Losing songs?

I recently had to replace my hard drive, so fortunately I backed up all my songs onto DVDs. I haven't yet moved all my music from the DVD onto iTunes, but I did purchase 2 new songs. I believe I was running iTunes 5 when I bought those. I just updated to 6, and then bought two more. Now, the two new ones play fine, but the two other ones appear with exclamation points and say they can' tfind their files and would I like to go find them. I went to look for the missing files in my iTunes Music folder, but the files for the missing songs aren't there. I don't really mind about two songs, but I'm afraid if I load my old library of about 2,000, the songs won't play. Is iTunes deleting the old music?

I have the same problem since upgrading to iTunes 6.01. I will select a song to play a only to be told that the file cannot be found and would I like to look for them. An exclamation point will appear next to the song. I have been able to search for some of the songs and play them when I double click on the songs icon. The song then appears in the iTunes library right below the one that had the exclamation point. The exclamation point goes away and that song will also play. Some songs I can not find anywhere on my computer. I do have an external firewire drive that I use to back up my entire hard drive using Retrospect Express. Hopefully the songs that I cannot find are there. I have about 900 songs in my library. I am not very computer savvy and have not been able to figure out how to solve this. Can any one help?

Similar Messages

How can I switch from Automatic to Manual update without losing songs?

I have on my ipod songs from another computer, however I'm afraid to plug it into my computer because my computer is set to automatic update for my ipod. Is there a way for me to switch my ipod to manual update without losing songs on my ipod when plugging it in? thanks.

Here is what you do:
Open iTunes.
Plug in your ipod.
hold control and shift at the same time. this stops your ipod from updating automatically. Hold this until your ipod is finished docking.
Then go to edit>preferences>ipod
then change the setting from update automatically to update manually.

Go from manually update to auto-update without losing songs?

I was trying to delete some podcasts from my ipod, and was following the directions on the help menu which told me to go to preferences and choose manual update, then delete. I tried it, and it didn't work. When I decided to go back to auto update, I received a message that everything on my ipod would be deleted and the update would be just what is on the itunes on that machine. I have more than one computer, and have itunes on each one. There are different songs on each computer. If I go to manually update on this computer, it will erase the songs I've put on from other computers. All this and I still have the unwanted podcasts. Can anyone help me to go back to auto-update without losing songs? If worse comes to worst I guess I'll have to update, lose the songs, and then re-update at my other computers. thanks.

Afraid that's not possible. If you go to auto-update, the iPod gets cleared and replaced with the current contents of the iTunes library.

HT4061 I had 483 songs two weeks ago last week it was 479 and now it 476 i keep losing songs ? has anyone had this problem before ?

I love my music alot , but two weeks ago I started losing songs three at a time or more......has anyone ever had this problem before?

Thanks roaminggnome....my teenage son uses this phone and hasn't backed it up...so I don't want to restore it to factory settings just yet. Tried your other suggestions with no joy so if it comes on normally after discharging the battery tonight I'll restore it after backing up all his contacts ,music etc.
I was curious as to what the fault actually is as no-one seems to have had this one where I've looked on the internet.
The phone was dropped and subsequently repaired through insurance in Sept 2011 and they issued me with another imea number so the complete internals of the phone must have been replaced by them so I hope that the fault is covered by their normal warranty on work carried out. Thanks for your reply.

Library keeps losing songs

This question has been asked before, but I've never seen an answer to it. My iTunes library keeps "losing" songs - I get the exclamation point and it tells me it can't find the song. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it; the songs are where they always have been, no names or locations have been changed. I've had songs I just added to the library disappear the very next time I open iTunes. I have my iPod set to "Manually Manage Music" so at least I'm not terrified every time I plug it in that I'm going to lose my music, but it's very annoying to keep having to find the same tunes over and over...Does ANYBODY know why this happens?

Unbelievable.
I have the same problem. Well, the songs are not really lost, but iTunes just gets confused about the correct path to the file. This may be related to handling of names. E.g., I have two folders for the B52's in my iTunes libraries, one is "The B52's", the other just "B52's". Maybe I even have a 3rd one, "B52's, The". Or an album appears twice, once in the folder "Compilations" and once in the folder "Various artists". The missing files are ever in one of these multiple locations. But iTune seems to use a wrong one. And there is no easy way to fix it. It needs to be done manually, song by song and takes easly 30..60 seconds per song. Blurp!
I have upgraded to the new iTunes version, yesterday. And got a few 100 songs declares as "missing".
To find out if you have any missing songs, just select all songs in your library via CTRL-A and press CTRL-I afterwards, then OK. All "missing" songs will get marked by an exclamarion mark .
This is a serious issue. I can't believe that it is ignored by Apple. Sorry, Apple, your stuff costs some extra money. I expect it to work. But iTunes - obviously! - doesn't.
Just unbelievable.

