Problem saying song could not be used because original file not found

Hi,
I updated itunes to 10.1.1 over the weekend and now my libray has massive problems. Most of my older music has an exclamation mark next to it and when I try and play it, it says "Song cannot be used because orginal file could not be found".
I have tried to reload the content but the same problem persists, this is really annoying to say the least. What can I do.
Thanks

Solution may be found if you search in the "More Like This" section over in the right column.

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Error message-song couldn't be used because original file couldn't be found

Had to reinstall itunes onto my laptop and all my music appear automatically in the library with all old playlists, which was great. But now most of my songs show an error message - 'The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?' - I located the correct file for some songs, but even still the next time I open my itunes the same error message appears and to play a song I have to locate it every time I want to play it.
Please help!
Thank you,

Here's what I did. Went to the iTunes preferences. Selected Advanced. Then made sure the iTunes music folder was correct. Unchecked copy files to iTunes folder when adding songs to library. Clicked OK. Clicked on the file menu scrolled down to select add to library. I then went to where on my hard drive my iTunes mp3s are kept. I selected the first groups folder (AH-a) and shift clicked and scrolled down to my last groups folder (ZZTOP) So all groups were selected. Then I clicked on Choose. So my entire library was now added back into iTunes and will now play back. However everytrack was now duplicated. One track that would play and one track that wouln't .
I then went to this website http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/scripts01.php
and downloaded, installed and ran Super Remove Dead Track
v 2.0. My library originally contained 7700 songs. So duplicated it was over 14,000. It took approx. a couple of hours for the script to delete the dead duplicates
and my library was back to normal.

Error " song can't be used because original file can not be found"

Our computer was about to crash, so we backed up our iTunes library to disc like it suggested. However, once we imported the library back to the new computer, iTunes will no longer play the songs without the disc in! It says the "original file can not be found" unless the disc is in. How do we get the "originals" off the disc and back onto the computer so I don't have to carry the disc everywhere?? I can't seem to find any help on any of the help sights about this problem. I tried using iTunes Folder Watch like another post suggested and it didn't work. I still need the disc to play the songs.

Roberta hello,
The remedy is very easy...
Open the iTunes folder and select the iTunes Library file and type command -D
this will make another copy for safe keeping, if anything goes wrong you can always return this copy ... leave the duplicate file where it is.
Start iTunes in the normal way and open the preferences > advanced > general tab... set NOT to copy files when adding to library and DO keep iTunes Music folder organized.... OK your changes.
From the file menu select 'add to library' and choose the iTunes Music folder.
After iTunes has checked and made any adjustments needed have a look and see if any problems still exist ... come and let me know Roberta ... TP
iMac 800MHz PowerPC G4 17 Flat Screen. G4 iBook. Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Song can't be used because original file couldn't be found...

I have already uninstalled and reinstalled the latest version of iTunes. Every song in the library is proceeded with an exclamation point. So I right click on a song, choose Get Info, and above message appears. There's no path listed for the original file. I've checked the preferences in iTunes & the path appears to be correct. How do I correct this? Nothing is updating to my Ipod correctly either.
HP Windows XP

Here's what I did. Went to the iTunes preferences. Selected Advanced. Then made sure the iTunes music folder was correct. Unchecked copy files to iTunes folder when adding songs to library. Clicked OK. Clicked on the file menu scrolled down to select add to library. I then went to where on my hard drive my iTunes mp3s are kept. I selected the first groups folder (AH-a) and shift clicked and scrolled down to my last groups folder (ZZTOP) So all groups were selected. Then I clicked on Choose. So my entire library was now added back into iTunes and will now play back. However everytrack was now duplicated. One track that would play and one track that wouln't .
I then went to this website http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/scripts01.php
and downloaded, installed and ran Super Remove Dead Track
v 2.0. My library originally contained 7700 songs. So duplicated it was over 14,000. It took approx. a couple of hours for the script to delete the dead duplicates
and my library was back to normal.

Uploaded entire music library from external hard driveto new iTunes account. Only purchased music will play. When I try to play other files, iTunes says it can't be used because original file can't be located and an exclamation point appears before song

Please help

You may be getting that error message if the setting 'Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library' is not turned on (in Preferences>Advanced>General).
To sort all your songs out in one batch, my suggestion would be to remove all your songs from your iTunes library and re-import them all. However, as someone who also has a 5,000-song collection, I wouldn't want any of your songs to be deleted, so either do a backup or write-protect your iTunes music folder.

"song could not be used because original file could not be found..."

