ITunes Computer Program erased my library!

I was mixing playlist songs when the often seen message popped up that "iTunes has encountered a problem and needs to close" Having seen this before, I simply clicked "Do Not Send Error Report" and let it close. Upon opening the iTunes program later that day, I was shocked to see that my personalized library had changed back to the default title, erased ALL playlists, and erased ALL purchased music. Having put a fortune into purchasing music from the Music Store, and countless hours mixing playlists, I am freaking out! Where are my other 5,000+ songs, purchased music, and carefully mixed playlists??? PLEASE HELP!

Tim,
Have you attempted to locate the actual music
i files
within your PC? They should be in the 'iTunes Music' folder (in Artist/Album folders under that main iTunes folder). As mentioned in the link that b provided, there are several ways to find these songs using Windows Explorer or similar utility.
Songs/playlists vanishing from your iTunes Library are different from the actual files being wiped out from your PC (much rarer, especially without some self-inflicted fumbling). You should be able to locate all your 5,000+ files.
Some other questions: Do you have any backup copies of your music files and the all-important 'iTunes Library.itl' database file? These can help you resurrect your Library much faster. Did you 'export' any or all of your playlists to save them as a .txt or .xml file?
If you have lost your playlists from the Library and have no backup .ITL file or saved playlists, you may need to manually reconstruct them once you get the music references back into iTunes.
You may be able to use/purchase a program to recover whatever playlists/song remain on the iPod and transfer them back into iTunes - so don't attempt to sync your iPod with any PC until we sort out your needs. We'll cross that bridge when needed...
Post back with your observations/responses to my questions above, and any other questions you may have. We can go from there....

Similar Messages

Is there a way to use ipod with new computer without erasing entire library

I'm not really tech-savvy, but I'm tossing my old computer and getting a new one - is there a way to use my ipod on my new computer without erasing my existing library? It won't let me make changes to my ipod and wants me to erase everything that is on there right now - HELP!

Connect your iPod to your computer. When you get the message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod. When your iPod appears in iTunes enable it for disk use, this is required for most if not all the utilities listed below so they can access the files: Using your iPod as a storage drive
Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you have any iTMS purchases the transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. A paragraph on it has been added to this article: Transfer iTunes Store purchases using iPod
The transfer of non iTMS content such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward. You can also read reviews of some of them here: Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
TuneJack Windows Only
iPod2PC Windows Only
iGadget Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
iRepo Windows Only
iPodRip Mac & Windows
YamiPod Mac and Windows Versions
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
iPodCopy Mac and Windows Versions
There is also a manual method of accessing the iPod's hard drive and copying songs back to iTunes on Windows or a Mac. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available at this link: Two-way Street: Moving Music Off the iPod
Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync. I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay.

I synched my iPad2 to my computer (iTunes) and it erased my music library. I have probably erased it from iCloud by hitting 'backup' which I thought might work...is there any way to restore things?

I synched my iPad2 to my computer (iTunes) and it erased all of my music library. I thought I was backing things up using iCloud and may have lost the lot as it backed up my then empty iPad. Is there anything to be done to restore things?

Not if the music isn't in iTunes.
Please read this.
There have been some problems accessing pages on the Apple web site. If the hyperlink gives you a "We're sorry" message, try again.

I tried to update itunes and now it won't open, how do I fix it? Will uninstalling and reinstalling erase my library?

I tried to update itunes and now it won't open, how do I fix it? Will uninstalling and reinstalling erase my library?

Go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs (Win XP) or Programs and Features (later)
Remove all of these items in the following order:
iTunes
Apple Software Update
Apple Mobile Device Support (if this won't uninstall move on to the next item)
Bonjour
Apple Application Support
Reboot, download iTunes, then reinstall, either using an account with administrative rights, or right-clicking the downloaded installer and selecting Run as Administrator.
The uninstall and reinstall process will preserve your iTunes library and settings, but ideally you would back up the library and your other important personal documents and data on a regular basis. See this user tip for a suggested technique.
Please note:
Some users may need to follow all the steps in whichever of the following support documents applies to their system. These include some additional manual file and folder deletions not mentioned above.
HT1925: Removing and Reinstalling iTunes for Windows XP
HT1923: Removing and reinstalling iTunes for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
tt2

Itunes on new computer doesnt erase music on iphone when I try to sync it, creating storage issues that prevents me from syncing

I got a new computer and need to sync my iphone to it. I prepared for this by transferring most of my music to the new itunes library. I prepared a playlist to sync to my iphone then tried to sync. I pressed "erase and sync" but itunes didn't erase anything from my iphone, and then said there wasn't enough space to sync my playlist. I think if I can't get itunes to work i can always just restore it then sync which will be pretty much the same thing right?

