Help - My music files have disappeared

I needed to move my iTunes library from one external drive to another and I followed the instructions in iTunes Help. I used the Edit/Preferences/Advanced to change the location of my iTunes Music folder and then started the File/Library/Consolidate Library to copy all my music from the old drive to the new one. After running about 20 minutes, I got an error message stating "Copying music failed. The required file could not be found" I opened up the music folder on the old drive and discovered that all folders for artists and albums were there but over 90% of the music files were gone. There had been over 3000 songs on that drive and only 235 were still there. On the new drive, only 160 files showed up. Where did the other 2800 music files go? They are not in the recycle bin and I cannot find them anywhere else on my PC using the Search tool in Windows Explorer. What do I do now?

Apparently the old external drive is going bad. I turned it off and waited an hour or so and restarted it, and all my files were back. I have copied them to my PC hard drive to be safe. However, my iTunes is now totally screwed up. Although the music files are back where they were (for now), iTunes cannot find any songs except the few that were copied to the new drive when I did the consolidate. I tried the Consolidate Library again and it stops because it cannot find the files. Am I going to have to point iTunes to the location of every song, one at a time, for over 2800 songs?

Similar Messages

My playlist appears in itunes, but the music files have mysteriously disappeared in my iTunes Media file. Is there a way to recover them? Tried searching and cannot find them.

My playlist appears in itunes, but the music files have mysteriously disappeared from my iTunes Media file. Is there a way to recover them? Tried searching and cannot find them.

This page might help: http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=44083
Older Zens don't support AAC, which is the format iTunes uses for songs.
You can convert from AAC to MP3, which every media player under the sun will play. Here's a tutorial: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-10096807-49.html

Some files have disappeared from my macbook pro.they were on the desktop and have vanished,i started to do these files again and upon restarting my macbook this morning the new files had gone.Also i can't launch any of my applications safari or app store

some files have disappeared from my macbook pro they were on the desktop.Iredid some of my work and this morning when i started up my macbook they too had vanished.Spotlight doesn't reveal them and also i can't launch any of my applications like safari app store etc, help please anyone? thanks

Restore them from your latest backup

Hi, All my music files have an exclamation mark on the left and when I tunes asks me to locate a window opens with I Tunes folders but I still cant see my music library . What can i do? Thanks

Hi, All my music files have an exclamation mark on the left and when I tunes asks me to locate a window opens with I Tunes folders but I still cant see my music library . What can i do? Thanks

The red exclamation mark indicates that itunes cannot find your files.
Are the music files still on your harddrive. Look n Finder
Username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media
If the files are there then keep the option key pressed and open iTunes. A dialog box will open asking you to choose your library. Select Choose and then navigate to the Music/iTunes Folder and click OK

Desktop, OneDrive, Box files have disappeared from MacBook -- yet the folders remain! How do I find the file contents?

Recently I went to my OneDrive on my 2014 MacBook Pro to get some docs, and ALL the folders were empty. (OneDrive is formerly SkyDrive.) I also use BOX. I checked the trash bins on my Mac and my OneDrive. Nothing. Then I realized that ALL my folders were empty -- including those on my desktop and in BOX. ALL my work is gone. This is a big deal...and unfortunately, I did not use Time Machine.
The whole idea of the external drive was to protect these docs. They sync with the computer -- if the computer docs disappear, so do the contents on the external drives. But regardless, anything that was IN A FOLDER is gone -- xls, PDFs, docs, etc. iTunes and pics are okay.
About a week or so before this I downloaded Picasa. Not sure if this may have had an affect on my computer.
I contacted Microsoft and they are useless. I went to the Genius bar, and they never heard of such a thing. They have moved it up but haven't heard anything from Apple. This is something that happened due to the MacBook operating system, not a virus. I've seen other similar posts where files "just disappear" but not to this extent.
I really need some help or a forensic person to figure this out. It is quite problematic. I appreciate you help mucho....
THANKS!!!!

