Songs Location

I recently installed the new version of itunes on my computer. My songs are on a network drive. I have mapped that drive to my computer and have tried to change the location of my songs in itunes. The new location shows up but I can't access any of my songs and play lists. Am I missing a step?

the only thing i found was to delete all songs and reinstall them from the new folder - apple provided no help to me on this either. that is why i am a pc user.

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Installed new iTunes, can't see songs located on ext. drive w/o importing!

The hard disk in my laptop recently failed. Luckily, I had my iTunes backed up on my external drive. Now that I have a new internal drive, I'm trying to get iTunes to access the library of music from the external drive.
I already know how to change where iTunes looks for the music library in the Advanced Preferences of iTunes, as I've done that. The problem is, there is no index of the songs in my music library when I open iTunes: no songs are listed when I click to see what's in the library. I don't want to load all of the mp3s, etc., from my external drive onto my new internal drive, because I want to save space.
This worked before my internal hard drive crashed, because all of the song titles and albums were still listed in my iTunes library when I moved the actual mp3s to my external drive... since my hard drive crashed and I reinstalled iTunes, it shows nothing in the library, even though I linked iTunes to my external drive music file folder via Advanced Pref in iTunes.
Anybody able to help?
Many Thanks!
Paul

*The problem is, there is no index of the songs in my music library when I open iTunes*
Correct. You need to add the songs to iTunes.
iTunes does not watch a folder to see what is in it.
Do this;
iTunes prefs -> Advanced.
Set the location of the iTunes music folder to where your music is on the external drive.
Now go to File -> Add folder to library an dpick this folder.
It will put the music into iTunes library and the music will stay/go where you set the iTunes prefs to.

How do I re-direct all my songs' location?

Hi guys,
Originally I placed all my songs at my F drive, F:\music. But my laptop encounters some problem few days ago, so I just recovered my C drive.
After recovery, the system automatically changed the hard drive names that my F: drive becomes D: drive now. In another words, all my songs are at D:\music rather than original F:\music.
Therefore, iTunes now can't find the correct locations and show exclamation mark in front of each song. I tried to edit Library.xml and replace all F: with D:, but it did't work. Is there any other way that I could solve this problem without re-drag all the songs into the library? In this case all the previous information would be gone, such as rating and play count.
Thank you very much!

You could simply delete all music in your iTunes library, then re-add it all in its 'new' location on your D:\ drive.
Make sure you don't accidentally delete anything permanently, though; that could make things significantly more complicated.

Multiple music drive sources messes up song locations in iTunes XML library

I have had my music on an external hard drive for a number of years now. Most of my music library is on that drive (75+GB), but some (including all purchased stuff) is on my local C: drive. I often launch iTunes without my external drive (USB) connected and it has always worked fine with just the music on my local drive. Recently, I connected the external drive to recycle some music on/off my iPod. When I did this, none of the songs on the external drive were available anymore (! shows up). All the music is there, but somehow the iTunes library XML file got screwed up. When I opened up the XML file, it contains all the songs, but their original locations (which were F: drive) now point to my local C: location. I am really upset that iTunes would do this without my intervention. Why can’t it leave file locations alone? Do I need to reload everything again (File->Add Folder)? Are there any shortcuts or ways to prevent this from happening again? This has happen to me a few times of the years. Thanks…
Dell Laptop Windows XP

As you've found, if you go ahead and use iTunes when
the external drive isn't connected, iTunes defaults
the library locations back to the C: drive....and
messes up your iTunes library.
Mmmm... actually, that shouldn't happen. I did this same thing for quite a while with no issues. It never moved all my files to a new "location" that way. Only thing that happens was that the library location setting got defaulted to C:, the file pointers themselves remained unchanged.
I don't know how he accomplished this, but you are right that there's no quick fix.

HT4527 After iTunes songs location is not found

I was getting a message that iTunes could not find the location of songs when I tried to play them. Only purchased songs would work. I attempted to transfer iTunes file from a computer that works fine but still get the same message. How do I get iTunes to recognize the location of these song files?

