ITunes damaged library

My computer shut down due to low battery... Now my entire music library is gone. There is a file that says iTunes library (damaged) but it will not open!
Any idea how to get my music back from the void?

You can find instructions here:
How to recreate your iTunes Library
Hope this helps.

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Itunes damaged library file

My itunes has been working reasonably well but I have had many issues with it crashing over the last year or so. I just got a Sonos device and after having problems with indexing my songs the support guy looked through my itunes folder with me and we found a load of library files as follows:
itunes library (Damaged)   Created 15 Sep 2012, modified and last opened 16 Sep 2012
itunes Library Extras.itdb   Created 16 Sep 2012, modified and last opened today
itunes library genius.itdb   Created 16 Sep 2012, modifed and last opened 8 Dec 2012
itunes library.itl               Created 8 December 2012, modifed and last opened today
itunes library.xml             Created, modified and last used 15 October 2008
itunes music library.xml    Created 18 May 2009, modified and last used today
We moved all of these files up a level to the music folder, which didn't help with Sonos, and the support guy at Sonos then suggested I 'Reset' my itunes folder location in the Preferences.
THe issue with Sonos was that it was picking up some but not all of the songs and I couldn't see any sort of pattern to it. The number of songs I have is fine and there is very little if any DRM left in there.
It looks as though I need to do something to sort out these library files but I'd prefer to get some guidance from you guys on this forum.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
David

All these files should reside in ~/Music/iTunes. You don't need the damaged file, or the iTunes library.xml file. That is an old library file as yu can see from the date. One troubleshooting step that sometimes helps me is to delete the iTunes Music Libray.xml file and let iTunes rebuild it. Although I'm not really sure it will help in your situation.
The other question I would ask is about the format of the music that isn't bring found by the Sonos device. Are you sure it works with the files that aren't bring recognized?
I'm afraid I don't have a lot of input beyond that, though.

Itunes damaged library - Help!

Hello Everyone, my itunes library doesn't recognize my library anymore when it starts up and says the library is damaged and renamed. It then creates a new library which is blank. Is there any way to recover my library?
Thanks!

Time Machine is a Mac OS X Leopard backup utility. Basically, it creates backups of your machine on an hourly/daily/weekly basis. You're running a Windows box, but if you do any sort of backup on your machine, you may be able to use the same fix I've just recommended.
Query: just what, exactly, was mistakenly deleted? The "iTunes Music Library" isn't really = all your music files. It's really just a database that tells iTunes where to find your music files (your songs) on your hard drive. Most of the people posting in this thread have a corrupted library file, but their songs are still on their hard drive and (assuming that they can't fix the problem the way I did) they can fix the problem with a brute force approach:
delete the library file (but NOT the folder of songs on the hard drive). delete iTunes. reinstall iTunes. Run iTunes and then use the "Add to Library" command in the File menu to rebuild the Library file from scratch: in the dialog box, navigate to the folder where you keep your music.
Your message, however, implies that you have a different problem from the other people in this thread. Have you deleted just the library file or did you accidently delete all your music files (all your songs)? If you did delete your songs, it IS possible to recover all your music from your iPod, but it requires a non-Apple utility. (Apple designed the iPod/iTunes interface to make it difficult to move music off an iPod onto a computer, I think because of concerns about music piracy.) There are lots of utilities out there which enable one to recover music from an iPod. Do a Google search for "recover music from ipod" (no quotes) and you'll see a lot of options.

ITunes damaged library leads to thousands of missing songs

Ok, so my itunes library decided that it wanted to become damaged, then when I go to rebuild the library, it only imported about 500 songs of the close to 2 thousand before. So I went into my external drive where I keep the song files, and discovered that almost all of them were missing. I even checked in the trash with no luck. Any ideas how I could find these, or somehow the restore huge investment of my library?
Thank You Very Much!

http://www.prosofteng.com/ is one piece of software (not free, none of them are), but you can Google. They all search a drive for deleted files and try to recover them (to a different drive, of course).
For rebuilding the library, it was basically just re importing all of the songs
The ones it could still find on the eHD, right? 500 or so?
It is very important you don't write to the eHD from now on, or you could easily overwrite the areas where your music files still are.

