Reversing iTunes organized file structure

Help!
I just imported my entire music library and had checked "keep iTunes music folders organized" under preferences. In my "my music" folder I had my songs named artist - title (Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire)and now iTunes renamed all the songs by track number and created about 200 different folders. That same song is now under a Johnny Cash folder named "07 Ring of Fire". Is there any possible way to reverse this? Do I need to manually rename all my songs back to their orignal name? Please help!

Hi
Facing a similar problem since i-tunes 5.xx (also with 6.01): The file structure is still the same as before and ok but the library shows all songs, that have been ripped as "wav" files not correct. The only information given is now under "title" eg 01 American Idiot. No Album, no Band is shown anymore. All files ripped as mp3-files are shown properly. Deleting the entire library and re-importing brings no cure. Please help.

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Export Masters To Organized File Structure

Hello Everyone,
I'm new to Aperture 3, in the past my photo library and folder structure has been a mish mosh of imports ranging from iPhoto to Picassa. The original photo structure of all my photos is a real mess. Of course, when I download Aperture 3, I jumped right in and imported all my photos (as referenced) then went about organizing them in Aperture.
I have looked around and not found the answer to this, but what I would like to do is take my Aperture Organized file structure and Export all the masters to a different location in the same organized File structure. Basically I want my "New" Master file structure to match my Aperture organized folder/project structure and store the referenced files on a share. Currently they are on my MBP with limited disk space.
I have played around with the export versions, but export Masters is grayed our when I select my entire "Projects and Albums". Any help would be much appreciated. I'm just trying to get better organized with my original Master jpeg folder structure.
Thank you,
Steve

scSaxon1 wrote:
Hello Everyone,
... what I would like to do is take my Aperture Organized file structure and Export all the masters to a different location _in the same organized File structure_ . Basically I want my "New" Master file structure to match my Aperture organized folder/project structure .... {Emphasis added}
(Added) First -- and this is important -- you must understand the difference between exporting an image (which creates a new file) and +relocating your Masters+ which moves your Masters to another drive location and tells Aperture where they are.
What you want to do -- quoted above -- can't be automatically (and thus usefully) done ... and (imho and apparently the Aperture design team's HO as well) there is no need.
Stepping into Aperture's world is bit like stepping off the solid pier onto a boat. You feel afloat. You worry about sinking. The boat won't sink.
Aperture is based on image-management. Until Aperture and like programs matured, photographers relied on +file managers+ and, basically, advanced file browsers.
Leave that behind. +There is no utility in having a one-to-one correspondence between your images and your digital negative files+. You literally can no not do this and use Aperture: Versions are images created on-the-fly, based on text files. They don't perdure as image format files (yes, I have been waiting a long time to use "perdure" in a sentence). Aperture lets the user manage their images (in tremendously plastic ways) and (except for backup) ignore file management completely.
I've touched on this in a few other responses in the forum. I'll try to find links. IME, the only file-management need I have is being able to find a file without Aperture. I keep all my Masters in their own directory (no one's captures but mine). I stick to a good file-naming convention. My computer sorts these tens of thousands of images by date in less than a second. I have never not been able to find a file almost immediately (as long as I know what I'm looking for).
If I don't know what I'm looking for -- I'll never find it using a file browser. That's what I use Aperture for.
I realize my presumption in assuming that your needs parallel mine. If they don't, specify exactly what functionality you are looking to maintain. Aperture may not be able to do it. My hunch, however, is that you are trying to stay moored to the world of file browsing. Push off -- there's good sailing out here.
Some additional thoughts and suggestions are [in this thread|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=13294441#13294441]. And [here's a thread|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=13115722&#13115722] with even more.
Message was edited by: Kirby Krieger

Difference between file structure; iTunes, XP and Vista

I've noticed if I use iTunes to keep my music file organized that there's a difference between the way it organizes the file structure on XP vs Vista. In Vista it puts a Music folder in the iTunes Media folder whereas on XP it puts all the music directly into the iTunes Media folder.
The reason this is a concern for me is that I'm using an online sync service to sync my music folders between my laptop and my desktop, but with different paths on two different OSes (XP and Vista) this is causing issues.
Does anyone know if Apple is going to keep things consistent or if there's a reason for the differences? In the meantime I'll have to un-sync the folders and find a workaround.

