Tried to backup Itunes music, now it's gone

I'm getting the error message on all my Itunes songs, "original file could not be found." The songs don't seem to be anywhere on my computer...A couple weeks ago, I dragged my Itunes music folder onto my flash drive. Now I'm out of the country, and my flash drive is at home, so I'm not even sure if I'm on there. Are my songs somewhere on my computer and I'm not seeing them? In the future how do I backup my Itunes library onto a flash drive without losing all my songs? It sounds incredibly simple but clearly I am not getting it...

Click here and follow the instructions. You may need to completely remove and reinstall iTunes and all related components, or run the process multiple times; this won't normally affect its library, but that should be backed up anyway.
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When I tried to backup itunes music folder- 15.1gig- to ext. hrd drive using drag

When I tried to backup itunes music folder - 15.1gig - to ext. hard drive using drag & drop, only 5.9gig transferred to the new folder. Tried again with same result. Any ideas?

Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows)
Grab SyncToy 2.1, a free tool from MS. This can be used to copy your entire iTunes library (& other important data folders) onto another hard drive or network share. You can then use SyncToy periodically to synchronise or echo your library to the backup. A preview will show which files need to be updated giving you a chance to spot unexpected changes and during the run only the new or updated files will be copied saving lots of time.
Unlike Windows copying routine, SyncToy won't need to copy files that have already been copied successfully again and if it has problems reading any specific files these will be listed as failures, but the rest of the files will get backed up rather than the process grinding to a halt.
If your media is all organised below the main iTunes folder then you should also be able to open the backup library on any system running the same version of iTunes, regardless of the drive letter or path it appears on.
tt2

Please help. bought iphone yesterday today trying to put itune music on phone now phone locked up and wont do anything except say reloading ... for like 3 hours now

help! i bought iphone yesterday. tonight trying to put itune music on phone. phone locked up now for 3 hours saying restoring phone. on phone screen pic of itunes and cable to connect. can not get phone to do anything

Try a Hard Reset.....
Press and hold the Wake / Sleep button AND the Home button at the same time, keep them both pressed until the Apple Logo appears on the screen, it can take 10 or more seconds. Ignore the swipe to turn off message.

I tried to update itunes and now it won't open, how do I fix it? Will uninstalling and reinstalling erase my library?

I tried to update itunes and now it won't open, how do I fix it? Will uninstalling and reinstalling erase my library?

Go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs (Win XP) or Programs and Features (later)
Remove all of these items in the following order:
iTunes
Apple Software Update
Apple Mobile Device Support (if this won't uninstall move on to the next item)
Bonjour
Apple Application Support
Reboot, download iTunes, then reinstall, either using an account with administrative rights, or right-clicking the downloaded installer and selecting Run as Administrator.
The uninstall and reinstall process will preserve your iTunes library and settings, but ideally you would back up the library and your other important personal documents and data on a regular basis. See this user tip for a suggested technique.
Please note:
Some users may need to follow all the steps in whichever of the following support documents applies to their system. These include some additional manual file and folder deletions not mentioned above.
HT1925: Removing and Reinstalling iTunes for Windows XP
HT1923: Removing and reinstalling iTunes for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
tt2

I tried to update itunes and now my ipod won't work. What's wrong?

I tried to update itunes and now my ipod is not recognized in itunes or on my computer. It will only show a picture of the usb cord going into itunes and it won't do anything else. How do I make it work and what happened?

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538
Basic troubleshooting steps
17" 2.2GHz i7 Quad-Core MacBook Pro  8G RAM  750G HD + OCZ Vertex 3 SSD Boot HD 
Got problems with your Apple iDevice-like iPhone, iPad or iPod touch? Try Troubleshooting 101

Hi all lost ipod has been replaced it with itunes music now cant sinc some of my music how do i sort this one

hi all lost ipod has been replacedwith itunes music now cant sinc some songs how do this happen

Please post in full sentences and punctuate. No idea what you're asking.

