I fouled up; erased library .itl and .xml files; need a little help

I think I see what I did wrong (my issue relates to this reply post I submitted earlier today >> https://discussions.apple.com/message/16254985#16254985 but I don't think there's any need to go back and read that post to get the gist of my problem).
So, after knocking around and reading a whole bunch of forum posts and Apple support pubs, I now know I did something dumb.
Simply put, last night, in the course of attempting to delete from my MacBook Pro the iTunes library file residing there (the one designed to contain actual media files, i.e., music, books, podcasts, etc.), I also deleted the iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Library.xml files. Yes, doh! is right.
[BTW, the idea behind deleting the media library on the MBP was because my media files are -- and have been for some time -- located on an external hard drive. So the good news is I still have all my media. Of course, the bad news is I lost all playlists and a host of song-specific information and I'm sure a bunch of other stuff that is organized on the iTunes Library.itl file. (Apple's helpful info sheet on the .itl and .xml files at >> http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660)]
So I opened up iTunes today and there is nothing there, i.e., looks like just opened for the first time ever. I now know that in the absence of the .itl and .xml files (which I trashed yesterday), iTunes went ahead and created new, empty versions of these files.
HERE'S THE QUESTION: what should or can i do now to rebuild my library? My media files still reside on my external HD and there they must stay because there isn't remotely enough room on the MBP hard drive itself.
I'm just sort of stumped. And skittish. I don't want to make another dumb mistake that will make things even worse. Any ideas?

Hey, sorry to hear that, but good to know that you have all your "stuff" and its just a matter of getting it all back together in the right place. So, I have some ideas why it happened to me and maybe why this happened to you, which may be relevant later, but first I'll first explain how I got out of this jam.
After much investigating, I finally did a search for .itl files and ended up "finding" one in the Media folder itself, specifically in the Music folder (yeah, should have done this much earlier). Looking around, I also found the other files and folders that are supposed to be at same directory level as "iTunes Media."
At this point, I just moved them back to where they were supposed to be and opened iTunes and, voila, there was my stuff (albeit not quite all of it or exactly as it should be). Then, after making sure my Media folder was properly identified in Advanced Preferences, I checked the boxes under File -> Library -> Organize Library and iTunes started doing some activity that seemed like it was reorganizing or rechecking the organization (you can see I am no expert here).
So like I indicated, it wasn't exactly the way it was when I last used iTunes before I had the problems (e.g., various podcasts, books, etc. werent there -- so i just added them into the Library manually, i.e., File -> Add To Library, etc.).
Anyway, I hope this helps if you haven't already fixed your problem. If not, I might have some other ideas I came across while still searching for solution to my problem. Best of luck.

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Forgot to backup itunes library.itl and xml files

I backup pretty much everything. Unfortunately I forgot about the itunes library datase files, the itubes library.itl and xml files. The hard drive has been repartioned and formated, so it's gone. I do have all the music in the exact same directory structure though. Both versions are Windows 7 x64. I aslo have my iPOD.
What I want to figure out how to do is import the database into a new install of itunes. So the music and stuff doesn't matter. It's all there in the same set of folders, with the exact same path as before. Is there any way to create the itl and xml files containing the metadata from the iPOD?
I wouldn't even be all that bummed if I had to let my music import from the hard drive again. I just really really want to import my playlists. That would really suck if I had to type them all in manually from the iPOD. If anyone could point me int he right direction, I would really appreciate it.

Ok googlers from the future, here is the sultion I used.
This solution puts everything back to normal with minimal work, but it costs you however much disk space is on your ipod. I downloaded the copytrans suite off the piratebay. Then I used the ipod copy to back up my ipod. This will copy things to folders based on tags. So you have to have a second copy of your music. Once it is backed up remote the itunes library files from the top folder of the itunes library. Start itunes, and then go to import playlist. Then you select the xml file from your ipod backup. This will import the entire library into itunes. When you sync your ipod it will say iit is going to delete everything and reload it, but it doesn't. If there was stuff that was no in the library it would delete it, but there won't be because the library came from your ipod to being with. So it just copies anything to it that wasn't there, if there is anything.
From that point, when you want to add stuff to your library/ipod, you have to put a copy of the music in the library you made. So all the music you want on your computer and your ipod will take up double space on your hard drive because you have to put a copy in the library folder. Once it is there, you just go to add folder and select your library folder. THis will make it rescan and put the new songs in the database.
The good part of this is you don't have to do selective ipod loading. You make the selection when you copy to the library folder. So at that point you just sync your ipod making an exact copy.
That was the best solution for me anyway, with a big library and lots of playlists. I also never use itunes. The sole purpose of having itunes is to load my ipod. My ipod I use daily though. I don't drive anywhere without it connected to my stereo. Being able to select anything in a massive music library from my head unit while driving around is seriously awesome.

