Restore library

I have re-formatted my MacBook and when I signed back on itunes my library is totally gone. I expected to loose my own music but not my purchased music and movies from Itunes. Is there any way to get it back.

You have always been allowed only one download. This is changing in the U.S now.
You can transfer itunes purchases from an ipod. File>Transfer Purchases
You should always backup everything.

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Restored library in Aperture 3.1.2 using vault from Aperture 2.1.4; in the browser I can not see all the pictures, when i click on the empty frame in browser some of the picture do not appear, how do i fix this?

I tried restore library using a 2.1.4 version vault in version 3.1.2 not all the pictures transferred; how can I fix it, I have 13,195 pictures?

Perhaps run through the steps listed here and then let us know how you go.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3805
Tony

My hard drive failed. How do I restore library on a new hard drive?

My hard drive failed. How do I restore library on a new hard drive?
Thanks.

if music was purchased in itunes you can restore as for cd's well if in ipod go here http://www.getsharepod.com/

How do I backup and restore library and playlists?

I have 14 days left on my Win 7 trial version and now need to backup itunes. In the advance itunes preferences tab I have my music folder on a separate hard drive (K:\) but I dont see anything pertaining to playlists. How do i save playlists and what is the process needed to restore library and playlists once I get the OS up and running?
Thanks in advance.

You need the itunes database. It's a file named iTunes Library.itl
Just to be safe, my advice is to back up this folder
C:\users\ username \Music
That will include the itunes folder and that ITL file.

I can't restore 'library' with support files from Time Machine

backup - I can't restore 'library' with support files from Time Machine - Ask Different
Due to an accident, my entire applications folder with all the support files, including plists and caches got deleted.
I tried restoring by files from the most recent Time Machine backups but I cannot retrieve my applications with the support files.
I even tried it with migration assistant on a new image.
Is this impossible?
Must I start from scratch?
Details of the ‘accident’
I was using this app called ‘AppCleaner’ that also automatically deletes related support files which are normally left behind if one simply trashes an Application.
In the search view, I typed the app name and I selected all the apps in the results using Command + A. Unfortunately, this selected every single Application in the Applications Folder in the background and I trashed and deleted all files.
Anyway.
I tried to restore the applications and library from my Time Machine Back-ups but failed to do so because I didn’t have enough space to restore. (I have a 11inch Macbook Air 2012 64GB SSD
When I tried to restart in recovery mode, I had the same problem, I was disallowed the option to restore using my time capsule backups because my SSD didn’t have enough space for the backup.
I then tried to restore it to a totally different but new image on a 64GB USB3.0 Sandisk USB Stick, but the process stopped after hours of being stuck around 30.4 percent and the computer was unable to boot, leaving me with a persistent verbose message suggesting it couldn’t identify the os, kernel or anything.
I finally tried restoring the state using migration assistant on the very same SSD that had my files missing. This happened successfully and I have all my applications in the applications folder.
But now I have 13GB free (I had 2GB before) and all my application support files, saved states, preferences, caches and customizations are gone.
Basically, it feels like I just got a new macbook with my documents and itunes folder loaded on to it.
How can I get my apps back to the pre-deletion state or is this impossible? Do I have to start from scratch? I thought my Time Machine Backups would restore it to exactly the same state, am I wrong?
Screenshots:
Message was edited by: Arsenenger

Can you simply navigate to your Time Machine backup with the Finder? Treat it like an external hardrive and just look for your old Applications folder. /Applications/
Also, quite a few apps put config and support files in ~/Library/Application\ Support/
So you may be able to get the files from there as well.

Restore Library From Vault Issue

Hello,
HD in my Macbook pro died and I just replaced it -- I updated all of the data using time machine, however, I had a library of photos on Aperture that were much newer than my most recent TimeMachine backup and so I'd like to simply restore my Library from the vault. I have tried the following:
I connected the hard disk drive that contains the most up-to-date vault to my computer and opened Aperture.
I chose File > Vault > Restore Library. The Restore Library dialog appeared.
I chose Select Source Vault from the Source Vault pop-up menu.
I navigated to the vault from which I want to restore, then I clicked Select.
I clicked Restore
The only problem is that after I complete step 5, nothing happens-- the dialog box closes and there is no indication that Aperture is restoring anything.
Am I doing something wrong?
Aperture 3.2.3, Snow Leopard and 17" Macbook pro from 2007

The photos are managed in the Aperture Library, that is to say they are not referenced. Aperture's library is located on the MacBook Pro internal HD. I use 3 Western Digital 500 GB USB-2 drives to vault Aperture's Library. One is kept in a safety deposit box (red), but it has not been updated in a few months. The other two drives are kept in my home. One is used on a weekly basis (black), while the other is updated monthly (blue). I restored from the blue drive, but I could try the black drive to see if it is affected also. It just takes several hours to restore from these drives and my confidence with the vault protection of my photos is shaken. My photo library is about 400 GB in size.
The problem is confined to recent projects that were probably just added to the vault prior to wiping the internal drive. I made a smart album to find all photos with missing files and the result is 320 photos affected. Most of those are from a single wedding project of 600 photos.