HT4623 after an update my iPhone 4 has frozen with just the apple screen visible. I have tried connecting to iTunes but now iTunes isn't locating my iPhone. I have tried reseting the phone several times and that isn't working. Any ideas?

after an update my iPhone 4 has frozen with just the apple screen visible. I have tried connecting to iTunes but now iTunes isn't locating my iPhone. I have tried reseting the phone several times and that isn't working. Any ideas?

Try DFU Mode Restore. Open iTunes on computer. Connect iPhone to computer with USB cable. Hold both Home and Power button, after exactly 10 seconds release the Power Button, keep holding the Home button until iTunes recognizes iPhone in Recovery Mode, usually about 20 seconds time. If the iPhone screen is black, blank this is DFU Mode. Click the Restore button of iTunes.

I had to get my laptop cleaned and all my itunes music and movies are gone how do i get them back?

i had to get my laptop cleaned and all my itunes music and movies are gone how do i get them back?

It has always been very basic to always maintain a backup copy of your computer for just such an occasion.
Use your backup copy to put everything back.

TS1567 I have tried manually removing itunes and reinstalling. i have gone through the sevices anf tried turning on the AMDS. i have tried turning off the firewall. i have tried restoring my device. i have tried "fixing" the AMDS in the add/remove program

I have tried manually removing itunes and reinstalling. i have gone through the sevices anf tried turning on the AMDS. i have tried turning off the firewall. i have tried restoring my device. i have tried "fixing" the AMDS in the add/remove programs. I have tried using a different device. i have tried using a different cable. I have tried all of the steps given in the link supplied by Apple. None of these things have fixed my problem. I still have the Error Message "The Apple Mobile Device Service started then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they have no work to do, for example, the Performance Logs or Alerts service. I am using Windows XP. I am leaning towards a last resort which would be to wipe my hard drive and start from scratch. Does anyone have a solution?

chicx wrote:
This is the third time of writing this on your Apple Support Communities!
Not with your current user id.
Far too much uneccesary information in your post, which only confuses things, a vast amount!
Let's start with iTunes.
Have you updated iTunes to 11.1.5, because the previous version did appear to have an issue about seeing iPods?
With iTunes 11.1.5 installed, look in Edit/Preferences/Devices, (or use the ALT key, followed by the E key and then the F key) and make sure that the box named Prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically does not have a tick in the box.
Once you have doen those two things, check to see if the iPod is seen by iTunes.
chicx wrote:
By the way, what does IOS mean? (I thought IO stood for operating system, but am flummoxed by the S on the end.
Really?
OS stands for Operating System. (In computer speak, IO means Input/Output.)
iOS originally stood for iPhone Operating System, but it now refers to the iPod Touch and iPhone. The iPod Classic, which you have listed in your profile as your iPod, does not use iOS.
I assume that you have been listening to the Podcast in your iTunes on the computer as you cannot transfer it to your iPod. It's what I'd do.

I'm new to Mac. I have an iPhone and a Mac Mini. My original iTunes was on a Windows computer that crashed. So, all of my iTunes Music and Movies are gone. How do I get the movies and music from my iPhone to the new Mac Mini?

I'm new to Mac. I have an iPhone and a Mac Mini. My original iTunes was on a Windows computer that crashed. So, all of my iTunes Music and Movies are gone. How do I get the movies and music from my iPhone to the new Mac Mini?

If you still have the crashed Win computer, you may be able to recover your music and movies from the hard drive. If you have a friend with a hard drive USB connection kit and a PC, they should be able to help. Otherwise, check locally for computer services that might do that for you (I think Best Buy Geek Squad may be able to help). If the drive itself is in good shape, it shouldn't be too expensive.

