How to retain original song data (Date Added, etc.) after computer reformat.

Hello!
I recently had to reformat my computer, and I was able to copy all my music files and data to an external hard drive.
I currently have iTunes installed on my C drive (Windows 7) and all my music files are on a partition of my PC hard drive (P:). See image below.
What I like to do is to retain all the original song information (Date Added, Last Played, Play Count, etc.) from before I reformated, without all the songs having a Date Added of today's date and time.
I've tried to research this elsewhere on the Internet. A couple suggestions I've read pertain mostly to Macs but included the following:
~ Using the "iTunes Library.itl" file by choosing a library. Not sure how to do this method on the Windows version. (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3155068?start=0&tstart=0)
~ Changing the iTunes Media folder location (under Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced tab). I changed it to the folder above (P:\My Music\iTunes\) and clicked OK but nothing happens.
Any help or detailed instructions are appreciated. Thanks in advance!

OK, I partially solved the problem.
I primarily followed the steps under Re-creating the iTunes Library file on this page:
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451
I imported using the iTunes Music Library.xml file that I saved before reformating. This file had all the correct library information before I reformatted, including the Play Count, Play Date UIC, Rating, and Date Added data. Snipet here:
<dict>
          <key>Track ID</key><integer>20090</integer>
          <key>Name</key><string>Killer Queen</string>
          <key>Artist</key><string>Queen</string>
          <key>Composer</key><string>Freddie Mercury</string>
          <key>Album</key><string>Greatest Hits I</string>
          <key>Date Added</key><date>2011-02-27T21:44:06Z</date>
          <key>Play Count</key><integer>5</integer>
          <key>Play Date UTC</key><date>2011-04-14T05:11:12Z</date>
          <key>Rating</key><integer>80</integer>
</dict>
Upon importing, all the music and playlists are now in my library along with all the original data I had before (Last Played, Plays, Ratings)...
...EXCEPT for the Date Added column. All the songs in my library show the same date of 05/15/2012 under Date Added.
Is there a reason why the Date Added data is not carried over?
On a side note: my music hard drive partition before the reformat was "J:", now it is "P:". So, to make it work I made a quick find/replace to the iTunes Music Library.xml so that all "\J:\" now show "\P:\". If this makes a difference, let me know.
Thanks!

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How to retain original song data (Date Added, etc.) after computer reformat.

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