So this seemed to result in the outcome I wanted:
- Find the old Thunderbird profile location (.../AppData/Roaming ... THunderbird/Profiles/...default/Mail/first.account.domain/Inbox
- FInd the same location on the New laptop
Copy the first (old, backup) inbox to a new file in the New profile folder; I did Inbox.bak
Start TBird - and lo and behold, I have folders "Inbox" (recent mail since the old laptop crash) and "Inbox.bak" (the mail I thought was lost).
Looks like I need to add all accounts to the New TBird first so that it creates the profiles, and after that copy the backup Inbox & Sent files to the new profile folders.
This worked for me. Not very elegant, with several manual steps, but end result is what I needed.
It would be great if there was a smoother way for disaster recovery.
And yes, I should have had better backup policy in place. For everyone's benefit - I do Data Center systems for a living, and have seen far too many "backup" services which do not actually work in a restore situation. That's why my personal backups are direct file copies on large disks. It works, but leaves room for manual error, which is what happened here.
Actual folders, btw, I keep where I see them - "c:\users\username\Thunderbird" - for this very reason.

Files have disappeared???

My daughter has a new 15" MacBook Pro. For one of her college classes she downloads ppt files and adds her own notes. She has about 12 of these on her computer and she has reviewed them regularly. Yesterday she went to look at them and she could only find 5 of them. 7 of them have disappeared. She is certain that she did not delete them. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could have happened to these files and if she can do anything to get them back. She does not have a Time Machine backup. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Rarely do files just disappear, there is a cause. If she remembers the name, she should use Spotlight (it's the magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the menu bar). Just type in the name of the file or any of its contents, and if it's on the Mac, it'll find it. If she accidentally put it in the trash, look there, because OSX doesn't empty the trash, until you tell it too (unless you set it up to automatically erase).
I'm guessing it's somewhere on the Mac. And it's time to have her set up a Time Machine backup. It is not intrusive (except for the first backup), and no files will go missing.

NEWBIE: Need Help Sending Music Files

Everytime I try to send even a small music file (300 KB)... I get a "Message content exceeds size limit"
Do I need to change my settings someplace?
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
MJ

Unfortunately Patsfan, You cannot do anything to change this setting!
This is a limitation that was set by your phone services provider network!
MMS message are to only be allow to be sent over their network if the size is "LESS" than 300kb, you might be able to get away with "300kb exactly" but still it has to be within that size!
If you notice when you are in video mode on your phone and go to options it gives you two "video formats" to choose from
1 = normal mode
2 = mms mode
If you choose the first mode, you can record videos for as long as you want, granted you have a memory card that has the available space. But you most likely wont be able to send those videos using mms because they probably have gone over the 300kb size limitation for sending via MMS.
If you choose the second mode, the videos that you record will stop at about 40-50 seconds or before the video size goes over 300kb. And thats just the way it is. This mode assures that all your videos will be under 300kb, and in a format that can be sent by mms GUARUNTEED.
The only work around for this are mainly two things:
1 - Send the video by email and not MMS.
or
2 - find some third party software that will allow you to work around these size limitations.
Sorry I dont know any off hand.
But I hope this helps out!
Message Edited by bigbain on 01-19-2009 05:03 PM
Big Bain

6275i help w/music files n ringtones

Hi, I have the 6275i and I can get music files onto it no prob, but when I listen with my nokia headset, I only hear it in one earphone. I'm unsure about the file conversion stuff, can someone tell me how to fix this?
As well, I've read that Bell doesn't allow the function of turning music files into ringtones, so anyone know a way to do this? THANKS!

With a network branded phone it is possible that certain features might be missing, like the ability to set a music track as ringtone.
My guess it that your phone has a special version of firmware on that was made by your network provider.
Knowledge should be your Advisor when you need help.
1610»2110»8110»5110»3310»6210»7250i»6220»6230»6230i»6233
Love me or hate me, its still an obsession. Love me or hate me, that is the question. If you love me then Thank you! If you hate me then ...