Tried to download itunes and now my iphone does not even work.I have been on the phone with apple for 3 hours and it still won't work.I have a service pack 2 in this land computer and it won't upgrade .I do have the latest verision of itunes.Then we put

I tried to download itunes to my phone.First it wanted it to download the new itunes.We also updated our Windows xp.I kept coming up can't complete because there was an error when setting up.One time is was error 9 and they tried to help me.I have a laptop with the internet and we tried it there.We were able to get service pack 3 downloaded.So we did upgrade the itunes on the laptop even though I have never put music on there but there is some from someone .I never heard of many of the songs.Any how I did try to download and restore on the laptop and then come to the land computer and see if the box comes up to restore the contacts.Well it didn 't work and now my phone won't even turn on .I have no one to call if something happened to me.I am going to the Apple store right off the bat tomorrow morning.I have everything in the box and the phone and reciept and see if they make it work or give me another one.I have to take my sim card again since They gave it back to me.I bet it means I can't sync the photos in the phone.Even with 2 computers and talking with 3 people it still did not work.All because I wanted to download the itunes to my phone.I don't care now if I can just get my phone to work and my contacts are in there.I hope I don't have to buy the ringtones again I bought 4 of them.Any one have this problem and what did you do to fix it?

The Apple rep tried both those ideas and both failed. The rep was connected to my computer so she
could see my screen and show me exactly what to do. My iPhone (not ipad) never has synced photos to my computer,
I have to use explorer to copy and paste or cut and paste them to my PC . It is the syncing back to my iPhone of only the much smaller selected photos that used to sync in itunes but now the itunes sync button cannot be clicked to make that happen. And the reason I only sync back selected photos is that my total PC pictures file is about 40 Gb. Also I find it a lot more useful to have a small number of folders ( no sub-folders of course) so I can quickly locate on my iPhone pictures from different categories such as family, autos, etc. None of this posed any problems for over a year until just recently. I am reading on other threads of many people with other iTunes syncing problems, and wonder now if it is the latest iTunes updates that are causing the problems? While I have tried removing and reinstalling iTunes on my PC, I don't know how or if you can, install a previous version?

Getting Error Message When Trying to Access iTunes Music

Hi!
Need some help.
Little Mac Mini has been through a lot after foobaring after the last update. To bring you up to speed, I had to get Apple Genius Bar to fix the problem but they re-installed the OS by installing 10.4.7, Safari 2.0.4 and iTunes 7.0.x even though it had had 10.4.11, Safari 3.0.4 and iTunes 7.5 on it before the problem. Even when it was offline with Safari and mail crashing, iTunes worked fine. After Apple's re-installing 10.4.7, iTunes had problems and gave me a message that it could not play the video files because the quicktime version was too old. So Quicktime too was re-installed using an older version. Why did Apple Genius Bar fellow do this?
Anyway... after this I found an underlying problem with the directory and had to restart with Tiger install disc and run Repair Disk to fix it. Then I got the computer back up to 10.4.11, Safari 3.0.4 and iTunes 7.5 using Apple's combo update and Software update. Repaired permissions and verified disk, everything.
So here is the problem, I can not get iTunes to access my music on the external hard drive anymore. I remember getting a message that suggested that something happened to the xml file.
Here's the thing: I have two complete copies of the iTunes music on two external hard drives. I also have, in addition to these, a complete copy of the iTunes Music backed up using the Apple program "Back-Up." Usually, I keep iTunes pointing to the music folder on one of the external hard drives, but now, it insists on opening up the iTunes music on the internal which has very little music on it. I know how to open the other music libraries by holding down the option key and starting iTunes and choosing a library. In the past when I did this I got iTunes up with all of my music, etc. fine. I used to be able to access the music library on one external and then switch to the other library by holding the down the option key while starting iTunes. But now, I get a message that says "An iTunes Library file could not be found in the folder 'iTunes Music.' Please change to another" irregardless of which library I choose. What does this message mean? How do I get iTunes to access the music in these libraries again?
I know that the music libraries are all fine on the externals, because I have gone and found them. All is okay with that, but I can't get iTunes to see them. Could this be because the xml file is missing? I can't seem to find it anywhere. Not in the main hard drive or on any of the externals. If it is missing and I need it, where can I get it and where, exactly do I put it. I am a bit sketchy on my understanding of the file hierarchy as you can tell.
I do have back-up. Would a restore fix the problem. My little mac only has about 6 gigs left in it's internal so there is not enough room to put the music back into the internal iTunes that it is currently working from. Can I restore the back up version on to one of the externals? I don't know really what to do.
What am I missing? Thank you so much!- Charlotte

