Updating iTunes library after hard drive reformat

Is there a way to upload songs from an iPod to the iTunes library? I had to reformat my hard drive and was able to upload purchases, but I would like to upload all songs on my iPod as opposed to reloading all the CDs.

For everything else (music from CDs, other downloads etc.) there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
A selection of iPod to iTunes utilities:
TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
SharePod Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod2PC Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
YamiPod Mac and Windows
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows
Floola Mac & Windows
iPodRip Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide
I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive

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Restoring iTunes Library after hard drive failure.

So a few days ago I had to re partition my hard drive (erase all the data) because I received an unfixable problem from Finder error 10810. The problem created overlapping files on my hard drive which was able to be solved by doing a repair disk from Disk Utility. So I made sure I had a backup of all my information on my iMac, and erased the hard drive and re-installed Snow Leopard. After the installation was complete I began restoring all the files I had from Time Machine, but when I got to my iTunes library I received the error message saying that "You cannot access the iTunes folder because you are not authorized". So if anyone can help me out with this that would be great, I tried calling Apple but i'm not willing to pay the ridiculous $50 fee to speak to a human being.

I'm trying it file by file, because I don't need everything back on my hard drive but things like my iTunes Library I want. And I did use a different username when doing the setup assistant, but I thought about that and went back and re-named my current account and then went into my backup files and set all the sharing permissions to Read and Write for all accounts.

How to restore library after hard drive reformat?

Hello, I am going to reformat my Mac Pro's boot drive, and I want to make sure my iTunes library remains intact (I'm using iTunes 12).
I keep my iTunes music files on a 2nd internal hard drive, in a folder that I titled "iTunes Folder". I also plan to reformat this internal hard drive.
I have backups of both drives on an external hard drive. I'm assuming that in order to restore my iTunes library, playlists, etc., to their current state, I simply need to a) restore the user/Music/iTunes folder to its current state and b) restore the "iTunes Folder" to my 2nd internal drive. Is that correct? Or is there a different way that it should be done?
Thanks.

Our hard drive crashed completely and we installed a completely new hard drive. My sister and I both shared the same library for our Videos. She plugged her's into the computer and all the music was erased almost immediately. How can I plug my ipod in with out having the music and other files erased??? Is there any way I can transfer music from my ipod onto her's??

Keeping song data in iTunes library after hard drive crash

I have an iPhone 3GS that I used to sync with iTunes on my Windows PC. Then the hard drive on that PC crashed, but fortunately I had made a backup of my entire iTunes library on an external drive. Now I have a new Windows PC that I want to transfer my music to so I can sync it with the iPhone as before.
However, since the crash I have continued to listen to music on my iPhone, so the play counts, song ratings etc in the backup copy of my library will be out of date. I thought that simply copying the backup library onto my new PC would allow my iPhone to sync with it as if nothing happened (so that the iPhone would update the song data on iTunes on my computer), but when I ticked the box to sync music, it warned me that it was going to do an "erase and sync". As I understand it, that means it scrubs the music off my iPhone together with its data, and then replaces it with the rebuilt library.
Is it possible to persuade the iPhone to recognise the rebuilt library as the one it is allowed to sync to (without erasing its own library first)? Or even just copy the iPhone's song data to the computer (with or without the song files themselves) and then restore from that once the iPhone has done its erase & sync?
Thanks in advance.

Wonderful! The iPhone recognised its own library and synced happily, updating the iTunes metadata as I wanted.
Rebuilding the library took a bit longer because the backup wasn't consolidated and the library didn't know where to find some of my music, but it was sorted with a bit of file jiggling. Now the two devices are getting on like best friends. Many thanks for your help.

