Hard drive, lost music

got a new hard drive. All itunes content is gone. Do they have a copy somewhere or is it gone?

[Discussion: Zevoneer's post on replacing music downloaded from iTunes music Store|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8794716] - basically it is up to the individual to ensure their music is backed up against loss.
Actually your music is still around, it is on the old hard drive. Do you still have that?
Purely at Apple's discretion they may possibly allow a one time second download, but you have to contact them about that.

Similar Messages

  • Cracked Hard Drive, Lost Music Library.

    This one is a bit of a doozy, and was previously left unanswered months ago. So far, it seems I've exhausted all that the Apple Support and Google searches can offer. My goal, as stated in the title, is to get a set of old music onto a old replacement hard drive and my iPod Touch.
    The conflict that started it all was the hard drive that held my music cracked and failed to recover any data. Since then, I have had to replace the hard drive in my MacBook Pro with an older hard drive that currently is running OS X 10.6.8
    To add insult to injury, my disc drive is incapable of reading my CDs, probably due to the damage the computer took in the same instance as the cracked hard drive.
    The only remaining files I have for my music lay in my very outdated, very low-charge 30GB iPod Classic that I cannot use unplugged. What I thought I needed to do is mount my iPod Classic onto the desktop and replace the iTunes library with the one in my iPod as the official support recommends. However, whether it be the outdated iPod model or that I am running 10.6.8, I cannot see or find a disk mounted anywhere on the computer.
    If anyone has any helpful pointers, it would be greatly appreciated to let them be known to me. Thanks in advance, and if any other spec details are needed, I can offer them at any time.

    [Discussion: Zevoneer's post on replacing music downloaded from iTunes music Store|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8794716] - basically it is up to the individual to ensure their music is backed up against loss.
    Actually your music is still around, it is on the old hard drive. Do you still have that?
    Purely at Apple's discretion they may possibly allow a one time second download, but you have to contact them about that.

  • Since i upgraded to mavericks,my external hard drive lost half of the files ,how can i get them back?

    Since i upgraded to mavericks,my external hard drive lost half of the files ,how can i get them back?

    Type move itunes library into the google serach bar.
    It has always been very basic to always maintain  abackup copy of your computer.  Do you not have a backup copy?

  • Can i use the time capsule as just an external hard drive for music or does it have to be used soley as a backe up?? im thinking for music and photos

    Can I use the time capsule as just an external hard drive for music or does it have to be used soley as a back up?  I'm thinking for music and photos

    Nickles96 wrote:
    Hello friends.. I have a similar question, in that I would like to purchase the 2TB TC for use as a NAS device, in addition to taking advantage of the Air Port extreme.. Then I could dump my Linksys router.
    I was originally looking at a Synology NAS solution, but the TC seems like it can meet my needs.
    I have a Synology NAS as well as the Time Capsule.  If you look at the 3.2 beta program, the Synology actually attempts to replicate TC functionality in that you can use it with Time Machine on your Mac.
    I must say, Airport on the TC is definitely a nice feature!
    Nickles96 wrote:
    In addition to the obvious feature of the backup, can I indeed also use the TC as a NAS drive to access from remote locations (example from the office)?
    I'm surprised more people aren't using the TC as a dedicated NAS deviced.. I've searched high and low on forums around the web, and don't seem to see many people trying to use it as I've outlined.
    I can't see why this wouldn't fufill my needs, and take the place of a separate NAS solution (like the Synology, or iOmega, Seagate, etc....)
    Has anyone used this TC as such?
    Yes, you can do this and it's something I've been trying to do, but I'm currently having issues.  I have another thread stating I consistently get "connection failed" messages.  I'm basically storing my music/photo/video files on the TC and keeping my Mac hard drive fairly lean.  In terms of NAS functionality, the TC is very basic.  Synology/QNAP and others have a lot more features so don't rule them out.

  • Had to format hard drive, lost all my local files

    So I had to move my OS to an external hard drive because my built in drive began to fail. When I did this, I lost all of my music in local files obviously. The thing is, it still shows up on my mobile playlists, but they don't show at all (not even greyed out text) on my desktop version. Why can't I see them at all? I wanted to go through and redownload them all, but this makes it very difficult. Help please! EDIT: Ok, so I figured out how to see them (I didn't have the "Show unavaliable tracks in playlists check). So now, my question is there anyway to pull them from my phone onto my computer? Or do I need to download them one by one?

    Sadly I have to say no there is not a way. The sync of local music files is one way, meaning from laptop and/or PC to phone and/or approved mp3 players.

  • Broken hard drive - lost library????

    I have just had to replace the hard drive on my laptop. I have lost all my old files so there's no music on this new one. I have a few purchased songs from itunes that I've managed to move over but I don't know if I can move the other songs over that I imported of CD. Can anyone help me??? PLEASE????

