Why isn't iTunes finding my old library?

I actually had to get a new hard drive for my Studio XPS 15z (it has Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium) and I put all of my old data onto my new hard drive (so I copied my music folder with the Itunes sub-folder in it). But when I installed Itunes 10.6.1 it didn't do the usual thing and automatically find my old old library. I reinstalled Itunes and I also tried to import the "Itunes Library.itl playlist", but there was an error that said it could not be imported because it does not appear to be a valid exported file...
I have a ton of apps and I already had to recently reorganize everything on my iPod because of the iTunes 10.6 error.
Could someone please help me? Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Close iTunes.
Hold the <SHIFT> button while launching iTunes.
It will prompt to create a new library or choose and existing library. Select the option to choose the library and direct iTunes to the location of the correct iTunesLibrary.itl file.

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HT1349 I need help finding an old library that itunes states my ipod is already linked to

I need help finding an old library that it states my ipod is already linked to. My computer recently had a terrible virus and needed to be wiped clean. I had to redownload itunes and I bought several songs. I want to add them to my old library because I had several cd's that I had uploaded. Is there a way to find that old library and combine them without having to erase all the songs that are currently on my ipod??? Thanks

Umm. If you wiped the hard drive, then all old libraries are gone unless you have them on backup.

Why won't itunes find my library on my external hard drive? All that shows up are the purchased songs in the cloud?

Why won't itunes find my library on my external hard drive? All it shows are my purchased songs in the cloud.

See also this migrate iTunes library post or Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

I have windows vista home premium and all other versions of iTunes worked on my laptop iTunes 10 won't work, I get a message saying I'm not connected to the Internet when I am. Why isn't iTunes recognizing my browser configuration?

I have windows vista home premium and all other iTunes worked on my laptop, I downloaded iTunes 10 and now the iTunes will not connect to the Internet. I use Mozilla firefox on my laptop and for some reason it keeps saying the connection timed out and I'm not connected to the Internet when I am. Why isn't iTunes recognizing my web configuration?

It probably has to do with your security and/or browser configuration.
When my laptop crashed last year and I had to get a new one, I dealt with the same thing. First, go to your control panel and select the security section. See if your firewalls are up or not. If they are, turn them off. If you have any software to speed up your browser, that can affect the connection as well. Go into that software and disble/turn it off. If this doesn't work, contact customer support. They have a few other tricks they had me try that worked, but I can't remember them now.

Can anyone help me find my old library now that I appear to have deleted it or overwritten it accidentally? I'm always asked if I want to update when I put in my i-pod and have to do that before I can open my library so I think it was this action.

Can anyone help me find my old library now that I appear to have deleted it or overwritten it accidentally? I'm always asked if I want to update when I put in my i-pod and have to do that before I can open my library so I think it was this action that caused me to delete previous library. Can anyone help? Apple support have been hopeless as they don't seem to respond to this particular problem but keep giving me answers to finding my purchases which i already know how to do!

See your other thread...
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Why can't iTunes find all the album artwork?

Why can't iTunes find all the album artwork?

That would fall under Browsing History. Firefox > History -> Show All History
Firefox doesn't use Temporary Internet Files for anything except Windows Media files.
Type '''about:cache''' in the URL bar and hit Enter. <br />
Disk cache device = List Cache entries

HT2470 Why won't Itunes store my music library in my User/Music Folder, if I select my user name as a storage location in Itunes, Itunes creates folders for artist name right in my user folder, instead of in my user/music folder

Why won't Itunes store my music library in my User/Music Folder?
If I select my user name as a storage location in Itunes, Itunes creates folders for artist name right in my user folder, instead of in my user/music folder. This gets especially annoying because if I tell Itunes to store my "media" in my user/music folder, Itunes will then create a folder named "music" in my "music" folder and will also create additional folders in my user/music folder location to store other non-music media in as well. It is very annoying to see this lack of affinity for folders between two Apple created programs.

Help iTunes locate your media folder:
No content shows up in iTunes after updating
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1967

In trying to sync my old iPod to my new computer, it says that I cannot sync because it belongs to anther library. How do I find that old library for my new computer?

