ITunes can't locate any music/iTunes Media folder cleared

I ran a few cleaning programs to clear up unceassary files/cashes to get some extra space on my HD. Later, I went onto iTunes to play some music, and it asked me to locate the file. Turns out this is siutation for every file, and after further inspection, my the 'Music' folder in the 'iTunes Media' foler is empty. For over half the music in my library, the only copy of the .mp3 was in this folder. I am not 100% certain that it was removed from using these cleaning programs, but it is the only reason I can think of.
Is there anyway to efficently locate the missing files which I do have in another location? (I have tried the method were you locate one and iTunes does the rest. This was ineffective). Is there any way to recover the files which were lost/could they be anywhere else? Finally, am I able to utilise my iPhone/iPad (which has substancial music on it) to help locate .mp3 files and/or re-add songs which have totally been wiped.
A horrible situation. If there is nothing i will have to restore my computer to its last back up which was 4 months ago .
Thanks for any help!

Hey, make sure that your extnal hard drive is connected. Start
iTunes. No need to connect your iPod at this stage.Go into
Edit - Prefs, select the advanced tab at the top and
ensure that the path to iTunes music folder location is
set to your ext. hard drive. e.g. E:\exthd\iTunes\music. Always
ensure that your external hard disk is connected before
you start iTunes otherwise iTunes will get confused.
The 4500 songs should now be seen by iTunes.
The odd few albums/songs that are located on your c:\drive
will now have a circle next to them, indicating that the
original files cannot be found. Simply move these to the
external hard disk and re-import the individual
songs/Albums again.

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    Message was edited by: birdman829

    Hey, make sure that your extnal hard drive is connected. Start
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    Edit - Prefs, select the advanced tab at the top and
    ensure that the path to iTunes music folder location is
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    you start iTunes otherwise iTunes will get confused.
    The 4500 songs should now be seen by iTunes.
    The odd few albums/songs that are located on your c:\drive
    will now have a circle next to them, indicating that the
    original files cannot be found. Simply move these to the
    external hard disk and re-import the individual
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