I've noticed if I use iTunes to keep my music file organized that there's a difference between the way it organizes the file structure on XP vs Vista. In Vista it puts a Music folder in the iTunes Media folder whereas on XP it puts all the music directly into the iTunes Media folder.
The reason this is a concern for me is that I'm using an online sync service to sync my music folders between my laptop and my desktop, but with different paths on two different OSes (XP and Vista) this is causing issues.
Does anyone know if Apple is going to keep things consistent or if there's a reason for the differences? In the meantime I'll have to un-sync the folders and find a workaround.

Moving a Folder from the iTunes Folder to My Own File Structure

I'm trying to move a folder from the default iTunes folder to a folder on another drive where I am managing the file structure. This allows me to file music as I would like to on the disk an makes things much easier to find when I need to.
Recently I've noticed that when I do this I lose some of the song meta data such as the image and rating which is kind of annoying. Is there any way to do this and not lose meta data?

If the external drive is in NTFS format (which is how most new drives are shipped), the Mac can't write to it. Reformat it with Disk Utility, putting it into Mac OS Extended format.

File Structure with iTunes on an External Drive

This is an image of the file structure on my external drive that holds all of my iTunes music:
Is this correct, or should I have set it up differently? I am asking since it is differnet the the iTunes file structure on my MacBook Pro and some files will get uploaded to my external drive and others will go onto my MBP,s iTunes Music folder. All of my iPhone/iPad apps, Album Artwork, Mobile Applications. I have Book folders on both drives and the both have books on them.
I should say that I had a major problem a few years ago, which has nothing to do with the above problem, with one of the iTunes updates which disconnected most of my songs from their respective files. I tried a solution a friend sugested, which really messed up the files and now many of the files have different info inside the song files, i.e., Otis Redding as the Artist on a Radiohead track. Or another groups cover for a Beatles album. I have a large library and have gone through slowly and fixed many things, but it is still quite messy and a huge bummer.. As a proud new owner of a Late 2011 MacBook Pro, I would love to be able to have a solution for this as well.
TIA

Well I just went through the same thing. I had a Lacie Porsche mobile drive at 80GB and changed to a Lacie Rugged 250. I keep all my music on external never local. Not a fan of loading my laptop. Anyways.... I was getting those same errors. I had copied all the itunes library contents from the Porsche drive to the Rugged drive. It took quite some time to transfer so you knew it was working. Then changed in the preferences of iTunes to save in the Rugged drive. If you trashed or deleted any files from the new drive and just put them in the trash without emptying you get that 501 trashes path. I found I had multiple duplicates of songs with the name of the song followed by a 1.mp4a. I think the library.xml file is the key to a clean transfer of music. I think this file is stored locally in your user folder and then it's used to direct to the alternate drive but from what I've read it's the file with all the playlist information and stuff on it. If you find it and move it over to the mobile drive then hold option and boot up itunes then tell it to look for that file on the new mobile I think you'll have no worries. I'm actually gonna try this myself.
You don't want to know how it got it working. I physically opened every music file on the rugged drive to make sure the were all where they were supposed to be. All 70'gb's of music. Never doing that again.

HT1727 How do i get itunes to recognize music imported into the file structure?

How do I get iTunes to recognize music imported into the file structure?

Press Alt or Ctrl+B to reveal the menu bar if needed.
Use File > Add Folder to Library if you just want to import it.
If you're trying to relink broken entries in a library with the corresponding media then some more details would help.
tt2

Organizing and file structure-

just getting started with LR. Will the program allow me to keep my images in their current location on my HD? If so can I still use LR to organize and create new folders once imported?
Or do I need to organize before importing.
If they are all imported dent that then duplicate a large photo collection and use up lots of disk space?