Hello there, evanevan.
The following Knowledge Base article provides some great insight into troubleshooting the issue you seem to be describing:
iOS: "Not enough free space" alert when trying to sync
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1503
Although you're not getting the specific error message, the steps should help with resolving your issue:
Turn off the music or photo sync option in iTunes for the device.
Click Apply to sync the changes to the device.
Turn the music and photo sync options for the device on again.
Click Apply again to try to sync the device to iTunes.
If the 'Not enough free space' alert appears, continue to step 5.
Turn off the automatic syncing functions for the iOS device. To do this:
Select the iOS device from the iTunes window and click the Summary tab.
Deselect "Automatically sync when this device is connected" and select the "Sync only checked songs and videos" checkbox.
Click Apply to sync the changes to the device.
Reduce the amount of data that is being synced to the device and resync the device. For example, if syncing your Music library exceeds the memory capacity of the device, choose "Selected playlists" to transfer rather than "All songs and playlists" under the Music tab in iTunes.
If the 'Not enough free space' alert appears, continue to step 6.
Restore using iTunes.
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.

Confused about synching multiple phones to the same computer with different content: itunes wants to erase everything??

I have had an i5 for some time, but my partner just bought one to replace her 3GS. We both synch to my itunes, and have been doing so for as long as I can recall. When we got her i5, we backed up her 3GS and reloaded the content into her i5. So far so good. Now, this couple of weeks later, I decided I wanted to put some of the movies, music, etc. that I have on my itunes library on her phone. I had previous installed some of the apps that I have there without trouble. However, when I tell my itunes to put movies (etc) onto her phone, it warns me (upon apply) that this phone has been sync'ed to another itunes, and that I can do what I am asking, but it will erase everything on the phone now! I cancelled this op at this point.
As far as I know neither of us has sync'ed her phone to any other itunes, although she has probably downloaded stuff directly into the phone using the onboard itunes. Is that what it's warning me about? Is there any way to either pull the content off the phone, or merge the content with what she had locally downloaded? If not, I'm willing to sacrifice the few things that she had locally loaded as long as it's not going to, for example, erase all her photos, and contacts, and everything else as well at the same time!
This is all rather confusing to me. It's actually rather confusing that one can synch multiple devices with different settings at all, and I'm extremely surprised that it works at all. Can someone clarify what's going on here? What I should/shouldn't do? What I can/can't do?
Thanks in advance!

First make sure you have authorised the iTunes computer you are using for all of the associated apple ID's via the Store Menu>Authorise this computer and enter the apple ID and password used on the phone (repeat for as many apple ID's are in use on the phone).
Then right-click (or Control Click) on the name of the phone and select Transfer Purchases (this can also be found under File>Device>Transfer purchases). This will back up all of the purchases on the device to your computer, then when you sync with the phone it will put them back on even though it has just removed them.
Its a round about way of doing it but she shouldn't loose anything as long as the computer is authorised for all of the apple ID's used on the phone

My old computer crashed and i just purchased a new laptop. How do i get my library on my new computer without erasing all the songs on my ipod?

?

