Itunes on external hard drive - some mp3s stalling and crashing - HELP!

Hi,
I hope somebody can help me.
I've had my itunes library on a western digital external hard drive for nearly a year now. i have upwards of 17, 000 songs. Recently after a few seconds playback of certain songs the hard drives starts to click, the songs stalls, jumps ahead then stalls.
I can't play these tracks in another player such as RealPlayer, or even playing the file through Get Info direct from the hard drive.
It's happening more frequently and I'm worried I'm going to end up losing a lot of songs. I also tried dragging the mp3 onto the desktop but it comes up with:
+The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in " " could not be read or written. (Error Code -36.)+
Is there anyway to salvage the files? Stop it happening to other ones?
I'd really appreciate a response if anybody has had a similar experience or knows what to do.
Thanks,
Tom.

Hi,
In case you haven't solved your problem yet, here are some tips.
First, the file that iTunes was indicating was "Damaged" was probably the main file it uses, iTunes Library in your "Music" folder. If this file is corrupted for any reason, iTunes will rename it with the word "Damaged" in the filename, and create a new, empty iTunes Library file. Since all the metadata, containing the definitions of the playlists, etc are stored in this file, you lose all your playlists when the "Damage" occurs. The underlying music files are untouched, as you indeed see.
I've not run into any scripts that actually repair a "Damaged" library file per se. But, if you have a copy of your files on a backup tape, CD, or another machine, you can simply copy that backup file back onto your "Music/iTunes" folder, thereby overwriting the new, empty library file, and you should have all your playlists back. I've done this a number of times without problem when I've had damaged library files.
Going forward you might want to take a look at iTunes Library Manager in Doug's Applescripts for iTunes for managing your library file.
Secondly, check iTunes/Preferences/Advanced and check to make sure the path to your iTunes library is correctly shown in the window. If not, correct it with the "Change" button. You will note that the iTunes library, xml file and a few other files will remain in your "Music/iTunes" folder, while all of your music will be located on your external drive. Don't move the remaining iTunes files in your "Music/iTunes" folder.
As you add new music to your library, you'll see the audio file be copied to your external drive, while the iTunes library file will grow slightly.
Good luck!
Ed

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