"Restore Library" failed to restore full library

I recently had to use the "Restore Library" function to open Aperature on a separate Mac but not all of the photos appeared. Instead, what I got, was a grey image with a question mark although photos appears when I click on the grey image. I updated my vaults regularly; some of the "missing" photos are from years ago, some are recent; photos from some recent shoots appear while others from the same day/shoot, do not. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason. Anyone have a suggestion?
Thank you,
Patrick
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

If I recall, Vault does not house the thumbnails. It is assumed you restore back to the original location where the thumbs would exist. Since you restored to a new location this may be the issue.
Thumbnails get built on import, but they may also be generated in a rebuild. I suggest you relaunch Aperture while holding down the <Option><Apple> keys and select "rebuild" at the splash screen.
G.

Problem restoring library with the vault

I've had three disappointing experiences today with Aperture. Two are minor, but the third is a major issue. The first minor issue relates to an unexpected image size limit for export (see thread http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=340789&tstart=0 )
The second (minor) disappointment was an incomplete "undo" when I made a mistake while editing a book. In this case, I used a solid color as a background for captions (for highlight) on each photo. I imported this solid color as an image (in the image browser) and copied it to a photo placeholder located behind each caption. This was a 90 page book with ~150 captions. I accidentally deleted the color "image" and all the highlights disappeared in the book. I immediately completed the "undo" command, which returned the color "image" back to the browser. Unfortunately, it did not put the highlight colors back into each of the 150 captions, so I had to drag the color back into each placeholder box individually (not a big deal, but not much of an "undo" either!
The third (and far more serious issue) relates to restoring the project with the vault. After deleting the highlight color (described above), I thought the easiest solution would be to simply restore the project from the vault. I had just backed the project up minutes before making my error, so this seemed to be a good solution.
After first duplicating the Aperture Library (for safety), I used the vault to restore the Library as it was before I made the error. After restoring, I found my 90 page book was completely destroyed! All the text and pages had returned to the default template pages with no photos and with the default "latin" text! Curiously, I had previously made a duplicate copy of the book that appeared to be in good shape. Unfortunately, I had added considerable content since this earlier copy was made.
I deleted the "restored" Library and replaced it with the copy I had wisely made before the restoration. It worked and I was "happy" to fix the original problem by simply dragging the color background 150 times.
The question I now have is: Can I now trust the vault to restore my library? I don't think so! Has anybody else had problems using the vault to restore their library?
G5 2.5 GHz Quad, 6.5 GB RAM, NVIDA 7800 GT Mac OS X (10.4.4) Dual 500GB HD, 30" Display

There ought to be a FAQ about this, but there isn't, so here goes.
Yesterday, I tried to restore my Aperture Library from a Vault. But the process would not complete because one of the files would not copy. In my view, the Restore function should continue with all the other stuff in the Vault, but it just quits. So, in these circumstances, the Restore Library fails and the Vault becomes useless as a secure storage device.
After much trial and error, I discovered that it is possible to remove the offending file from the Vault. As follows:
1. Note down the message which identifies the problem file.
2. In the Finder, go to the Vault and Control-Click on it. This brings up a list of optional actions. Choose "Open Package Contents". Now you can see what is in the Vault. There are files, documents, and sub-packages.
3. Go to the Project (a sub-package) which contains the offending file (eg. in my case, it was one of the "Rolls" in the iPhoto Library which had been imported), again Control-Click and choose "Open Package Contents". Now you will have a pile of folders, and from the message which Aperture gave you when the Restore failed, you should be able to identify the folder which contains the offending file.
4. Open the folder, go to the offending file and remove it from the Vault. Leave the file on the desktop, because it is very likely that you can open the image in Preview and then save it again as a JPEG or TIFF to be reimported back into the Aperture Library, once the Aperture Library is restored.
5. Run Restore Library once again from the Vault. If there's another offending file, you will have to repeat the process until all the corrupted files are out of the Vault.
Without this procedure, it seems to me that the Vault becomes useless as a source for Restore Library, and if the Vault can't restore the Library, what's the point of having it. Apple has to change the Vault procedure to make it usable. A back-up is of no value if one corrupt file will cause the whole back-up to fail. The procedure can identify the offending file, and let you know at the end that it was unable to copy that file, but otherwise your restoration is complete.
An alternative altogether is to simply use a back-up program to back-up the Library to another disk, and then use the back-up program to reverse the procedure if the main Library becomes corrupted. I regularly back up my entire disk as a bootable back-up on three fire-wire drives.