    *I have a few purchased songs from itunes that I've managed to move over*
    Moved from where, an iPod?
    *don't know if I can move the other songs over that I imported of CD.*
    The transfer of content from sources such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
    Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
    Comparison of iPod managers
    TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
    iPod2PC Windows Only
    iDump Windows Only
    SharePod Windows Only
    iPodRip Mac & Windows
    YamiPod Mac and Windows
    Music Rescue Mac & Windows
    iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows
    Floola Mac & Windows
    iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
    iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
    iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
    TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
    There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide

  • How to Import Music/Playlist with program on one Hard Drive and Music on a different Hard Drive

    So today I installed an SSD onto my PC and installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 on it and put my old hard drive as the slave so that I can just use that for storage and the SSD for the OS and the programs I use. The only program tossing me for a loop on how to configure it to pull its data from the HDD is iTunes. I have the latest version of it installed as of 3/11/15 and I thought it'd be as simple as changing where it looks for the music to my HDD. Unfortunately not, it imported some of my music before I even had a chance to do that but not all of it and it didn't import the playlist. I followed the steps on this troubleshooting page to the letter and nothing happened. iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists - Apple Support
    Hopefully someone else has done something similar to me and can help me out.

    Assuming that your complete iTunes library (database, media folders, artwork, ...) is on the older drive, just hold down SHIFT while you start iTunes; when you get this prompt:
    click on Choose Library..., navigate to the iTunes library folder on the old drive, select the iTunes Library.itl file you'll find there, and click Open.

  • Using an external hard drive for music

    Hi. I'm quite sure the answer to this question is obvious--I just don't know a lot about external hard drives.
    I have a MBP, but I'm running low on memory. The majority is being used on my huge music collection. If I were to purchase an external hard drive and put all my music files on it, would I still be able to access them in the same way?
    In other words, as long as the external hard drive is hooked up to my computer, will I be able to play them in iTunes?
    I just want to remove all the music from my computer's hard drive, and place them on an external hard drive. But, I'm not quite sure if this is possible.
    Thanks!

    I use an external firewire drive to store my iTunes library on. One thing to be aware of...
    You need to go into your iTunes preferences, then to "Advanced", then select the location where you want to store your iTunes Music folder. In my case it is in a folder titled "Music" on my external firewire drive. The iTunes "Library" file is stored on your internal hard drive.
    The thing that can cause you problems it that....if you forget to turn on the external drive before you boot up your Mac, the iTunes library file will look for your music folder and won't be able to find it. So a new iTunes Music folder will be created on your internal hard drive, with nothing in it. You'll see all of your songs listed in your iTunes program...but if you try to double click on any of the songs to play them, you'll get an exclamation mark saying "cannot find file".
    If this happens, you need to delete the new iTunes Music folder on your internal drive (but not the iTunes Library file!), then quit iTunes, turn on the external drive, then relaunch iTunes....and it will find the original music folder.
    It's a hassle that I have had to go though many times, I keep forgetting to turn on that drive before launching iTunes.
    Oh, one other thing....about the way you worded your post. You aren't running short on "memory", you are running short on "storage"....they are two different things. Hard drives are storage, RAM chips are "memory" that run your programs.

  • Itunes will not find my external hard drive and music on it

    I have downloaded itunes onto new laptop that has windows vista all the music is stored on an external hard drive. When i plug in the hard drive it no longer finds automatically the music file and runs it as it did on my old pc with windows xp. I have changed the location to find the music in itunes but no luck. If i go into my computer and look at the external hard drive and click on any song it then opens itunes and plays it! Help please

    When you say "when i double click on my itunes files it just opens up this list of music." it doesn't mean anything to me. You need to explain clearly, remember I only know what you tell me.
    I need to understand how you have things set up and if you had you iTunes library database on the external drive or the c: drive. That is the iTunes folder containing iTunes library.itl.
    What do you see when you open iTunes on the new PC, are your music files there. If not, every time you play a track it gets added to itUnes so you should at least have some files in your library.
    What problem are you trying to solve? Is just getting the tracks into your iTunes library, or are you also concerned about ratings, count and playlists from the old PC. If so do you still have access to the old PC?

