Restoring iTunes files from an external HDD?

I recently began receiving S.M.A.R.T. warnings of imminent failure from my hard drive, running XP SP3. I copied my Music folders and iTunes folders to an external drive just before my computer failed. Checked the external drive and everything was there...Audible books, iTunes Audiobooks, music (both purchased and ripped from CDs), TV series and quite a few movies. So I was feeling fairly confident that I had saved my extensive and expensive iTunes multimedia Library.
Purchased a new hard drive and installed Vista, SP1 64 bit Home Premium on two WD drives striped in RAID 0 without incident, installed iTunes and began the task of moving my collection from the external HDD back to my computer. I used the "Add Folder to Library" choice in iTunes as my preferences were set to manage my manually manage my downloads.
All went well and after quite awhile I had most of my collection moved into iTunes on the new hard drive. Then the rot set in. I disconnected and removed the external hard drive and settled down to play some music. Instead of music, I received an error message. An exclamation point appeared in front of the track I wanted to play and the message in a box said, "The song (title inserted) could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to try to locate it?" I hit cancel and tried several other titles until it sunk in that while the titles appear in iTunes, they won't play. Also much of the information in "Get Info" is grayed out, however, the size and type of the file is displayed along with bit rate and sample rate, but no music will play.
Next, I reattached my external hard drive where I had stored the files before the hard drive failure and magically, every single song, book and movie played perfectly.
So...I need some help in how to move not only the titles but the content from the external drive to the new install of iTunes. First post, I hope I'm in the right forum. If not, please direct me there. Thanks and all the best, Daisy

I did not rear all but the "add to library" is where the problem resides. You should have just copied your files to the hard drive (assuming this is the SOURCE you want itunes to point at) then use "add to library.

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I am new with iMac and I am trying to copy some file from my external HDD but it does not let me also I can't delete anything from this HDD using the finder. Can somebody help me , please?

I am new with iMac and I am trying to copy some file from my external HDD that a used with my PC but it does not let me also I can't delete anything from this HDD using the finder. Can somebody help me , please?

No, unfortunately, when you format a drive, it will erase all the contents. So you will need to find a temporary "storage" place to put the stuff using a PC so you have access to it. Then reformat using Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities). If only using with mac, format Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and use GUID Partition scheme under Partitions/Options. After formatting, you can drag the files back.

TC Extremely slow when copying files from an external HDD

I have a new TC, everything works well. Now I am trying to copy my iTunes library from an external HDD that is hooked on the USB of the TC. The directory is well over 300GB, the estimated time of completion is 70+ hours, that can be?!
Last week I copied all my pictures from the same external HDD to another drive via USB connection on my laptop and the directory was about 200GB, it took about an hour.
Is there anything wrong or is this normal?
Thanks in advance,
Ilias

itsiph wrote:
Thanks for the quick answer. I was not clear enough though, I want to copy my iTunes library onto the TC from my external USB drive. The iTunes library is to stay on the TC so that I can always access it without the need of having an external HDD always connected to the TC.
What I do not want is the library on my MacBook.
DOes that make sense?
Yes, that's what I thought.
However you connect things, the copying process is done +*by your Mac,+* not the TC.
As I said, connect the USB drive directly to your Mac, and your Mac to the TC via Ethernet if at all possible. That will still take a while, since Ethernet is much slower than USB, but at least you won't have the data going back and forth through the TC. The data will go from the USB drive to your Mac, then to the TC via Ethernet.
If you leave the USB drive connected to the TC, the data will be copied from the USB drive, through the TC, to your Mac, then back to the TC's internal HD.

My hard drive failed. I was able to restore my files from an external hard drive. I have my bookmarks saved but am not able to import them into Firefox as the only option is to import them from another browser. Any suggestions?

-My hard drive failed.
-I was able to restore my files from an external hard drive.
-My bookmarks are saved to a folder on my new hard drive.
-I am not able to import them from this folder on my hard drive into Firefox.
- the only option Firefox offers for importing bookmarks is to import them from another browser...is there another way?