Restore Library after hard drive format

I had to reformat my Windows hard drive and, of course, then I had to restore my Itunes Library. My music files are stored in a different HD so, I didnt have to back them up. I restored my library using the method described in this page article http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313.
It worked fine, but now all my play counts are gone. How can I have them back? I have all my playlists, even the song ratings, but no play counts. Did I do something wrong? I haven't sync'ed my iPod yet, som I still have my play counts in it.
Thanks for your help.

Our hard drive crashed completely and we installed a completely new hard drive. My sister and I both shared the same library for our Videos. She plugged her's into the computer and all the music was erased almost immediately. How can I plug my ipod in with out having the music and other files erased??? Is there any way I can transfer music from my ipod onto her's??

How to Restore Library and Playlists to Newly Wiped Hard Drive

Due to Windows problem, I had to reformat my hard drive.
Before I did, I copied the entire My Documents folder, including My Music and the iTunes music files and the My Playlist text files to a second hard drive - the D drive - in the same tree structure as they existed on the C drive.
I do NOT want the music files on the C: Drive - I want the music files on the new D: storage drive. I want iTunes on the C drive but knowing the music files are on the D drive.
I installed the iPod disc onto the newly cleaned C: Drive and downloaded iTunes ver 6.
Now I would like to have my iTunes library and playlists back just as they were but I am confused over the ADD FILE and ADD FOLDER commands.
Add Folder appears to copy the full music files back to the C Drive, which I do not want.
Add File appears to add the meta data, the library list, and
the playlists to iTunes, but when you go to play a track, the program says it cannot do so because it can't find the music file. To tell each track the new location of the music file listed means I would have to edit over 1200 line items -- even though I already told the program where the
music files would be.
Before trying to add the library and playlists as files, I went into EDIT, Prefences, Advanced and changed the iTunes folder location from
c:\mydocuments\mymusic\itunes\itunesmusic to
D:\mydocuments\mymusic\itunes\itunesmusic
Earlier I had used the Add Folder option and it copied all the music files to the C: drive. I had to delete them and
try something else.
What must I do to transfer just the meta data and keep the actual music files on the D drive?
Dell 8250 desktop Windows XP

The XML file is less important (See the link that Katrina provided above).
First re-install the iTunes program (if you have not already).
Make sure that the music folders and files are copied to the exact same location they were in prior to the PC Restore. If they were running on the C: drive, you'll need to place them there at first, then move them within iTunes.
Then copy the original ITL file you saved into the 'iTunes' folder, replacing the newly created (and smaller) ITL file that was created when you reinstalled iTunes.
Open iTunes and the Library should be as it was prior to the Restore.
To move the files to your D: drive keeping iTunes 'informed' see this link:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=721335&messageID=1316838
Post back if you still have questions.

Backing up and restoring library to and from external HD

Newbie to iTunes since I got my iPhone. I'm asked periodically to back up my library to CDs. Can I back up per my question, and in the event of the unthinkable total crash of my Mac can I restore from the external HD? Is there a method to do this or some additional software necessary? I currently copy my iTunes folder to my external HD every time I add anything to iTunes.
Thanks,
CD3

Yes, you can restore your music folder from a backup HD. Assuming the backup folder is organized exactly like the original, it would just be a matter of copying the backup folder into the position of the original. You can use a regular file backup program to automate the backup process. SuperDuper! is one; there are certainly others that have their fans.
It's also a good idea to back up your iTunes Library file. A completely functioning iTunes music library is made up of the iTunes Library file and the associated iTunes Music folder. The library file is a directory file and contains vital data about the music library.

IPod and iTunes not syncing after restoring library on new computer

Recently, my computer crashed. Lost everything. I was finally able to restore my music on my laptop to iTunes. However, now when I upload new music from the store, it saves it on my library, but will not sync to my iPod, even when I manually try to sync it.
Help!!!

Since the computer crash, have you re-authorized it?
About Authorization and Deauthorization.
Authorization FAQ.