Well... no response.?
Anyway.... solved my own problem. Apple should hire me.
Actually read another post and got an idea. Held down the option key while starting iTunes. Got the window that asks if I want to create a new library or to choose a library. I had been choosing and finding that my libraries on the two external hard drives were damaged. Yes... I think it was because the iTunes Library files and the iTunes Library xml files were missing. So instead of choosing library, I chose to create a new library. Of course it brought up iTunes with nothing in it. I opened the folder "iTunes" on that same external hard drive and boldly clicked and dragged it on to the empty Music section of iTunes. It imported! First importing everything. Music, podcasts, video, audio books, etc. and then imported album art and then boom, it was all there. With trepidation, I closed iTunes and reopened it and yes, all is there still... like in.... it works! It plays! I've been listening to music while typing this.
Of course, the playlists and play counts, ratings are gone. Yes... I expected that, but I have all of the media and that is what is important. Even the things I downloaded just before the problem happened is in there. Okay... well that's good.
Hey.... what ever you do, keep back ups and copies, like several and in several formats and all over the place. For instance, most of my music is backed-up in five places. On a cd, also on a dvd, and also in three places on two different external hard drives!
Okay.. for the weird thing and it's only weird to me because I obviously do not completely understand the file system in the mac. It's this: Before I created this new library, when I went to the external hard drive I found the folder labeled "iTunes" and no other folders. The iTunes folder only contained the media content and I could not find the library or library xml files. Now after importing that one iTunes folder into the newly created library and allowing it to get everything into it, going to the external hard drive I had expected to see a new folder with a new copy of all of the music content in it but instead I found a new folder labeled " iTunes1" and opening it, I found the library and library xml files. Ah.... so if I am understanding this correctly, what "creating a new library" did was to add in new the library and library xml files that were missing, but it still accessed the "iTunes" folder with all of the content that was already there. So... in essence fixing the problem. Yes... this would be correct because the external has the same amount of gigs used as it had before I created the new library. This is way cool! And no, I did not mess anything up, my computer's internal hasn't enough space for the iTunes music content and it's showing the same amount of space used so it's not like it moved the stuff into the internal. It couldn't do that, anyway.
I shall thank the guys on the other post for their help. Hope this helps others.
By the way... this whole problem happened originally because apparently my hard disk had errors in the directory and the downloading of the last security update (security update 2007-009) was just too much for it.
Look before updating always check by going to Utilities and performing a "permissions repair" and also running "Verify disk," even if you see that your S.M.A.R.T. disk shows "verified." If verify disk shows any errors or problems then perform a disk repair. Do this before any update or installation or you may run into serious trouble. To do this get out your OS install disk. Use the Tiger one if your computer is currently running Tiger. Leopard one if it's using Leopard. Put the disk in and re-start your computer. As soon as it is off and before it even begins to start up, hold down the C key on the keyboard and keep holding it down until you get the message asking what language you want. Don't panic, this is correct. It will look like it wants to install the OS again. Don't re-install the OS. But you can choose the language. Here I was panicking and I don't want you to. At the top you will see the installer bar. Go to Disk Utility up on that bar and click on that, it will take you to Disk Utility and you will then and only then be able to perform a disk repair by clicking on "Repair Disk." Do it! Do it a couple of times until the thing reports that the disk has no problems. I forgot how it states this but I do remember that the lettering is in green. Green is great! Close Disk Utility. Quit Installer. A window will come up asking you to choose where to restart from so choose your internal hard drive and it should restart and be good to go.
Trust me, the updates are fine. 10.4.11, Safari 3.0.4 and iTunes 7.5 are good, it's existing problems in your computer's directory or keychains that is causing the problems when updating or installing new stuff. I had to learn all of this the hard way, even though I tried to keep my mac clean and in top shape, and even though I asked and asked the Genius Bar guys at the local Apple store if there is anything more I needed to know to prevent difficulties. I learned all this here, in these discussions, in answer to my posts under other sections. Thanks Klaus1, Hawaiian_Starman, dechamp, and baltwo!
Okay.. if I got anything wrong in my descriptions, please, please correct me! I don't want to be inaccurate. I want to know this stuff!
Thank you so much for persevering through my long post, here. -Charlotte

