Keep iTunes info when identifying a new location for the media folder

I keep my iTunes media folder on an external hard drive which failed. I was able to transfer my media folder to another external drive. How to I let iTunes know where it is and keep my playlists and albums and other info intact in iTunes.

A "library" is everything in the iTunes folder. However, in some cases, such as yours, you have moved your media folder out of the iTunes folder which iTunes does not really like but can live with as long as nothing happens such as a drive failing. The whole organization is stored in a file called iTunes Library.itl. Right now your .itl tells iTunes that when you click on track xyz it needs to play the file xyz.mp3 in a certain folder on a drive named___
The two ways to get iTunes to work are, as I said, either fool it into thinking the drive is the same one, or to get it to try to fix all the broken links.
Now, I use an older (and IMHO a much better) OSX version. I don;'t know about your version (I guess they have not changed in this regard) I know I can simply click on an external drive and rename it just as I would a any other file or folder. Of course if you changed the folder organization too that will confuse iTunes, but I don't know exactly what you have done until you tell me.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.

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http://www.apple.com/emea/support/itunes/contact.html

HT204081 I recently updated i tunes and had previously relocated my library to an external hard drive, on restart I realized that itunes did not update the new location on the external but created a new itunes folder on my regular hard drive. how do I com

I need to know how to fix this. I updated itunes and it created a new itunes folder on my hard drive after I ported all of it to an external for space concerns. It took all my files from that folder and recreated part of it to my hard drive. Now when backing up I have no idea where it is backing up to. Any help appreciated

Sort of. My media was on multiple hard drives, some local, and actually some networked, and then I conolidated it to a single external hard drive. Renaming drives and moving files sounds like a recipe for disaster.
When doing a consolidation, files are copied to a new location and the old ones are left untouched. Does iTunes create a backup database of the file locations before doing a consolidation? I could use the backup if that were the case, since everything still exists in the original locations.
I've recieved my replacement hard drive for the one that crashed and I may be able to copy everything back manually if I knew where it went. I looked inside the iTunes Music Library.xml to see if I could figure out the folder structure, but for some reason they all say they're located in the iTunes folder in My Documents. They're not, of course.
Would the Previous iTunes Library.itl be of any use, or is that for another purpose?

How do I tell iTunes to look in a new location on my PC for iPod Games?

How do I tell iTunes to look in a new location [or folder] on my PC for iPod Games or even IPhone/iTouch Apps? I mean if I have moved them to an external USB drive? Is this even possable? I have found them on in C:\Documents and Settings\....\iPod Games and I want to tell iTunes to now looh in F:\iPod Games.
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Thanks for the tip.
But I just complicated the matter by trying to tell itunes to sync my purehaces from an iTouch to the current library all appeared to be going well while copying purchaced music though it was going to the oriinal folder on C: but it looks like as soon as it got to the apps it crashed and an error window poped up saying itunes needed to close, now when I start itunes again the same error window pops up saying itunes needs to close. I would like to try what you suggest though, could you please explain if i nees only copy the itl file or would i be better off copying the entire iTunes Library folder including the sub folders Album Artwork, Mobile Applications, iPod Games, iTunes Music, iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library.xml?
Thanks again..

ITunes keeps shutting down when I open it up. The message says iTunes has stopped working. A problem has caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solutions is found.

iTunes keeps shutting down when I open it up. The message says iTunes has stopped working. A problem has caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solutions is found.

For general advice see Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates.
The steps in the second box are a guide to removing everything related to iTunes and then rebuilding it which is often a good starting point unless the symptoms indicate a more specific approach. Review the other boxes and the list of support documents further down the page in case one of them applies.
Your library should be unaffected by these steps but there is backup and recovery advice elsewhere in the user tip.
If you've already tried something like the above then try opening iTunes in safe mode (press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT as you start iTunes) then going to Edit > Preferences > Store and turning off Show iTunes in the Cloud Purchases. You may find that iTunes opens normally now.
tt2

I recently had to set my laptop back to factory settings, thus had to reinstall Itunes. I connected my Ipod to the lap top my songs went back to my Itunes but when I add new songs and try to sync my Ipod, the new songs won't appear on my Ipod. Help me!!

I recently had to set my laptop back to factory settings, thus had to reinstall Itunes. I connected my Ipod to the lap top my songs went back to my Itunes but when I add new songs and try to sync my Ipod, the new songs won't appear on my Ipod. Is there someone out there that can help me out? I would appreciate it!

Hi NYYJMM,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
You may want to reset your iPod nano and then sync again. If the issue persists, restore your iPod and try again. See these articles for the steps:
How to reset iPod
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1320
Restoring iPod to factory settings
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1339
Best Regards,
Jeremy

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I was wondering if anyone can tell me how to fix my iTunes. When I tried to update to the latest version (1114) a window popped up saying R6034 C runtime library incorrectly installed. Then another window popped up saying that iTunes was installed incorrectly Error 7 (windows error 1114). Hope you can help.

Solved the issue without using the trash . I tried to consolidate the library in LACIE, then clicked on any exclamation-mark song and tried to locate the file. Repeating those steps 3 or 4 times cleared it up. That was confirmed when I synced the entire library on a iPod Classic, and showed up no problems after syncing the Nano.
What went wrong was perhaps to fail to consolidate the library at first .

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When file types are associated with an application, this application will open.
There's no way known to me to prevent this.
Activating the Mini-player (green button in the iTunes window) will open iTunes, but it will only show the small Mini-player window.
Another way is to choose column view in a Finder window and navigate to the Desktop. Choose the file and listen to it using the preview.
Yet another way is to associate another application with the file type (QuickTime for example).
This will of course open QT, but only a small window will open.
Hope this helps.
M

Can I--should I--combine the newer iTunes Media folder--new since 10.5.1--and the older iTunes Music folder? I just realized all my new songs are going into the Media folder, and I kind of like the simplicity of everything being in one, not two, folders.

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The missing file thing happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
At guess you've used a different profile name. Files inside the media folder have survied the transfer, but those outside are expected to be on the same absolute file paths, but no longer are.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes.
tt2

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I also am having a problem with the songs I purchased using the laptop not showing on the desk top itunes, even though it is authorized to do so. The new songs did show up on the iPad iTunes, however. Have no idea why. I thought this happened automatically.

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I suspect design rather than a bug, it's too useful. The behaviour seems to have been consistent for quite a long time on both Windows and Mac machines...
Here are the typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
In the layout above right, with the media folder (everything in the red box) inside the library folder, the library will be portable. A portable library can be moved from one path to another, or even between Windows & Mac computers, without breaking the links between the library and the media, and being self-contained is much easier to backup (You do backup, don't you?). Anything that isn't stored inside the media folder must stay put or be restored to precisely the same path on a new machine or iTunes won't know where to find it. Within the media folder the relative paths from the library to the media remain unchanged and iTunes can cope even when the absolute paths are updated.
Should your library not be in the usual layout I've written some general posts on how to make a split library portable or I can give specific instructions on request.
tt2

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Could you post a screenshot of the display for us please, bili?
Save the screenshot in an image file, start a new reply here, and use the wee camera icon at the top of the reply window to insert the image file into the reply.

Keep iTunes info when identifying a new location for the media folder

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