In Firefox the bookmarks are saved in a database file called places.sqlite in the profile folder. If you have got this file from the external hard drive you can restore the bookmarks by copying this file to your current profile folder. For details of the location of the profile folder see either https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles or http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

How to restore iTunes library from TimeMachine external hard drive backup after clean install

I was not able to solve this problem, hence I decided to open this discussion.
1. Recently, I clean installed Yosemite so my new Mac is completely empty.
2. I have my time machine backup on my eternal hard drive and would like to restore only specific things - such as iTunes library.
3. I did not manually copy iTunes library to my drive, I did the TM backup only, but I also do have all the files in my own "music" folder I manually backed-up.
However, I cannot locate the library there, where is it?
How do I move the library to my new Mac and then establish a new source folder that would be on my drive?
PS: Previously, iTunes used my own music folder as a source = it contained all the music files. I had it on an external drive, later moved it to my Mac.
This leads me to the conclusion that my backup copy of iTunes library did not contain the files anyway.
Any advice?
Thank you in advance.

I am confused as to what you had or have where and when. The bottom line is, your library (for the standard user) is everything in the iTunes folder. As far as iTunes' organization and display is concerned, your library is a file called "iTunes Library.itl" which points to all the other host of files and folders normally in the iTunes folder which all work together.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.
If you kept everything together in one place then you need to put the whole iTunes folder on the drive where you want it, start iTunes while holding down the option key and guide it to that .itl file. If things were split up and you had media on the external and the rest of the library on the internal you need to get them back to exactly where they were before. If you can't find that iTunes folder holding the critical .itl file anywhere then you have a bunch of media tracks and no organization and will need to rebuild the organization from ground level.

Help to restore iTunes files from trash, not deleted.

I need to move 35,000 podcasts, 654 GB, from my trash back to my iTunes library on an external hard drive (EHD). They are NOT deleted from my trash.
I am running on Snow Leopard 10.6.8 until I can clear enough EHD space to backup/upgrade to Mtn Lion.
11.5 iTunes is my current version on my 640 GB early 2009 24” mac.
I have tried:
Undo - command + Z
Selecting all in trash and dragging it to the:
iTunes Music folder on my EHD
Automatically Add to iTunes folder on my EHD
The upper left corner on the iTunes window
The iTunes icon in the dock
There is no restore option when I Right Click on anything in trash, single or more than one file.
In iTunes: File, Add to Library, selecting the recycle bin or the file under it. Nothing happens. I do have checked on iTunes Preferences, Advanced, Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library.
Dragging 40 files from trash to the Automatically Add to iTunes folder on my EHD.
This returned the files but without essential data like the release date/description, which totally messes up my library.
They are no longer listed in date order, and I cannot see if I have the most recent without scrolling down down through sometimes over 200 pods in that album, and even then there is no date order, which orders all podcasts. All the tags/descriptions/comments I spent thousands of hours on are gone.
I just recieved in the mail yesterday my Data Rescue 3 software for an earlier problem,
I do not know if it will help retrieve all the essential data.
I cannot move the files to my desktop because the size, 654 GB, is bigger than my 640 GB mac. Plus, I know from experience this does not preserve the essential data like release date.
My iTunes EHD has 485 GB free out of 1.71 TB.
I can order another 3 TB EHD to arrive in 2 weeks, which I will eventually need, but my husband aint going to be happy. As an old photographer trying to join the digital age, I already have 20 TB storage, mostly for photos, which has put us in debt.
Please, does anyone know how to restore podcasts from trash while retaining metadata?

Thanks for your sympathy, dclkdm.
For anybody else out there,
I have had some luck retaining info such as release date, plays, and rating by
dragging podcasts to a Finder folder in iTunes,
in iTunes Media,
Automatically Add to iTunes.
So far, I have retrieved all my lost podcasts with Data Rescue 3,
but have not tried to consolidate everything into one library yet.

Restoring iTunes Library from corrupted external hard drive

I had my iTunes library and all the associated files on an external hard drive. This was working fine until I plugged this external hard drive into my TV to watch a movie. When I plugged my external hard drive back into my Macbook it is no longer readable, the file structure was corrupted and it will not mount.
I got a program to recover the files and this seemed to work. It was able to recover all the files however not the same file structure or file names etc. Just the files. So now I have all my files back but they are all sequentially named and stored in folders based on file type i.e. not the same folder structure or location as before. One good thing though is that I have found the itunes library files in all the mess.
Does anyone know how I would go about restoring my itunes library with this? I have the library files and all the audio/video files but they are not in the same location nor do they have the same names or folder structure. Basically before they were organized by iTunes in folders by Artist and now they are in folders by file type (eg mp3, avi, mp4 etc). Is it possible to restore it all? Could I just import all the songs back into itunes and then somehow restore the library file to get all my ratings and playlists back?
Or did I lose everything?

