ITunes lost all of my files on the external drive, thousands of songs. Is there a way to load them back in without doing one at a time?

I've just updated the lates iTunes, and now it seems to have lost all of my music. I have thousands of songs on an external drive, none of them can be found...the songs are in multiple folders on the external drive so the media folder to the external folder doesn't fix the problem...iTunes isn't seeing songs that are in different folders with sub folders. Is there a way to have iTunes discover the music on the external drive to avoid reloading each of them one at a time?

When you first download iTunes onto a PC, it will give you the option to allow iTunes to search for your music. I'd suggest removing iTunes from your PC, connecting your external drive and then download iTunes from scratch. I'm pretty sure if you let it, it will find the music for you.

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HT5610 have lost all my itunes files, however they are on ipod. is there a way to put them back in itunes

my itunes program lost all files. howwever they are on the ipod. is there a way to put them back from the ipod?

Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991

I have my iTunes Library on and external hard drive. I have a new computer and want to use iTunes and KEEP my files on the external drive.

My iTunes library is on an external hard drive, and I was able to access / add to the library from my windows laptop.
I now have a new laptop, and want to be able to KEEP the library on the external drive while being able to use iTunes from the new laptop.
I have selected "choose library" in iTunes, and have chosen the iTunes Library.itl file on the external drive.
My media populates in iTunes on the new laptop version of iTunes, but when I click on a song iTunes says that it cannot locate the song.
Your help is kindly appreciated!

Thanks. Were the settings shown in your last screenshot in force when you added the song that's shown on being on the C: drive? It is also possible that at some point you ran iTunes with the external drive disconnected, in which case it will have defaulted to the library on the C: drive, or that you've run iTunes without explicitly selecting the library on the E: drive. To make sure the latter is the case, hold down SHIFT while starting iTunes, then when you get this prompt:
click on Choose Library..., navigate to the location of your current iTunes Library.itl file, and click Open.
Part of your issue may that its not obvious where that current database file is located. The folder layout on your E: drive isn't the one that's most easily managed - so its possible that the database file could be in:
E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes
E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes
E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes 1
I suggest that a lot of your issues can be addressed by reshaping your library into the reliable "portable" layout as described in tt2's Make a split library portable user tip. Comparing your screenshot with the equivalent on my system (where I have a "well-formed" library on an external drive):
where:
there is just one iTunes folder with everything used by iTunes inside it
all media is held within subfolders of the iTunes Media folder
The way you have yours set up, where the iTunes Media Folder location is set to E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes rather than E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes Media is probably why some of your media is not being located correctly - the extent to which iTunes can correctly resolve locations is, to an extent, reliant on the folders for the different media kinds (Music, Audiobooks, etc.) being inside the iTunes Media media folder. One common misunderstanding (not helped at all by Apple's documentation!) is that the iTunes Media Folder location setting in Edit > Preferences > Advanced does not tell iTunes where to find anything; rather it determines where iTunes will put new additions to your Library, in conjunction with the Copy files to iTunes Media folder ... flag:
I would definitely take the time to work through the steps to bring your library into the "portable" shape - there may be few remaining issues with broken links when that's complete but this will be much easier to fix if your library is in a more standard structure.

I am using a T61 ThinkPad with an external hard drive and my itunes library keeps disapearing but remains on the external drive. Any idea how to fix this so my music doesn't disapear all the time? It's a real drag pulling music back into iTunes each week.

I am using a T61 ThinkPad with an external hard drive and my itunes library keeps disapearing but remains on the external drive. Any idea how to fix this so my music doesn't disapear all the time? It's a real drag pulling music back into iTunes each week

In iTunes 11 uncheck the preferences setting in in the iTunes Preferences panel "Advanced > Copy Files to iTunes Media folder when adding to Library"

I live in Australia and I am trying to buy an album by SNSD but it is not available on the Australian iTunes. All of their other albums are. Why is this and is there a way I can buy it off the American store?

I live in Australia and I am trying to buy an album by SNSD, a Kpop group. It is not available on the Australian iTunes. All of their other albums are.
Why is this and is there a way I can buy it off the American store? (The album is called The Boys)

Well how much does the album cost? Because I have an issue with this except I live in America and I wish to purchase something from the Australian store... perhaps I can gift you your album and you could gift me my album.

HOW Do I Store All My MP3 files on an external drive, and point iTunes?

I see on this forum that folks are storing byte-hogs like MP3 and MP4 files on an external hard drive, leaving the internal drive with more room for processing.
My internal drive is full, so I got a 2 Tb external drive where I want to store my MP3 and MP4 files.
After I move the files to the external drive, HOW do I point iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie to the external drive?

Type "move itunes library to external drive" into the search bar at the top of this screen next to "Support".

Since the upgrade to ios7.1.1 I have lost my ringtones. Is there a way of getting them back from my itunes accout since I've already paid for it?

since the upgrade to ios7.1.1 I have lost my ringtones. Is there a way of getting them back from my itunes accout since I've already paid for it?

