Haven't lost song files, but have lost playlists and want to restore!

I store my songs (2300 in total) on a NAS drive. Two days ago, it was necessary for me to detach the NAS drive from my system. When it was re-attached, for some reason it came to life with a name that was a modified version of its prior name. Consequently, when I opened iTunes, although all of the songs in my library were listed, when i clicked on them, iTunes couldn't find them. A dialog box asked if i wanted to navigate to where the song file was located. Itunes no longer knew where to look for the file. I clicked on "Edit" and then "Preferences" and then selected "advanced" to see where iTunes thought the music files were located. The location was identified as the "Music" folder located on my computer's hard drive--not the NAS drive. (In the music folder, I have perhaps 20 songs that are remnants from a bygone day.) Within "advanced", I changing the location from the C drive to the NAS drive and thought that iTunes would then recognize the song files on the NAS. It didn't. I renamed the itl file as "Old Itunes library" with the intent of following a suggestion on the web to modify the song locations in the XML file. I then, for reasons that i can't explain, re-opened iTunes. When I re-opened iTunes, there were no songs at all listed--iTunes was blank. I opened windows explorer and noted that Itunes had created a new itl and XML file. It must have written over the "good" XML file. I didn't think that this would be a problem since I had saved the old itl file which i understand is the file which is really responsible for keeping the library organized.
I clicked on the old itl file thinking that my library would be magically restored, but nothing happened. I then uninstalled itunes and re-installed it, again thinking that it would recognize the presence of my song-library on the NAS drive. It didn't. I know that all of my songs are still on the NAS drive, but I don't know how to restore my playlists.
I have seen advice on how to transfer files from the iPod to the computer, but I don't think that that is what I need. All of my song files are present--they simply aren't being recognized on itunes.
My intuition tells me that the key to all of this is the itl file referenced above. However, I have not been able to do anything with it. Does anyone out there know how to help me out with this?
chief jay

Do what it told you to do - restore.
You will lose anything that you have failed to backup.
Not backing up everything before any update is a mistake.

Similar Messages

  • I am getting an error when resizing the Mac HD. I had a separate partition for Windows, but have deleted it and want to add the empty 50GB partition to my Mac HD.

    I am getting an error when resizing the Mac HD. I had a separate partition for Windows, but have deleted it and want to add the empty 50GB partition to my Mac HD.

    SparkchaserEd wrote:
    I am getting an error when resizing the Mac HD.
    What does this error say?

  • I have a playlist and want to copy it in the same song order to my iphone, but itunes doesn't do this for me. Solutions?

    I have made a playlist for an event, and want to copy it from my iMac iTunes to my iphone in the same song order. But it doesn't do this. How do I ensure the copy is the same order as on my computer iTunes?   
    thanks for any help!

    If any of your music was not purchased from iTunes, then copyright prevents any transfer back to the iTunes app.
    iTunes will hold a record of all your purchases and all your non Itune purchases will not be processed.
    I could not reload my music library built up from non iTune products and can not get 1 to reload from apple devices to other apple devices I own.
    Also having upgraded software the libray wont take. I have to re-rip my music back to the Macbookpro then back to the iPhone 4s running IOS 6 over 700 tracks not funny!!!!

  • I didnt encrypt my backup files but it is locked and I cant restore my new iphone

    My ipad 3 was stolen and I bought a new ipad air. I backed up my ipad two days before it was stolen. I am now going through the setup process and it is at the "Restore from iTunes Backup" step. I connect to iTunes and iTunes is prompting me for a password to "unlock your iPad backup file." No I did not encrypt the iPad backup, nor is it or was it checked in iTunes. I have tried my iTunes password, my 4 digit unlock code for the iPad, and several other passwords. When I did the backup two days before I was not asked for a password. I am at a loss as to what it is.
    I'm using windows 8, only 1 user account, no exchange account.
    Please help

    Unfortunately, there is no way around it. If iTunes insists on a passcode to use the backup, then you will not be able to use the backup without the passcode. It doesn't matter if you set it up that way, if someone else did it, or it's a one in a million fluke occurrence. Without the passcode, you will not be able to use that backup.

  • HT4352 Will homesharing share the content of different iTunes accounts within the home? ie wife has account and purchased songs. I have different account and want to listen to them on my Apple TV.

    Have 3 family members with three accounts. Homesharing is supposed to be set up all computers with the same (one) account. Then, will the content ONLY of the set account be shared? or will ALL content of those who sync with those computers be shared?
    Products: (2) iPhones 4s, (2)iPad2, Apple TV, iPod, Dell PC with Windows 7.

    There's an issue currently that a lot of us are experiencing in that we all get the error message "iTunes is currently unavailable; please try later"
    It's an issue with Apple and we're awaiting an update re this
    I've posted a topic in regards to this after having a long conversation with Apple support this morning and will be receiving a call from their tech team tomorrow to run through it further
    As it stands iTunes cannot be accessed via ATV's and nor can it be streamed via AirPlay from iTunes to the ATV
    However I can access all films/iCloud content via my Mac Mini with no issues!

  • I was lately downlaoding a 700mb file, but i lost the internet connection and i have the .part file and i cant click resume, is their any way that i can continue dowlaoding the file without the need redownloading from the begining?

    I was lately downlaoding a 700mb file, but i lost the internet connection and only 635mb was downloaded and i have the .part file but the download menu says that download failed so i cant click resume, is their any way that i can continue dowlaoding the file without the need redownloading from the beginning?

