Library file is gone, what folders do i import now?

My friends deleted the actual database from their iphoto. no backup.
she had painstakingly made an ibook of her baby before deleting the library. she also made a lot of special folders. am i correct when i tell her all that work is gone and she needs to start again?
they still have the 3 folders: data, modified, originals. when i import photos into their new iphoto library, should i just import all 3 folders? i have a cool app called iphoto library manager (i don't work for them!) that has helped me merge libraries before, but for this problem i don't think it will help me.
if you can tell me which folders to import, and what good or bad news i should tell her, i will be so grateful! thanks!

well to make a short story long, someone (not me) told them since they were running out of room on their laptop, to move their photos to an external drive.
so they moved those 3 folders to an external drive. but all the other stuff inside the iphoto library icon/folder, like the .db files and the .xml files, is not there. they're not on the external drive and it's not in the home > pictures > iphoto library folder. instead there is a new blank library folder on their home folder now. i think it's a pretty big snafu.
if the rest of the database info is hiding somewhere and i can restore it, that would be awesome! but it might be pointing to the photos as they were in the home folder, before they moved them to an external drive.
i hope this didn't make things more confusing than my first post! i will go hunt for leftover files, and ask more advice if i find them. but if i can't find them, i will do as you have instructed and just import the "originals" folder.
thanks LN!

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Ok, so without making any modifications (hardware or software) whatsoever- I come in from work, plop down to my computer, click on iTunes, and the music library has disappeared- I get the following error message:
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Ok, so without making any modifications (hardware or
software) whatsoever- I come in from work, plop down
to my computer, click on iTunes, and the music
library has disappeared- I get the following error
message:
The iTunes Music Library file cannot be saved.
The disk could not be read from or written to.
So, in iTunes there is no songs and no playlists and
no podcasts...
...the music is on my hard drive, it's just not in
iTunes, the iTunes Library file has gone missing, but
I'm not sure how...
I have like 5,000 songs so I keep them on an external
drive to save room on my internal drive. I thought
maybe the warning means that the disk is write
protected, so I right clicked on the drive (and
iTunes folder), said "Get Info," and I have read and
write access.
I tried changing my iTunes Library location to a
different hard drive and folder, and nothing works,
what in the world do I do?
Powerbook G4, 1.25 GHz, 2GB RAM
Mac OS X (10.4.5) 500 GB LaCie Big
Disk
I'm having the exact same message, except in my case, nothing changed. I leave all 3,000 songs on my hard drive and suddenly nothing will copy. I still have the same songs as before, but nothing can be added from the store or from my cds. Have you worked out the problem? Can you share your strategy?
Thanks.
Joe

I moved my iPhoto Library file, now it wont work !

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Exactly
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And
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That is good but does not solve the problem for the photos that were imported while this was not checked -- at this time it is probably best to start over with a new managed library and import all photos again
which brings me nicely to my next query, it looks to me as if ALL the pictures that got initially imported into iPhoto were all in folders. so am i correct in thinking that the pictures in my pictures folder which are NOT in a folder, will or should only be seen in iPhoto if they were in a folder when they were/are imported.
I am not sure what you are saying
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Hello,
I tried to move my whole iTunes library from my main hard drive to my second integrated drive. I used the instructions from Apple to do so, but apparently I did something wrong and somehow I lost me library file. At least that's what I think went wrong. I cannot retrieve it, it's not in the recycle bin and my time machine tool on my computer does not work for some reason...
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Thank you in advance!
Regards

You're most welcome.
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ITunes Music Library File Corrupt

Hey,
Yesterday I was putting some podcasts on my ipod shuffle, when itunes froze. I force quit it, and when i booted it up again, it said that the iTunes Music Library File was locked or that I don't have permissions for it. I replaced it with my previous library, except now I have a library that's like four months old. Is there any way to import the songs/podcasts from my music folder into my music library? Or perhaps to repair the damaged Music Library File?
PS I don't have any .AACs.