I have also found a couple of itunes library files that were recovered from the corrupted hard drive. I have about 5 previous library files and I also have two .xml library files. Would there be a way to somehow salvage my ratings etc from these files? Can i restore the library from these? Everytime i start itunes and try to select one of them it just says that the library files appear to be damaged and creates new ones.

How do i share a single itunes library from an external hdd

I recently switched from a PC laptop to a MacBook Pro with latest Mac OS X 10.8.2. Instead of moving over 130GB of music from my old laptop, I thought it better/easier to create/maintain a single music source for iTunes to sync with for all my devices...(iPad, iPhone and MBP)...and not have all that space taken up on my MBP.
I transfered my music from the old laptop to a Seagate external hard drive which is connected and available to my home wi-fi via a USB connection to my wireless router (WNDR4500).
I attempted to import music into my MBP iTunes from the mounted share of that Seagate, but only playlists seemed to transfer...nothing in the music library.
What am I doing wrong?

In order to provide useful feedback we need to know exactly how you have things set up currently. If it is any different from the standard iTunes structure where everything is kept in a single iTunes folder this can be critical in how you move items and not have things break.
Look at the links below. They tell you what files and folders go to make up a complete iTunes library and where iTunes expects them to be. If you have things differently then we need to know precisely where they are. If you have things set up differently and move them by hand back together to where a normal library would be that too can break iTunes.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/message/13025536 and https://discussions.apple.com/message/17457605

How to transfer or reassociate iTunes files from one external drive to another without reimporting?

Hello,
Hope someone can tell me an easy way to do this.
I have a massive itunes library which is presently split between my macbook and my external Lacie. I would like to transfer the files from the Lacie to a new external drive without reimporting all the files into itunes. I essentially would like itunes to recognise the path of the new drive instead of the files on the Lacie.
Any ideas?

I moved some movies and some seldom listened music (coped the files) into a folder on the Lacie drive. Then I reimported them to the main itunes library while holding down "option". This created a link to those files to the external. the files show up in my itunes but cannot be played unless i have the Lacie connected to them.
See this link.
http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_split_your_itunes_library_across_multi ple_locations

Having trouble restoring old files from an external Time Machine back-up to a new internal hard drive...HELP!

O.k. So my main hard drive died on my iMac and I had to replace it. I have my old system backed up on my external with Time Machine. How do I access it to get my old files back on my new hard drive? I have read multiple forums and I have yet to find a solution. I was told that when I first turn the computer on and get to the third screen, it would ask me if I wanted to restore from a previous back-up. It did but it didn't show my external until I went through the set-up and got to my home screen. The drive showed then. It also asked to install updates...and I did. So everything is up to date. I have not turned time machine on yet because I'm affraid that if I do, it will erase my old back-up on my external. I tried using the Migration Assistant in Utilities and all I get is the spinning wheel when I tried to get that to work. So now I am here asking for help. I'm not very hopeful that I'm going to be able to get all of my old files back... Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the video link. I did it pretty much exactly the way the young man explained. The one thing I didn't do was click "customize" as he does and unclick the multiple language support and he also clicks "rosetta" to support older programs. I wonder if that's the issue? The guys at Macmall told me that I would need to update the o.s. before I restored. I did that originally but have since (as mentioned before) erased the main drive. I noticed that when he does his install, his external drive does not show up on the list in which you want to install the o.s. on... should I unplug my external? I'm just trying to look at ever detail. I know the recovery file is there. The one thing it (the external) did say before I started posting here was "in progress". I'm not sure what that means? I promise I'm not an idiot. I consider myself an above average user. I usually help other that have issues... but I've yet to restore from a Time Machine back-up and I'm looking forward to learning how to do it.... the right way. I appreciate all of the advice. I have some pretty important files on my external back-up. I am really hoping that this is possible. I'm beginning to think the external is where the issue lies. The "in progress" next to the file name concerns me. I know there's a lot of data on the drive because it's nearly half full. So there's stuff there....
Deep breath in...... reeee laaaaaaaxxxx

