ITunes suddenly missing all music, playlists, etc.  HELP!

I turned on my iTunes this morning & when it opened, everything was gone. It was as if it went back to factory (original) setings. No music, no playlists, nothing. My music files are still on my external hard drive, but it's as if I have never imported them into iTunes. I did nothing between yesterday & today (did not update software, etc.). Can anything be done? How do I get all my music & playlists back on iTunes? My playlist system was extensive, so this is quite a trauma. I am lost - please help. Thanks!
IBM Thinkpad T42   Windows XP  
IBM Thinkpad T42   Windows XP  

First your software (Other programs not iTUnes) could of been updated without you fully knowing. Alot of software, especailly antivirus, have a "Auto update" feature of some kind where it updates itself when your PC is online.
That said, you may have a corrupt library that iTUnes can not read or it just lost its "Link" to the iTUnes Library file. In this case you will have to recreate the library by going to the link below and following the instructions
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313

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