MarceloDS wrote:
My entire library has been set on the external hard-drive.
Your description of the issue tells us that it is only the media folder that has been placed on the external hard drive while the library files have remained on your internal drive. This is a situation I refer to as a "split" library and is the cause of the problem. iTunes provides an easy way to change the media folder location. It does not provide its own way to move the entire library as a unit from one path to another. There is a fairly well hidden option to choose or create a new library but it isn't immediately obvious that this should be used rather than editing the media folder path.
Experienced users of iTunes will move the entire iTunes folder as a unit to a new path and shift-start-iTunes (option-start on a Mac) to connect to it. This method avoids the problem you have, and makes the next transition to a bigger drive or a new machine equally easy. It also puts everything in one place for backup. The make a split library portable post describes how to manipulate the library such that it really is all in the one location and as if it had been moved as a complete unit in the first place.
While I might agree that it would be better if iTunes gave a warning in the circumstances you describe it does not. You can provide feedback but change is unlikely to come soon, if at all.
tt2

ITunes forgets song locations.

I have an iBook with a terabyte Western Digital MyBook external hard drive attached via USB.
Frequently, nearly every time I run it, iTunes fails to find a random selection of songs. Usually around twenty or so out of 22,000. The songs show up in my library with a little exclamation mark. Trying to play the song throws an error, claiming that the song file cannot be found, and if I want to locate it. When I do, the song file is exactly where it is supposed to be, and where it has always been, and iTunes will happily play it.
But why do I randomly have to help iTunes locate songs, even though the files have not moved? What makes iTunes forget the file location? The affected songs are pretty much a random selection, and are different every time.
Is there any way I can prevent this? Is there an easier way to make iTunes rescan, other than manually clicking each lost song and browsing to the file location?
-Ron.
PS. I noticed this with my previous 500Gb external drive also, so I doubt there is a malfunction in the drive. And it has been happening through several iTunes versions. Just downloaded latest, and it still does it.

This problem seems to shows up more and more frequently on this board. Noone has ever been able to explain it, and there aren't any pat solutions that I've read of.
I'm one of the unlucky ones who has experienced this problem. The one thing that made a significant difference in my case was making sure that I used "Create file names with track number" in iTunes Preferences/Advanced/Importing. Problems were much reduced after that. However, others who have always had that setting turned on have reported problems like yours.
It's also possible to confuse iTunes under the right (or wrong) circumstances by switching among multiple music folders and multiple iTunes Library files. However, I think many people who have reported the problem were just using a single iTunes library.
Is the iTunes Music folder location set to the folder that your songs are in? Just checking, and, in fact, the iTunes Music folder location doesn't have to be set to that location for the library to work properly. But in my experience, when iTunes gets confused, that setting does have an effect on where iTunes starts looking for files that it's missing.
Unfortunately, if the exclamation marks are persistent, I don't know of any shortcuts for reestablishing the connection between iTunes library entry and the song file.
iMac G4 17; iBook G4 1.33 Mhz 14; iPod 3G 20GB Mac OS X (10.3.9)

ITunes 12.1.4 loses song locations and isn't properly reading tags cleaned with TuneUp

I've been trying to organize my library lately, including using TuneUp for assistance. I'm on Windows 8.1.
As an example, I imported from a CD I own, but didn't like the iTunes-supplied tags, so I used TuneUp to move to the correct version of the album. iTunes recognized the change and was happy.... for a short while. The next time I started iTunes, it couldn't find any of the tracks (exclamation mark). Looks like iTunes moved the files based on my tag changes - which is fine, but it didn't update itself with the new location it moved them to?? When I locate the file, it works - except for some reason it doesn't ask me if I'd like to to search that location for all files in the album.
So I tried something else - I removed those songs from my library, and re-imported the folder. Despite the fact that all the songs are fully tagged (eg. right click in Windows -> properties -> details shows artist/album/etc...), iTunes placed them under Unknown Artist/Unknown Album.
Unfortunately, it's not just 1 album, and not just from CDs. I'm having the same problem with tons of tracks that I've either purchased elsewhere, downloaded live versions, etc.. and shortly after I tag them, iTunes loses track of them.
But it gets worse... even songs where I go one-by-one and tell iTunes where they are, it soon loses track of! It doesn't even move them again, it just forgets where they were!
So organizing my library has basically become