Do you still have a copy of the problematic library file? (or of the "iTunes Music Library.xml" file that was in the (home)/Music/iTunes at the time? If so, use the File->Import function to import either of these files.
(First make a backup copy of your current "iTune Library" file just in case.)
If the import won't work because it says the file is locaked, go in the finder and select hte file, do control-I to bring up the get info box and make sure the file's preferences are set to read and write. If that doesn't help use the Disk Utility application in your Utilities folder to "repair permissions" on your hard drive.
Finally, if these methods don't work, then you can manually add the missing music (but this won't bring back any ratings, playcounts, etc associated with the tracks in your old library). Go File->Add to Library and select your music folder. It will go through the files and only add the ones not already in your library.
By the way, AAC files wouldn't affect this problem one way or the other.

Itunes allows library to point to other folders and not copy files - WHY DOESN'T iPHOTO?

Hopefully Terence Devlin and other experts will see this. I really am intrigued as to iphoto behaviour and seek some clarification.
I just waded through 13 pages of an old thread that was locked where Terence kept saying iphoto was all one needed to work with one's photos and kept getting called on the fact he would not answer the question "where are my photos" (photos = files) because it was so darn dangerous for anyone to touch the actual files in the iphoto library.
I have a use case I need help on and an example of Apple's utter inconsistency here.
Inconsistency: iTunes lets me create a library all the while pointing to the original files that *I* have imported and structured in a given directory/folder stucture. Yes it means I manually manage what is in itunes etc, but that's how I like it. The key thing is that itunes allows the choice to import (copy) files (which makes duplicate and doubles hard disk usage) or not.
iphoto does not allow that option.
I just converted to Mac from a PC and copied in over 100gb of photo files - some 16,000 photos. I import new pics to the Mac using Canon native software and store them accoring to a structure/taxonomy that *I* determine and want to control - not some software's predetermined idea of events or locations or whatever. In itunes I can make 'music' an 'audiobook' or I can make a podcast 'music', I can edit the metadata to order things in the 'library' as *I* choose and the itunes library is coole with this without havign ANY of the soruce files in its library. Naively, I thought iphoto would follow a similar philosophy.
Use case: I discovered that iphoto has some very effective functionality for management of my uploads and sets etc in Flickr, but to do so I have to import my pics, obviously. So I did import the whole 'Pictures' folder - not for a moment considering that Apple would be dumb enough to copy every pic and make a duplicate, or that I might not get the chance to say yes or no to this in the settings, as per itunes. Having looed for that optin and failed to find it I imported anyway to see what happened. After I realised that the Mac was heating up and files were being copied and I was going to lose another 100+gb of disk space I forced this to quit. And thanks to others on that other thread I found the iphoto library and deleted the whole thing, getting back 100bg of drive space. All I want to do is use iphoto for the Flickr sharing/management functionality - I have no use for it otherwise.
Why would Apple think that not having to duplicate files is ok for itunes but not a viable option for iphoto? Why would I want to double the disk space used for every photo I store? At the very least iphoto needs to come with a health warning that it should only be used to import from external devices and be the sole manager of photos, unless one wants to use double the disk space.
So if I want to use the sharing (i.e. Flickr uploading and management of sets etc) capabilities, should I import all or some of my folders, do my work and then delete the library each time to reclaim the disk space?