ITunes 9.0.2 Crashes Trying to Access iTunes Music Store on Startup

HI, everyone,
I installed iTunes 9.0.2 today in preparation for an iPhone software upgrade, but iTunes freezes 100% of the time just after it starts up and tries to access the iTunes Music Store. There's a bit of activity in the progress bar when iTunes first starts, and then the progress bar for accessing the store shows half way finished and the program crashes (every time).
I've reinstalled, rebooted, removed and replaced the preference files and my library, all to no avail.
I'm running WinXP Pro SP 3, patches all up to date, but now I can't access my library on my computer nor can I upgrade my iPhone.
Others of you have had similar problems; one of you reported a "parental control" issue with CA security suite. I have Trend Micro and can't find any parental controls to deal with.
I have IE 8 installed but use Firefox 3.0.15.
This has been a horrible day. I have many papers to grade for my college classes and expected the installation to go smoothly (as the ones in the past have; iTunes 8 worked great).
Please help!
Dan
Oroville, CA

Hi, b noir,
No, I'm afraid I don't have Nod32 installed. I wish I did--maybe a simple fix!
I'm working from home using the laptop the school supplied me. It's a domain machine, and Trend Micro's OfficeScan is installed but it's offline (though it seems to be working). The Windows firewall is disabled, probably because of the school's antivirus installation, so there doesn't seem to be a setting I can access.
I'd guess something on my machine is forcing iTunes to free as it starts to access the Music Store. My heart just sinks every time I start iTunes (dozens of times today), only to see it freeze solid every single time I open it.
Dan

Help!!! Trying to recreate iTunes Music Library file(s)

Long story, but basically starts out with me being dumb and trying to move iTunes files in Windows, without reading iTunes instructions.
Anyway, to cut a long story short - I was trying to move files from my C drive to my D drive (C having run out of space). Did this in Windows explorer - natch iTunes finds no Music Library Files.
I've copied back the files (from D to C), but having restarted iTunes, still no Music Library (no songs listed, no playlists etc.) - the two library files (XML file and IML(?) file) have been overwritten, i.e. they're empty. I have one backup old iTunes library file (the non-XML file) from Dec 07 (from "Previous iTunes Libraries"). I have tried reinstalling this to the iTunes directory, but still no avail.
So, any kind people out htere able to tell me if I have any options? (everything crossed). I can live without my playlists as I can just recreate (also I have on my iPod so hopefully I can rescue?) but I really need to be able to reinstate my list of music files again in the iTunes window, or regenerate a new one. The files are all there, and iTunes is up to date, it just won't recognise.
HELP! PLEASE!!!
Cheers.
SW11

The File/"Add Folder to Library" command (then pointing to where your iTunes Music files are) sorts this. Doesn't get playlists back however.

Tried to update itunes but now it wont open,an error message comes up ??

i have tried to update my itunes but now i am not able to open it and an error message comes up saying "this application has failed to start because MSVCR80.dll was not found . re installing the application may fix the problem" . i dont know how to reinstall it or how to fix it help !??

Click here and follow the instructions. You may need to completely remove and reinstall iTunes and all related components, or run the process multiple times; this won't normally affect its library, but that should be backed up anyway.
(99414)

Tried to backup Itunes music, now it's gone

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