Yes, you can keep everything where it is currently, you import into Lightroom using the Add option. New folders can also be created on import into Lightroom, or at any time thereafter using Lightroom (not your operating system). Importing takes up very little extra space.
Let me point out that in my opinion, organizing has nothing to do with folder or file structure. NOTHING. The two can be and should be independent. The better way to organize, in my opinion, is to simply leave photos in their existing folders, then add new photos to default named folder (such as capture date), and do the real organizing in Lightroom using Lightroom tools -- keywords, captions and other metadata. Add keywords religiously to your photos, and add captions as appropriate. This gives you a much more flexible and powerful organization than anything you could achieve using files and folders, and gives you much faster and more powerful searches as well. So, please, stop worrying about folders, and start thinking about adding meaningful keywords and captions to your photos.

My old computer crashed and deleted my iTunes media file with all my playlist. However, my iPod has the playlist I lost on the computer. How can I replace (reverse synch?) my iPod media information back onto my (now reinstalled) virgin iTunes media folder

My old computer crashed and deleted my iTunes media file with all my playlist.However, my iPod has the playlist I lost on the computer. How can I replace (reverse synch?) my iPod media information back onto my (now reinstalled) virgin iTunes media folder?

Yes it's possible to sync music back from a iPod back into iTunes that (I assume) wasn't purchased on the iTunes Store.
Apple allows iTunes Store purchases on devices to be reversed back into iTunes, just not cd rips and stuff like that. For that it's a one way trip to the device from iTunes.
I likely can't suggest such software here, but if you visit iLounge you can ask what is the latest software that works for your platform.
Really it only takes a mere few minutes to backup your iTunes Library and stick in a few cd/dvd's or a external drive. iTunes even has a menu command for it to make it oh so simple. Please use it and backup all your data.
Hard drives fail, computers burn up, thieves steal, stuff gets forgotten. Plan for something happening because it will.
Good Luck

Re-organizing my LR 5 file structure

As I started with LR, I had my desktop as my main LR catalog and another evolved on my laptop.
In both cases, I grew more or less a random file system.
I now want to establish a more structured file system, ultimately combining both catalogs into one external ssd.
Currently my photos are a number of file locations each on both the desktop and the laptop and in too many folders within LR.
One sense I have is to start of with a new file folder structure system already planned. How much of this would be best to establish on my current computers before I migrate LR to the new ssd?
How do I go about implementing this and have LR 'find' all the photos in the new folder structure? And not have a great deal of file searching to hook up 'lost' images into the new file structure.
Thank you for any help and advice.
Cheers
Bob

LR does not find the photos if you move them with finder or explorer since LR does not store the file. It stores its location in the file system - a pointer to the file.
If you have moved files or folders with finder or explorer you need to update its locations in LR - LR will show a ? on the folders and a ! on the photos. For just a bunch, this is fine. For a lot, this is hard work.
Best practice is to move the folders/photos from within LR. You can drag&drop folders / folder structures in the folder panel in LR's library as well as single photos to new locations.
Some more reading: http://www.computer-darkroom.com/lr2_find_folder/find-folder.htm

HELP! My hard drive crashed, can I copy my iTunes library files to a new PC

My hard drive crashed, but I attached it as a slave drive using an older PC and I can see all of my files but I can't start any programs (iTunes) from this slave drive.
How can I copy iTunes music files and library to a removable drive, and then use that drive to restore it all in iTunes on another PC? I would like to keep my playlists too.
I have everything I want on my iPod too, can I just copy everything from my iPod to my new PC? Which is easier?

I have everything I want on my iPod too, can I just copy everything from my iPod to my new PC? Which is easier?
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.
If you want to recover just the structure of playlists from the iPod (and not the actual song files themselves), there's iRepo for Windows. which I understand has this feature along with all the standard features for these programs.
iPodRip also has the feature enabling you to reconstruct playlists.
There is also CopyTrans. This does preserve ratings/playcounts etc if those are important to you but this program is not free. It also supports video transfer.

