Moved music to new hard drive now itunes can't find songs !

This is what I did. My old hard drive was getting full so I bought an additional hard drive and installed it. I then selected all the music in the itunes music folder, copied it, then pasted it into a new folder on the new hard drive. I changed the settings in itunes to direct to the new hard drive. All the music i put in there now has exclamation points next to it and can't access the music? Help. I'm desperate....

Different problem. - probably same answer. Yesterday I started iTunes and I had exclamation points on about 20 of my tunes. I re-linked them all manually. I am new to iTunes but I believe I am beginning to understand that unless all the sources are in one library they 'may' get unlinked from time to time. I am going to assume that all of your tunes are linked to a source that no longer exists. So they are all now unlinked.
What I would like to know is how to restore those links. I am going to make another assumtion. Since I believe that iTunes loaded most of them when I first started using iTunes, there is a way to force it to do that again. I have no problem with putting all of my tunes in one library. I know that others have posted the desire to store and link tunes in multiple libraries, and there is a Consoldiate Option that says it will consolidate all of your tunes into one libary. It doesn't work. So how do you force iTunes to relink your files, in or out of the same library?

Similar Messages

Transferring iTunes files to external hard drive - now iTunes can't find them

I believe I have really effed up my iTunes library. My basic question is once the links in iTunes have been broken are there only two ways to get them back (one being going through every title and locating it on the drive vs two starting fresh and copying all the song files into iTunes and recreating all the play lists).
I have over 10,000 titles accumulated over many years and sorted into a couple dozen playlists to keep track of each family member's music on various pods / phones etc. I was running out of internal hard drive space so I tried moving the files over to an external drive in order to free up the internal drive. I thought I was following the instructions correctly, but something has gone horribly wrong. I'll try to take you through the steps as best as I can.
I had changed the iTunes preferences to show the external drive, and when importing new songs they were stored on that external drive. I thought everything was working fine as all the files showed in the Finder on the external srive so I deleted the files from the internal drive. Of course this was the wrong thing to do as at that point iTunes could only locate the newly imported files and none of the old ones.
So I began to panic and searched the support and communities and tried a number of things that were recommended including copying the files back to the same spot on the internal drive, changing the preferences, and I also tried consolidating the files under the File / Library / Consolidate FIles. This made another folder in the iTunes folder called music (my previous folder was called iTunes music inside the iTunes folder). I have tried these steps on both the internal drive as well as the external drive. So now on either drive, iTunes will reconzie maybe 20-25% of the files. I think these 25% have been moved to the new folder iTunes and the file number has a 1 appended to the end. So now for each file I have 2 to 4 copies. One copy is in the Itunes music folder on the internal drive. A second copy is in the iTunes music folder on the external drive. I believe that iTunes cannot find either of these ones. The third copy with a 1 appended is in the Music folder on the internal drive and the fourth copy (also with a 1 appended) is in the Music folder on the external drive and as I said I think iTunes "sees" these files.
So my question is, is there only two ways to fix this (both of which are incredibly time consuming) - one to point each unknown file to the external drive (about 8,000 files at least to do), or the other is to start from nothing and drag all the music files in and recreate the playlists (I think this would be more work since some of the songs were on multiple playlists). Is there nothing else other than a month of solid work in front of me!?!

just download one of the following apps which will solve your problem of converting videos as this apps plays almost every video files, first 2 apps are paid ones
GOOD player (very good)
AV player
VLC player (free in tunes)

