I recently transferred my itunes library to an external hard drive. Now I get the error message 'the original file could not be found. Could you like to locate it' when i try to open songs. My iPod syncs ok.

I recently tranferred my iTunes library to an external hard drive. Now I cannot open songs and get the error message ' The song "***" could not not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it'. This applies to all 9742 songs!!. My iPod still syncs ok, but I can't play songs on the PC. Can anyone please help.

It would help to have more background about your iTunes collection such as if you keep it on an external drive, or if you have moved or renamed anything recently. iTunes is very sensitive to you renaming or moving files or folders involved with your media. iTunes only keeps a reference to where a media file is located and then goes to look for it when you try to play it. If you have changed things since it was added to itunes then it's like me sending you to look for a friend in my addressbook but that friend has moved.
The other possibility is your computer is starting to lose files. Again, the computer uses a reference database to tell it where on the drive to look for a file. If that database gets corrupt then it starts losing files. Use Dsk Utility's first aid to verify your hard drive.

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I recently transferred my ITunes library to an external hard drive. I made sure to copy all the data from the saved location. After the transfer I noticed that a lot of albums are missing the first song and some recently purchased albums are missing.

I recently transferred my ITunes library to an external hard drive. I made sure to copy all the data from the saved location. After the transfer I noticed that a lot of albums are missing the first song and some recently purchased albums are missing. Is there any way to recover the data? Thanks for any help.

I may have found an answer here:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive
They only thing I can assume is that my external hard drive was slow to start and iTunes defaulted to its old directory (see the last paragraph at the link above). However, once my external was recognized shouldn't everything have fixed itself?
Message was edited by: williamson42
Message was edited by: williamson42

I transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another and added more music on the same day. How do I get rid of my duplicate files without going through them one by one which would take forever?

Please help. I have transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another plus added additional music now I have duplicates of the same music in many albums. How do I delete the duplicates without going through them one by one which would take forever? I understand how to get the "show exact duplicate" feature up on iTunes but, because they were added to the library on the exact day I can't seperate them I'm that manner. So each duplicate is right next to eachother in the exact duplicate screen.

My DeDuper script is designed to help clean up. See this thread for background.
tt2

I moved my iTunes library to an external hard drive. It re installed itself on the PC and there is now no more room. I cannot sync with the external version. My wife has is a user on the same computer and we have the same iTunes account. Can I uninstall

I moved my iTunes library to an external hard drive due to lack of space on the PC. I uninstalled it from the PC at the time to increase space. My wife is a user on the computer and shares the same apple account. I discovered that iTunes was back on the PC hard drive when I tried to sync my iphone and it would not for lack of space on the PC. If I uninstall I tunes from the PC where I am the user will it affect my wife's itune account which is still on the PC?

Close iTunes. Click the icon to start it, then press and hold down the left shift key. Keep holding until asked to choose or create a library. Choose the iTunes folder on your external drive. That should bring back all your playlists, ratings, play counts etc. You may have to settle for removing and reloading the media onto the device again. That's not too bad, but what you don't want to have happen is your apps being removed and reloaded as then you can lose settings and data. If that looks likely backup and then restore the device rather than sync it.
If for some reason rebuilding the library the way you did has moved files around then the restored library may have trouble finding things. If so post back and I'll explain what to do...
tt2

When I try to listen to a song I purchased last week, I get the message, "could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it?" What do I do to find it?

When I try to listen to the songs I purchased from iTunes last week, I get the error message, "could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it?" What do I do to fix this problem or locate the song?
Thanks!

I am getting this same message. I recently bought a new Macbook Pro and the geeks transferred my files from my mini-mac. Perhaps they did not transfer something critical? I follow the "locate" option when it asks to find my files and I get a file folder that has a red circle with a white bar in the middle.
I have the same issues with my downloaded movies but my apps all seem to be fine.
Even more confusing - it seems to allow random songs to play and download on my Macbook and other devices. But most of my music - whether downloaded from iTunes or my CD collection comes up with that message about the original file.
Should I get new geeks to locate these files on my old mini-mac?