I have a new computer. It has been several years since I have downloaded any songs to my iPod. My old computer crashed so I could not get the info off of it. Now that I try to sync this iPod to my new computer, it states that it cannot because it belongs to another Library. How do I find that Library. I have resigned into iTunes, found my old account, and it still does not sync.
Any Ideas"
Thanks

Your iPod is designed to sync with only one iTunes library at a time. It will recognize the iTunes library on the new PC as a new library. If you sync the iPod with this new library, all content will be erased from the iPod and replaced with what is in the new library. So what you will want to do is copy everything from the iPod to your new iTunes library on your PC first.
See this excellent user tip from another forum member turingtest2 outlining the different methods and software available to help you copy content from your iPod back to your PC and into iTunes.
Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device
B-rock

My iPhoto would open with stating the files were damaged. I created a new library, thinking I could just retrieve the old one through the Pictures folder. Now I cannot find the old library.

I fear I may have deleted ALL my photos!!! When opening iPhoto it stated that the photos were damaged. By creating a new photo library, I now cannot find the old photos in the Pictures file. I think I really screwed up!!!

Download and run Find Any File to search for "Library6.iPhoto" on your hard drive. That's a file that is in every iPhoto library. And Find Any File can search inside packages as areas that Spotlight can not.
See if you find more than one of those files. If you do then you can find out where that other library is. If there's only one found click on the Desktop to get to the Finder and use the Go ➙ Go to folder... menu option. Enter in the window /Volumes.
When you created the new library did you get this window where you were to either accept the default name that iPhoto presented or rename the new library?
Click to view full size
OT

ITunes reverting to old library after system crash

I just started my itunes after my computer crashed, and it has reverted back to an old library from 2010.
I've tried holding shift and opening itunes to select what library file (.itl) it uses, and even when I select the most recent one, which is dated yesterday, it still only loads the music that I added sometime in 2010.
All of the music and apps I have added since then (which is a lot!) are still in my itunes Media > Music folder, yet they are not showing up when I open itunes. This goes for both music/apps I have purchased from itunes, and music I have added.
Can anyone help me?! I don't want to have go through and add two years of music and apps again!

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

New Windows install. New iTunes install. Old library: How to?

Some time in the next couple of days, I'll be installing iTunes onto a new install of Windows, and attempting to import the old library and files from the machine's previous (and dying) hard disk. I know I can just import the music, but the person I'm doing this for would like to preserve library metadata not stored in the files (play counts, ratings) and has a significant number of ITMS-purchased files. I'm trying to figure out the best way to deal with this.
My first thought on that subject is to just use the old library in place and consolidate the music files, but have a few questions.
1) I know that in Mac OS X one can pick which library to use by holding down the option key while starting iTunes. What's the Windows equivalent? Is there one?
2) WIll the fact that the music is now on another physical drive make a difference (i.e. are the paths in the library data file absolute or relative)?
3) Probably most importantly, is this even the best way to do it? Can someone suggest an alternative?
There are some additional quirks about this particular situation...
4) The machine became unusable before the release of iTunes 7.6. I know the previous install is at least 7.0, but I have no idea about which point release.
5) CHKDSK nuked one of the music files when fixing the old disk. I'm sure the reference exists in the old library, as iTunes has not been run since.
Finally, what's the expected behaviour (or required procedure) with respect to reauthorization of this computer to use the same ITMS-purchased files?
I guess that covers it. Thanks for any help in advance.
Message was edited by: stevebr -- small clarification.

I know that in Mac OS X one can pick which library to use by holding down the option key while starting iTunes. What's the Windows equivalent?
Press the Shift key.
WIll the fact that the music is now on another physical drive make a difference
No.
I know the previous install is at least 7.0, but I have no idea about which point release.
Try checking the content of the iTunes Music Library.xml file.
Finally, what's the expected behaviour (or required procedure) with respect to reauthorization of this computer to use the same ITMS-purchased files?
You will be asked to reauthorize the computer.
(28446)

How do I get new iTunes to recognize old library?

My pc crashed. I had to reinstall windows. I reinstalled itunes but I need it to recognize the original library. Please help.Thanks!

SteveJobsRIP_1955-2011 wrote:
Is this a Genius Bar type situation?
No.
It is a hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external drive situation.
I now fire up iTunes on the MBP, in the Advanced Pref I point the iTunes Media folder location to the new external HD: /Volumes/iTune New/iTunes.
Don't do this...
But it really looks like you messed up something.
In the iTunes folder you seem to have all your music folders.
Your iTunes folder should have only these items...