Bought new HD and now iTunes can't find my music

I just bought a new FW HD, WD My Passport. I copied all of my music from my old USB 2.0 HD to the new one and now iTunes can't find all the songs. It'll play probably 40 or 50 songs but the rest of them show the "!" next to the song name. Right now the only thing I can do to show iTunes where the songs are without having to rebuild my playlists is to manually point it to each individual song but since but that would mean pointing it to over 14,000 songs......... I DID go in to the preferences and changed the folder location to the new HD and it still won't find the files. But strangely enough, when I have the old HD plugged in, as well as the new one, it'll play everything just fine, checking the preferences shows that iTunes is pointed to the new folder but "Get Info" on individual tracks shows iTunes finding the file in the old HD, unplug old HD and files cannot be found. Why doesn't the **** program look where I want it to and what do I have to do to fix it? I know my description here isn't crystal clear so I'll gladly answer any question to help clear it up a little. ANY help is very much appreciated as I do not want to spend the next 3 weeks teaching iTunes one song at a time. Thank you.
Chris

For moving your iTunes library, I recommend this method...
Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
Patrick

New Hard Drive -- Now I can't work on iPod Touch

Recently my Windows computer crashed and burned, and I had to install a new hard drive and reinstall the operating system. Now when I plug in my 1st generation iPod Touch and go to the Apps tab, it shows my four screens with apps, but they are faint and I can't click on them to move them around or anything.
I downloaded the latest version of iTunes, and synched my Touch, and all seemed to go well.
How do I rectify this? Thanks!

This completely *****. iTunes lists none of my music, although the music is on my iPod. When I click on the sync button, it starts to sync -- for about 5 seconds -- and does nothing. So I had to manually import all of my music from my hard drive into iTunes, but it still won't sync. Same thing with videos and photos.

Transferred songs to external hard drive, now iTunes can not locate files??

I transferred all my song files using various tutorials on the site, I consolidated my library, etc. The external harddrive was referred to as "F:" when I did this.
Later when I downloaded a few podcasts with my external HD disconnected, they were stored on my c: harddrive. At that point I had iTunes files on both my C: drive and F: drive (with the F: drive being disconnected at the time).
Now my external harddrive when connected is referred to as "G:" by my pc, and iTunes could not find any of my songs previously transferred to F:. I went to preferences/advanced again and selected G:/iTunes as my new folder location, and now only SOME of my songs are located by iTunes, not all. I'm completely confused.
Any advice? Thanks.
Completely frustrated,
Andy
Windows XP

Just a refining comment: iTunes recognizes some, but not all, songs that were transferred to the new hard drive, following iTune's instructions to change the directory then consolidate the library.
I am baffled why iTunes recognizes some songs, but not others, within the same folder....
The easy solution would be to use "import folder" and re-import the entire iTunes files on my harddrive, and then delete the duplicates, which would include the ones non-findable by iTunes. But then my playlists would be affected. I guess I'd have to re-build my playlists manually, using the new imported files in place of the files that iTunes can't recognize, prior to deleting all the duplicate non-findable files.
Argh, I hate pc's...thru & thru...any suggestions before I spend a few hours re-building my playlists and deleting the non-findable song files??
Thanks...

Aready had an account my computer crashed and had it repaired they put in a new hard drive now I can't install the new download how do i fix this

Already had an account had to have a new hard drive put in my lap top they wiped out my info I need to install the new download
but I keep getting an erroe message " unable to download itunes 64 setup exe. The connection to this server was reset". What do I do?

This completely *****. iTunes lists none of my music, although the music is on my iPod. When I click on the sync button, it starts to sync -- for about 5 seconds -- and does nothing. So I had to manually import all of my music from my hard drive into iTunes, but it still won't sync. Same thing with videos and photos.

ITunes moved to a new hard drive, now acting like a newly installed program

I just moved my ITunes to an external hard drive and followed all the directions to do so (did a google search and it lead me to this site where I followed the instructions outlined). Now ITunes won't work, it won't access any music whatsoever. In fact when I open ITunes it's appearance is that of the freshly installed program and no songs at all come up under music
I decided I had to have the space because I only have an 80 GB drive (C) and my music files occupy 52 GB of that (ITunes accounts for 2/3 of that 52GB total for some strange reason)
The new hard drive (F) is an HP Simple Save and that program backed up all my C drive information (including ITunes).
Then I followed the instructions I found on this site. I went in, identified the new folder, consolidated the files and nothing. When I restarted ITunes I got the screen above
So I tried putting ITunes back on the C drive and reset ITunes using the reset button under "Edit, Preferences, Advanced" and that still doesn't work. Not to mention I now have ITunes buried under a mountain of sub folders
I am at my wits end with ITunes. My first IPod was a gift (my seond I had to buy after washing my first) but ITunes has been nothing but trouble the whole time and now this!!!!!!!
Can someone please help me????????????? I like my IPod, I on't want to have to get rid of it and buy an MP3 player that works with Windows

