Restoring from backup to new location + not wanting files renamed

Hi there - I am a newbie to this forum.
I have a Win XP machine that recently needed to have the hard drive wiped and the OS re-installed. Fortunately I had a recent backup of all my data so I'm in a good starting position for a restore. However I have some questions as the re-install of the OS has had a change in profile name.
Before my machine was wiped, I had a "Daniel" profile and so my "iTunes Media folder location" was set to C:\Documents and Settings\Daniel\My Documents\My Music.
After my PC was rebuilt, a new profile was created called "dnl". iTunes has been re-installed (version 10.1.2.17). The first time I launched iTunes the "iTunes Media folder location" was set to C:\Documents and Settings\dnl\My Documents\My Music. I did NOT choose to have iTunes browse/load my files and so currently iTunes shows no files or playlists.
I have recreated the C:\Documents and Settings\Daniel\My Documents\My Music folder from my backup so all the music files and the previous libraries are presently in this location. However even if I change the "iTunes Media folder location" within iTunes to point to the "old" location, it doesn’t find the files or libraries.
I have tried deleting the following files from C:\Documents and Settings\dnl\My Documents\My Music\iTunes:
iTunes Library Extras.itdb
iTunes Library Genius.itdb
iTunes Library.itl
iTunes Music Library.xml
I did this assuming that the next time iTunes was launched, it would refer to the old location (as specified as my "iTunes Media folder location"), find the old library files there and use them. However it seems to ignore them and simply re-creates the files above in the location I deleted them from.
So…I am unclear as to the best strategy to have iTunes point back to the old location to find the music files and retain all the playlists I had.
I found this thread: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364. It mentions a method that will find all the files in the old location and move them to the new location, retaining playlists, artwork etc. Once the data has been copied, it advises to delete the files from the original location.
However I see that it mentions checking the ‘Keep iTunes Media folder organized’ option. From reading other threads I know this to be a source of one very irritating problem – it renames all the file names. I have specifically ripped my music using software other than iTunes for the express purpose of being able to tag the filenames with more specific info than iTunes would. I like the files to named <artist>-<album>-<track no>-<track title>.<file extension> and am not a fan of the very basic filenames that iTunes assigns.
So…I want to have iTunes simply point back to the old location and not do any file renaming. I am happy enough to have iTunes simply point to a location that isn’t technically part of my current profile. I don’t have a desperate need for the files to be moved to the dnl profile.
So…I am guessing there has to be some other file (or registry setting?) that knows where best to point to? Can this modified?
I would be appreciative of any assistance.
Thanks!

Hi Daniel, welcome to Apple Discussions.
The default location for the iTunes library folder is <Profile><Music>iTunes with the media folder at *<Profile>\<Music>\iTunes\iTunes Media*. For XP the <Music> folder is My Documents\My Music.
When iTunes starts up it looks for a set of library files in the last location it used. If that location is also the default location and it can't find the library files it assumes it has just been installed and creates a new set.
Changing the location of the *iTunes Media* folder in preferences does not change which set of library files it opens, nor will it automatically detect all the media in that location.
Ideally you should restore the folder iTunes and all its subfolders from your backup into *C:\Documents and Settings\dnl\My Documents\My Music* and start iTunes. All should work perfectly and, as far as iTunes is concerned, you will be using the same library as you used to. Any iDevices should sync without problems.
If you media was not is the usual locations or you are unable to restore the entire iTunes folder then things become more complicated. Post back if you still have trouble and I will try to go into more detail.
tt2

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