Repeated itunes damaged library messages

I am having repeated issues with damaged itunes libary. It is intermittent. I can't seem to pin point what is causing it.
I have recreated the library - according to apple's instructions. But then the problem recurs.
It will always bring in my music libary - but then I have to re-customize my columns with the fields I want to see. It never brings in my apps - I always have to add the apps folder. And of course when I bring in the apps - I have to reset all the customizations again. This is very frustrating.
The one thing I have not done is reinstall itunes - but I suspect the problem is something with my libary or a setting that is affecting it.
Any ideas? Please help. This is driving me crazy!!
Ann

Thank you for responding!
Regarding saving a copy of the file - I have to make sure I do this after every add/change to the libary, right? Otherwise I lose any adds, correct?
As for the other ideas:
1. No temp files. But there is a hidden file called "sentinel". Not sure what that is.
All the other files are the damaged files (there are 11), itunes libary extras.itdb, itunes libary genius.itdb, itunes libary.itl and itunes music libary.xml.
2. iTunes is in the default location: music\iTunes
3. No external plugins installed per diagnostics. But I did get this list at the top of the diagnostics report:
Microsoft Windows 7 x64 Enterprise Edition (Build 7600)
LENOVO 4389AB8
iTunes 10.1.1.4
QuickTime 7.6.9
FairPlay 1.10.14
Apple Application Support 1.4.1
iPod Updater Library 10.0d2
CD Driver 2.2.0.1
CD Driver DLL 2.1.1.1
Apple Mobile Device 3.3.0.69
Apple Mobile Device Driver 1.52.0.0
Bonjour 2.0.3.0 (214.3)
Gracenote SDK 1.8.2.457
Gracenote MusicID 1.8.2.89
Gracenote Submit 1.8.2.123
Gracenote DSP 1.8.2.34
Are any of these widgets or plug-ins?
Thanks for any help you can provide.

ITunes imports library after every restart creating a 'damaged' file

I have a MacBook Pro 17" running Mac OS X 10.6.8 and iTunes version 10.3.1. I have upgraded to two WD 750 hard drives internally, and my music library is approximately 500GB.
Almost every other time I restart iTunes or my laptop, iTunes has to reload the library and tells me that it's created a Damaged library file with the recovered music. Each time it does that 'library' contains all of my music, and each damaged library is exactly the same. Is anybody else having this issue, or had this issue and found a solution?
I have tried re-installing my OS, re-installing iTunes, as well as running numerous checks on both hard drives. Thank you!

While it's sporatic when nothing has changed in the library, it would appear that Everytime the library is added to, it will malfunction again in the same way...
I'm going to try RAIDing my hard-drives, re-installing it all, and seeing if that changes things, Here Goes!

Help, damaged library every time itunes opens...

Ok, so this happens a lot, every single time i load itunes i get the damaged library message, usually it goes on to re analysing everything to the same volume, podcast subscriptions gone etc, but today i loaded itunes and there were only 8 songs listed.
ive tried re installing numerous times, nothing seems to help... the problem always re occurs
I keep all my music files on a seperate HD installed inside my machine, its called drive F. itunes is installed on the machines original HD along with all other software. but i had this problem even before i installed and put all my music files onto this hard drive.
Can anyone offer any advice this is very frustrating!

Hi,
I hav exactly the same problem. Didn't find a solution yet. YOu? It started when I ticked 'use volume check' when buring a cd. I unchecked it, no result. I reinstalled iTunes, no effect.

Itunes music library "damaged"

my ibook crashed when trying to download a large email attchment and when I re-started, my music library was damaged and a new one was "created" with nothing in it. How can I re-install my old library.... I can see the one labelled damaged but I can't import it via itunes.

A damaged 'iTunes Library' file is unusable and there is no way to repair it as far as I know.
If your 'iTunes Music Library.xml' file still reflects the contents of the now damaged 'iTunes Library' file, you can try to use this one.
Choose 'Import...' from the File menu and navigate to the 'iTunes Music Library.xml' file. Click 'Choose'. There's a very small chance it will work.
Usually you have to re-create the library after a 'damaged library file' message.
Drop the 'iTunes Music' folder (in./Users/YourUsername/Music/iTunes) on the empty library in iTunes.
iTunes will rebuild the library. You have lost your playlists, play counts, date added, ratings and podcast subscriptions, but at least the library is populated again.
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7) Several ext. HD (backup and data)

ITunes musical library located on a WD 2TB, ext. drv. Computer destroyed by virus; ED survived. Bought new laptop, connected ED. Not able to see library. ED shows as 'G:' 95% full. How can I reconnect my old library to new laptop?

