ITunes can't find my files. To manually locate each would take days

Question

I have spent about 4 hours searching these discussion areas but could not find a solution.
I have twice before lost all my metadata (ratings, playlists, etc.) when moving my music files around (from my laptop to an external drive, then back on my laptop). For a new job, I got a new Windows laptop and, unfortunately, couldn't figure all this out before turning in the old laptop so it appears as if I've lost all the metadata again.
I saved the iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml files and songs from my old laptop. I downloaded the new iTunes software and imported all my song files successfully onto my new laptop. I then replaced those two (new) iTunes files with my old ones and, while iTunes did find my playlists, ratings, etc., now iTunes cannot locate all my songs! All the songs get an exclamation point next to them and when I click on a song, I get the following error: "The song xxx could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to try to locate it?" I can do that manually but it would take forever.
Help!?! I don't want to start all over again.
Laptop   Windows XP Pro  
Laptop   Windows XP Pro  

Answer 1

Stratsy,
All may not be lost yet....
I does look like you may have difficulty replicating the original path of the files, but it could be worth a shot.
Another option is to hack into the ITL file (it's a binary file) and globally change all the hardcoded paths to what you have now. Not sure how this would be done, though. Otto42 may have some advice on this.
Yet another option is to use the XML file to Import the Playlists and some other metadata. The playlists can be created easily, but the Ratings, Play Counts and Last Played do not Import from an XML file even though they are contained in it. For this we'll need to use Otto's 'SaveRatings' script and create the necessary XML file from the one you have now.
Here's the 'normal’ instructions:
“Download this: http://ottodestruct.com/itunes/SaveRatings.zip . It's a program, just run it like any other program. Run it on the machine where you're copying the info from BEFORE you move the files to the new machine. Click the "Save Ratings" button and it'll create a ratings.xml file. Now when you move the files, move the program and this file as well. Then after you make your new iTunes library, run it again and click the "Restore Ratings" button. Voila, all your information is back in the Library. Well, most of it anyway, it's not perfect. It'll tell you what songs it couldn't figure out though, and there's usually not very many.”
You'll need to run a test sample to create a dummy XML file. From that, you can see how the layout is constructed. Then manipulate your current XML file to look the same.
Here's the high-level steps:
- Keep copies of the two original XML & ITL files
- Erase your iTunes Library references
- File=>Add Folder and add all the music from its new location
- Put some 'dummy' ratings in a few songs and play a few others
- Run Otto's SaveRatings script to create a test file
- Create a similar file from the original XML file you have with the real metadata
- Run Otto's SaveRatings script and drive the metadata back into your Library
- File=>Import the original XML file into the Library to recover your previous Playlists
That should get you back as good as possible. Maybe I can get Otto to stop by and throw out some additional ideas.
You always have the alternative of purchasing a robust recovery program to capture the Playlists and metadata from the iPod (if it is complete). See: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1487421#1487421
Post back with any questions or comments.