Itunes library is going a bit crazy

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could help? I only downloaded the new version today so I don't think it's related to that.
Just recently when I have been playing my itunes library at random it has been placing the songs it has just played at the top of the list instead of in the correct album. This now means that I have to go half way down the list before I can even find 'A'. For someone with mild OCD this is VERY frustrating!!!!!!
Is it something I'm doing wrong? I've limited the view to just album name & artist as I thought it might have had something to do with the play count but this has made no difference.
Please help!

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ITunes library keeps going bad

Over the past few months (since march 28, 2007) my iTunes library has been periodically becoming unreadable by iTunes. I forget the exact error message, but I am pretty sure it has something to do with the iTunes Music Library.xml file. This requires me to re-import my songs, but then I lose all of my smart and "dumb" playlists. The only way to recover everything, it seems, is to restore my entire iTunes folder from backup. So far I have not lost anything significant because of my backup, but it is a royal pain in the bottom to have this happen as frequently as it does. This has happened to me on March 28, April 26, July 4, and July 20 all this year.
I have a MDD G4 with 1.25 Gigs of memory, 1.25 Ghz processor, and a new-in-January 250 MB hard drive with 133 GB of free space. I always update to the latest version of iTunes when it shows up on Software Update. I have not been having any other problems with files becoming corrupt. I am syncing my 5G 30 gig ipod and my wife's 4 gig ipod mini with this version of iTunes.
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Well, now I have another problem in this vein. It seems that what worked to restore iTunes before, trashing the faulty iTunes folder and replacing it with the backup copy, no longer works. When I do this, iTunes won't even recognize the new folder - I can't even import the xml file. This is a backup from four days ago when I know iTunes was working just fine.
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Itunes library, im going crazy trying to figure this out...please HELP!!!!!

ok so me and my sister both have ipods and one computer in the house, we listen to very diffrent music, she hates my music i hate hers...so a friend of mine told me that i can make a second library for itunes so that my sister can import her music and download it onto her ipod and i can do it with my music. I just dont want to have music on my ipod that i dont like its really annoying to have to use up that memory with music i dont listen to and having to scroll over all her music so get to mine...is there anyone out there that can help me please...i would really appreciate it if someone out there could give me some kind of solution to this itunes issue...thx!

This method is slow and ridiculous ...
Yep. So don't use it, use the "piano roll" view - you have a lot more control over the lenghts of your notes and the exact beginning. Enter the notes by holding down the Apple key and clicking and dragging (the onscreen keyboard can only be used in "record" mode). Use the same mode to modify imported midi tracks.
There are no solo strings in GB, but you should have a string ensemble and some basic choir.