I had my iTunes musical library on an ext. drv. WD 2TB, ‘MY BOOK ESSENTIAL'. Three weeks ago, my computer was infected by a virus that fried it. It did not affect the external drive. I bought a new computer: a laptop, Dell XPS, Intel Core i7-2630QM CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium. I have been able to connect the WD external drive; however, I am not able to see the musical library in my iTunes or Explorer. ‘My Computer’ shows the external drive as ‘G:’ 95% full. It reads, 32.1 GB free of 1.36 TB. When I click on the drive to see its contents, it shows nothing. The library in iTunes also shows nothing. Can anyone help, please? How can I reconnect my old musical library to my new laptop and iTunes? Many thanks.

Hmm, viruses don't generally "fry" drives. They can make bootable operating systems not bootable, hide data, and corrupt executable files. Software can potentially wipe all the data from the drive but it shouldn't be able to physically damage the drive. Bah! What's done is done.
As to unhiding your files assuming they are just hidden....
Hit Start > Run, type in CMD and press enter. Type the following at the prompt and then press enter:
attrib -h -s -r g:\*.* /d /s
This tells windows to clear the hidden, read-only, and system flags from all files on the drive, assuming of course your profile has the power to "see" the files and change them.
If that doesn't work then you may need to take ownership of the drive first. The drive may have security settings that make it "belong" to an account on your old system. Right-click on the drive in Windows Explorer and click Properties. Click the Security tab, the Advanced button, the Owner tab, then the Edit tab. Make yourself the owner, then you can make any other changes to the security settings you want to back on the Permissions tab. (If you can't change the owner log out and log back in as Administrator). For iTunes your account (or everyone) and SYSTEM need full access to all files. Any changes you make should be applied to "This folder, subfolders and files", should be inheritable and you should also replace the permissions on all child objects.
tt2

HT3819 My iMac had a corrupt seagate HD that had to be replaced my imovie files & itunes video library are missing when I picked up my Mac from Apple?

I purchased my 27" iMac in October 2010 after attending classes we discovered my computer needed new graphics card, hard drive, and a total rebuild after owning it only 6 months. Apple rebuilt my new computer, several months later same issues began yet again, slowly Apple began replacing defective parts they installed, my computer still hasn't worked as it should and has been in and out of Apple all the time sometimes they keep it for weeks! running tests?? February 10, 2013 I took my imac back in because it has been taking upwards of 6 minutes to make 1 single edit in imovie after 6 days of editing my project I could No Longer save in itunes, external HD, or export my imovie videos (they are 4 min up to 20 min max) Apple informed me that my Hard Drive was corrupt a bad batch of Seagate HD had been installed and my computer was again affected by this and it needed to be replaced and they couldn't get it to respond at all my itunes library was missing, etc. We saved my videos on my external HD I brought in with me. The Genius bar said they would call me in 3-5 days for me to pick up my computer. 9 Days later not hearing back from them I went in to get an update February 19, 2013 No one can tell me what was done except my HD was replaced they can't answer my questions about my itunes library being reinstated or my videos, music is missing, podcasts, etc. I was even using icloud, empty? They tell me IF I find anything wrong or not working again to just bring it back. My iMovie videos ALL the edits are missing ? I can't find ANY of my videos in my itunes my Library is empty as it is in imovie except for 2 videos? HELP! I can't imagine having to re-edit my entire video with sound effects, fronts, graphics, etc. I spent weeks on this :-( I'm at my wits end with my iMac.... I have searched in my previous itunes library EMPTY ! Waaaah! I want my mommy....

The Apple Store is not responsible for data loss and generally does not do any backups of your data before performing any repairs, though in some cases, as seems to be the case in yours, they guide you to making your own backup. Here's what they say on the "getting service page" (when I've taken a system in for service a similar statement was presented to me when I agreed to the service):
Many repairs require Apple to replace or reformat the hard disk, which will result in the loss of your data. Please make sure you back up your data on a regular basis to minimize your data loss. Learn more about backup options. Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers are not responsible for any damage to or loss of any applications, data, or other information stored on your Mac desktop while performing service.
Since you say that you backed up your videos before the drive was replaced, why can you not just restore them? And did you not back up anything else?
If you didn't make any sort of backup of your other data prior to taking the iMac in for service, then sorry but your data is almost certainly gone. Regular reliable backups are a must, particularly when dealing with content you spend a lot of time creating. You may be able to re-download any content you purchased from the iTunes Store or Mac App Store, but anything else you'll have to recreate or re-obtain from the original source.
Regards.
Message was edited by: varjak paw

How can I fix a (damaged) library file?