I copied my itunes library via an external hard drive. now when i connect my ipod to the new computer i can see my music but my apps are disabled

i copied my itunes library via an external hard drive. now when i connect
my ipod to the new computer i can see my music but my apps are disabled

Here are the official Apple Support instructions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Ciao.

I have a new computer that downloaded all of my playlist. but i cannot play all songs. i get a error that say "the song could not be used because the original file could not be found. would you like to locate it? but it does not help to resolve.

i installed itunes to my new computer and transfered all my playlist from the older computer. the software came with the new computer hp link up. the problem
comes in where i want to play a certain song on a playlist and this error pops up "the song could not be used because the original file could not be found.
would you like to locate it? which is of no help.
is there a solution to this problem?

The file path for these songs IS NOT correct per your iTunes Library file.
See: http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=listmias for an Applescript to locate these files for re-adding.

I transfered my itunes library to an external hard drive, and its accessible, but I can't burn a cd now. I need help!

I transfered all my music to an external hard drive, and changed the location in the preferences options in itunes. I can add music to the library, i can play music and make play lists, but I cannot burn a cd. What's happening, and what can i do to fix, or get around this problem?

Ok. progress...
So is your media folder called iTunes Music or iTunes Media? And does it have a folder called Music inside it?
Before going any further you should first attempt to use File > Library > Organize Library > Rearrange files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (ignore if grayed out). This will make sure that any iPod Games or Mobile Applications get placed inside the iTunes Media folder which is needed for portability.
If your iTunes Media folder is called iTunes Music, close iTunes, rename the folder as iTunes Media and start iTunes again. iTunes will automatically adjust. Close iTunes again.
On your external drive rearrange the folders that you have already copied there so that they match the layout in your active library. You should end up with a folder called X:\iTunes where X: is the external drive letter, and the media folder is X:\iTunes\iTunes Media. If the library layout was upgraded then you will need to create a Music folder inside this and move all the artist folders and Compilations into Music. You will also need to copy iPod Games and Mobile Applications from your internal drive into the new media folder. Next copy the files iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, sentinel and the folder Album Artwork from the internal drive into X:\iTunes. The preceding manipulations should make the internal and external copies of your library match without you having to copy all of the media over again.
Now hold shift as you start iTunes. Click choose, browse to and open X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.
Finally use File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate files. This will ensure that any stray files that might have been added from outside your original media folder will be copied into the new one.
You can now reclaim the space used by your library on the internal drive, however before you do so I would advise you to obtain another external drive and make use of this backup tip.
tt2

My partner deleted my itunes (10) library. I use a WD external back-up and retrieved my itunes library, but when i try to play a song i get the message 'could not be used because the original file could not be found Would you like to locate it?'

My partner deleted, by accident my itunes library. I have an iMac 10.6.7, Itunes 10. I use an WD passport as an external back up and retrieved my itunes library but now get the message "could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" so itunes is not recognised the exclamation marked songs, how do i get the retrieved files recognised. At times I get fed-up with Apple blocking files being used, although I like the product its restrictions are so silly!

You not only have to retrieve the library file from the backup drive but the actual music files (usually stored within the "iTunes Media" folder) as well.

What are the pitfalls of transferring my iTunes library to an external hard drive

I have acquired more music on an external hard drive than will fit on my computer or my iPod. I am looking to transfer my iTunes library to the external drive. Will I be able to add purchases or rip more cds to the hard drive without incident? Does anyone have any ideas of how or if I will be able to connect my external drive to my sound dock and have it play through the aux. mode? Thank you.

Using the external should not present problems, but some specifics lie in details of your external drive. The main thing will be the external will need to always be on when you use iTunes (if it isn't already).
I know zero about your sound dock so I have no idea what it is capable of. Can it play files on, say, a flash drive? If so it may be able to use an external drive but likely it will need to be a non-Mac format. you can consider that for your drive but it may present problems in the details as I indicated above. I won't go into it until I know more about your setup.

HT1933 My new computer has been authorized, but I can't play any of my purchased songs in itunes. What do I do to play, I get an error message that original files cannot be found.