How to Move iTunes Library on an External Drive to Another Computer

How do you move your iTunes library (including all your playlists) if your iTunes media files—movies, TV shows, music, etc.—are housed on an external drive, rather than the local drive on your computer?
The usual advice concerns copying media files from one computer to the next, e.g.:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
But if your media is on an external device, you don’t want to copy it, just access it from a new device. You could plug the drive into your new computer and drag the media into iTunes, but then you would lose your playlists and other information.
Fortunately, you can transfer an entire iTunes Library using the Export/Import function. The essential information is found in an Apple support document, “iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists”:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451
Using this information, we can create a procedure for transferring both the media files that are on an external drive and the iTunes Library that goes with it.
Here is the procedure:
1. On the old computer, Export the playlist, using File > Library > Export Library. Transfer the resulting file to the new computer.
2. You might want to note the number of music files, TV shows, etc. you have on the old system. Select View > Show Status Bar, then choose the “List” view, and this information will be shown at the bottom of the iTunes window. Also disable sharing, etc.; you may want to deauthorize the computer as well.
3. Close iTunes on the old computer, dismount and disconnect the external drive(s). (Yes, this will work with media on multiple drives).
4. On the new computer, close iTunes and delete “iTunes Library.itl” in the iTunes folder.
5. On the new computer, Connect and mount the external drive(s).
6. Open iTunes on the new computer. Choose Preferences > Advanced. Deselect (uncheck) both “Keep iTunes Media Organized” (because it’s already organized on your external drive, right?) and “Copy files to iTunes Media folder” (because the files are on the external drive). Then set your iTunes Media folder location to your media folder on the external drive and click on “OK”. (Note: don’t close iTunes after this step, because it will automatically reset your media folder to your local machine rather than the external drive).
7. Choose File > Library > Import Playlist and choose the file you exported from the old computer. This will import all the media you had on the old system into iTunes (no need to manually move anything from the external drive). The import will probably take some time. (If you see that iTunes is copying files, you probably messed up Step 6; you can stop it and go back to Step 4 without harm).
8. After the import, you can check the numbers you noted in Step 2; if there is a discrepancy that bothers you, check out the scripts “Music Folder Files Not Added” “List MIAs” and at http://dougscripts.com/itunes/.
9. When everything is satisfactory, you can recheck “Keep iTunes Media Organized” and “Copy files to iTunes Media folder” in Preferences.
10. You may now want to enable sharing, sync iOS devices, etc. Also be sure to set up your backup strategies on the new machine (you *do* have backups of your external drive(s), right?). If you already had some media on your new computer and you want to incorporate it into the external drive, choose File > Library > Consolidate.
11. Oddities:
* iTunes Extras must be manually imported.
* Some of my movies & TV shows imported as “Home Video”.
* Mobile applications did not import (presumably because no iOS device was synced).
* Books that were once handled by iTunes are now handled by iBooks and will not import (to let iTunes see them again, you’ll need to add them manually to iBooks, then choose File > Move Books from iTunes). Audiobooks import okay, but you may have to authorize your Audible account.

Or:
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Using my iTunes library from an external hard drive to a brand new Macbook.

This seems to be such a simple thing to be able to do but I'm fearing it's not. Basically I've had an iMac for 3 years and during that time have built up around 165gb in my iTunes folder. So I learnt off the net how to move my library onto an external hard drive so that I can free up the space on my iMac and play my iTunes library from the external drive. So far so good. My iPhone 4 is obviously connected to my iMac and thats how I get my media on and off the phone. Here's where my problems begin.
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Help!
Message was edited by: Eels290776

Eels290776 wrote:
if my external hard drive is not connected to either of my machines, and I download something onto my iMac and then something different onto my Macbook, where are my machines going to be storing the new downloaded media
when the drive is not connected, +iTunes media folder location+ will default back to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music/iTunes/iTunes music (or media)
and when I next connect the external hard drive how will I easily get the newly downloaded media onto the external HD
you'd have to point +iTunes media folder location+ back to the external via preferences > advanced > iTunes media folder location, then file > library, organize library > consolidate files
and essentially, to have it easily readable on both machines?
in that case it might be best to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external. then, on each machine, launch iTunes while pressing option on your keyboard. when prompted, click on +choose library+ and navigate to the iTunes folder on the external.
note only one iTunes can access the iTunes library @ a time !
also, make sure the external is mounted on either machine before launching iTunes.
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http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4913
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Choose the settings as seen here
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ITunes keeps creating a new iTunes Library instead of going to my actual iTunes Library on my external drive.

My old computer died.
Luckily, my iTunes library is stored on an external drive.
My new machine is Windows 8 and my old machine was Vista, but I don't think that should cause any problem.
When I run iTunes, it comes up like a fresh install on a new machine... every time. By default, it creates an iTunes folder in my local drive and as such, has no music in and is a 100% blank slate.
When I point it to my external drive, and then import the library, it does it. All my music shows up -- after a long time, but it all shows up.
If I shut down iTunes or reboot, everything goes back to zero again.
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Any idea what's going on here?
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There are two main components to the iTunes library. The media folder which you can adjust via Edit > Preferences > Advanced, and the database file iTunes Library.itl which is normally found in <User's Music>\iTunes. You can choose or create a new iTunes library by holding down shift as you launch iTunes.
In some cases third party software can interfere with the way iTunes updates its files meaning that either iTunes forgets the previously chosen location, or that the active database is deleted. AVG anti-virus and Sony VIAO Entertainment Platform typically interfere with the database. McAfee has been implicated in the corruption of iTunesPrefs.plist.
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Itunes library is going a bit crazy

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