How to restore ITunes Library from Backup hard drive?

My computer crashed. I restored it -- but ITunes was wiped clean. I have all my music files and ITunes Library backed up on an external hard drive. How do I get the library from the external drive back to the computer with playlists, artwork and all intact? I guess it is more complex than just dragging the file labled library into ITunes becuase the computer won't let me do that. When I go to the original songs they are all individually in folders accorging to the artist and album -- that will take days to copy each album 1 by 1 -- I have 3,700 songs.

What you first need to do is Place the music it the Location they was in before you restored. If you had songs on the C drive in My Music folder, place them there. If iTunes was reading the music from the external, not much you have to do sincve there already there.
Now with the Library file you have to make iTUnes take the file and recreate it, this is explained here http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313

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Backup and restoring itunes library from external hard drive?

is there a way to backup and restore my itunes library to external hard drive and not through the internal itunes backup utility cos i have over 20gbs of music and i want to keep my album art and renamed songs etc. because i will be reformating my pc and dont want to go through painful task of manually adding stuff again.

Try this...
*Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
Grab SyncToy 2.0, a free tool from MS. Use it to create a backup copy of your iTunes library & any other media folders onto another hard drive or network share. After making the initial backup copy use SyncToy to periodically synchronise the backup copy with your library and only the changed files will be copied saving lots of time.
When the time comes to reformat your PC, do a final sync, then open iTunes & deauthorise the PC, reformat & rebuild Windows, copy the backup folders back to the same location as they were previously, install iTunes and it should all work perfectly.
tt2

How to restore iTunes library from backup?

A large percentage of my iTunes songs have become corrupted. (Seemed to happen when I installed 7.3) Luckily I have a recent backup of my hard drive, so I want to reinstall the library.
What are the steps to take? Do I simply delete my old iTunes library folders and copy the "good" folders in their place? Or do I need to restore the iTunes database, prefs, etc.?

See if any of these articles help:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302392
(see restoring from backup disk section)
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313

Can't restore itunes library from external hard drive

Prior to my hard drive crashing, I dragged my entire itunes folder (with all sub folders) to a firelite external hard drive. I replaced the power book HD, and I want to put my backed up library on the new HD. I dragged the folder from the firelite to the music folder (in place of the itunes folder that was already there). Unfortunately, the itunes library is still empty. Am I missing something?

Yes, the relative location is the same, the user account has the same short and long lame as before.
I did try to use the preferences to point to the backed up itunes folder. Once when it was on the eHD and once when I put it in the music folder. Unfortunatley no luck.
I will try your idea about using "Consolidate Library"
One other interesting thing I tried a few days ago was to follow the procedure outlined in the apple support section about restoring the library. It has you move the libray xml file to the desk top, trashing one of the other files (I forgot which) and then choosing the xml file placed on the desk top upon starting itunes. I thought it was kind of odd to select the very xml file I was having trouble with so I chose the backed up xml file. It put all of the playlist folders back in duplicate, but the library was still empty (probably becuase the xml file is just a reference file and I hadn't loaded any actual music files) If the consolidate doesn't work, mabye I'll try that again, but also put the folder with the actual files on the computer as well
I'll let you know how "Consolidate" works, thanks for your suggestions!

How to get ITunes library from external hard drive to new PC

have ITunes folder from dying PC saved on external hard drive. PC now dead. New PC has Windows7, and have loaded ITunes.
Now need to know exactly what to do to get all that lovely music from the external hard drive onto the new Windows7 PC. The ITunes folder has the following inside it:
ITunesMusic folder in it, which looks like all the music is in there.
Album Artwork folder
ITunesLibrary.itl
ITunesMusicLibrary.xml
ITunesLibraryGenius.itdb
ITunesLibraryExtras.itdb
What do I do, and in what order? I'm thinking I should NOT need to plug in the ipod, since everything is saved on the external drive. (I don't want to accidentally wipe the Ipod, since I'm pretty sure it is set to automatically sync.....)
the whole point of doing frequent backups was to not lose anything. Note: did NOT use apple for backups, just regular backup program. Can see the files and folders, just need to knkow what to do.
Thanks in advance for the help!