Transfering music from new iMac to iPod without losing songs on ipod

Hello,
I've just finised uploading all my CD's onto my new iMac. I now wish to download the contents of the iMac's iTunes library onto my iPod (click wheel but not video) without losing the songs that are already on the iPod. The iPod was originally synced to a Windows PC which was used to download it's existing library. There are a number of songs on my iPod that are not in my new iMac's iTunes library & also a large number of songs that are already on the iPod.
Basically, I want to know how I can download all songs from my iMac's library that are not already on the iPod without losing the songs I have on the iPod that are not in the iMac's iTunes library (Ihope that makes sence).
Thanks for any assistance.

Hi Dave!
Yes, you can do this.
First off, do this to prevent iTunes from automatically syncing your iPod:
1 - Open iTunes.
2 - Connect your iPod to your computer.
3 - Basically as soon as your iPod begins to display "Do Not Disconnect", begin to press and hold the Option and Command keys on your keyboard together simultaneously.
4 - Continue to hold these keys for about 20 seconds, throughout the time when your iPod is showing up in the Source List in iTunes.
After you've done this, click on your iPod's name in the Source List (the Source List is the left panel area of iTunes), and under the "Summary" tab, tick the "Manually manage" option for your iPod. Also, go to the “Music” tab, and ensure that the “Sync” option isn’t selected.
Click the “Apply” button in the bottom-right corner to save your changes.
Manually managing the songs on your iPod will allow you to preserve the current content that you have on your iPod, and transfer new content from your iTunes library to your iPod.
When you are connecting your iPod to a computer that is different than what it is normally synced to, you will get a message that says something like: "The contents of the iPod "your iPod's name" is synced to another iTunes library. What would you like to do?"
You will be given a couple of options, and make sure to click on "Cancel", and NOT "Erase and Sync" (or else the current contents of your iPod will be erased, and the iPod will be synced with your iTunes library).
So, after you've saved your iPod's songs from being automatically synced off of it, you can transfer your iPod's music to your compter if you wish.
You can install a third-party program onto your computer that can do this copying.
Try using Senuti.
-Kylene

Sync my ipod to a new computer without losing songs currently on ipod

I had my itunes and ipod set up on a computer. Then I got a new computer and I had to reinstall itunes on that computer. But, I cant sync my iPod to my new computer because it will erase all the songs that are on it from my old computer, and replace them with the songs in my new library. I have been adding songs manually and that worked for a little but now my iPod is full and I can't take any songs off because my iPod isn't synced to my new itunes. Is there any way I can sync my ipod to my new itunes without losing all my old songs?

Put the songs currently on your iPod back into iTunes.
If you are using iTunes version 7 or later, then you can transfer purchased iTunes store music from the iPod to an authorized computer by using the "file/transfer purchases from iPod" menu. Note that the maximum of 5 authorized computers applies here.
For all other non purchased music (your own CDs etc) try this method which works on some Windows PCs.
Enable your iPod for disk use.
See: iPod Disk Use.
Open iTunes and select edit/preferences/advanced/general. Put a check mark in the box marked "copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" and also "keep iTunes music folder organized", then click 'ok'.
Connect the iPod whilst holding down the shift/ctrl keys to prevent any auto sync, and if you see the dialogue window asking if you want to sync to this itunes library, click 'no'.
Then go to file/add folder, open 'my computer', select your iPod and click 'ok'.
The music files should transfer to your iTunes.
If this doesn't work (and it may not because officially it's not supposed to), check out the instructions/suggestions here.
Music from iPod to computer (using option 2). This a manual method using "hidden folders" and although it works, it can be messy.
Much easier ways are to use one of the many 3rd party programs that copy music from the iPod to the computer.
One of the most recommended is Yamipod. This is a free program that transfers music and playlists etc from iPod back to the computer. However, it does not transfer playcounts/ratings etc.
Another free program is Pod Player.
Then you can sync your iPod with iTunes as before.

Have a European account and want to change to a usa account without losing songs. How can this be changed.

Received gift cards and can not use because I have a european account and want to change to ameican account without losing my song list. Can you please advise.
Margaret

Roaming gnome why is this? I want to get a free app that's only available in the USA store but can't.
I have a valid credit card....it just doesn't happen to be a USA one but it still works just fine.
Many thanks
Cafeshirl

Re-format iPod from Windows to Mac without losing songs/restoring...?

I have a 5th generation iPod video that was originally formatted with my old Dell PC laptop - I have just recently purchased a new MacBook Pro and want to format/update my iPod for it to work properly with my new Mac.
How can I go about doing this without having to restore my factory settings and losing all of my songs?
Please let me know, thanks...