Yes, go to your 'iTunes Store' app on your iPhone or whatever device you lost them on, then go to the 'more' tab, and choose 'purchased', then find your ringtones that you wanted and redownload them, you won't need to repay for them.
Hope this helps :)
Happy hunting :)

The videos I purchased on iTunes are taking up all the storage on my IPad. Is there a way to remove them from my iPad to free up some storage, but store them in the cloud to access in the future?

The videos I purchased on iTunes are taking up all the storage on my IPad. Is there a way to remove them from my iPad to free up some storage, but store them in the cloud to access in the future?

Thx - the videos are on my Ipad - that is the problem - they are taking up all the storage and there is no room for anything else. Is there any place I can store them so that I can access them from time to time, but not have they use up all the space on the IPad? Sounds like the cloud is out...

When I plugged my iphone into the computer for the first time I lost all of my music and my ringtones. Is there a way to get them back without buying them back?

When I plugged my iphone into the computer for the first time i lost all my music and ringtones. Is there a way to get them back without buying them again, or will I have to buy them again.

Download the free app My Contacts Backup and use it to back up the contacts on your device now (it will back them up as an attachment to an email that you send to yourself). Then restore your device to your most recent backup to see if it will recover your contacts. If not, if necessary you can open the email and tap the attachment to re-import the contacts you have now back to your device.
If you need to restore to an iCloud backup this has to be done in the initial setup process, which requires you to first erase your device. If you have any more recent data on your device now that is not in the backup that you want to save you'll need to do that first. Then go to Settings>General>Reset and tap Erase All Content and Settings. You will then go through the setup screens on your device, and when given the option, choose Restore from iCloud Backup (see image below). Be sure you are connected to wifi and your charger as this will take some time to finish.

I have an iPod whose contents I want to transfer to a newer Ipod. At some stage I lost the music files from my library. Is there any way to get them back from the older iPod and put them onto the newer one again? I stupidly synced the wrong one.

I have an iPod whose contents I want to transfer to a newer Ipod. At some stage when I thought I was syncing correctly I wasn't so I lost the music files from my library. Is there any way to get them back from the older iPod and put them onto the newer one again?

Have you not got a backup of your content on, for example, external drives ? If not then you could have a look to see if any of the utilities mentioned in this old post still exist and work : https://discussions.apple.com/message/11014893?messageID=11014893#11014893

I had to restore my ipod touch and now I have lost all my games. Is there a way to get them back?

I had to restore my ipod touch when doing an update and now I have lost all my games. Is there a way to get them back?

Restore from backup
To restore from backup see:
iOS: How to back up
If you restore from iCloud backup the apps will be automatically downloaded. If you restore from iTunes backup the apps and music have to be in the iTunes library since synced media like apps and music are not included in the backup of the iOS device that iTunes makes.
You can redownload most iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

I just restored my iphone to be like my ipod and I lost all my photos and videos..is there any way to get them back?

just restored my iphone to be like my ipod and I lost all my photos and videos..is there any way to get them back?

You restored your iPhone with iTunes from the backup for your iPod Touch?
If so, photos/videos that were in your iPhone's Camera Roll should have been imported by your computer before doing this. You could then transfer these photos/videos back to your iPhone via the iTunes sync process.

TS1702 i have a ipod touch 2g and after a restore none of my apps will restore because it says that i need a newer version of the ipod software to run them they all work fine till i did the restore . is there any way to get them back ?

i have a ipod touch 2g and after a restore none of my apps will restore because it says that i need a newer version of the ipod software to run them they all work fine till i did the restore . is there any way to get them back ?

Your only way is if you have the version that was compatible on your computer such as in the recycle bin/trash or in a computer file backup. In that case delete the current version that is in your iTunes App library and replace it with the older version. Then sync.
Also see:
Recover Older Versions of iPhone Apps After Updating — Apple News, Tips and Reviews

Trying to backup one of my iPhoto libraries I keep getting a error message that basically says that the file could not be backed up because there is another file on the external drive with the same name, etc. There is no other file.

While trying to copy one of my iPhoto libraries to an external hard drive I get the following error message "You can’t copy “iPhoto Library old” because it has the same name as another item on the destination volume, and that volume doesn’t distinguish between upper- and lowercase letters in filenames." There is no other file on the external drive with this name. I have asked this question before and was told that there are some duplicate photos (files) in my library and I needed to go to "show file contents" and look at certain files to find duplicates and delete the duplicates. I did all of this and the library will still not copy and always stops copying in the exact same place on each attempt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You've been deleting your actual Photos.
Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things, deleting them or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
Best way forward now is to recover the surviving Originals from this library and start over from scratch.
Regards
TD

Lost all my photos in iPhoto after rebuilding iPhoto libraries is there a way to get them back?

Lost all my photos in iPhoto after rebuilding iPhoto libraries is there a way to get them back?

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ITunes lost all of my files on the external drive, thousands of songs. Is there a way to load them back in without doing one at a time?

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