Drag and drop the whole folder into the iTunes application.
The iTunes application meaning your library once iTunes is open

HT1364 how to reinstall itunes library from a hard drive???

my laptop died, i have now accessed the hard drive and tired to copy the old itunes folder to my new laptop,all the music is shown as "location cant be found" - can anyone help??

Highlight one of the "missing" files and press CTRL+I to get info. Say no when asked to locate the file and look on the summary tab for where iTunes "thinks" the file is. Now find the true path. Paste both values here and I can suggest the best approach.
tt2

How do I restore iTunes library from Backup files on External Hard Drive?

How do I restore iTunes library from Backup files on External Hard Drive and keep the new iTunes library on the External Hard Drive. I have all the media and playlist and .xml .itl files, just want the iTunes to recognise the content.
I backedup my iTunes content by dragging to External Hard Drive. Formatted and reinstalled OS. My iTunes content is so large, that I wish for the Library and content to remain on the External Hard Drive. I have all the music files and playlists, I just cannot get the iTunes application to display all the content. Hoping to Not have to drag and drop all the content to be recopied into new iTunes organised files.
Troubleshooting this by researching other conversations on the web, I have come stuck for a solution. One Troubleshoot told me to hold down the Command key and then lauch iTunes and a dialogue box will appear to Choose a new library, however when I try this, no Dialogue box appear to give me the option!?

It sometimes has that funny switch symbol on it too.
tt2

Hi, I had to re install my itunes library from a hard drive to my new laptop. Now I cant sync my iphone because itunes thinks all songs are new and basically doubling all albums. Should i restore iphone or is there a better way?

hi, i had to re install my itunes library from a hard drive to my new laptop. Now itunes thinks i am trying to add new albums and saying there isnt enoug space. should i restore or is there a better way.

Have you tried exporting a 10 second section of the footage to see if the issue shows up once the seqeunce is actually exported from the timeline. I edit on CS5 with windows 7 pro at work quite often and have no issues so I assure you that isn't the issue. I also edit with AVCHD footage when at home and work quite freqeuntly as well so I'm positive that isn't the issue. It sounds like a GPU driver has been corrupted in the way it interacts with premiere pro. What type of GPU do you have? If it supports MPE's GPU acceleration have you tried turning it off and seeing if that makes any difference?
Anyways though try to export a 10 second test section of your timeline to see if when the clip is exported from premiere it will play normally in windows media player or vlc or w/e media player you want to use. If it exports fine then you can almost be positive it's a corrupted video card driver. If that's the case I'd re-install your GPU's driver and also check your gpu makers website to see if they have a updated driver avaiable.

How to restore iTunes Library from Time Machine on Mavericks?

Please, can someone give me the instructions on how to restore iTunes Library from Time Machine on Mavericks?

See Pondini's TM FAQs, for details.

I have just transferred my iTunes library from a hard drive previously connected to a windows laptop to a MacBook Pro and now all my options for editing info are greyed out. I have seen the answers if still using windows but could find a similar situation

I have just transferred my iTunes library from a hard drive previously connected to a windows laptop to a MacBook Pro and now all my options for editing info are greyed out. I have seen the answers if still using windows but could find a similar situation to this one.

Eels290776 wrote:
if my external hard drive is not connected to either of my machines, and I download something onto my iMac and then something different onto my Macbook, where are my machines going to be storing the new downloaded media
when the drive is not connected, +iTunes media folder location+ will default back to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music/iTunes/iTunes music (or media)
and when I next connect the external hard drive how will I easily get the newly downloaded media onto the external HD
you'd have to point +iTunes media folder location+ back to the external via preferences > advanced > iTunes media folder location, then file > library, organize library > consolidate files
and essentially, to have it easily readable on both machines?
in that case it might be best to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external. then, on each machine, launch iTunes while pressing option on your keyboard. when prompted, click on +choose library+ and navigate to the iTunes folder on the external.
note only one iTunes can access the iTunes library @ a time !
also, make sure the external is mounted on either machine before launching iTunes.
JGG

How to restore itunes library from a faulty time machine backup?