Library File Structure Problem

I have 3 partitions setup on my computer, one running OSX, one for WinXP and another FAT32 partition I use to store data which is used by both operating systems. I recently copied my music library to this partition and set iTunes to use this partition (and subsequent sub-folder) as the primary location for my music library. While I am now able to enjoy my music library in OSX and WinXP I encountered a few problems.
1)The file structure for itunes with album art, separate folders for music, film, podcasts etc... did not transfer from it's original location in "My Documents\My Music" to the new location. As a result, whenever I download anything like a podcast or video it gets placed in the music section in iTunes which makes organizing and effectively browsing my library difficult. I am tempted to simply copy the original files to my new partition and then manually reorganize it. However, I'm worried it will have no effect on itunes and new downloads will still get misfiled regardless of file type or worse, I might render the library completely unplayable.
2) While most of my music is accessible to both Windows and OSX, occasionally I go to play a song in OSX and recieve an error message saying that the file cannot be located. If I manually search for the file it has no problem playing it. However, once I switch back to windows I encounter the same problem there. If I don't locate the file in OSX, it plays perfectly in WinXP. I have not switched the location of the file or any other related directories. Presently, a number of my songs remain unplayable in OSX as to not disrupt Window's ability to access all of my music.
Any assistance in ironing out these kinks would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Anybody have any suggestions?

Ipod file structure

itunes has reorganized my file structure (on my windows machine) to separate songs from different artists into different folders.... I had them all nicely organized by artist/album. because i use more than just an ipod to listen to my music, i'd like to retain the ease of the directory structure i had before itunes so i have a couple of questions:
1. how do i get my 27gb of mp3s filed back to the way they were?
2. is there a way to make both itunes and me content with how the music is organized?
This is the first setback i've run across with my ipod. truth be told, it's my most used toy and I'd hate to give it up but this file structure thing could be a deal breaker.
Thanks for any help on this issue.
dj

Welll, I don't know how you can have your computer revert to the former file organisation. But note that iTunes has an option where it doesn't re-organise your files. I use a Mac so I don't know how true the following directions would be for Windows.
1. Go to the Preferences command (which is under the Apple Menu for Mac folks)
2. Select the Advanced tab/icon.
3. Uncheck the Keep iTunes music folder organised.
From now on, iTunes will not reorganise your folder/file structures.

Trying to back up iPad to external hard drive, "iTunes library file cannot be saved. The disk you are attempting to use is full."

This issue is somewhat complex so I will try to explain it as clearly as I can. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
It all began when I kept getting popups from my iPad saying that I had not backed up since May. I realized that was pretty dangerous so I decided to finally try syncing it to iTunes, though I had avoided doing so for so long because I knew that when I tried there was no room on the computer. I then remembered that I have an external hard drive with plenty of storage space, so I got that out and set it up with a folder to move iTunes and the backup into.
On iTunes I went to the Advanced Preferences and changed iTunes Media Folder Location to the G: folder, with the keep organized box checked. I also copied the previous backups from the original C: drive to G: so that I could delete the ones on C:.
I used Junction Link Magic to link my now empty MobileSync backup on C: to a new (JLM would not work unless it was empty) backup folder on external hard drive G:.
I plugged in my iPad to iTunes to sync it, and while it was backing up I checked the new folder on G: to make sure that the backup was being put there. It was.
However, about halfway through I got the message "iTunes library file cannot be saved. The disk you are attempting to use is full."
My question is Why? If it is being made in a 1.5 terabyte hard drive now, and not the computer, why is there no disk space? My guess is that it must still somehow be saving to the computer. But how? And how can I get it to save solely on the G: drive where there is enough room?
I am running Windows XP and the latest version of iTunes.
An additional but not as crucial issue:
Much of my music has been lost, with the being displayed next to the songs in the iTunes library, and only 50 (purchased) songs remain on my iPad. This was because those missing songs were stored on a different external hard drive ( I:). However, I copied many of the music folders on I: over to G: so that everything could be together. I am wondering if it is possible for me to get these songs back onto my iPad. But this is not my most important issue right now, because I believe that once I get the first issue solved I can simply plug in I: and G: at the same time while syncing the iPad, and get the songs back.
Note: I have come to realize the iTunes program itself is still under Program Files in the C: drive. Does this have to do with anything?