My new HP ENVY 23 TOUCHSMART PC has been authorized for itunes, but I can't play any of my purchased itunes songs. When I try to play a purchased song in my itunes library, I get an error message prompt stating that the song could not be used because the original file could not be found. When I check for available downloads it states that all downloads have been made. Ironically, all my movie purchases play fine, but the songs do not play. What do I have to do to play my purchased songs?

The 'unable to locate' message means that you don't have those music files on that computer, or that they are not where iTunes is expecting them to be. How did you get the entries for those tracks in your new computer's iTunes ?
If you still have your old computer then you can try copying them over again : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
You may also be able to re-download them from the store (checking for available downloads only checks for items that have not yet been downloaded, not for past purchases) via the Purchased link under Quick Links on the right-hand side of the iTunes store home page (re-downloading music isn't possible in all countries). You may need to delete them form your library first (where you are getting the 'unable to locate' message), otherwise iTunes will assume that you still have them somewhere and won't let you re-download them.
Re-downloading : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519

When i try play a song i get this message " the song could not be used because your original file could not be found, would you like to locate. I tunes works on my iPad

OSX 10.9.5

I am getting this same message. I recently bought a new Macbook Pro and the geeks transferred my files from my mini-mac. Perhaps they did not transfer something critical? I follow the "locate" option when it asks to find my files and I get a file folder that has a red circle with a white bar in the middle.
I have the same issues with my downloaded movies but my apps all seem to be fine.
Even more confusing - it seems to allow random songs to play and download on my Macbook and other devices. But most of my music - whether downloaded from iTunes or my CD collection comes up with that message about the original file.
Should I get new geeks to locate these files on my old mini-mac?

Error message:song could not be found would you like to locate it

The music is already in my folder, as this had =s happened with most of my music is there a quick fix?

You get exclamation marks or dead tracks because iTunes can’t find the file. This can happen for a number of reasons:
The song file or a folder in its path was renamed
The song file or the folder it is in has been moved
The song file has been deleted
The device containing the song files e.g. external drive is not accessible.
So did you change anything? If so can you put it back how it was?
Anyway, if all your tracks have exclamation marks, the quickest fix is to close iTunes, then drag iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml out of your iTunes folder to the desk top.
Then open iTunes and an empty library is created. Then use File>>Add folder to library to add your iTunes umisc folder to iTunes. If you have music in other folders add those too.
This fix loses all coutns, ratings and playlists.
If only a few tracks have exclamation marks, you can just add your iTunes music folder, this will not create duplicates, but will add any missing tracks.
The entries with exclamation marks will remain and these can be removed, which I can tell you how to do if you choose this route.

"song could not be found would you like to locate it? "

I get this message alot i guess because i keep all my music on an external harddrive. When i got a new harddrive and put my songs on it alot of the "paths" suddenly did not work. if the computer cannot find the song all i have to did is say i would like to locate it and then type the name of the song in and it finds it every time. The problem comes when i have to do this say a hundred times because i have a ton of music. Can i make itunes or automater do that for me? If that doesn't make sense please leave a comment and i'll get back to you thanks again.

iTUnes isn't like other programs in windows that "Watch" folders and files for changes. What I mean buy this is players like WIndows Media Player (WMP for short) Winamp and others will "Watch" for changes you make. If you go into "My MUsic" folder and chage the name of a song file or move it from one folder to another, these players will catch that change usually and update there library.
Sadly iTUnes for windows does not do this. If you change ANYTHING, like the name of the file or the folder its in, or move it from one folder to another, iTUnes looses track of its location and puts a ! mark beside the songs.
The only way to fix it is either put the files and folders back to the way they were OR manually go thru the library and show iTUnes where each file is.

Hi all, when i use itunes , to play a song this message comes up ,the song could not be used because the original file could not be found would you like to locate it?

help !

dwmwood,
Double click a song with ! mark on side, you will be given an option to locate the file where the song is held. If so select "locate" and direct it to the folder / file where the song is and open it.
iTunes then will give you the option to use this process to update all of your library. OK that as this will do it automatically instead of doing them one by one.
I hope this helps.

I recently transferred my itunes library to an external hard drive. Now I get the error message 'the original file could not be found. Could you like to locate it' when i try to open songs. My iPod syncs ok.

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