Need to make new iTunes library and not move any media

I have my iTunes folder on an external drive, and my iTunes library file was damaged. I need to import all of my media, but I don't want iTunes to make duplicates of everything. I cannot find an answer to this simple problem. Can anyone help?
By the way, I was very disappointed when I called Apple for support with the issue. Curtis told me my AppleCare (which he could not verify) expired yesterday, so he would get in trouble if he helped me. I bought my first Mac in 1994, have owned half-dozen of them since, several iPhones, an iPad, etc., and this is the first time I have heard anything besides, "How can we help you?" Once did a tech mention that the product I was actually calling about was outside of AppleCare but since I had other active AppleCare purchases, he was not worried about it.
Anyway, I feel like there is probably an answer out there, but I'm just not searching with the right keywords.

Hold down the option key and iTunes will ask you if you want to create a library, do so, putting it in the iTunes folder on the external drive where the damaged one is located. Then use File > Import to import the .xml version of the library in that folder. This will populate the new library with the contents of the old one, minus a bit of metadata and anything you may have just recently added. To double-check you can go to File > Add to Library and point it to the media folder and it will add everything that is in there. Anything that is already there from the earlier stage it will ignore. Anything it didn't catch the first time it will add.
In a big corporation people are bound more strictly by the rules, especially those low down the ladder. There's probably a piece of paper somewhere saying, "Do not provide assistance to those not covered by Applecare for the product they are calling about," and if a boss wanted to be sticky they could fire somebody for violating a rule. A sole proprietor might just say it's only a few extra minutes, no materials cost, and good PR, and they are the one making the rules and decisions.

Similar Messages

How can I sync my iPhone with a new iTunes library and not loose apps?

Up until a few days ago I was syncing my iPhone with my PC notebook. Long story short, the machine crashed and I had to re-install. luckily I had a backup of all of the music from my iTunes library which is now hosted on my Mac Mini, but I didn't have a copy of my apps (why iTunes keeps these files outside of the folder I kept my library in I don't know).
Now I'm syncing music and video with my Mac Mini, but when I select that I want to sync apps I get the message that everything on the phone will be deleted.. Is there a way to back up the apps so I can add them to the library and sync them back to the phone without losing them?

I had the same issue with a withdrawn app. Just copy all the .app files from the old directory to somewhere on the new machine, then drag them onto the Application menu item on the left hand side and iTunes will import them as long as you've already registered iTunes for the same account.
Job done! Worked a treat for me - including the app that wasn't available any more.....

What is causing this? The file "iTunes Library.itl" does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has created a new iTunes library and renamed this file to "iTunes Library (Damaged) 4". This happens everytime I start iTunes lateley. Help!!!

Everytime I open iTunes lately...I get all my music thrown out of the library and this annoying message come up...The file “iTunes Library.itl” does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has created a new iTunes library and renamed this file to “iTunes Library (Damaged) 4”. Is this how an apple works? It doesn't? Why all of a sudden is it doing this? Please help. Thank you.
David

Did you happen to bring this iTunes library over from a windows machine? You might read this kb article to see if it helps http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451

Why has this occurred The file "iTunes Library.itl" does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has created a new iTunes library and renamed this file to "iTunes Library (Damaged)".

My itunes library suddenly that the file “iTunes Library.itl” does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has created a new iTunes library and renamed this file to “iTunes Library (Damaged)”. I use an external hard drive for my Itunes.

The library file appears to have been corrupted. You say you use your external drive but is the whole library on it or only your media? No matter, you will have to rebuild the library file:
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451

Why am i getting an error message saying new itunes library and itunes wont start up

every time i try to start up itunes an error message comes up saying new itunes library and itunes wont start up. I have no idea why this has happened as I havent used itunes in ages and havent knowingly changed anything since. does anyone have any ideas what the problem is. the last software update i got was in december

Go into the Control Panel for progams and try to repair the iTunes installation, or remove it and then reinstall.
tt2

New itunes library does not indicate what's watched or unwatched !

