How To Delete "Duplicated Songs Names" in iTunes Interface

Question

Hi,
I have ripped and stored some songs in Apple Lossless on an external hdd.
I tried to transfer the songs from the ext. hdd, which is in Apple Lossless, to AAC iTunes and store them on my MacBook Pro, which has smaller hdd.
Without knowing what went wrong, now my "iTunes interface shows each of the songs that's on my ext. hdd(Apple Lossless) TWICE, but with only ONE copy of the actual songs(Apple Lossless)".
I was instructed to remove the "duplicated songs names from the inteface" and let the iTunes Library update itself.
But 5282 songs to "select & delect" the duplicated names in the interface is too "tedious".
So, is there any FASTER ways that can let me make my iTunes Library back to what it should be?
Thanks.
Ed
ps. I'm not sure, but can I create a NEW iTunes Library, and let it scan and add the songs(in Apple Lossless format and on an external hdd), so that the songs will only show ONCE in my iTunes interface?

Answer 1

JhnD wrote:
I have ripped and stored some songs in Apple Lossless on an external hdd.
I tried to transfer the songs from the ext. hdd, which is in Apple Lossless, to AAC iTunes and store them on my MacBook Pro, which has smaller hdd.
Without knowing what went wrong, now my "iTunes interface shows each of the songs that's on my ext. hdd(Apple Lossless) TWICE, but with only ONE copy of the actual songs(Apple Lossless)".
let me start by saying that i let iTunes manage my library, i.e. i have +keep iTunes media folder organized+ and +copy files to ... when adding to library+ checked in preferences > advanced. all that follows below is based on those settings being enabled !
i'm doing something similar. my Apple lossless files are stored on an external HD. i add these files to my library by *option dragging* them from the external into an open iTunes window. iTunes will index the path to the original's location (the external), but not physically add the files to the main library's drive.
with the external connected, i then have iTunes convert the lossless files to AAC 256, which are thus added to the main library.
i, too, have duplicate entries for those files: one being the lossless, the other being the AAC version.
there is no way around that, unless you manually remove the entries for the lossless files after the conversion.
I was instructed to remove the "duplicated songs names from the inteface" and let the iTunes Library update itself.
But 5282 songs to "select & delect" the duplicated names in the interface is too "tedious".
So, is there any FASTER ways that can let me make my iTunes Library back to what it should be?
i am quite happy with having duplicate, even triplicate entries in my library - i know how and why they are there. so, *... my iTunes Library back to what it should be* may be really quite different from one user to the next.
there are some tools to help you with the task of removing dupes, one of which is included in iTunes:
_*How to find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library*_
_*http://www.araxis.com/find-duplicate-files/ (free trial)*_
_*http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/dupin.php (commercial)*_
ps. I'm not sure, but can I create a NEW iTunes Library, and let it scan and add the songs(in Apple Lossless format and on an external hdd), so that the songs will only show ONCE in my iTunes interface?
yes. again, you can *option drag* content from any location into iTunes without copying the actual files. since iTunes 9, there is also the +automatically add to iTunes+ folder - just drop content there and it will be added to the library. and there is alway the good old +add to library+ command under the file menu.
to start with a clean slate, launch iTunes while pressing option. @ the prompt, choose to +create new library+ and start populating the empty new library by whichever way you like. obviously, creating a new library means all your playlists, playcounts, and ratings will be gone.
JGG