The windows formatted iPod should still work on the MacBook Pro, now make sure you hold down Command + Option when you connect the iPod and continue holding them until they are completely mounted. What this does is does not allow the computer to update the iPod, and if a pop-up comes up, do not allow it to update the iPod. Now, we can back-up the songs. Yamipod is great for this.
Yamipod --> http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/home/
Now, if you still have your old computer, i suggest using your iPod in disk mode to put all your songs on it, and import them into iTunes on your Macbook Pro, and to re-format the iPod so that it will be Mac formatted.

Recently replaced hardrive on computer which held 100's of tunes, can I SNYC tunes holding old tunes to computer with new hardrive without losing songs.

Replaced damaged hardrive holding 100's of songs, can I now sync songs from ipod to new hard drive without losing them?

1) ensure iTunes is authorized for your iTunes store account(s)
2) connect your device and right-click or control-click it in the iTunes Source list, then choose transfer purchases from the shortcut menu that appears.
3) sync the device
iTunes will wipe the iPhone but, since you transferred your purchases in the previous step, your content will be in your library and you can re-populate the iPhone with it.
above works for purchases from the iTunes store. for everything else, check out this post by Zevoneer.

How can I transfer songs of my iPod to a new Apple Macbook Air without losing songs?

Got a new Apple Macbook Air but now need to transfer songs from Ipod4 to MacAir, is this possible without losing any song?

See:
Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device: Apple Support Communities

New PC, worried about losing songs/pics with new iTunes library

NEED HELP!
I have the SAME PC - I changed from Windows Vista to Windows XP.
While I had Windows Vista, I put songs I had on my PC into iTunes to then add to my iPhone 4. I also have the iTunes purchased songs on my iPhone. One day I accidentally deleted my purchased songs from my phone, on my phone and just had the list of songs from my PC on my phone to listen to. At this point I was beating myself up because I thought I lost all the songs I paid for. I changed the Windows version on my PC. Downloaded iTunes, signed in, connected my iPhone and was able to get all my purchased songs back on my phone, whew...awesome!
Now, I am wanting to sync items from my phone to the iTunes library on the Windows XP version. I have already did the "authorize this computer" and got a message that I can only authorize 5 computers and now that I have authorized 2, I have 3 left...funny cause I only have 1 computer. But I still can't get my iTunes to reflect all the songs from my phone to my library on the PC. iPhone seems to sync to new PC, but when I try to upgrade to iOS 5.0, I get a question box that says I;m trying to upgrade to another library and if I agree to this it will erase everythign on my iPhone....sure don't want to do that. I don't want to loose the songs I have already purchased. I don't care if I loose the songs not purchased from iTunes that I had placed on my phone from my music files PC when it had the Windows Vista.
I just want to be able to use my iTunes the way I did before I changed from Windows Vista to Windows XP and not erase everything...I dont want to loose my contacts/pictures/apps/purchased songs from my phone. Please help!

How can i do this on a new pc without losing all the music, photos, contacts and apps etc from my phone.
First, launch iTunes. From the menu bar click Store / Authorize This Computer.
Then follow the instructions here.
iOS: How to transfer or sync content to your computer

Losing songs I have downloaded

I have been having trouble losing MP3 songs I have downloaded from Amazon. I will suddenly get an exclamation point before the song and it can not be found. Why is this happening and how can I prevent it from happening again? Can Some one help me please?

I had trouble with the Amazon downloader a few weeks back and had to reinstall it. Not quite the same problem as yours. Since it's just happening with songs from Amazon, it could be something with their downloader. Do you have it set to automatically add the songs to iTunes? The song files should still be on your hard drive, in any case.
If it's just a few songs with the problem, right-click > Get Info on the ones that have the ! and you can browse to where they are on the hard drive. If its quite a few songs, just add them back into itunes and delete the ones that show !

Deleting iTunes and reinstalling on another computer. Without losing songs

A family friend didn't have access to a computer when she got an iPod so I set up an account for her on my computer. Now she does have a computer but I don't want to delete her account on my computer in fear of losing all her songs when she reinstalls iTunes on her computer. Is there a way around this? Thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer.

See this tutorial: "How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer" http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173-en
Also for general iPod tutorials etc: http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/howto/

Converting ipod previously installed on mac to windows without losing songs

I have inherited an ipod that my brother in law has downloaded 3,500 songs on. It is configured to run on a Mac but I want to install it to run on my Windows PC. It appears i will have to restore the ipod and lose all the songs. Can anybody tell me otherwise???

Thank you...i think i have come to terms with that! is there a way of saving the songs then reloading themonce it has been formatted? Is this legal?

Can I synch my iPod without losing songs on it?

ie: i have fireflies on my iPod, but I dont want to lose it by syncing the songs on iTunes and my iPod

You can set your iTunes to "Manually manage music and video". Then you can drag and drop the files from iTunes to your iPod, this will not sync and delete the songs on your iPod.

Losing songs?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for