The new itunes library does not indicate what's watched or unwatched !

It seems to have been a bug they have fixed in the new update: iTunes 11.0.1.

ITunes Artwork Screensaver "Your iTunes Library does not contain any songs

i have been using the iTunes Artwork Screensaver on my 1.25GHz PowerPC G4, running Leopard 10.5.2 and it has worked perfectly, showing all my album artwork. i got all the album covers from amazon.com or google. i have always kept my iTunes Library on my Boot Drive and have never moved it.
Yesterday when my computer went into screensaver mode (itunes artwork) the message "Your iTunes Library does not contain any songs with artwork"!
This is really strange, as all the albums in my library have artwork. i have also tried deleting the iTunes Artwork Screensaver preference file.
I know that there are many issues with the artwork screensaver, but i have not found a solution to this problem.
I would appreciate anyones help!

i'm glad to see that i'm not the only one with this problem. i have seriously tried everything, like deleting the preference files of the itunes screensaver, using a script to embed the artwork, repairing disc permissions but i the screensaver just won't work. the message that my library does not contain any artwork still appear every time.

If I sync my iPhone to a new iTunes library, will I lose any of my contacts?

Does anyone know the answer to this?

I am going to be syncing with a new iTunes library and was wondering when it says "If you sync with this Library, all content on this iPhone will be replaced by what is in this Library". I know it means music, videos, Apps, etc. What about Contacts.

I want to transfer music from an old iphone to a new itunes library , but not working

I want to transfer music from an old iphone to a new itunes but its not working

If you backup with iTunes and you restored from the backup and the data are gone, then there is no where to retrieve them from unless you have another backup that contains those data.
Launch iTunes on the computer and go to iTunes>Preferences>Devices. You will see a window with all of your backups listed in it.
If you see a recent backup that you are certain contains the data that you need, recover deleted data from iPhone backup.
If your note is gone from iCloud.com there is only a few ways to possibly recover it.
The first things I would check is a iCloud Backup, a iTunes Backup, or a 3rd party email that may have contained the note. To restore from a iCloud or iTunes backup follow this link. This article explains how to restore a device from either back up.
Note if you have backed up since the note went missing, you will not have the note on the backup. Make sure you do not back up if trying to restore from a back up as this will back up the content without the note.
To get to the "Set up assistant" on an iOS device, you must go to Settings>General>Reset>Erase All Content and Settings. Once the phone restarts, you will be at the "Set up Assistant"

TS1424 when i try to get on my itunes account i get the error message "New itunes library" and i am unable to open my account.

I have had an itunes account for over a year and have always used the same computer. Recently I have been unable to open my itunes account. Every time i try to open it, the error message "New itunes Library" comes up and I can do nothing further. Does anyone have any ideas what I can do to resolve this issue.

Hello,
Try disabling graphics hardware acceleration. Since this feature was added to Firefox, it has gradually improved, but there still are a few glitches.
You might need to restart Firefox in order for this to take effect, so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.).
Then perform these steps:
*Click the orange Firefox button at the top left, then select the "Options" button, or, if there is no Firefox button at the top, go to Tools > Options.
*In the Firefox options window click the ''Advanced'' tab, then select "General".
*In the settings list, you should find the ''Use hardware acceleration when available'' checkbox. Uncheck this checkbox.
*Now, restart Firefox and see if the problems persist.
Additionally, please check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in the following Knowledge base articles:
* [[Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems]]
* [[Upgrade your graphics drivers to use hardware acceleration and WebGL]]
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!
Thank you.

TS3212 All your music in one place. This is what's showing when I downloaded the new itunes but will not go any further. Have been here for 20 minutes? Do I need to start over? Or is there something else I can do to get to so I can click next for the

I've been trying to down load the new itunes version and I'm stuck on All your music in one place but now it's been stuck there for over 20 minutes. Do I need to start over or is this normal?

