ITunes Can't locate most music files

I updated iTunes and it can't locate most of my music. I'd say only about 10% and that being the most recent stuff I added is all it can locate... it asks me to look for the file and I point it exactly to where it should be.
I searched around and some have had this happen when they move files or store on an external HD whose name (ie F: or G:) switches. I did not do any of that, though, and everything is where it should be. The only answer seems to be reimporting the songs, I did that, but I have lost all my playlists, ratings, and counts.
I think this is a serious issue and no one seems to have an answer on how to solve it.

Welcome to AD!
Your best hope is to see if there is an ITL file in a folder named *Previous iTunes Libraries* that will have most of the metadata.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967

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