Help - Moving Music Files to Larger External Hard Drive

Before I lose any files or otherwise ruin my iTunes installation, I need to know the best and safest way to move my iTunes music from my C: drive to my new external drive while still retaining full iTunes functionality while clearing space on my cramped internal drive.
Adding some slight complexity, I also have the Honda TTS (text to speech) software loaded which provides for the functionality of the music link for my iPod in my Honda Accord.
Do I have to reinstall iTunes on the new drive? If so, how do I preserve my music files in the process.
Thanks for reading.
Chris
Dell Dimension 2200 Windows XP

No, it's not necessary to re-install iTunes on the new drive. The following link from MacMuse should help. 2 tips, before doing anything in iTunes, you must boot-up the EHD prior to opening iTunes or iTunes will revert the iTunes music folder location back to the main drive. Next, there are 2 associated database files with iTunes, the .itl & .xml files . These 2 files CAN'T be moved off you system's drive, that is their "home" & they have to stay put. Welcome to discussions!
EDIT:
I guess I'm getting tired, forgot the link, so sorry!
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=607487
Message was edited by: StarDeb55

Help Locating music files after transferring using Windows Migrartion Assistant

I am new to mac I just bought a new MacBook Pro Friday. I have an iPod, iPhone, and an, iPad that I need to get setup on my Mac. The way I have them setup on my Windows 7 PC is I can select wich iTunes library to open by pressing the shift key while clicking on the iTunes icon. My first question is can I set that up like that on the Mac as well? Also I used Windows Migrartion Assistant to transfer my music files from my windows 7 PC to my Mac after the transfer was finished I cannot locate the music files on the Mac anywhre. Can anyone help.

Apparently the old external drive is going bad. I turned it off and waited an hour or so and restarted it, and all my files were back. I have copied them to my PC hard drive to be safe. However, my iTunes is now totally screwed up. Although the music files are back where they were (for now), iTunes cannot find any songs except the few that were copied to the new drive when I did the consolidate. I tried the Consolidate Library again and it stops because it cannot find the files. Am I going to have to point iTunes to the location of every song, one at a time, for over 2800 songs?

Certain files have disappeared from my computer, certain file types remain, and the folders remain. What happened to the files, any way to get them back?

First I'll give my specs:
MacBook Pro mid-2009
Memory: 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB
Software: OS X 10.9.4 (13E28)
This evening I woke my computer up and the first thing I noticed was the background image had changed.
Then navigating through my folders, all files have been removed except for *some" of the following file types:
Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, CeltX, Final Draft, InDesign.
Files I know were there this morning and are no longer there are: PDF, MOV, TXT, and others.
When I "get info" on one of the folders that used to be populated with files, the first file size that shows is the original (i.e. 2.3 gigs) but it quickly updates to the new size of an empty folder (6 mb).
I have checked to make sure I am still logged in as the correct user, I have reset the PRAM, I have reindexed finder, I have verified and repaired the disk and verified disk permissions. I have used Terminal to show all hidden files, and none of these things have helped.
No, I do not have a backup that I can restore from. Yes, I know it is stupid.
Any insight or suggestions are welcome.
Thank you!

Try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.
Safe Mode - Mavericks
Safe Mode - About

Is there a way to find out whether all of my music files have been imported to iTunes?

Is there a way to find out whether all of my music files on the computer have been imported to iTunes?
I want to consolidate my music files to tidy it all up into one place, and then delete the originals. I don't want to delete any music until I know that it's all been imported.
Thanks.

Try iTunes Folder Watch and point it all the places you store media. When you're happy everything has been imported you can consolidate.
See also this post on Duplicates which includes a link to a backup tip.
tt2

Imovie 4 Media files have disappeared!!

