My entire music library (purchased and my own) can't be put onto my itouch. All these files have a little explanation point next to it. When I click on it to play it it says file could not be found. How do I get my music back?

I've downloaded a normal software upgrade and now my computer doesn't recognize that my music files are mine....I guess. Itunes library has tons of songs that I've either downloaded from disc or purchased from itunes. Now, they all have this little explanation point next to the file name. Can't put them on my itouch and can't play them on the computer.
Tried to ask apple to help...they want $29. I don't understand...I was simply upgrading my itouch with their software updates and now this. Had the same problem with my apps. Had to redownload all of them individually. Didn't have to pay for them again. They, too, had the little explanation mark next to them.
Help me.
I'm music-less.
Kathy

Ok, I had a glitch, forced to restart, and lost my train of thought.
Reinstalling iTunes should fix the major issue that might have gone wrong, perhaps your explaination points will disappear and everything will be peachy again.
But if they don't, you can open the XML file in iTunes Folder using a Text edit program to see what the common pathname is to the iTunes Music folder or where your content is located.
If you moved the itunes folder, it needs to go back.
I can't download iTunes to my Vista virtual machine to test it out right now because iTunes is down, so I can't verify the pathname, perhaps your issue and the iTunes being down are related somehow?
You don't want to import all your music again, but it's a option, but you lose all your playlists, that's what I'm trying to recover.
If oyu don't have a whole lot of playlists, then simply select all the explaimation point music and delete, select File from the menu and import your itunes folder again.

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Several causes for this problem have been reported. Please take each of the following steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when it's resolved.
Step 1
If possible, test on another network, such as a public hotspot (if the computer is portable) or the hotspot created by a mobile device. A network gateway that blocks some traffic, most likely on a company or university network, could be causing the error.
Step 2
Back up all data.
From the menu bar, select
 ▹ System Preferences... ▹ Network
If the preference pane is locked, click the lock icon in the lower left corner and enter your password to unlock it. Then click the Advanced button and select the Proxies tab. If any proxy options are selected, make a note of them and then deselect them. You don’t need to change the bypass or FTP settings. Click OK and then Apply. Test. The result may be that you can't connect to any web server. Restore the previous settings if that happens.
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Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
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My files could not be used because the original files could not be found,how can I locate them?

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Hello DBlake1,
I suggest this article named iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads found here http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
All the best,
Sterling

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So I have not been able to play a large number of my songs duw to a message that reads "could not be used because original file could not be found". Does anyone know how to locate these files so that itunes will play them again? Thanks

by following this document here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313
and then doing something else at the end.
I followed the instructions from 1-6:
Then rather than importing the XML file I open iTunes, selected "Add to Library" from the File menu then navigated to the itunes library on my external disc then let it do its work.
I guess something got fragged when I changed computer but it's all ok now.
This worked on a Mac I don't know about Windows

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http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
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Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
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Hello Turintest2,
I am having a similar problem. I have over 4000 songs giving me this error. I certainily don't want to go in one by one and find them. I know you wrote a script for Windows but I am a Mac user. Is there a fix for me? Here is the info on where the song is currently (used by doing the get info)
Here's a shot of my preferences:
Just FYI, I know that apparently iTunes is looking for this music in the trash. However, if I go here:
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Please help! I don't want to have to go through over 4000 songs and update them one by one.

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that pop up if u delete or moved any song around in ur music folder which ituns cant find it now .you got re do it

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How did you do this move? Unless you know what you are doing you have to move the whole, complete iTunes folder.
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
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Windows users see tip at: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18879381

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I have a new hard drive as my old one crashed. Everything seemed to transfer fine except for my entire iTunes library. It shows all of my old songs, but when I click on one it states "the song could not be used as the original file could not be found.would you like to locate it".
Either how do I locate it, and I've tried every trick I know, or how do I restore all of my songs from one of two sources. I have my old hard drive backedup on an external drive which should have all of my songs, and I have most of my songs on my old iPhone 3S which I'm using as a backup iPod.

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Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to Get Info, then click No when asked to try to locate the track. (Due to a bug in iTunes 12 you currently have to say No twice!) 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, a folder renamed, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. If the difference between the two paths is an additional Music folder in one path then this is a layout issue. I can explain further if that is the case.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links.
If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.
See also Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

After installing iTunes 10.5 update i get the following message when trying to play any song in my Library "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" how do i fix this??

I have an iPod Classic and work on Windows 7.
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"The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
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Please help - i do not want to spend another week downloading all my cd's onto my computer !!!!!

Try my script FindTracks. Select a few of the missing files to start with then run the script. Choose No at the first prompt so that you can check how it works track by track, then confirm or edit the location of the media folder where your files are. Once you are happy with how it behaves let it process larger numbers of tracks automatically.
tt2

My entire music library (purchased and my own) can't be put onto my itouch. All these files have a little explanation point next to it. When I click on it to play it it says file could not be found. How do I get my music back?

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