damfam9 wrote:
My old computer crashed and i just purchased a new laptop. How do i get my library on my new computer without erasing all the songs on my ipod?
If ALL your music is on the iPod and it's ALL iTunes purchased content, you log into iTunes with your account on th enew machine and reverse sycn the music back.
If the music is from cd's and other sources (not iTunes files) then ask over at iLounge what third party solution currently works. (can't recommond it here)
I have some HUGE instructions here how to get your music off the old comptuer too:
Recovery options:
A: If Windows isn't booting:
You need to boot the computer from a "recovery disk or USB" that has a operating system on it and a graphical user interface to transfer files from your boot drive to a external drive.
I suggest using the Easy USB Installer to install Ubuntu 10.10 onto a 2-4 GB USB key.
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/
or
burn a ISO of Ubuntu 10.10 or PartedMagic to a cd-r with ImgBurn or Win 7 right click and burn
You can use Disk Utility in OS X to select the ISO and burn to cd/dvd as well.
Once you have it installed, consult this page for your BIOS boot key to hold to get into the BIOS.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/a/biosaccess_pc.htm
Plug the USB into the back (if possible) of the computer, connect the external drive and enter the BIOS, set the USB (or CD) as first boot and SAVE.
Boot off the USB/CD and "Try Ubuntu/Run from disk" DON'T INSTALL. (Parted Magic loads into RAM and ejects CD)
Once in, go under the menu Places > Computer and transfer your files to the external drive just like you would in Windows, drag and drop.
(If using Parted Magic double click on the Mount Drive left icon twice, use the two GUI windows to transfer files to external drive, unmount drives, log out/quit in the lower left corner menu option)
B: If the computer hardware isn't working, but the drive might still work:
You'll have to remove the power cord and manually extract the hard drive. This might result in some damage.
There is a powered IDE/SATA to USB adapter for sale online for $20 that you can take that internal hard drive and use it like a external drive to access your files from another Windows machine.
C: If your iTunes content is deleted...
It might be recoverable if it hasn't been overwritten yet by fresh data. Undelete software works by reading the 1's and 0's of the files themselves, not what the OS says.
You need to use undelete software pre-installed before the iTunes content was deleted, or while on a bootable cd/USB and a external drive to transfer the recovered files.
You can also install undelete type software on a new machine and USE STEP B above to "undelete" the files and recover them directly to the new computer.
You can't install undelete software or recover files to the same drive your attempting to recover from or it overwrites the deleted data.
D: If the hard drive doesn't work and...
The data isn't worth spending $2000-$3000 in a ATTEMPT at platter dissection recovery, then your finished
If the data on the drive was encrypted, data recovery efforts may be futile, unless it's a encypted file and you transfer it successfuly and have the password to de-crypt it.
E: If you have a "iDevice" with any content
It can be synced back into iTunes, check at iLounge what third party software works reliably now and for your version.
(Once you log into your iTunes account, you can sync ONLY iTunes purchased content back from a iDevice)
Third party software can recover just about all the items on a iDevice, regardless of it's origin. (can't recommend such software here)
F: If any of the above is too hard, or the data is of "critical importance"
Then seek professional computer or forensic level recovery services.
Get help from someone who has done this sort of thing repeatly and can almost guaranty 100% results.
There is Linux software that can "rip" all data off a iOS device if that level of attention is needed, seek a professional service.
Hope this helps in your data recovery efforts.
Please, backup your data, it's the only thing us IT professionals can't recover.

My computer crashed, erased my iTunes.

Everything on my computer is erased. I have about 1500 songs on my iPod. How do I get it so I can redownload iTunes and have it so they don't get erased? I really don't want to redownload all those songs.

Connect your iPod to your computer. If it is set to update automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod. Your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list from where you can change the update setting to manual and use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button: Managing content manually on iPod
Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you have any iTunes Music Store purchases the transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. You'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod to a computer
The transfer of content from other sources such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
TuneJack Windows Only
iPod2PC Windows Only
iGadget Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
SharePod Windows Only
iPodRip Mac & Windows
YamiPod Mac and Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
iPodCopy Mac and Windows
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
There is also a manual method of accessing the iPod's hard drive and copying songs back to iTunes on Windows or a Mac. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available at this link: Two-way Street: Moving Music Off the iPod
Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync. I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay.

Itunes won't load CDs automatically and I have to restart it everytime to load 1 CD. I have ensured I have latest Itunes, latest DVD driver, start itunes from program library in safe mode but nothing works. Any ideas ?

Itunes won't load CDs automatically and I have to restart it everytime to load 1 CD. I have ensured I have latest Itunes, latest DVD driver, start itunes from program library in safe mode but nothing works. Any ideas ?