My Library files are still on the C drive as the instructions said to leave them there
While it is implied that I can move ITunes music files off my C drive to make more space
Quote: "If your hard drive is nearly full after loading all your music and other media into iTunes, or if you just want to move all those music and media files to another hard drive on your system, here's a way to make the move while retaining all your playlists, ratings, and play history."
In fact I now see that ITunes Help seems to suggest something different. I got here by pressing the question mark while in the pop up box for "Edit, Preferences, Advanced"
Quote:
"By default, songs and other files you import into iTunes are placed here:
My Documents/My Music/iTunes/iTunes Media
Hide
To change the default location of imported files:
Choose Edit > Preferences, and click Advanced.
Click Change and select a new location for your files.
From now on, new songs and other items you import are stored in the new location. Songs you’ve already imported stay in their current location. (emphasis mine)
To restore the iTunes Media folder as the default storage location, click Reset (in the Advanced pane of iTunes preferences)."

Moved library to new hard drive, now nothing shows in iTunes

I moved my library to a new internal hard drive, but the music does not show when I start up iTunes. I followed the instructions from the Apple website, so I don't know what to do. I can see the files on the new hard drive, so I know they are still around. I'm afraid to sync as I may lose everything. What do I do?
VAIO PCV-RZ24G Windows XP

First - re-read all the instructions and figure out where you might have dropped a step. Below are three similar sites that explain the same process. One may help you diagnose what went wrong.
My guess is that you moved or corrupted your Library database file in the process. But without more information, I am just taking a shot in the dark.
See these links for some step-by-step info:
iLounge: Moving your iTunes Library to a New Hard Drive
MacMuse: iTfW: Move iTunes music/Library to new drive
iTunes: Moving your iTunes Music folder

Installed new hard drive now iTunes will not load my purchases on my iPod

I installed a new hard drive on my computer and successfully transferred all my files to the new hard drive. The first time I tried to sync my iPod a message appeared that my iPod would have to be reformatted to operate with this version of Windows.
Now, iTunes recognizes my iPod but during the update an error message displayed indicating my iTunes purchases were prohibited from being loaded on my iPod and removed the purchases I originally had on my iPod.
How do I get iTunes to include my purchases when syncing my iPod?

Thank you Patrick. You solved my problem. Just checked it out and I now have my purchases on my iPod. Only annoying thing was I had to authenticate my computer a couple of times.
S

Moved Itunes to External hard drive and Itunes can't find them

I went to the Apple Store at the Grove on Friday. An employee there printed out these instructions:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301748
I followed the instructions. All my music is on my external hard drive now (My Book). When I open Itunes all the songs in the entire library have a circle with ! in them.
It says the song could not be used because the file could not be found. When I search My Book the song plays and the ! is removed. I have several thousand songs. Do I have to do this with each and every one?
Also, I can't import new cd's now.
Can anyone help?
Thanks, Vicki

Try this -> iTunes Track CPR v1.3

Installed new hard drive now I can't get OS to install from recovery disks.