Restoring iTunes library after hard drive crash

The hard drive on my Macbook pro (mid-2009) crashed. I took it to the genius bar for a diagnostic. The drive was physically fine so they wiped it and reinstalled Mavericks, which is now running 10.9.4. I am restoring user files from Time Machine individually to keep things clean. Hooray!
I'm now running iTunes 10.3.1. Years ago, I placed the iTunes library in Users>Shared on the hard drive, so my wife could access the files when she logged in. We don't need to do that now, so today I dragged all the music files from Time Machine to the "Music" section on the iTunes window.
They seem to have installed and indexed fine, but I lost some of the original data--like date added and numbers of plays--which would be nice to have. (Then all now read as installed today with zero plays.) My playlists are all gone as well; I'd like to have them back.
Is there any way to restore the music so those things stay intact, by basically making my library the way it was?
I considered dragging the entire set of folders over from the Shared section of Time Machine, but was afraid the music would not index, and the folder structure and nomenclature was different (for example, it had iTunes Music instead of iTunes media and there were a couple other anomalies). I imagine this is because the Shared library was set up under a different version of iTunes.
I hope this doesn't further complicate things but my user name was changed at the genius bar (from what it was prior to crash); they added my last name to my user name. I didn't notice till I got home. So far I have had no trouble accessing the files I have dragged in (Numbers, Word, etc), but don't know if the permissions on the music files might be affected.
All help greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answers to all your questions are in the links below:
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.
06/2014 ChrisCA post: Restore iTunes library from Time Machine backup - https://discussions.apple.com/message/26104480#26104480

Retrieving content for iTunes library after hard drive crash

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's encountered this situation, but i couldn't find a decent answer anywhere. My HDD crashed, but i recovered all my documents, together with all iTunes documented files (including songs). I didn't lose any data. The problem is that iTunes can't just read copy pasted files (to avoid the spread of bought iTunes songs/apps). How can i get all those songs back in there?
1) I've still got everything on my iPod, but my iPod won't even be recognised with the name i've given it. Synchronising my iPod is out of the question...
2) I've got screenshots of files i found in the back-up document files
http://s720.photobucket.com/albums/ww201/Ollii/Computer%20Info%20Screens/
3) I can upload every song back again, but that takes ages. And I would like to have my apps back too
Thank you in advance

I built a new computer and I copied and pasted the entire itunes file that was in my music for XP to the music file in win 7. After it was done I downloaded itunes agreed to all the fun stuff and it found everything when i opened it. To play the purchased music I need to sign in to my account. After that everything worked great with no problems and it was like it never moved. As for your apps I still live in the stone age with an 80G ipod and an apple TV. So good luck with that but I do not see a problem with that as well. For any purchase from apple you have a total of 5 computers to use with you account. So I hope you were able to unauth. the old hard drive. If not you have to rest you count which can only be done 1X a year.

Retrieving iTunes library after hard drive dies.

Here is my dilemma.
My external hard drive that containes my entire itunes library of over 17,000 songs just died.
First, what is the best way to reassign my iTunes library back to my computer instead of the now-dead external hard drive?
I have an iPod that also has all my music on it but it is set up to automatically sync with iTunes. Once I get my iTunes library back on my computer will it erase everything on my iPod? I am aware of some programs that can take music off an iPod and put it on any computer, so if it doesn't earse it all when it syncs, I would most likely do this.
I also have a seperate external hard drive set up with Time Machine. I could possibly retrieve some of my old iTunes library from it but I only need to restore iTunes and not the entire computer.
What is my best course of action for mantaining the majority of my iTunes library?

Unfortunately unless you specifically told Time Machine to back up the contents of your external Media HD it won't do it automatically, so it seem you iPod is the only repository for your music. There are plenty of tutorials on the web that will walk you through getting music off your iPod.

Keeping itunes library after hard drive has been wiped

Help! We had a problem with our computer in that the whole hard drive was wiped so it's gone back to factory settings. Does this now mean that we'll have to start again and put the whole library of songs back on? I've got over 2,000 songs on my ipod so really want to avoid this if I can.
Cheers

Do a 'Search Discussions' for posts by Zevoneer, that will set you up.

IMovie does not see Aperture / iTunes library after hard drive restore

Hi all,
I recently exchanged the 320GB drive in my MacBook for a 500GB drive. I installed the 500GB drive and restored everything from my time machine backup. This went flawlessly and the MacBook works great, except for two issues:
1st: It did not read NTFS volumes anymore, I had to reinstall NTFS-3G - problem fixed.
2nd: I do not see my Aperture and iTunes libraries in iMovie '09 anymore. This worked great before.
Does anyone know how to fix this? Or what the problem could be?
Many thanks,
Michael

DaneelGiskard wrote:
.. restored everything from my time machine backup.
.. I do not see my Aperture and iTunes libraries in iMovie '09 anymore. ..
Does anyone know how to fix this? Or what the problem could be?
read about that problem frequently.. never got an answer, if the following usual advice fixes the problem:
• check permissions with Disk Utility
• check read/write rights of specific Folder AND files inside via Finder..

