Locating missing files in itunes library

Hello everyone,
I have an iTunes library with 177 days worth of music, and every now and then I try to play a track and a "!" appears, and I realize that some how I accidentally removed something from my iTunes Music folder at some point in the past.. So I go into time machine and find those files and recover them.
However, when I did this last, it alerted me that it relinked 2 of 160 missing files-- But I have no idea what the other 160 files are.
I did some googling, and found someone that gave a tip to find all the missing files in a library:
- create a playlist
- drag your entire library to the playlist
- create a smart playlist, and add everything that is not in the other playlist to it (this should give you a playlist of all missing files)
... I tried this approach, and dragging 177 days worth of music (over 11,000 tracks), I got the spinning color wheel.. Left the computer for a few hours thinking it just needed to process those... And I get "iTunes unexpectedly quit". I tried it a 2nd time, and got the same results.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do in this case?
Is 177 days of music / 11,000 files just an amount that is too much for iTunes to handle, or is there something else wrong here?
Thank you.
-patrick

Patrick Collins wrote:
every now and then I try to play a track and a "!" appears
maybe this helps:
iTunes Track CPR v1.3
This script attempts to locate the files of so-called "dead tracks"--iTunes tracks designated with (!)--that you assume are not actually missing but are still located in the iTunes Music folder in their "iTunes File Order" (Music -> Artist -> Album -> file.xxx)."
additionally, this application may be useful:
_*Music Folder Files Not Added v2.0*_
This application will list the file paths of the files in your designated "iTunes Media" folder which are not in iTunes' library. Additionally, you can select a different parent folder and its contents will be compared to the iTunes library. Options to Add a selection of found files to iTunes or move them to the Trash.
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

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