I deleted some files from my iTunes music library, how do I get them back?

Question

Hi there, I hope you can help.
I have had an 80Gb iPod for a while now, but it got full, so I was deleting stuff that I didn't listen to very often from my iTunes library as I added new music. However, I kept all the music in my iTunes Music folder.
I have now purchased a 120Gb iPod, but obviously some of my music is only in the iTunes Music folder, but NOT actually in my music library within iTunes. Is there a way to sync the entire library with the new iPod (ie. including all the albums that I deleted from my iTunes library to accommodate new ones), or will I have to manually check my entire iTunes music library against my iTunes Music folder?
In essence, what I want to do is the opposite of consolidating my iTunes music library into my iTunes Music folder - to get all the music in my iTunes Music folder back into the library, without duplicating the stuff that's on there already. I hope that's clear...?
Best regards,
Matt.

Answer 1

Try iTunes Folder Watch for rereading the content you deleted, assuming you only removed it from the library, not the media folder. If you deleted the tracks then restore those that remain from the recycle bin first.
When you are finished you should have a new playlist with all the tracks that iTFW found. Rename this Exclude and then create a smart playlist called, say, iPod Music with the rules Playlist is Music and Playlist is not Exclude. This is the playlist you sync with your device, and any time it grows too large just find some more stuff to throw into Exclude.
tt2