New PC-do I need to transfer Itunes library files (itl and xml files?)

Hi gang,
I followed the Itunes tutorial for Windows and moved my Itunes music library to a EHD as it was filling up my laptop. I left the itl and xml library files on the laptop hard drive as instructed.
However, this laptop is a work PC and if I change jobs I will need to download a new version of Itunes to the new PC. I know how to import the files from the EHD but my question is the following:
1. Do I need to back up the itl and xml library files to the EHD before I give back the work PC? It seems likely since they contain info about the playlists.
2. Once I download Itunes on the new PC would I just copy the library files onto the hard drive or can they remain on the EHD?
It sounds like (from reading some info from Chris CA) that I need to make a copy of the Itunes folder (which includes the itl and xml files) from the laptop hard drive and put it on the EHD inside the EHD Itunes folder. Then with the new PC load a new version of Itunes and hold the shift key when launching. Then I would select the library from the EHD.
Is that correct?
Thanks!
Any help would be appreciated as I cannot find anything on this in Itunes help or the forum.

Assuming you start with a standard configuration which is:
The iTunes folder in My music on your c: drive and all your music in the iTunes Music folder in the iTunes folder on the c: drive.
Starting from there, with iTunes closed, you copy the iTunes folder to an external drive, this also copies the music in the iTunes Muisc folder.
To move to a new PC, you install iTunes, then you drag your new iTunes folder to the desktop, then you replace it by copying the iTunes folder from the external drive.
With this set up you can also run entirely on the EHD if you want to. Just start iTunes with the shift key held down, navigate to the iTunes folder on the external drive an choose iTunes Library.itl. This could be useful if you want to dake the EHD to work.
If you are not starting from the default position I described, some adjustments would have to be made, but it would need an exact descripition of how your folders are set up at the moment.

Have itl and xml files on external hd am running home premium. can no longer access files, am told this is because they were created with a newer version of itunes. also when i try to download 10.3 it wont, just says invalid drive j and for me to try aga

i am running vista home premium on desktop and vista basic on laptop. have placed my itunes music with .itl and .xml files onto external drive connected to another desktop running vista and can no longer access music on first two mentioned comps only on the one connected to external drive. always am told that the library cant be read because it was created using a newer version of itunes. have tried to download 10.3 but it always tells me that i have and invalid hard drive j and to try again. any ideas?

Older versions of iTunes cannot read libraries created with newer versions of iTunes. You need to have the same version of iTunes on all your PCs. Is that the case?
As far as the problem installing iTunes goes, see this article from b noir on dealing with the problem:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2450004
If you get to the point where you need the Microsoft Installer cleanup utility, you will need more help as it has been withdrawn by Microsoft. but I am hoping the virtual drive trick will work,

How do the itl and xml files work

Due to some problems I have been having (now solved) I have been trying to get to grips with how these 2 files work.
I now have a library of 37000 some songs in q:\itunes\itunes music and everything is working fine.
However when I look in the xml file some song pointers are still to my documents\my music\itunes yet itunes still finds them. How?
Does itunes look for the location set in edit>preferences>advanced>itunes music folder location first and then check the xml file address if it cannot find them there?
Also if the songs are in the correct location anyway why is the xml file pointer looking at my documents.
Does anyone know if this is abnormal? Can anyone explain the logic to me please 'cos to me it ain't logical!!
Regards,
Andy.