  • Using external hard drive - moving music from desktop to laptop

    I wish to use an external hard drive to move my library from my desktop to my laptop. However, I do not wish to load the library onto my laptop, I would like to keep the library stored on the external hard drive. Here is what I have done so far:
    - I followed the directions on this page: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
    - I downloaded the current version of iTunes onto my laptop and authorized this computer.
    - I connected the external hard drive to my laptop and turned it on. I opened iTunes > Edit > Preferences > Advanced and change the music folder location to the folder location on the external hard drive.
    None of my library has shown up in iTunes. I am positive that the library is on the external hard drive.
    What have I missed or what do I need to do to resolve this issue and run iTunes through the external hard drive on my laptop?
    Thank you so much for you help!
    Brian

    *Of course I am slightly confused by a few of the folders.....iTunes Library Extras, iTunes Library Genius, iTunes Library*
    None of those are folders, they are files. The iTunes Library is the main database file that contains the information on what you have added to you library, songs, locations, playlists etc: What are the iTunes library files?
    *There are still other files I am not sure about. They are:, Temp File.tmp 13.0MB, Temp File 6.00MB, Previous iTunes Libraries 75.9MB, iTunes Music (larger than 6.23GB), iTunes Music Library 20.9MB, (XML Document), Album Artwork 212MB*
    Apart from the ones obviously labelled File, the rest of these are folders
    Temp Files (no idea what they are temporary files of but they were created by Windows)
    Previous iTunes Libraries (a folder of libraries created by earlier versions of iTunes, can be used to roll back a version of iTunes when a particular new installation doesn't work)
    iTunes Music (the folder that your music and other media files, songs movies etc. are kept in)
    iTunes Music LIbrary.xml (a file that contains some of the information contained in the main library file and is used by other programs which interface with iTunes)
    Album Artwork (a folder that contains artwork downloaded from the iTunes Store)
    You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?

  • Hard drive crash, music on external drive but no library or playlist backup

    I'm guessing this question has been asked many times but I've searched all over the internet and these forums and am exhausted. So I beg for your help.
    My computer hard drive crashed. Not sure if I can get the files off it yet or not but will find out this weekend trying to connect it as an external drive with a special cable. All the Itunes music is on an existing external hard drive that works fine. No backups were ever created of the playlists or of the library file on the crashed drive, the external drive, or anywhere else.
    I'm using what I guess they call on original Ipod, 25 GB.
    The main thing I care about is getting 5 years' worth of playlists back. Most of them do exist on my Ipod, so at worst I could reference them visually there and recreate them in Itunes. But, um, I'd rather not!:)
    So if with that information you can tell me what series of steps I should take to try to restore my playlists into Itunes on my new PC, or point me to a link, please do. I'll put my thoughts and questions below if this helps in figuring it out. I would say the chances are that I can't access any files from my old hard drive, but it is possible.
    My Ipod also contains most of my songs and playlists, but not all, such as different versions of the same song etc. That is in addition to the external hard drive that all my songs are safely on.
    1) If I can access the files on the old hard drive, is there anything there that contains information on the playlists if I haven't backed them up individally? From my reading it seems like playlists are not contained in the library file itself, is that right or wrong?
    2) What information is contained in that library file, what does it do? If I can't get it from my old hard drive what will happen if I have Itunes create a new one?
    3) I've read that I may be able to get playlist information from my Ipod, but it seemed really confusing and I was uncertain if that was correct. Is that a possiblity? Can I do it by accesing the Ipod as an external drive?
    4) Would I also be able to get the libary file from the Ipod if I can't get it from my old hard drive? If the Ipod contains most but not all of my songs, would it be bad to use this file with the complete list of songs on my external drive?
    That's about all the questions I can think of, so if anyone can help I'd appreciate it. I just can't seem to find an answer specifically to what happens if your music is backed up but playlists and library are not.
    Message was edited by: overthetide

    +"1) If I can access the files on the old hard drive, is there anything there that contains information on the playlists if I haven't backed them up individally? From my reading it seems like playlists are not contained in the library file itself, is that right or wrong?"+
    See: What are the iTunes Library files? Both the ITL and XML files keep your Library data. The ITL file is used by iTunes. The XML file is created by iTunes and can bu used in other programs or Imported back into iTunes to re-create your Library. hey are only as good as your last archived backup file (should you corrupt the current Library database file).
    +"2) What information is contained in that library file, what does it do? If I can't get it from my old hard drive what will happen if I have Itunes create a new one?"+
    These are only in the iTunes Library files (ITL & XML):
    Playlists
    Ratings
    Play Count
    Last Played
    Date Added
    Date Modified
    Equalizer
    Volume Adjustment
    These are stored in the music file itself:
    Artist
    Album
    Song Title
    Year
    Comments
    Compilation tag
    Lyrics
    Genre
    Grouping
    Volume Adjustment (a special iTunes-only tag in the file - non-standard)
    Composer
    Bit Rate (not a tag - inherent to the file itself)
    BPM
    Kind (not a tag - inherent to the file itself)
    Album Art (only stored in the file - not copied to the iTunes Library ITL or XML files)
    +"3) I've read that I may be able to get playlist information from my Ipod, but it seemed really confusing and I was uncertain if that was correct. Is that a possiblity? Can I do it by accesing the Ipod as an external drive?"+
    These links will give you several methods of recovering whatever songs remain on your iPod; some free, some third-party software, some more comprehensive for restoring Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, etc. Read them and their associated links before deciding on a strategy that works for you. There are many various third-party software programs that will offer a more robust process, or an easier GUI. Do a Google search for them if the links below leave you wanting…
    Don King Resurrected: Deleted files from hard drive (free user steps – music recovery only)
    MacMuse: Computer Crashed (free user steps – music recovery only)
    Copying music from iPod to computer (a primer on various methods and software)
    Copying Songs from Your iPod to a Mac or PC (resource for 3rd party software)
    iPodRip Software (Free trial: Mac & Windows)
    PodUtil Software (Mac & Windows)
    YamiPod Software (Free: Mac & Windows)
    PodPlus Software (Windows)
    TuneJack Software (Windows)
    XPlay (Windows software For Music Recovery &/or Cross-Platform Functionality)
    XPlay Photo Browser (For recovering Photos)
    +"4) Would I also be able to get the libary file from the Ipod if I can't get it from my old hard drive? If the Ipod contains most but not all of my songs, would it be bad to use this file with the complete list of songs on my external drive?"+
    Not directly. You'll need to use the recovery software mentioned in #3 above.
    Best of Luck