How to restore library from backup on external hard drive

I am helping my wife move her library to a new computer after the old one crashed. I backed up my wife's music library to an external hard drive by simply copying and pasting all the files in her My Music >> iTunes folder into the external hard drive. When she got a new laptop, I tried placing those same files from the external hard drive into the My Music >> iTunes folder on the new computer (overwriting the few default files that were there), but that didn't seem to work. iTunes does not acknowledge that any songs have been added. I also noticed that almost all of the files say "(protected)", although I'm not sure if that is having an impact on the failure.
Additional information: some of the songs are iTunes purchases and some are from CDs we imported. Because restoring involves more than just iTunes purchases, I can't simply plugin her iPod to the new laptop and use the import purchases feature.
Finally, I see a great deal of information in customer support about restoring from a CD or DVD, but not from an external hard drive, although an external hard drive is mentioned as one way to backup iTunes music, so I believe there must be a valid way. Any literature on that would be helpful as well.
Thank you.

EmmanIsaac,
Do you just want a new drive that can be read by Macs and PCs? I would suggest taking a look at MacMall and shopping for, at least, a 1TB drive (they're cheap these days) and, when you get it, format it as FAT32 on a PC. Then you'll be able (with some limitations) to share the drive on both platforms.
For the limitations on using FAT32, see here.
Good luck,
Clinton

How to restore library after hard drive reformat?

Hello, I am going to reformat my Mac Pro's boot drive, and I want to make sure my iTunes library remains intact (I'm using iTunes 12).
I keep my iTunes music files on a 2nd internal hard drive, in a folder that I titled "iTunes Folder". I also plan to reformat this internal hard drive.
I have backups of both drives on an external hard drive. I'm assuming that in order to restore my iTunes library, playlists, etc., to their current state, I simply need to a) restore the user/Music/iTunes folder to its current state and b) restore the "iTunes Folder" to my 2nd internal drive. Is that correct? Or is there a different way that it should be done?
Thanks.

Our hard drive crashed completely and we installed a completely new hard drive. My sister and I both shared the same library for our Videos. She plugged her's into the computer and all the music was erased almost immediately. How can I plug my ipod in with out having the music and other files erased??? Is there any way I can transfer music from my ipod onto her's??

How to restore library of music

Further to my previous post I was able to restore my purchases by reinstalling itunes and allowing it to use the default folder...that part is ok now. my problem now is the other music I have put on the ipod came from a different folder on my computer. when i open itunes the only music in my library of itunes is what is in the default folder. Follow me so far? I know i can copy all the music from the old folder to the itunes folder but will that restore the library as shown in itunes? also waht is the complete folder structure for itunes? any suggestions are sincerely appreciated.

- You can try posting in the iTunes forum since you now have an iTunes problem, not asn iPod problem.
- This may help.
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads

How to restore library in itunes....

Hi, my entire itunes library was accidentally deleted, but I do have the entire thing on ipod. My question is, how do I get my library back on itunes? My itunes account is set to automatically sync, so if I plug the ipod into itunes, everything on the ipod will be deleted (correct?) and I will permanently lose everything. From what I've read, it looks like I have to plug the ipod in to even switch to "manage manually"...so is there a way to restore my itunes library without losing everything on my ipod? Thanks!

For iTunes version 7 or later, then you can transfer purchased iTunes store music from the iPod to an authorized computer by using the "file/transfer purchases from iPod" menu. Note that the maximum of 5 authorized computers applies here.
Find out how to do that here.
How to copy iTunes purchases from an iPod to a computer.
For all other non purchased content (your own CDs etc) try this method which works on some Windows PCs.
Enable your iPod for disk use.
See: iPod Disk Use.
Open iTunes and select edit/preferences/advanced/general. Put a check mark in the box marked "copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" and also "keep iTunes music folder organized", then click 'ok'.
Connect the iPod whilst holding down the shift/ctrl keys to prevent any auto sync, and if you see the dialogue window asking if you want to sync to this itunes library, click 'no'.
Then go to file/add folder, open 'my computer', select your iPod and click 'ok'.
The music files should transfer to your iTunes.
If this doesn't work (and it may not because officially it's not supposed to), check out the instructions/suggestions here.
Music from iPod to computer (using option 2). This a manual method using "hidden folders" and although it works, it is a little more involved than other methods.
Much easier ways are to use one of the many 3rd party programs that copy music from the iPod to the computer.
One of the most recommended is Yamipod. This is a free program that transfers music from iPod back to the computer. However, it does not transfer playcounts/ratings etc.
Another free program is Pod Player.
SharePod is also freeware.

Restore library

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