Overwrote Library from one computer to another - items lost?

Question

I wanted to make sure my library on my laptop was up to date with my desktop, and couldn't really find an easy way to do this. So, I connected the two with a firewire cable, then copied the whole iTunes Music folder over to the laptop. Normally, I make all my iTunes Store purchases on one computer, but I did buy a couple TV shows on my laptop. I was hoping, like in iPhoto, when you import photos, it would ignore the duplicates, and only copy over the new stuff - not the case.
So, this brings up a few questions: by writing over that whole folder, did I delete the purchased TV shows that were only on my laptop? If so, is there any easy way to recover them - is there a history of purchased items that would recognize that I paid for it and download it again? Is there any easier way to update only the songs that are new without having to compare the two folders to find where there are differences? That could be an especially difficult task.
If there isn't a way, I'd like to make a strong feature request to do so - much like the way you can sync contacts and calendars, you should be able to do the same with songs on the up to 5 computers you can authorize.
G5 Desktop   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   Transferring to MacBook Pro

Answer 1

Hi Keith,
What you have done is a folder copy, which is really different than an importing process like the one that iPhoto can perform.
When you had perform the folder copy within the Finder, it should have said; "A folder named iTunes Music folder already exist, would you like to replace it?". By accepting that, you have replace the previous folder on your laptop; that means you lost everything that was inside to the profit of the new folder you were copying.
To my knowledge, there is no process to recover lost files through iTunes Music Store but I may be wrong on this. But, you should know that the backup feature Apple have had to iTunes 7 does allow a very simple process for backing up your purchased music. See:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iTunesMac/7.0/en/702x.html
For your last question, here is the answer. If you want to keep music files on two computers, you should keep seperates libraries. Library files are located within the iTunes music files and keep track of each and every songs imported by iTunes. With this library files, iTunes will allow importation like the one your mention using in iPhoto.
So, do the following if you want to import iTunes stuff; go in iTunes preferences in the advanced tab. Make sure the options "Keep iTunes Music Folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Music Folder when adding to library" are checked. Then, next time you want to import files or folders; simply drag them in the iTunes library window. iTunes will perform the importation as you mention you would like.
hope this help.