  • Hard Drive Failure - Music Files backed up to external hard drive ...

    i reinstalled itunes and successfully copied over the music folders. i can play all of my music in itunes except the purchased music. an error comes up that says the original file is missing.
    if i plug in the external drive i can search and play the file from there.
    weird! b/c the external drive is a copy of what was on my old hard drive?
    also it is the EXACT folder that i copied back to the new hard drive.
    any advice? is there a way to 'unlock' the music? is there a 1 time copy allowance? anything?
    thanks!

    Set the iPod to manual to prevent any erasures (not sure this is essential, but I only ever use mine in manual mode). It's ages since I did mine - can't remember if it happened as soon as I connected the iPod to iTunes or if I had to do right mouse and choose a menu item but it was straightforward.
    I also don't remember if I reimported my iTunes library from the back up hard drive before I connected the iPod to the PC, I suspect I had put most of the library back before connecting.
    Don't forget you can look at the files on the iPod itself and copy them over, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention third party software on here so I won't but an internet search would give you the information you need.

  • Is it really true?  Genius Bar installed a new hard drive - lost my website

    I see from reading these pages that an iWeb site is actually stored in the Applications support folder. Last week, I took my MacBook to a Genius Bar because of hard drive problems. They determined I needed a new hard drive (which surprised me.) I had backed up everything, I thought, but specifically asked that they save my user files (my name:Sites, Pictures, etc.) which I guess they did.
    Why oh why didn't the Apple dude know that I wouldn't be able to retrieve my website into iWeb after this??? Is it possible he really didn't know about the Applications support location and this terrible quirk with iWeb?
    Sorry for the rant, but geez. I guess I now have to remake my entire website. Yes, I will cut and paste and drop, etc., but still. What a major hassle, which could have and should have been avoided by the Genius.
    Any suggestions? Is it possible they still have my old hard drive sitting around somewhere?

    Is it possible they still have my old hard drive sitting around somewhere?
    Call and ask them. It's doubtful, however.
    I guess I now have to remake my entire website
    Yep sorry
    Why oh why didn't the Apple dude know that I wouldn't be able to retrieve my website
    Most likely because they simply did not know. They probably backed up everything else on the user folder like you stated... Music, Movies, Documents, Sites, Pictures etc. but not the user Library folder. Bum deal it's always a good idea to educate yourself beforehand when important files are at stake and avoid the temptation of relying on others' services despite the highly regarded reputation you might have inaccurately perceived. Hopefully the rant is over. Sorry for your loss but if you really want to let Apple know then it is recommended that you send feedback to Apple by visiting this link.
    Oh hey and welcome to the forum. Good luck.

  • New Hard Drive - Lost Front Row!

    Hello,
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    Caitlin:
    Welcome to Apple Discussions.
    You can install it from your install disk using Pacifist.
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  • Help! Two hard drives sharing music on one player issue...

    Hi! I have media on both ext. hard drive and my laptop - I want to gradually delete all duplicate media saved on my laptop (so that all my music is playing from my ext. drive) - but i can't see where my music is saved unless I go into each file individually - which takes ages when trying to identify over 11000 tracks. 
    Is there any way to identify where the music is saved 'in bulk'? Thought there might be an extra display column, but I can't seem to find one.
    Thank you!

    Hi again zwj,
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    1. Quit iTunes.
    2. Navigate to where your iTunes folder is (in the Shared folder) and click once on the iTunes Library file to select it.
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    5. In the Sharing & Permissions section of the Get Info window click on the disclosure triangle to reveal the options if they are not already displayed.
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    Kryten

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