I think iTunes must have got in a muddle as a result of the way you transfered your files to the external drive.
It is important to realise that the iTunes Music folder location as designated in your preferences tells iTunes where to add music in the future. It is quite possible to get in a situation where iTunes looks there for newly added music, but continues to look in the old location for previously added files.
If the xml file tells you it is accessing files in iTunes iTunes Music on your c: drive, then that is it is telling the truth. However these files are not longer in THE itunes Muisc folder , that is to say the one set in your preferences. All very confusing I am afraid.
If your file locations get corrected when you play a track, there is something you could try.
First close iTunes and make a copy of your xml and itl files in case you don't like what happens.
Now open iTunes and go to you music view and select your entire library with select all.
Right click in the selection and choose Get Info. Say yes to multimle edits.
When you see the multipe edit Get Into screen, simply exit with OK, do nothing else. This will force iTunes to reread all your tags which may take a while if your library is large. If I geussed right, it will also update the file locations. Although I have used multiple get into in this way to correct tag into I haven't tried it to correct paths so this is just a guess - it could only possibly work for files that are in the designated iTunes Music folder in the proper place, but iTunes is still pointing to an old loaction where the files no longer exist.

HT1296 so itunes deleted all my music from itunes, I still have all the original files however I unwittingly added new music after this happened which wipes the itl and xml files. I have my playlists on my iphone. how do I get itunes back to its original

If this cant be resolved I think apple and I shall be parting ways its been a long time in the coming

Also, what causes this, so I can avoid it in the future?

HT1451 did anyone else find that an .itl or .xml file had to be present in order to open/ find the itunes library

this is the correction to the article. REPLACE .itl and .xml files . itunes will not open without them. .itl especially
long story of broken Macbook Pros. new one and the external drive had the only copy of iTunes. i had music on various drives so i started a new itunes library and imported all the music i could find, including from the 'only copy'. problem: a hundred playlists in painstaking order not there.
followed the instructions from this article. except. when itunes opens, it has to have the .itl and .xml file present.
i still had a spare copy of "only copy" so i replaced the NEW iTunes composite library's .itl and .xml files with the ones from 'only copy'. opened it up and there were all my playlists. now i may have to re-import music from various and tweak the playlists. but i don't have to RE-DO THEM.

CB many thanks!
woke up today with the exact same problem... iMac locked up while playing a video podcast off my NAS
(it was happily playing the audio even though the mouse was frozen)
couldnt get permission control of my Library.itl so found your post,
turned off the iTunes Server in my Synology (dont use it like that anyway) and rebooted the NAS.
iTunes immediatley launched WITHOUT the lock, performed its repair check and up it came!
THANK-YOU
...oddly I notice that I dont have permissions to ANY of my directorys/files,
guess 'cause they are set in the Synology Shared Folder permissions?
All are listed in the finder as:
(unknown) R&W
everyone NO ACCESS
cockbongo wrote:
I had exactly the same problem, but appear to have solved it
Not sure what make/model NAS you have, but if it has an iTunes Server type service on it, turn it off. This won't delete your music folder, don't worry, but it will stop your NAS thinking it deserves exclusive access to the library files. Then reboot your NAS and voila, you can do what you like with the files.
You can turn the iTunes service back on whenever you've finished doing what you need to do.
Hope that helps.

Library not recognized - can't import .itl or .xml files

Help! I opened iTunes today to update my podcasts and there's NOTHING there! (I have the newest version) I've been through troubleshooting to the best of my ability as well as checked the forums. My available .itl and .xml files are dated today - so they are empty. When I do a search for these files on my computer, I can find two older versions of them in the iTunes folder - one is listed under 'previous libraries' and one is just listed in the iTunes folder. But I cannot navigate to them through the import function of iTunes nor will it work if I use the 'open with' dialog box through the search window. They also do not show up in Windows Explorer. The only way I can see them is through the windows search function. I've tried copying them to different locations and then importing, but I get an error saying these were not properly exported files. The folder that I store my music in doesn't even appear to have all of the music in it anymore. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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I have the exact same problem! Someone please help!

Backed up library onto external hd - want to get music bk into itunes lib - moved 2 files library.itl and library.xml but reverts bk to 5kb and 11kb (ie. no music)

I backed up library onto external drive. (itunes directory - with Album artwork, itunes music directory, and xml/itl files)
Now I am trying to upload music back to a new Windows XP computer - I have new itunes version.
First I moved/copied the itunes directory whole to the new computer - then opened itunes and the library.itl and library.xml reverted to 5 and 11kb
Then tried just moving those two files - still nothing
Help - as I have over 28MB of music I am trying to recover.
Thanks,

The "missing file" thing happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. I can provide a step by step guide if you give me the two paths.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes.
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I fouled up; erased library .itl and .xml files; need a little help

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