Deleting a song from iTunes library and hard drive on Itunes 11.0

how do i delete a song from iTunes library and hard drive on Itunes 11.0 at the same time.

Hello CleveCo, Inc
And welcome to Apple Discussions!
At some point in time, you may have selected the option to prevent that dialog from appearing again when trying to delete tracks from your library. To reset all of iTunes warning dialogs, click the Edit drop down menu and choose Preferences from the list (on a Mac it is *iTunes -> Preferences* ). When the window pops up, head over to the Advanced tab and click the *Reset Warnings* button. Then quit iTunes and relaunch it. That do the trick for you?
B-rock

How can I sync iPod Mini after hard drive reformat?

My son has an iPod mini. Recently, we had to have our computer hard drive reformatted and had to reinstall iTunes. When we try to sync the mini, it shows up with all it's songs, but the songs won't update into the library, so the desktop iTunes has nothing in it. Anyone able to help me with this? I'm sure it's an easy fix but for now I'm at a loss. Thanks in advance for any help you can shed on this.

Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Sounds like you have to transfer the songs from the mini back to the computer first.
Check this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=797426#797426
Before there is a next time, consider backing up the songs on your computer on CD-R or DVDR or external hard disk before doing a reformat.

Restore Library after hard drive format

I had to reformat my Windows hard drive and, of course, then I had to restore my Itunes Library. My music files are stored in a different HD so, I didnt have to back them up. I restored my library using the method described in this page article http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313.
It worked fine, but now all my play counts are gone. How can I have them back? I have all my playlists, even the song ratings, but no play counts. Did I do something wrong? I haven't sync'ed my iPod yet, som I still have my play counts in it.
Thanks for your help.

Our hard drive crashed completely and we installed a completely new hard drive. My sister and I both shared the same library for our Videos. She plugged her's into the computer and all the music was erased almost immediately. How can I plug my ipod in with out having the music and other files erased??? Is there any way I can transfer music from my ipod onto her's??

How to restore Itunes account after Hard Drive replacement programme

I was part of the Hard Drive replacment programme by Apple after which I have set up my computer as normal to find all the music, filmas and apps have gone from my Itunes Acccount can anyone help

Restore all of your important data from the backup of the computer.
If you have no backup, the library and playlists should be possible to recreate by following the instrucitons here: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451

Any way to get music from ipod back into library after hard drive crash?

I just survived and am recovering from a hard drive crash. For some reason, on my backup, I only retained about 500 of my 2500 songs in my library. All of my music is intact on the ipod however. Is there any way at all to resolve this issue and get the music from the ipod into the libary, or in the alternative, any way to back up the stuff on the ipod? Thanks.

Connect your iPod to your computer. If it is set to update automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod. When your iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual, that will let you use our iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default: Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you have any iTunes Music Store purchases the transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. You'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
The transfer of content from sources such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod2PC Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
SharePod Windows Only
iPodRip Mac & Windows
YamiPod Mac and Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
Floola Mac & Windows
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible - Windows version only)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide
Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync. I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay.

Restore saved iPhoto library after hard drive repair

My hard drive crashed and Apple were kind enough to repair it although it happened 1 week after the extended warranty expired. I was able to save the hard drive files to an external drive just before it died, but now when I try and import the iPhoto library back into the newly repaired computer one of 2 things happen: The photos begin to transfer and then the application (iPhoto) unexpectedly quits, or, the blue bar at the bottom says Working and nothing happens for as long as 10 minutes.
I would really appreciate some help as I no longer have covered support. One of the photo text files may be corrupted. How do I identify the problem file?
Thanks very much,
Colin Sieff

That's because importing from another iPhoto Library folder isn't the way to restore an iPhoto Library. I'm surprised you were able to do it without a bunch of warning dialogs.
If you still have the original iPhoto Library folder intact, the thing to do is restore it as I've described earlier. If you have sufficient disk space, quit iPhoto and drag the existing iPhoto Library folder from Pictures to the desktop. Then drag your backup iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, and the only thing left to do is to start iPhoto. If all's well, move the desktop copy of the iPhoto Library folder to the trash, then empty the trash.

Updating iTunes library after hard drive reformat

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