If I import photos to iPhoto, the originals are deleted? So if I import from a card I have taken from my camera or if I connect my camera directly, the act of importing into iPhoto wipes them from my card?
Again, you need to check your facts before getting indignant. This is simply not true. It's an option you have and not one I recommend using. But it's only an option.
Storage costs money and I do not want to have two copies of every pic on my hard disk - especially given huge filesizes of RAW files today.
No one is suggesting that you have two copies. You have your iPhoto Library and then you back that up. Again, less indignnation, more careful study.
I do use other photo managers (e.g. native Canon tools) quite happily and they are far less 'exclusive' - i.e. I can use different apps with the same native file structure.
Using other photo managers makes little sense, any more than having two address books. How do you keep them in sync. Your comment about file structure is important, we'll come back to that.
If I want to go back to a Windows PC or any other machine and want to retain the "manual" file labelling and directory structure that I have implemented and been using for years, it seems that having a reference library that *I* know the taxonomy of is actually an advantage if I want to go somewhere else.
If you want to retain exactly the same filing structure you have now, then don't use any Photo Manager. Stick to the file manager. You'll be missing out on a lot of options, but hey ho, it's what you want.
That said, if you want to migrate from iPhoto to a Windows Machine then that's what File -> Export is for, and you can export from iPhoto to a folder tree matching your Events.
And this is a big one: This is true of any Photo Manger. Especially one with lossless processing - iPhoto, Aperture, Lightroom et al.
Here's the principle: IT IS MY DATA AND I WILL DECIDE HOW IT IS LABELLED - WHAT THE FILENAMES ARE - AND HOW IT IS STRUCTURED INTO DIRECTORIES AND SUB-DIRECTORIES. I WILL DECIDE WHICH APPLICATION I USE TO DO ANYTHING WITH THAT DATA AT ANY POINT IN TIME
DId you stomp your foot while writing those block capitals too?
But here's the thing: It's your data then why the heck are you dealing with Files?
This is the key difference, and frankly, unless you can geet this you're always going to have problems with Photo Mangers.
The illustration I use is as follows: In my iTunes Library I have a file called 'Let_it_Be_The_Beatles.mp3'. So what is that, exactly? It's not the song. The Beatles never wrote an mp3. They wrote a tune and lyrics. They recorded it and a copy of that recording is stored in the mp3 file. So the file is just a container for the recording. That container is designed in a specific way attuned to the characteristics and requirements of the data. Hence, mp3.
Similarly, that Jpeg is not your photo, it's a container designed to hold that kind of data. iPhoto is all about the data and not about the container. So, regardless of where you choose to store the file, iPhoto will manage the photo, edit the photo, add metadata to the Photo but never touch the file. If you choose to export - unless you specifically choose to export the original - iPhoto will export the Photo into a new container - a new file containing the photo.
See? It's about the data and the data and the file are not the same thing. Organising your photos based on the files is like organising a shoestore based on the boxes and not the shoes.
And here's the thing: anything you want to do with your Photos can be done either with or via your Photo Manager.
And again, I strongly stress, this is true of iPhoto, Aperture and Lightroom.
And please note: either with or via... Want to use a 3rd party editor, that can be done easily and so on.
Let me correct you. "If you use an APPLE Photo Manager then it's the go-to app for whatever you do with your photos.
Doesn't matter who makes it.
Other Photo Managers may have more flexibility and enable greater user control."
Sure. iPhoto's a $15 app. Aperture is a $70 one. Adobe's Lightroom is about $150. Pay more get more options.
And remember where we came in here: You said you weren't able to choose where to store your files. You're wrong. You can. All I'm saying is that there's no point and more work to it.
For many - including me - the Apple way seems way too dictatorial -
Whoa. Apple are dictating nothing. You don't have to use iPhoto, you don't have to use a Mac. And remember:
...where we came in here: You said you weren't able t choose where to store your files. You're wrong. You can. All I'm saying is that there's no point and more work to it
Are Ford dictatorial demanding you steer the car using a wheel? Sheez.
and yes there are certainly advantages for some types of users of trusting one piece of software to do everything, however non-transparent it may be what it is doing or why, and with the dangers of trying to do ANYTHING else at all with one's photos.
And again, everything is quite transparent if you take a little while to understand it. You don't understand it because you're coming from a file management and not a data management perspective. Also no one is suggesting using "one piece of software to do everything". iPhoto leverages the Finder for storage, QuickTime for display, uses and Open-Source database and so on, it protects your original file like a digital negative.
iPhoto may well not be the app for you. That's especially true since you don't understand it and are confusing it with a file manager. That's fine. But please, stop saying things that aren't true.

I downloaded the Special Edition of 'Avatar' with the included 'Extras'... I use to see them in my iTunes library, but, can no longer locate them anywhere on my computer or in the iTunes library files! What happened?

