.
Click OK in the confirmation dialog that appears.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 if you have multiple iTunes entries listed.
Select QuickTime from the list and click Remove.
Click OK in the confirmation dialog that appears.
Repeat steps 8 and 9 if you have multiple QuickTime entries listed.
Click Exit.
Restart the computer.
Install the latest version of iTunes from http://www.apple.com/itunes/download.
Download QuickTime Standalone Installer (Click for more)
Try downloading and installing the standalone version of QuickTime from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html. Be sure you download the version that does not include iTunes.
Disable other conflicting software (Click for more)
In Windows, some background processes can cause issues for other programs and processes. These conflicts can prevent applications such as iTunes and QuickTime Player from installing. See "Using MSCONFIG to troubleshoot conflicts in Windows" for assistance disabling conflicting processes.
Make sure your folder names don't contain strange characters (Click for
Any help would be appreciated. I've been through about 2 hours of troubleshooting.
Is there a LIVE chat that Apple offers or phone support free of charge for Itunes?
Dave

suavedog:
Try this:
iTunes 7.2 for Windows doesn't open

Clean up itunes

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