My entire music library files cannot be found. When I click on a song I get a popup that says "song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I can't find the files anywhere, can't open any from my Windows Media player, from Quicktime or anywhere and can't find them on my hard drive. I have about 2300 songs downloaded from my CD collection and a handful of songs purchased on itunes. I have searched for all "mp3" files, no luck, searched by "title/artist", no luck. Yikes!!

I've occasionally had an artist or LP go missing from my library, but to have the entire library disappear is incredible!
Depending upon which version of itunes you are using, you should find your music here: (if it still exists)
User (insert name here)>Music>itunes music>(Folders for each artist)
or
User (insert name here)>Music>itunes media (I think)>music> (Folders for each artist)
If you find your music folder in either of these places, close the windows, open itunes, from the file menu, select "Add to Library" and navigate to the music folder and select it. Itunes should recreate your library.

The song could not be used because original file could not be found

I just loaded iTunes on my new laptop running Windows 8. I then synced my iPod Nano hoping existing songs would be imported. Songs seemed to come across but when I try to play on my computer I get message - "The song could not be used because original file could not be found." Can anybody help?

Solution may be found if you search in the "More Like This" section over in the right column.

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I can not play a large percentage of my music due to "could not be used because original file could not be found" How do I locate these files again? Thanks

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

HT1386 my computer to ipod message saying songs could not be located

my computer to ipod message saying songs could not be located

You need to either:
- Find them on the computer;
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
- You can redownload most iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
- Reimport them from where yo got them before
- Restore them from a computer backup

Songs cannot be used because original files could not be found.

I had my laptop stolen with my original iTunes Music libary. The library was backed up on office server. When I copied bqackup to new laptop iTune file, the song list shows but all songs will not play with message:
"the song "XXX" could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"
Unfortunately, the originals are on stolen laptop? Is there anything I can do!

happyhannah wrote:
I right-clicked on the song to 'get info' and found out that the path is 'file://localhost/users/Hannah/desktop/iTunes' etc. I remembered that I had moved the iTunes library to the desktop as not to forget to back it up.
Hmm, if the active iTunes library knows where to look for files but they have been misplaced then putting them back where it expects to find them should work. However you should only be moving the media folder not the library files, or if moving both you should shift-start iTunes and choose a new library.
Now, I have deleted the iTunes library from the (default) Music folder and have put it on the desktop with the hope that this is now where iTunes will find the original library. However, it's still not working!!! Please help!!! I really cannot lose my whole iTunes library
As long as you have the media files and a copy of the library files from your old system it really should be possible to coax them back into working order.
Are you currently connected to a library which lists your media? If so what is the path given for a sample missing file and where is the actual copy of that file now?
tt2

Since the Nov update about a third of my songs have a circle with an exclamation mark inside it. These song will not play on my computer. I reload with my own cd collection, it works for a while then the same thing happens. Message says "Song could not be

Since Nov update about a third of my songs have a circle with an exclamation mark inside the circle. These songs will not play on my computer. Message says "The song .... could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I have reloaded these back onto itunes with my own CD collection. They work for a short while, then the same thing happens. I don't know what is causing this or how to fix it.

I finally resolved my problem after spending way too much time on it. I simply handed my 160GB iPod to my husband to put his fav Stones & Beatles songs on and I went back to my 80GB Microsoft Zune which has never disappointed me.
After spending so much time trying to figure this out I did finally take it back to Apple Store who performed a diagnostic and found there was a problem with the device. They replaced it with a refurbished one which has similar issues. All I wanted to do was listen to my music. Was that too much to ask? So I am happy to be free of this problematic device. No more Apple for me!!

Song can not be used because Original file can not be located - HELP

Hi - Newbie here and I have run into and error and don't know how to fix it. When I try to play a large number of songs from Itunes I get the following message. "The Song (NAME) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" I have no idea where the orginal files are and I am not sure how to fix this error. Could someone please help me out! Thanks - KAggie

This happens if the files are no longer where iTunes expects to find them. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the files, or that the drive they live 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.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes.
If the files are nowhere to be found on your computer, but exist on a device, see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
While deleting & reimporting works when the media can be found the process will delete user playlists, ratings, play counts, date added information and any other metadata not stored in tags.
tt2

"File could not be used because original file cannot be found." Locate File?

Everytime I try to play a song on iTunes, I get a message that says "The song cannot be played because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?" I also cannot add songs to playlists, or pretty much do anything. The only songs that will play are ones I recently purchased from the iTunes store. I also have 2 libraries setup on my computer. The original library is fine, its the second one that is a problem. Should I just go back to one library? or how can fix the problem?

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.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes .
tt2

My songs disappeared- get message "could not be used because original file could not be found?

how can I access my songs?

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.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes .
tt2

Problem saying song could not be used because original file not found

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