Need help: Itunes cannot locate multiple missing files after renaming

All of music had strange names after transfering them to a new computer. I decided to use a program to rename all of them using a renaming program that renamed all of my music files based on their ID3 tags (Title, artist, etc).
Well now I went to Itunes and it cant find the any of the files (figured that), so I find one and Itunes asks if it should find more missing files, and hit yes, but it doesn't find any of the other newly renamed files. Is there anything I can do short of doing this for each individual file? Is there a way I can change Itune search parameters for finding missing files? Thanks

This is my standard post on the missing files thing...
This happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. 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, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
I sort of assumed the third party tool wouldn't have put things in an iTunes standard form which is why I offered my scrupt at the outset. If you can explain how they are organised I might be able to tweak up the script to work for your layout too.
tt2

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Itunes cannot locate the original file

The majority of my itunes library has little exclamation marks next to the songs, and whenever I click to play the song, a pop-up states "The song "name of song" could not be used because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?" and if I press yes, then I have to go into my music and then search for it. I was wondering why it says that after years of having itunes and most importantly if there was an easier/less time consuming way to locate the original files to play my songs.

Hi, shopper2472.
The exclamation marks (and the accompanying note) inidicate the files aren't located where iTunes expects them to be. This is most often happens when the files have either been deleted or moved to a different location.
If they have been moved, the best solution is to get them back where they were in the first place. iTunes will be able to find them again - happy ending.
Sometimes though, it seems iTunes loses track of files for no apparent reason. In this case, your only alternative - other than finding them one by one and letting iTunes know - would be to start a new iTunes library all over again.
Regrettably, this method loses playlists and related information (Ratings, Play Counts, Dates Last Played, etc.) If that's not a deal-breaker for you, delete the current entries in your Library by highlighting them - iTunes File menu > Select All - and then right-clicking > Delete . You remove the entries from your Library but keep the files themselves in your iTunes Music folder, assuming that's where they are in the first place.
You can then add them back into your Library by selecting the iTunes Music folder in Windows Explorer and dragging it into the Library entry in the iTunes Source List (left-hand column).

About to cry...please HELP! Itunes cannot "locate my original file"

I just purchased a song through Itunes. It comes up as a purchased song but when I click on it to play the song it states "The song could not be used b/c the original file could not be found".
I am not computer literate. I am pregnant and at my wits end and seriously on the verge of tears. The fact that I cannot get a Live Person on the phone to deal w/my situation is pushing me over the edge. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!

Please don't cry.
Try this: In iTunes, go to the Edit menu and select Preferences. Click on the Advanced tab, and in a box under "iTunes Music Folder Location" there will be a path to your hard drive that looks something like "C:\Documents and Settings\your name\My Documents\My Music\iTunes."
Whatever it says is the location on your computer that iTunes is trying to find your song. If your song isn't in there (which it probably won't be), it means your songs are downloading to another folder on your computer.
To find your song, click on the Start menu at the bottom of your screen, and then click "search." Click on "search all files & folders," and type "*.m4p" in the search box. This will search on all files on your computer that you have downloaded from Apple. You will find your song here.
What you need to do is type this address into where it says "iTunes Music Folder Location." Then it will know where to find your music.
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When i connect my ipod to the computer a box pops up and say that itunes cannot locate this device, and if the problem persists to uninstal itunes and then reinstall. Well i have my own user on tunes so if i uninstall ituneswill it uninstall on all users?

when i connect my ipod to the computer a box pops up and says that itunes cannot locate/read this file, and if the problem persists to uninstall itunes and then reinstall, but i have my own user on the computer, so if i uninstall it on my user will it uninstall it on every user?

Hello BPeery,
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iPod not recognized in 'My Computer' and in iTunes for Windows
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~Julian

Just got message that iTunes cannot locate 2382 songs. I see them, but I don't seem to be able to "recover" them. How do I locate them in a block versus one at a time?

I installed Nokia PC Suite software including a music player. I opened iTunes so that I could transfer music to my mobile phone. My iTunes response was that it could not locate my music files. So, I uninstalled all of my Nokia software, and restarted iTunes. My music list comes up, but when I try to play a tune, I get the message that iTunes cannot locate my music files, and asks me if I want to locate them. When I answer, it lets me locate the music one song at a time. How do I get iTunes to "locate" the entire file in one block action?.

Hi Hardrick!
Here is an article that can help you with finding your lost media in iTunes:
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http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1408
Thanks for being a part of the Apple Support Communities!
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Braden

I'm having a huge issue with itunes locating my missing files..and it's too many for me to locate 1 by 1..It says I'm missing over 3,00 songs and They are all in my music folder..What can I do to fix this issue?

I'm having a huge issue with itunes locating my missing files..and it's too many for me to locate 1 by 1..It says I'm missing over 3,000 songs and They are all in my music folder..What can I do to fix this issue? I've looked at all the tutorials on youtube and none of it works. I recently got a new computer and I Back-Up all my music and itunes playlist and I import it on my new computer with the new itunes and I go to play a few songs, it says I'm missing them I locate a few but it's still like 3,000 missing and again they are all on the computer and in one folder..Please Help !

I did that and nothing changed half my songs still have examination marks beside them
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If you weren't doing Home Sharing then the HS thing likely has absolutely nothing to do with this. You must have done something else that caused the links in iTunes database to break. iTunes keeps a list of what files it needs to play and where they are located. If you do something such as renaming a folder or moving a folder or file, it can cause that location reference to no longer be valid.

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Cannot Locate the Original File ? ?- Help Please

Hi ,
I have Consolidated my Library to New folder on my External Hard-Drive. so i Know that all my music is in One palce..
I have a Problem, If i try and play a Track, It Now get a message saying Cannot Locate the Original File..& has this ! against the track..???
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Unfortunately I'm in the same boat. Somehow I cannot locate over 30 GB of music that just disappeared?!
Moved the iTunes folder from my Music folder from the HD to my 250 GB external drive. I did not rename it. Kept it the same name. Went into the Advanced folder in iTunes Preferences and chose to use the external drive as my source for music. However, I noted that an iTunes folder always reappeared in my Music folder on the HD. Didn't realize that I had to Consolidate libraries until later on, but did so the next day as I attempted to figured out why it wasn't working ("cannot locate original file"). When I open iTunes, all of my songs and playlists are listed (I assume this is cache), but none will play except for a few random artists (most have "!"). When I go back and look at the actual iTunes Music folder, it has only these random artists listed (I assume these are the (only?) original files?).
Not sure where everything else went when I haven't deleted any iTunes files? I've read quite a few threads with this same problem without any real answers. When I use Spotlight to locate the original songs, I get zero found.
Is there any easy answer as to where my songs went or am I looking at taking this Mac in for some file retrieval.
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My iTunes says I'm missing files...Help?

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Itunes cannot locate my files on the external hard drive - I changed preferences but still not locating songs?

itunes cannot locate my files on the external hard drive - I changed preferences but still not locating songs?

This work for the most part:
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I transferred my music to a larger hard drive and when I went to sync to iTunes there half my library had a '!' next to the songs. After I located one song the question 'would you like itunes to find other missing files' came up. What does this mean?

I recently transferred my music from one external hard drive to another and when I went to sync it to iTunes half my music had a '!' symbol on the left side, which meant that the songs weren't located. When I went to locate one of the songs it asked me if I wanted iTunes to find other missing files, which I said yes. What happens next and what is iTunes doing to find the missing files?

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Need help: Itunes cannot locate multiple missing files after renaming

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