Copying itunes files from an external HD into my itunes library

I've tried 2 methods - drag and drop from the HD directly into the library; and 'add to library' from itunes, then selecting the albums from the external HD. Either way, the process is resulting in 2 copies of each song being added to my library. The only way I can bring in only 1 copy of a song is to actually open the album, then highlight the individual songs. Much more time consuming! I can't figure out why highlighting the songs is different from simply highlighting the albums. thanks for any advice or guidance!

Do you have any exported playlists / library (XML) files on your external HD? If there are, while you're trying to add files, iTunes might be adding those playlists and because of that there could be 2 of the same songs showing at the same time. (I think you cannot add .xml files directly by drag&dropping anyway)
If I'm correct, then identify the file types of those playlists (."something") then do a search for those, and delete all of the ".playlist" files. Then add all of your songs to your Library, it should be fine.

I have macbook pro 13" I want to know how to copy files from my mac to the external Toshiba Hard Drive. I can't even delete files from my external hard drive. please help me my macbook HD is almost full and I have to copy my images to the Toshiba HD

I have macbook pro 13" I want to know how to copy files from my mac to the external Toshiba Hard Drive. I can't even delete files from my external hard drive. please help me my macbook HD is almost full and I have to copy my images to the Toshiba HD

To delete files from your external HDD, attach it to your MBP and drag the unwanted files to trash and then empty trash.
Then you select the files that you want to transfer by 'drag and drop' to the external HDD and trash the files on your MBP.
Ciao.

How do I restore iTunes library from Backup files on External Hard Drive?

How do I restore iTunes library from Backup files on External Hard Drive and keep the new iTunes library on the External Hard Drive. I have all the media and playlist and .xml .itl files, just want the iTunes to recognise the content.
I backedup my iTunes content by dragging to External Hard Drive. Formatted and reinstalled OS. My iTunes content is so large, that I wish for the Library and content to remain on the External Hard Drive. I have all the music files and playlists, I just cannot get the iTunes application to display all the content. Hoping to Not have to drag and drop all the content to be recopied into new iTunes organised files.
Troubleshooting this by researching other conversations on the web, I have come stuck for a solution. One Troubleshoot told me to hold down the Command key and then lauch iTunes and a dialogue box will appear to Choose a new library, however when I try this, no Dialogue box appear to give me the option!?

It sometimes has that funny switch symbol on it too.
tt2

Itunes and all my movies have disappeared,i can no longer add to library from my external hdd which ive always used and can only add from the laptops own hard drive,any ideas what the issue could be?

ive recently updated, itunes and all my movies have disappeared,i can no longer add to library from my external hdd which ive always used and can only add from the laptops own hard drive,any ideas what the issue could be?if i transfer the movies from the external to the laptop they will add to the library without any problem so theres no issue with the laptop but when i go to add file in itunes i can path to the external but as soon as i select the file nothing happens, just goes back to itunes

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

HT1751 Hi, I tried to restore my itunes library from an external drive and did everything that's written here step by step.when I chose the itunes library to import itunes just said that its accessing the itunes store but nothung happened. I'm working on

Hi, I tried to restore my itunes library from an external drive and did everything that's written here step by step. when I chose the itunes library to import itunes just said that its accessing the itunes store but nothing happened. Does anyone know how to do this so that all my playlists are also imported and not just the music itself?

When I have done this, all I did was network the two machines and copy the contents of the iTunes folder to the other machine, and that's it.
My understanding (which may not be 100% correct) is that the one file that is absolutely necessary is iTunes Library, and that the XML file is actually a copy auto-generated from the iTunes Library, appearing in a different format only for non-iTunes apps that take advantage of the iTunes Library data.
As far as I know, if you simply have the Library (database) file and all your original music files, iTunes on that computer should operate as it did on your old computer. I believe that the Album Artwork, Genius Data, and XML files can be regenerated from the Library file. Not sure about the Extras file.

Restoring iTunes files from an external HDD?

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