The sort fields should generally be empty unless you've putting in custom values to sort solo artists by their surnames. You can apply common changes to thousands of tracks at once, just don't apply the wrong change because there is no undo.
It is a good idea to backup before undertaking large scale changes. See this backup tip for a suggested approach.
tt2
Message was edited by: turingtest2

I created a new iTunes library and now cannot find the original one, which has a thousand albums on it! What happened?

I created a new iTunes library to put speciald songs into, using the instructions on the Help section of iTunes. NOW - I cannot locate my original iTunes library, which has a zillion tunes on it! When I open iTunes to "select a library" the only choise I am given is th one I just created, which only has one album on it. What happened to the original iTunes that I just got the way I wanted it, with millions of tunes on it??????

Hello b dean jones,
Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. I found an article that lists the default locations for iTunes files:
Where are my iTunes files located?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1391
If you looked in the default locations and are still having trouble finding the files, I recommend following the steps in this article:
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
I hope this helps get you back on track!
Best,
Sheila M.

I have set up a new itunes library and am trying to sync this with my iphone. My iphone is asking for an 'exchange' password. I don't know what this is or where to find it.

I am trying to sync my iphone with a new itunes library. The iphone is askin for an 'exchange' password. I don't know what this is or where to find it.

Sounds like you do have an Exchange account setup on your phone. Have a Gmail or Hotmail account? They can both be setup as Exchange accounts. Have a work email account?

Need some guidance rebuilding my library and not killing playlists

I lost a hard drive that had a lot of my music on it. I have the music I care most about on my Ipod and got it off (everything in my itunes library was on my ipod.. i used mediamonnkey to manage my whole collection and listen to music). But I need to get things back up so everything can be synced and I can use the files in other programs.
Main things I need to accomplish are:
1. *Within my ipod backup folder, delete the songs that I already have elsewhere so I don't have tons of doubles, and move the remainder back into my main music folder.*
This isn't too tough, just potentially extremeley tedious, as I have used instructions found on this forum to make a smart playlist in itunes of my 'alive' files, and my 'dead' files (the ones I need to save from this folder). If there was a way to do it automatically, that would be magical, but I am up for manually weeding everything out if it's the only way.
2. *Keep all my playlists working in Itunes*
This is the part that has me concerned. I need itunes to associate the new versions of the tracks with their counterparts that were lost so that my many playlists keep working (in university I had a radio show I worked pretty hard on and am attached to keeping the playlists functional). I'd prefer not double clicking and locating each of the currently missing files as there are 4485 of them.
So what I have right now:
1. itunes playlist of the unlocatable files with no locations
2. itunes playlist of the music that is still in the right place on my harddrives and doesn't need to be touched
3. itunes playlist with both together
4. a folder on my hard drive with all the songs from my ipod, which is the same songs as #3.
5. back-up of my itunes library with none of the songs recorded as missing which I made before running itunes after my HD crash. It includes playlist #3 but not #1 and #2, I think.
If anyone can advise on a practical approach to getting this sorted out, I will be so pleased.

Aloha:
Thanks for the reply.
It's on the desk top. Permission was not asked for!
I could not throw it away, either. it was always busy and could not be trashed????
Dan

Hard drive crash need help with new iTunes load and backup files

I have looked through the posts and not found my situation.
I had my iPhone synced to a PC computer and the hard drive crashed. I had an extensive library in iTunes, but none of the music was purchased online so I can't simply download it again. It was all from CD's, many of which belonged to friends. I now have an iMac. The music I like is still on my iPhone, but not on my new iMac. When I try to sync the iPhone with my iMac it wants to delete all the music on my iPhone. Is there any way to copy the music off my iPhone first - so I can add it back into my iTunes library?

Yes, luckily I have been in this situation.
You can download a free application that will take your music from your iPhone and place it onto your Macintosh HD.
One of these should suit your needs:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/19890/ipoddisk
http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/index.php?gclid=CPjvvOiyr6gCFaNl7Aodm h6QIQ
http://www.headlightsoft.com/detune/
I hope this helped.

Need to make new iTunes library and not move any media

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for