What format are these files in? For mp3 files iTunes works best when there is a single ID3v2.3 tags. Multiple tags can cause issues. That said if the library isn't saving properly there may be something else going on. Backup your library then try deleting the hidden file sentinel from inside the iTunes folder. This should force iTunes to run an integrity check on the database which may improve things. Also look for .tmp files in the main iTunes folder. If you see any of these it indicates that iTunes is having trouble when it ties to save its data files, which might be why you have the current issue. Excluding the iTunes folder from any real-time AV scans may help.
Does TuneUp connect to iTunes to make the updates, or do you have to "persuade" iTunes to notice the corrections afterwards. As a rule iTunes doesn't automatically detect tag changes made by third party software until it has some reason to re-read the tag, such as during playback.
Almost forgot, I have a script called FindTracks that might help reconnect things that are broken.
tt2

I have all my songs on an external hard drive and I've added them to the library but I can't edit any information? Only on songs located on the hard drive.

All the information about a song can't be changed when the song is located on my external hard drive

Try changeing your Read/Write permssions for those songs. Just find the song file, Right click, go to Properties then Uncheck Read-Only

Help (urgent, sorry) - Inaccessible iTunes songs located in SugarSync folder - how to get iTunes to re-recognize these files?

Somehow (don't get me started) SugarSync got hold of part of my iTunes library and now I have hundreds of songs with exclamation marks next to them, which are of course unplayable.
I have found the unplayable songs using "Locate" in iTunes: the missing songs are all in Libary/ApplicationSupport/SugarSync/small_file folder. They are each identified in the Finder window as "iTunes.app documents" in that folder. The filenames look like this: 8859638_512534.!8859638_106139
I have tried iTunes/Organize Library. I have tried iTunes/Add to Library. I have quit iTunes, I have rebooted. Nothing has worked.
How can I get iTunes to recognise these files as iTunes Music (purchased from the iTunes store), and get them back in to my iTunes library ?
Would welcome all suggestions. Especially as I'm supposed to have my sister's 50th birthday CD ready in 6 hours and many of the songs I chose are inaccessible :-(
Thank you.
iTunes 10.6.3
Mac OSX 10.7.4

Ok, what you should do is go to "Preferences" in iTunes, with your iPod connected, and check the option that makes the iTune s your default player and all music files defaultly the Apple format (AAC). It will automatically convert all songs to that format, and list them in your library. However, you may have to right click on them and select "Convert to AAC selection" if they won't play in iTunes... hopefully I have provided some insight...

ITunes 10 is randomly fogeting song locations

Hello,
Over time, iTunes randomly forgets where a song is. A song that played with no problem previously suddenly gets the excalamtion point and iTunes says it can't locate it. I manually locate it and it plays fine, but it's exactly where it's supposed to be according to my library xml file. I have itunes set to control and organize my music, why is this happening?
Related: when iTunes asks if I want to locate other files (after locating a file manually) it is never able to do so.

Hi
The same thing is happening to my iTunes library on my PC running Windows XP. Are you a Mac or a PC? A month ago, I did some clean-up on my iTunes library and I know that I fixed the few dozen exclamation marks next to songs so that I got rid of all exclamation marks. Now, I notice that some exclamation marks have appeared but, oddly, they are next to other songs -- that is, not songs that had exclamation points before. I can't see a pattern to why these marks appeared. Did you resolve your issue?

How can I link songs located on a separate HDD to my Windows desktop icon?