I have a HP Pavilion g4. I had to install a new hard drive into my laptop. I ordered the system recovery disks from HP directly. Windows 8 is the OS. I was on the first disk when a box popped up. The top of the box says Reducer. Then theres a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark and next to that it says Copy File Fails. Then under that it says From: E:\PRELOAD\BASE2.SWM TO: C:\RM\Image\BASE2.SWM Press OK to retry. I pressed ok to retry but nothing happens. On the screen behind it its blue with a black Recovery Manager box. It says Factory image recovery preparations and theres 3 steps under it. The 1st one is checked and it says Reformatting the Windows partition of the hard drive. The 2nd line also has a checked box and it says Copying files required to restore the hard drive. The 3rd line has the box NOT checked and it says Restoring files to hard drive. Then the progress is stopped at 20%. It went all the way to 100% during the 1st line where its reformatting. Then even though the 2nd line is checked thats where it stopped at the 20%. Sorry so long but im trying to be as thorough as possible. I havent found any answers and Ive called HP already with no solution. I hope someone can help!! 

Hello @noworries8282 ,
Welcome to the HP Forums!
I understand you're unable to recovery Windows after replacing the HDD in your g4 notebook. Don't worry about writing a long post. It's better to have too much than not enough.
Can you please tell me the size, type, and manufacturer of the HDD you've installed in the notebook? If the drive you installed is smaller than the original drive the recovery can fail as it's built to format and partition the drive for the recovery and operating system partitions at a certain size. Many user's aren't aware of this and experience failures when attempting to recover to new drives, especially when trying to install SSDs.
If you haven't attempted the recovery a second time from scratch please try that when you get a chance.
Hopefully this helps!
Please click the "Kudos, Thumbs Up" at the bottom of this post if you want to say "Thanks" for helping!
Please click "Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
The Great Deku Tree
I work on behalf of HP.

I own lightroom4 but i got a new hard drive and i can't find my install disk can i download it

i need to download lightroom 4 because i can't find my install disk and i just got a new hard drive. Is this a possibility????

Hi Infinit3lyFocus3d,
Please find the direct link to download Lightroom 4: http://prodesigntools.com/adobe-lightroom-4-is-out.html.
Kindly follow the very important instructions before download.
Regards,
Romit Sinha

Where has my Microsoft Word gone ? I had my Mac wiped at the genius bar and backed it up on a hard drive now i can not find it anywhere !!! HELP me please :/

Hello all,
I had my Mac wiped at the genius bar and backed it up on a hard drive,
but now i can not find it anywhere !!! HELP me please :/

Take your comp back to the repair shop along w/your receipt for proof that MW was purchased. Either they need to find/restore it back to your comp or reimburse you.

Moved Music to New Hard Drive - Required folder not found??? pls help

Hello
I have recently purchased a new external hard drive as my crappy Dell was full to the brim with music.
I have moved all my music files over to the hard drive and re installed itunes.
Now when i drag my music folder into the itunes library it updates but the shortly after an error message occurs that says:-
'Itunes Libray music file cannot be saved. Required folder not found'
Previously i have saved my itunes folder within my music folder?.
Now everytime i close down itunes all my music has gone from it!??
Any suggestions....sorry if being really ignorant..not too profficient on computers..
Thanks in advance.
Sam
Dell PC Windows XP
Dell PC Windows XP

I think itunes by default looks inside you my music folder. In the itunes preferences screen there is an option to select a new folder to your library. Change the path to the music folder on your external drive. Make sure to always have the drive turned on before launching itunes though.
You may also be able to replace the my music folder with a shortcut to the music folder on the external drive. This behavior may not work in windows though so I'm not sure.

Moved music folder to another drive, now iTunes won't open

I moved my music folder to another drive but when iTunes starting acting up I moved it back (in fact it got moved around and renamed a few times). I have uninstalled and re-installed iTunes now but still get the same message when I try and open it "The folder "iTunes" cannot be found or created and is required. The default location for this folder is in the "Music" folder". All my songs are still in my iTunes Music folder, everything else seems to be in place. Please help.

Do a shift-start of itunes.
Press *AND HOLD* the shift key whilestarting ituens.
Keep pressing and holding until you get a prompt to choose an itunes library.
Browse to wherever your music/itunes folder is, and select iTunes Library.itl.

Moved music to new hard drive now itunes can't find songs !

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for