I just upgraded to itunes 5 last week. I opened itunes yesterday and it said my library file had been damaged so it renamed it with (damaged)and gave me a new library file without any of my custom playlists, etc... I lost a playlist thats really special to me, is there any way for me to repair my .xml library. I've tried renaming the (damaged) library to the regular library and itunes finds it and says its damaged... Also, I don't think all of the songs in my music folder are showing up. I own alot of CDs and it's going to be a huge pain to go through my 6400 songs and make sure every album is showing up in my .xml file..
Does anyone know a way to fix/debug my damaged .xml library?

Liz hello,
for your info....
What are the iTunes 4 library files?
The iTunes library is a database iTunes uses to organize your music. Two iTunes library files are created and maintained by iTunes for different purposes. They're both in the iTunes folder.
iTunes 4. - 4.8
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes 4 Music Library
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml
iTunes 4.9 - 5.x
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml
iTunes 4 Music Library/iTunes Library
This file is a database of the songs in your library and the playlists you've created. Some song-specific data is saved in this file. If you delete the file, iTunes creates a new, empty copy when you open the application, but any playlists, song ratings, comments, or other information you created is lost. The iTunes 4 Music Library/iTunes Library file is only used by iTunes.
iTunes Music Library.xml
This file contains some (but not all) of the same information stored in the iTunes 4 Music Library/iTunes Library files. The purpose of the iTunes Music Library.xml file is to make your music and playlists available to other applications on your computer. In Mac OS X other iLife applications (like iPhoto, iDVD, and iMovie) use this file to make it easier for you to add music from your iTunes library to your projects.

I have a damaged library file, and a few questions?

My laptop shut down instantly because of a charger/battery problem and when I started itunes up again I got the message (importing itunes music library.xml) I thought it was going to double my library so I clicked stop and when itunes opened only half of my collection was there and all playlists/smart playlists are gone.
Can someone give me some advice as to how I can bring the songs back into my library with all of the tags I have edited, (Album, Comments, Sort Album, Genre etc..)
I had the option to copy files to itunes music folder checked, so does that mean that every edit I made in itunes would change the file names in the music folder?
I still have the Itunes database file - (iTunes Library (Damaged) (date modified 15/01/2012 12:02). But there is no exact file called (itunes music library.xml)
I do have a some sort of document with that name listed as an XML Document (date modified 15/01/2012 13:55) (about 2 hours after the problem occurred) but it just opens a webpage. I can also open it in a notepad etc.. and it brings up loads of encoding detail.
Is there any way to restart that XML import?
I am sure I still have most of, if not all of my music, but it's very important for me to get back the tag info.
It would also be great if I can get back the smart playlists and date added, but this is the least important.
I'm in the middle of a slow process of transferring the itunes folder to my old laptop to see how it looks before I make any changes here, but I'm not sure how many songs I had exactly, do you think there would be any reason songs got deleted because of this? There are no songs in my itunes collection stored in folders other than the itunes folder.
You are saving my life if you can help me here.
Thanks.

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps youshouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

Itunes damaged files

I am using an external hard disk for storing songs and I continuously get error message : iTunes.exe damaged files (dutch beschadigd bestand). I already downloaded the update version of Ipod and reinstalled the Ipod itself. I should run CHKDSK and now more than 1000 files are removed while listening on my ipod before the files were good.
While using Ipod songs are skipped or overruled by fragments of other songs.
What could be wrong;
- my new external harddisk ?
- my Ipod itself?
- Itunes programm?