Hello,
I just bought a new macbook pro 15inch. I have a time machine backup but I wanted to start fresh so I didn't use the migration assistant to transfer my info. The only thing I want is my iTunes library with the playlists, ratings, artwork etc. But here's the problem... The computer knows that my external hard drive (it's a 1 TB toshiba) has a time machine back up, but it won't access it the usual way. I choose "browse other time machine disks", enter the time machine, then choose the external drive from there, and then I access my stuff. I copied the whole iTunes folder, changed the iTunes media folder location in preferences. Now all my playlists are gone, 400 songs are missing artist info and the library duplicated itself so now I have 12000 songs.
Is there a way for me to have my exact same iTunes library from my other computer?
Any help is appreciated. Thank you

bilunpe wrote:
I copied the whole iTunes folder, changed the iTunes media folder location in preferences.
All you need to do is copy the entire iTunes folder to /Music/.
Then open iTunes.
This is all you need to do. Don't change any iTunes prefs.

New HDD - how to restore iTunes library from Time Machine

Installed a new HDD in my MacBook Pro, would now like to restore my iTunes library on the computer.
Searched & saw a post about "needing to use the Time Machine interface to restore the entire library".
What is this interface they are referring to and how do I find it?
I open Time Machine in preferences and see there is an "options" button, and you can add items to the restore window ... I'm hoping there is a document somewhere that details if this is the correct place to restore an iTunes library, if so, what files/directories need to be added for restore, etc...
What's the process to restore an iTunes library from a Time Capsule backup?

Please do not double-post.
Answered in your other thread on this subject: https://discussions.apple.com/message/17532046#17532046

Anyone know how to Restore iTunes Library from External HD

My PC won't even turn on anymore. But luckily, I have most of the iTunes Library backed up in an External HD.
Now, I've searched and can't find instructions from Apple on how to Restore the Library while keeping all the Playlists, Ratings, and all that other good stuff. Anyone know to do that, or at least WHERE that info is?
Thanks.
Message was edited by: MasterSpade

I have most of the iTunes Library backed up in an External HD
What exactly do you have backed up on the external?

HD failure. Want to restore iTunes library from backup

The hard drive containing my music died. Fortunately, I have a (manual) backup of all the songs/artists on another hard drive. I also have a backup of the iTunes Music Library.xml and iTunes Library files.
I moved the xml and library files to my Music folder. I attached the backup hard drive and changed the location of my library in iTunes preferences to look for my songs there. I hit Consolidate. All the songs show up in the library, but a load of them have the dreaded exclamation point and have no link.
I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Thanks so much for any help!

That setting in Prefs tells iTunes where to put music when you import...not where to find your library. Try launching iTunes while holding down the option key, then tell it where to find the library.

Migrating iTunes library from external hard drive to new laptop

Hi there, I am wondering if anyone can help me please? I am a complete newbie to this forum thing, I am just getting into this cosmic sharing world but find myself utterly frustrated with iTunes and my new laptop - with little help on the Support pages, so i am venturing into the unkown and seeking help from anyone out there.........slightly scary for me, this really is my first post on a forum - so be gentle with me :0)
On my old steam driven laptop I had to move my iTunes library to an external hard drive, my 250MB hard drive just wasn't enough (I know pathetic wasn't it). All ok there and I have been using it no problem. I have now upgraded (finally!!) to a new wonderful laptop (with webcam and all sorts!)but I am at the end of my tether trying to get my iTunes library from my external hard drive to appear in the Library on the laptop. boo hoo.
I have tried changing the file location in the Advance section of preferences, i have tried choosing the library after holding down the shift key on start up (you see not a complete numpty). They all appear to work as i don't get any error messages, but the songs just don't appear in the library. Am i being a complete numb nuts here? what am i missing?
If anyone can help i would be really grateful as this is spoiling the euphoric feeling i have of my lovely new laptop!
cheers Latte

tonybassplayer wrote:
Thank Chris I have just done that. How do I now get them in to Itunes ?
If you simply copy the iTUnes folder to /Music/ and launch iTUnes, everythign will be there. No need to import anything.
This will work the same with iPhoto.
Simply copy the Photo library to /Pictures/ folder and launch iPhoto.

How to restore ITunes Library from Backup hard drive?

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