    I do not know if your file can be recovered.  But I may be able help you to recreate it with ease.  If you will settle for a composite where all image are re-sized for a particular tile size and virtually cropped to its aspect ratio.  However all source image need be gathered into a folder to use my script process. Paste Image Roll Script and Picture Package Support  Link  http://www.mouseprints.net/old/dpr/PasteImageRoll.jsx

  • HT1766 I have lost my contacts but my husbands phone and mine are on same itunes account how can I transfer his contacts to my phone?

    I have lost my contacts but my husbands phone and mine are on same itunes account how can I transfer his contacts to my phone?

    Thank you for that.
    I do have contacts in Windows Live Mail but still can't find Windows contacts where you said, I have:
    Sorry about the text size, but I think you can see what I have.
    Thank you for your help so far, I just need to make sure its definitely gone before I give up!

  • I need to rebuld the "C" drive on my computer will need to reinstall adobe cs6 when I am done, but have moved recently and lost the data to get that done. Help!

    I need to rebuld the "C" drive on my computer will need to reinstall adobe cs6 when I am done, but have moved recently and lost the data to get that done! Help!

    Downloads available:
    Suites and Programs:  CC 2014 | CC | CS6 | CS5.5 | CS5 | CS4 | CS3
    Acrobat:  XI, X | 9,8 | 9 standard
    Premiere Elements:  13 |12 | 11, 10 | 9, 8, 7
    Photoshop Elements:  13 |12 | 11, 10 | 9,8,7
    Lightroom:  5.7| 5 | 4 | 3
    Captivate:  8 | 7 | 6 | 5
    Contribute:  CS5 | CS4, CS3
    Download and installation help for Adobe links
    Download and installation help for Prodesigntools links are listed on most linked pages.  They are critical; especially steps 1, 2 and 3.  If you click a link that does not have those steps listed, open a second window using the Lightroom 3 link to see those 'Important Instructions'.window using the Lightroom 3 link to see those 'Important Instructions'.

  • I want to install Photoshop elements 11 onto a new computer but have lost my activation code

    I have a new pc and want to install my photoshop elemets onto it but have lost my activation code.  Tried searching on Adobe, but I did not register the product.  How can I retrieve it?

    You can check you Adobe account online to see if the serial number is registered under your account.  If not then your only option will likely be to contact Adobe Support directly thru chat to see if they can provide you with a/the serial number. For them to do so will require you being able to prove ownership.
    Serial number and activation chat support (non-CC)
    http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/service1.html ( http://adobe.ly/1aYjbSC )

  • New OS 5 on my Iphone 4 but have lost all my pictures, need to retreive them.

    I did an upgrade on my Iphone 4 to the new OS 5 but have lost all of my pictures that had not been sync with the computer yet. Is there a way to retreive them ?

    It doesn't do that by itself. You have to manually initiate a restore.
    If you weren't backing up to iCloud and you didn't have Photo Stream on so the photos could upload to the cloud, they're gone. You can't recover them.

  • I have old disc photoshop elements but have lost serial number how can i get replacement number

    i have old photoshop disc but have lost serial number can i retreave new number

    If you registered PSE when you first installed it, go to the main page of adobe.com and look for My Adobe on the upper right side of the page. By working your way through the links there you should find your serial number.

  • HT204150 I deleted my duplicate contacts one by one on my iPad but have lost over 600 contacts on my iPad they are all on my iPhone but when I sync my iCloud I only have 200 contact on my iPad but have all 820 on my iPhone can any one help

    I deleted my duplicate contacts one by one on my iPad but have lost over 600 contacts on my iPad they are all on my iPhone but when I sync my iCloud I only have 200 contact on my iPad but have all 820 on my iPhone can any one help

    Welcome to the Apple Community.
    First check that all your settings are correct, that contact syncing is checked on all devices (system preferences > iCloud on a mac and settings > iCloud on a iPhone, iPad or iPod).
    Make sure the contacts you are adding are added to your 'iCloud' group and not an 'On My Mac', 'On My Phone' or other non iCloud group (you can do this by checking in groups), non iCloud contacts will not sync.
    If you are sure that everything is set up correctly and your contacts are in the iCloud group, you might try unchecking contact syncing in the iCloud settings, restarting your device and then re-enabling contact syncing.

  • HT203167 I just updated my Iphone, but have lost all my musics I purchased from itunes.

    I just updated my iphone, but have lost all my musics I purchased from itunes.

    Depending on which country that you are in you might be able to re-download it for free : re-downloading. Otherwise, have you not got a copy of them on your computer and/or on a backup that you can use to re-sync them to the iPhone ?

  • I want to clean the HDD back to as new but have lost the disks that came with the Macbook Any ideas please

    I want to clean the HDD back to as new but have lost the disks that came with the Macbook Any ideas please

    You will need either the system DVD's that came with the MacBook or a retail Snow Leopard DVD...
    ....call Apple Customer Service to replace your original DVD's ( $ and a serial# required).....1-800-676-2775

  • I got a new computer and haven't used iTunes in years. I have an iPod and want to put my music from it onto iTunes on the new computer. I don't remember my old iTunes account info but i have a new apple ID for my iphone and ipad.

    I got a new computer and haven't used iTunes in years. I have an iPod and want to put my music from it onto iTunes on the new computer. I don't remember my old iTunes account info but i have a new apple ID for my iphone and ipad. Is there a way to transfer songs from my iPod (old iPod video) onto the new iTunes on my new computer and use my new apple ID to sign into iTunes?

    I got a new computer and haven't used iTunes in years. I have an iPod and want to put my music from it onto iTunes on the new computer. I don't remember my old iTunes account info but i have a new apple ID for my iphone and ipad. Is there a way to transfer songs from my iPod (old iPod video) onto the new iTunes on my new computer and use my new apple ID to sign into iTunes?

Maybe you are looking for