If Windows has difficulty reading information off iPod or iPod shuffle, it may display a message from the System Tray, indicating there's a corrupt file and to please run the Chkdsk utility.
I recommend using the latest iPod Updater to restore iPod because this will address the file system issue and will also defragment the iPod drive. Although you can use the Chkdsk utility to fix file system errors on the drive mapped to iPod, Chkdsk will not defragment the drive.
Warning: The restore process cannot be undone. All of your songs and files will be deleted. Always make a backup of your important data.
Tip: Make sure you always eject iPod properly and that you wait for the orange light to stop blinking before disconnecting iPod shuffle. Click here to learn more about iPod shuffle status lights.
This issue may be more likely to occur on iPod shuffle if iPod shuffle's file system has become heavily fragmented. A restore will eliminate fragmentation. Chkdsk will not.
For restoring the ipod
Open the iPod Software Updater application. It's in the Utilities folder, which is in your Applications folder. Open the iPod Updater showing the most recent date in the filename.
Connect your iPod to your Computer.
When it becomes available, click Restore. An alert box appears to confirm you want to restore iPod.
A dialogue box will appear prompting you to enter an adminstrator's name and password.
A progress bar appears on the computer screen.
When the restore process on the computer has finished, close the iPod Updater and look at the screen on the iPod.
If you see an image of a wall power plug, connect your iPod to the AC adapter that came with it and plug it into a wall outlet and wait for the restore to complete.
If you see a progress bar underneath the Apple logo, leave the iPod connected to the computer.
If you had to put iPod into Disk Mode before restoring, the iPod screen may display "OK to Disconnect" and you may need to reset iPod.
After the restore is complete and the iPod is connected to the computer, the iTunes Setup Assistant window will appear asking you to name your iPod and choose your syncing preferences similar to when you connected your iPod for the first time.
iPod has been restored to factory settings and updated with the music and playlists in your iTunes music library.

HT203175 how to fix a damaged library

i get a message that my library is damaged...help!!

How to recreate your iTunes library and playlists: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451
Re-creating the iTunes Library file
Note: After re-creating your library, any devices that you sync with iTunes (Apple TV, iPod, iPhone, iPad) will see your iTunes library as a new library and will completely resync. The next sync with such a device will take longer and may reset some options since your rebuilt library isn't familiar to the device.
1. Quit iTunes.
2. Locate your iTunes folder (this is the folder that contains the iTunes Library and iTunes Library.xml files).
Operating System
Default location of iTunes Folder
Mac OS X
/Users/[your username]/Music
Microsoft Windows XP
\Documents and Settings\[your username]\My Documents\My Music\
Microsoft Windows Vista
\Users\[your username]\Music\
Microsoft Windows 7
\Users\[your username]\My Music\
3. Open your iTunes folder.
4. Drag the "iTunes Library.xml" or "iTunes Music Library.xml" file to the Desktop. If neither is available, learn how to add files back to the Library (because the XML file is not available, playlists and other information will not be available).
5. Drag the following file from your iTunes folder to the Trash:
Mac OS X
"iTunes Library" or "iTunes Library.itl"
Microsoft Windows
"iTunes Library.itl"
6. Open iTunes.
Important: Do not add any content into iTunes at this point (such as by purchasing something from the iTunes Store).
7. Choose File > Library > Import Playlist.
8. Navigate to the "iTunes Library.xml" file on the Desktop.
Mac users: Click Choose.
Windows users: Click Open.
If your Podcasts list in iTunes is empty after following these steps, learn how to add them back into iTunes.

ITunes Music Library File Corrupt

Hey,
Yesterday I was putting some podcasts on my ipod shuffle, when itunes froze. I force quit it, and when i booted it up again, it said that the iTunes Music Library File was locked or that I don't have permissions for it. I replaced it with my previous library, except now I have a library that's like four months old. Is there any way to import the songs/podcasts from my music folder into my music library? Or perhaps to repair the damaged Music Library File?
PS I don't have any .AACs.

Do you still have a copy of the problematic library file? (or of the "iTunes Music Library.xml" file that was in the (home)/Music/iTunes at the time? If so, use the File->Import function to import either of these files.
(First make a backup copy of your current "iTune Library" file just in case.)
If the import won't work because it says the file is locaked, go in the finder and select hte file, do control-I to bring up the get info box and make sure the file's preferences are set to read and write. If that doesn't help use the Disk Utility application in your Utilities folder to "repair permissions" on your hard drive.
Finally, if these methods don't work, then you can manually add the missing music (but this won't bring back any ratings, playcounts, etc associated with the tracks in your old library). Go File->Add to Library and select your music folder. It will go through the files and only add the ones not already in your library.
By the way, AAC files wouldn't affect this problem one way or the other.

ITunes damaged library

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