Why can't iTunes find the music from an external hard drive?

I moved my music to an external hard drive to free up space on my old laptop. Since I moved to a new laptop, iTunes never seems to find the music. I have to go through and manually select a song for it to find it one and then it says should it use this to find the rest of the songs. Then it crashes. I have reinstalled iTunes tonight with no real improvement. I want to be able to create a playlist to upload to my new iPad as well as updating music on my iPod but I can't do any of it. Please, any advice!

angelafromlanchester wrote:
I moved my music to an external hard drive to free up space on my old laptop. Since I moved to a new laptop, iTunes never seems to find the music.
Has the new laptop given the external drive a different drive letter?
The "missing file" error 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, one of its parent folders, or 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 click No when asked to try to locate the track. (Due to a bug in iTunes 12 you currently have to say No twice!) 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, a folder renamed, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. If the difference between the two paths is an additional Music folder in one path then this is a layout issue. I can explain further if that is the case.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links.
If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.
tt2

HT1751 Why can't iTunes handle a music library on an external drive?

I put all my music files on an external drive and imported them into iTunes. So far so good. The first time you run iTunes while the drive is disconnected - all your songs suddenly have that dreaded exclamation point next to them. Yes, while the drive is connected, I can still go to any song and double-click it to play; but the vast majority of songs stays "exclamated" and greyed-out. Shuffle ignores them. Even if I use some method to re-recognize all my songs, next time I open iTunes without first attaching the drive, it'll all go down the drain again.
Apple - this MacBook air is great but it only comes with 256 GB of built-in storage. I HAVE to use an external drive in order to have my music library. Why can't the MacBook recognize the drive, remember it, and know when it's connected and when it isn't?

If you mistakenly open iTunes with the drive disconnected, close iTunes, connect the drive, open iTunes, then visit iTunes > Preferences > Advanced and reset the media folder to the external drive.
Better yet is to move the iTunes library folder into the root of the external drive as <Device>/iTunes, then connect to it by holding down option as you start iTunes. Once iTunes "knows" your library is on the external drive it will complain of a missing library when you try to start with the drive disconnected. Cancel the warning, connect the drive, start iTunes.
For maximum portability you should set the media folder to <Device>/iTunes/iTunes Media and consolidate the media to that folder. You should then backup the drive to another for security.
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Why can't iTunes find all of my iPhone backups?

This has happened to me a few times, but the story is this: I back up my phone to my computer and yet when I then wipe the phone and try to restore from backup, iTunes cannot find the backup. I have an iPhone 5 and a mid-2012 Macbook Pro with Retina Display. The list of backups in Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup includes the backup I want to use, but iTunes just doesn't see it. This is what the Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup folder has in it:
3d91fca9e1ef559f5fd5ac236fda1f9bbd68bb00
3d91fca9e1ef559f5fd5ac236fda1f9bbd68bb00-20130918-161854
3d91fca9e1ef559f5fd5ac236fda1f9bbd68bb00-20130918-162244
3d91fca9e1ef559f5fd5ac236fda1f9bbd68bb00-20140320-131013
3d91fca9e1ef559f5fd5ac236fda1f9bbd68bb00-20140320-131702
3d91fca9e1ef559f5fd5ac236fda1f9bbd68bb00-20140508-191124
3d91fca9e1ef559f5fd5ac236fda1f9bbd68bb00-20140916-153119
3d91fca9e1ef559f5fd5ac236fda1f9bbd68bb00-20140916-161645
I am trying to restore from today's backup (20140916-153119) from before I restored my phone. The second one from today (20140916-161645) is from after I wiped the phone. Unfortunately, iTunes gives me the option to restore from every backup in this list except for the one I want. Why is this happening and how can I get iTunes to see my backup?

HI THanks for this helpful post. I will try this. I have 2 iPods. One is 3rd Gen. I love the little small square, so I bought it on ebay. Then I got a little iPod nano ( again a tiny square shape)
So I tried to sync them today and update them.
This is the response I got.
I get a message that the original file cannot be found and asks if I want to try and locate file. I locate the file and it's empty?!
This freaked me out because I have all this music I love. The only thumb drive is my back up drive which is not a thumb. Will the back up drive have my music files too?
Thanks-Peace Out

Why isn't iTunes finding my old library?

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