Hi
On installing and loading my 7,000+ songs to my iTunes & iPod Classic I did so via an external hard drive, which at that time had been given the letter G:. On reconnecting the HDD, it has now become H: and the iTunes icon on my notebook desktop no longer links to my iTunes files on the external HDD. It tells me that "Program" is not a valid file!
Having once connected my iPod Classic in a situation like this, with auto sync switched off, I lost my installed library (on the iPod)and got something almost emtpy instead. A total uninstall and reinstall resulted in my getting the HDD-located library back into my iPod. I would naturally like to avoid having to do this every time I make changes to my library.
What settings in Windows do I need to adjust to be able to access my songs on the HDD for play either on my computer or guaranteed transfer to my iPod? As much as I am falling in love with Apple technology (and may leave Windows in due course) I am still with Windows and a little lost with Apple that permits little or no adjustments on where to place files and programmes.

You can force the external drive to "grab" a specific drive letter. First remove all external storage devices except the hard drive with your music (this includes unplugging USB keys, card readers, etc.). Then:
# Right-click "My Computer" and choose "Manage" from the menu
# In the left pane, highlight "Disk Management"
# Find your drive in the right pane and right-click it
# Choose "Change drive letter and paths" from the menu
# Click the "Change" button
# Select "G" from the dropdown list
# Click OK and close all windows
If everything in your iTunes was pointing to "G", then you should be good to go.

Most Song Locations Lost in my Library!!

Where: Not Available ?????
Since the upgrade to the latest version of iTunes (8.01) most of my track locations have been lost! It just displays "Were: Not Available". I have 50,000 songs so this is a major issue!
Anyone else had this issue? I guess it means I will need to rebuild my lib

For me - I think this is the last straw! I have had enough of iTunes. I am intending to do the following:
1. Break the copy protection on my iTunes purchased music
2. Convert all music to a global (non-apple) standard
3. Get a different music player - not iTunes
4. Purchase my digital music else where.
5. Sell my iPods and use generic music players instead
I have had all sorts of problems with iTunes! They have lost quite a sizeable customer. I was buying 60-70 CDs/month!

Where are my purchased songs located?

Where do I find my purchased itunes songs?

In your iphone/ipod/ipad go to itunes store then "more" and the music should be there
In the pc/mac go to itunes then itunes store-> scroll down a little bit and on your right there should be a "purchase"

Songs Located on iPhone but iTunes does not display it.

This is a really weird situation.
I tried to sync Smodcast episodes on my iPhone with iTunes. They wouldn't transfer over so I went into the iTunes folder manually found the files of the podcasts and added them to my library as music files. I then synced them to my iPhone and left for work. When I got to work I went to go play the podcast and wasn't showing up on my iPhone and was the only audio I had on my phone. I checked my storage space and says there is audio on my phone and it's taking up space.
I went home that night annoyed and tried plugging in my phone into my Alpine headunit. I searched for music on it and sure enough I was able to select the podcasts as audio music rather than an actual podcast. I plugged the phone into the computer when I got home and iTunes was saying there was no music on my phone but checking the capacity used/free also displayed there was audio on the phone.
How can I delete this audio without restoring the phone?

Just found the following info regarding non installation of iphone driver, do you know how I can get the correct driver reinstalled or updated
I have saved a copy of the report as a Pdf File but dont know how to attach it to this message do you have an email address I can send it to?????

HT1751 I successfully captured a recent itunes library, but then all the songs have "!" marks next to them and won't play. I have thousands of songs in multi folders of my external hard drive, surely there is a way to auto locate all songs on my hard driv

My desktop PC recently crashed and I'm trying to recapture all of my iTunes library playlist and songs. I was able to successfully capture the library, however when I tried to play a song, all have the exclamation mark "!" on them and ask that I locate the song. I successfully located some, but there has to be an automatic way to do this, rather than finding each one. I have thousands of songs located in multiple folders of my exteernal hard drive and need a way to find all songs automatically. Can someone help? Thanks!

This "original file cannot be found" thing 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

Songs Location

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