I have had a similar problem with my system. I just recently (within a week of this post) built a brand new desktop. I installed Windows 7 64-bit Home and had a clean install, no problems. Using IE downloaded an anti-virus program, and then, because it was the latest version, downloaded and installed Firefox 4.0. As I began to search the internet for other programs to install after about maybe 10-15 minutes my computer crashes. Blank screen (yet monitor was still receiving a signal from computer) and completely frozen (couldn't even change the caps and num lock on keyboard). I thought I perhaps forgot to reboot after an update so I did a manual reboot and it started up fine.
When ever I got on the internet (still using firefox) it would crash after anywhere between 5-15 minutes. Since I've had good experience with FF in the past I thought it must be either the drivers or a hardware problem. So in-between crashes I updated all the drivers. Still had the same problem. Took the computer to a friend who knows more about computers than I do, made sure all the drivers were updated, same problem. We thought that it might be a hardware problem (bad video card, chipset, overheating issues, etc.), but after my friend played around with my computer for a day he found that when he didn't start FF at all it worked fine, even after watching a movie, or going through a playlist on Youtube.
At the time of this posting I'm going to try to uninstall FF 4.0 and download and install FF 3.6.16 which is currently on my laptop and works like a dream. Hopefully that will do the trick, because I love using FF and would hate to have to switch to another browser. Hopefully Mozilla will work out the kinks with FF 4 so I can continue to use it.
I apologize for the lengthy post. Any feedback would be appreciated, but is not necessary. I will try and post back after I try FF 3.16.6.

IPod classic ,touch,and iPhone all have a windows based library from a crashed hp .went with a new mac , want to transfer my library iTunes wants to erase and sync , how do i avoid this

iPod classic ,touch,and iPhone all have a windows based library from a crashed hp .went with a new mac , want to transfer my library iTunes wants to erase and sync , how do i avoid this

Copy your iTunes Library from your Old computer, or it’s Backup, to your New computer...
See Here for one way
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
Or...
From your Old Computer... Copy your ENTIRE iTunes FOLDER to an External Drive... and then from the External Drive to your New Computer..
An Added Bonus is that you will then have a Backup of iTunes...
Backup iTunes to an External Drive
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
Move iTunes Library from PC to MAC
http://www.macworld.com/article/146958/2010/03/move_itunes_windows_mac.html
Conversely you can use your iPod Classic...
See Here:
Using your iPod to move your music to a new computer
From Here
http://www.apple.com/support/ipodclassic/

I want to sync my ipod touch voice memo with my new Macbook pro, but iTunes give me a message asking me to erase ipod library, I have all my music staff on ipod and I want your help with that..

I want to sync my ipod touch voice memo with my new Macbook pro, but iTunes give me a message asking me to erase ipod library, I have all my music staff on ipod and I want your help with that..
Please
please

For small, independent developers, this "not commonly downloaded" error is a common issues in browsers. You can see complaints from developers here:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/da-DK/iewebdevelopment/thread/19c57259-c a6e-4f10-a26e-d2f5e03fa52d
I have placed the setup program inside a .zip file to as a workaround.
Thanks for reporting this!

I have 3 iTunes libraries on my one one computer and since I updated to the new version I can no longer see who's library I am in. It used to show at the top of iTunes the name of the library I was in. Is there a way I can tell which library I am in?

I have 3 iTunes libraries on my one one computer and since I updated to the new version I can no longer see who's library I am in. It used to show at the top of iTunes the name of the library I was in. Is there a way I can tell which library I am in without closing and reopening?

No. Frequently the apps take up more storage space on the iPod that the file download size.

I want to update my IPODtouch, but it will erase all my data. How do I sync my ipod to a new computer so itunes will not erase my data???

I want to update my IPODtouch, but it will erase all my data. How do I sync my ipod to a new computer so itunes will not erase my data???

Follow these instructions. When you restore the iPod from backup as the article says your iPod will also be updated.
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities

I need to sync my iPhone to new user id on the same mac. How do I keep my iPhone contacts and music library? I tried to sync and iTunes wanted to erase both.

I need to sync my iPhone to new user id on the same mac. How do I keep my iPhone contacts and music library? I tried to sync and iTunes wanted to erase both.

When you say a new user ID, are you referring to your Apple ID that you use to make purchases in the iTunes Store, etc? Or are you talking about a new user account on the same Mac?
iTunes alternatives
http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/index.php
http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/
http://www.copytrans.net/

I have a different contacts on my phone than I do on my computer. I would like to combine them. If I sync through itunes will it erase my contacts on my phone?

I have a different contacts on my phone than I do on my computer. I would like to combine them. If I sync through itunes will it erase my contacts on my phone?

If the supported address book app on your computer includes contacts as well as your iPhone, you will be provided a merge prompt with the first sync for this data, which you want to select.

ITunes Computer Program erased my library!

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