I purchased 'Avatar' The Special Edition with the included Extras with a gift card. I had enough money in my account to cover this purchase. I only got to watch the 'Extras' for one or two times, and now, they have vanished! They no longer appear in my iTunes library or anywhere on my computer! Where are they and how do I regain access? The movie, itself, is still in the library...only the downloaded 'Extras' are gone!

Visibility of the Podcasts section is controlled from within the Edit > Preferences dialog.
Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
Missing tracks
Typically this can happen because a file or folder is accidentally shunted to the wrong location. iTunes can also get confused if it expects to be talking to an external drive which isn't there. If will often reset the default media folder location and may have trouble finding files in the old folders.
Select one of your tracks that is missing in action. Press CTRL-I to Get Info. Cancel when asked to try to locate the file, then look at the location given on the summary tab. This where iTunes thinks the file ought to be? Now find out where it actually is. Post back the two locations for comparison. I should be able to give you some steps to reconnect everything once I can determine which of the things that might have gone wrong is most likely in your case.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

My hard drive crashed and my itunes library is gone--what do i do?

my daughter and i both have itunes library's on the same computer just under different user names.my hard drive crashed and now our itunes library's are gone. should i just download the latest version of itunes and then hook up my ipod to it?not sure what to do.

*should i just download the latest version of itunes and then hook up my ipod to it?not sure what to do.*
If your iPod is set to sync automatically with iTunes you need to take care connecting it to an empty library.
1). Connect your iPod to your computer. If it is set to sync automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod.
Alternatively open iTunes first and go to Edit>Preferences>Devices and check the box "Prevent iPods and iPhones from syncing automatically" and choose Ok. Then connect your iPod.
2). When your iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual, that will let you continue to use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default: Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
3). Once you are connected and your iPod is safely in manual mode there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. iTunes will only give you the option to copy your iTunes Store purchases directly from an iPod to the computer, you'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
For everything else (music from CDs, other downloads etc) there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
iTunes & iPod software
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
A selection of iPod to iTunes utilities:
TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
SharePod Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod2PC Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
YamiPod Mac and Windows
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows
Floola Mac & Windows
iPodRip Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide
4). Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync.
5). I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive

IPhoto library file includes what?

Hi, I store my photos in folders under "Pictures". Sometime ago I opened up iPhoto and used it for my photos. I don't use it anymore as I find using my folders under "Pictures" far easier.
In "Pictures" there is a file called iPhoto library and this file size is 99GB. I want to get rid of it but obviously dont want any of my photos lost. Are these a duplicate of my photos which are stored under "Pictures"? How do I find out whether these are duplicates? I have taken a screen shot showing how I have organised my photos in various folders in "Pictures" and also the iPhoto library file that is appearing there.
Any advice in laymans terms will be much appreciated. Thanks very much.

By default all photos you import into iPhoto are copies to the iPhoto library - normal procedure is to delete them from the source and ony have them in hte iPhoto library. We obviously have no way to knwo wha tyou have done
and note - there is no iPhoto file - theire is an iPhoto application in your applications folder and and iPhoto library - by default names iPhoto library and located in your pictures folder. It contains database files used by iPhoto for manageing photos and three version of your phtos - the original photo unchanged in the masters folder, a preview of the photo in the priviews folder which show the edited photos and a thumbnail in the thumbnails folder.
You can rignt click on the iPhoto library and show package contents and see eactly what is there - you can copy anything there outside for use without damage - if you change or delete anything from the iPhoto libray using the finder then it will corrupt it and iPhoto will no longe work properly with it
Personally iI think you are making a big mistake reverting to a file management system rather tha ta database managements system like iPhoto - it is much easier to use, very much more powerful and provided lots of additional feratures like intergration with other software, ability to share photos in many ways, etc - I suggest you take a class at yor local Apple store, read a book or take the online tutorials ( http://support.apple.com/videos#iphoto ) and learn how to use iPhoto - if hyou do I htink yhou will like it
The choice is yours
enjoy
LN

Library file is gone, what folders do i import now?

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