Short term, free up some disk space. Long term, move the library to a bigger drive.
tt2

I loaded iTunes on a new laptop. I copied and pasted my albums to a 4G stick and down loaded them to the new laptop. Placing them in, Libraries – Music – iTunes and than in Itunes used File – add file to library. So far so good. For what ever reason one o

I loaded iTunes on a new laptop. I copied and pasted my albums to a 4G stick and down loaded them to the new laptop. Placing them in, Libraries – Music – iTunes and than in Itunes used File – add file to library. So far so good. For what ever reason one of the CDs would not load onto the stick. I got the orginal CD and loaded directly to Itunes. Now when I look in Libraries – Music – iTunes it’s not there but it is in and plays in iTunes. What should I have done or should I be doing? Thanks.

It's not a unique situation - happens all the time, smaller hard drives getting filled up.
It's also easy to fix. I just moved my itunes content to a bigger hard drive.
First I made a backup of the itunes database file - iTunes Library.itl. Just in case anything went wrong.
Nothing did go wrong, but I'd have it in case anything DID go wrong. That file holds ratings, playcounts, Date Added, and other metadata.
Second, in itunes change the preferences > advanced tab to tell itunes to put everything on G:
Set the itunes folder location to something like G:Media or G:iTunes
This will affect all FUTURE additions to itunes and not do anything to the existing locations.
Make sure the checkbox for "Keep itunes organized" is NOT checked. I also left the "Copy files when adding" unchecked.
Third, to move all the files to G: without itunes losing the paths, run the File > Library > Organize > Consolidate command. This will need to run a while, so be patient as it copies all the files to the new G: location. This does NOT delete the originals. You will have to do that.
Fourth, make sure everything in itunes is OK and you can play stuff in your library. If you're really cautious you can run a script to check for missing/dead tracks.

Can I run the "Keep iTunes organized" script on a folder-by-folder basis?

Hi there,
I luckily stopped the operation before it completed, so it didn't take too long to re-compile my music folder the way I had it. Right now, I have folders with each artist that has >7 songs in my library (I used to use a PC and this is how I organized it). There was a Various Folder and genre folders, like Jazz that made my music easy to navigate for me. Not all my music is labeled correctly, so the "keep iTunes organized" feature started creating random folders, and even duplicating artist folders.
So while I wouldn't mind my music organized, I still want to retain my folder structure. Is there any way to run the organize tool on a folder by folder basis and clean my library up from there? Or are there any tools available that actually scan a song until a literal audio match is found in some database?
Even then, sometimes one might run into the issue with iTunes making artists like:
Ella Fitzgerald & Charlie Parker
rather than simply Ella Fitzgerald.
I'm new, and trying to figure out an optimal way to consolidate my music in a way that is easy to traverse, doesn't make multiple folders for the same artist, etc.
Ideally, regardless of whether if it's Greatest Hits Elvis or from a soundtrack, I'd love if iTunes would "organize" and create folders for artist names, whoever made the song, period. For my "genre" folders, I'd love to simply scan those folders individually and manually manage them.
Is this possible? If so, what is an optimal solution?
Thanks (in advance) so much for your advice!
~ dizzythejazzman

Hi there,
I luckily stopped the operation before it completed, so it didn't take too long to re-compile my music folder the way I had it. Right now, I have folders with each artist that has >7 songs in my library (I used to use a PC and this is how I organized it). There was a Various Folder and genre folders, like Jazz that made my music easy to navigate for me. Not all my music is labeled correctly, so the "keep iTunes organized" feature started creating random folders, and even duplicating artist folders.
So while I wouldn't mind my music organized, I still want to retain my folder structure. Is there any way to run the organize tool on a folder by folder basis and clean my library up from there? Or are there any tools available that actually scan a song until a literal audio match is found in some database?
Even then, sometimes one might run into the issue with iTunes making artists like:
Ella Fitzgerald & Charlie Parker
rather than simply Ella Fitzgerald.
I'm new, and trying to figure out an optimal way to consolidate my music in a way that is easy to traverse, doesn't make multiple folders for the same artist, etc.
Ideally, regardless of whether if it's Greatest Hits Elvis or from a soundtrack, I'd love if iTunes would "organize" and create folders for artist names, whoever made the song, period. For my "genre" folders, I'd love to simply scan those folders individually and manually manage them.
Is this possible? If so, what is an optimal solution?
Thanks (in advance) so much for your advice!
~ dizzythejazzman

Reversing iTunes organized file structure

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