Hi,
A student of ours has been using IM4 to do a project, they went to do some work today and all of the files in the media folder are missing. I have hunted high and low but can not find them, has anybody had this happen to them!!!
They have been using a LACIE external HD to save their work,
Thanks,

What Karl writes is very true about the corruption issues with iMovie 4.
I work at a high school (as well as independently) with many, many projects on iMovie versions 2 through HD (and also FCP). We mainly still use iMovie 2 because of bugs and slowness (lag time after clicking e.g.) with the other versions. When we want to do sound work and put Ken Burns effects on stills, and also to create DVDs then we bump up to 4.
Today, for the second time this year, all the clips have disappeared from a media folder but this time from a project done in iMovie 2. It was the last project open before shut down yesterday, and it was the first project opened on startup today. Nobody accessed the folders to delete them and neither iMovie or finder trash were used.
The clips simply disappeared.
Like I said before, this is the second time this year this has happened and it is very frustrating to us and the students.
We run into many issues weekly due to the intense usage of the editing programs (such as strange quirks with the Ken Burns effect and random corruption of stills).
And we have quite a few workarounds built into our workflow to deal with these things, but have found no way to restore the disappearing clips. And outside of copying every folder to another location every day, I can't think of what would really safeguard us for this one. This is a very scary problem to have.
I'm pretty much editing on FCP five or six hours a day and while it is way, way more stable, there are certain things that crop up there too.
It would be nice if Apple would start a page on known troubles and fixes that could be accessed easily from the specific product's support home page.

HT1349 It's impossible to contact anyone from Apple helpdesk. You get sent from pillar to post only to hit a brick wall. I need some help as my Audiobooks have disappeared from my library. Been trying for 2 days to get help but can't get through to anyone

Apple help service is crap. I've been trying to contact someone for 2 days now and can't get through to anyone. My audiobooks have disappeared from my Library - I paid a lot of money for these! None of the 'contact us' buttons get me through to anyone, you get sent electronically from pillar to post and end up hitting a brick wall.What a disgusting service - they can't even design a simple way of contacting them. I thought microsoft were bad but Apple are even worse!

the thing is i never threw away the project plus i have a copy of it lol... it has something to do with me moving the folder im just sure of it. because when i checked the trash when i tried to delete that new folder, its there.... thats the only thing i deleted from the event library window. then the other projects that were useless that i threw away. should i restore those? i havent emptied my trash.
also i could never find where it saves everything... so i just did a search... (im not a very techy guy) plus im unsure how to back it up... if its a feature in the program then i havent figured it out yet...
but i think if i put the "final cut projects" folder back where i took it from it should be fine. im THINKING thats the case. the only problem is i dont know where i got it from. sounds silly i know but i found the folder from doing a search in finder.

Newly purchased music files LITERALLY disappeared....

I just bought a new album 10 minutes ago, and two of the songs weren't properly downloaded. The songs that won't play are visible in my library, but there's a an exclamantion point next to each of them and they are grayed out. At first, I thought maybe iTunes just didn't create a path between my library and the mp4 files, so I went to my music folder to see if the files were there. Lo and behold, they were not. I have 7 music files for my new album, not 9, even though 9 songs were advertised in the iTunes Store. I'm really irritated right now because I paid for 9 songs, but I got 7. Before I go to technical support, I figured I'd check here first to see if anyone else has encountered this problem and can either explain why this happened or tell me how to fix it. Thanks in advance.
Oh, and the weirdest thing about all this is that the entire album is visible on my iPod Touch o_O. My iPod and computer are both synced to iCloud, so I'm totally stumped as to why the album I bought downloaded completely to my iPod, but not my computer. I'm actually afraid of connecting my iPod to my computer right now, because it my erase my two songs (it already deletes my playlists every time I sync it to my library, even though they both have the same playlists with the same content.....)

I'm having an issue syncing 2 videos I downloaded on itunes onto my itouch. It's telling me my computer is not authorized to play this video and I don't understand why since it's the same computer I downloaded the video from and onto. I have looked for solutions all over this website and have come up empty.

Help - My music files have disappeared

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for