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iTunes library recognition

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May 30, 2010 9:37 PM GMT

So here's my problem:

On my old PC, I had the iTunes program on my computer and the actual library of music files was on an external hard-drive. It worked out really well and I had no problems.

However, I just recently purchased a new PC and downloaded iTunes onto this computer. I am using my old external hard-drive with my iTunes library with this new PC but this new iTunes program will not recognize my media library located on the external hard-drive.

I have gone into Edit: Preferences and to the Advanced tab to specify the correct location of the library yet it is still not showing up in iTunes.

What is going on, can anyone help?

Thanks in advance,
Dan

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Greygull

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May 30, 2010 10:22 PM GMT

Did you hcnage versions of windows? if you went from say XP to 64 bit vista or windows 7 you need all new files.

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May 30, 2010 10:28 PM GMT

Oh yeah, I went from XP to Windows 7, what do I need to do??

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Greygull

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May 30, 2010 11:12 PM GMT

Heh, well, the files are 32, not 64 so uh.... you gotta put all your music back on

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May 30, 2010 11:23 PM GMT

Hmm, ok, well luckily all of my music that was in iTunes is on my iPod. Is there a way to transfer the music from my iPod to the external hard-drive and have iTunes read it from there?

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May 31, 2010 12:20 AM GMT

When you moved the music files did you take the entire iTunes folder or just the music folder?

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May 31, 2010 1:35 AM GMT

Just the music folder with artists and their songs.

I know I need more components than that, so I tried taking the contents of the "my music" folder (created when I downloaded this version of iTunes to my new PC) and put them together with the music folder on my hard-drive (from the old PC).

It's still not working and I'm worried about screwing it up more. I tried following tutorials online but they didn't seem to apply to my situation.

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Greygull

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May 31, 2010 2:02 AM GMT

Later versions of Itunes condense all your individual music files into one big one call itunes music libray, did u try using the itunes option consolidate library? it finds all your music and moves it for you

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Jun 01, 2010 12:26 AM GMT

So let me get this straight, you've moved the music and iTunes is only picking up some of them? Or none of them?

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Jun 02, 2010 2:44 AM GMT

iTunes isn't picking up/recognizing any of them.

My old PC (windows XP) was set up so that the iTunes program was on the internal hard-drive and the actual music was on the external hard-drive. It worked really well.

When I got this new PC (windows 7), I knew I wanted to keep the same configuration, so I downloaded iTunes from online onto the new PC and just attached the external hard-drive from my old PC (the one with just the music files) and played around with some of the library locations so it would work as it should, but it doesn't. It's just an empty iTunes program.

I don't know what to do. Any further advice?

Thanks,
Dan

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Jun 02, 2010 3:27 AM GMT

Ah okay, set iTunes to not manage the music and then just drag all the song files back onto iTunes, it'll scan them and add them to iTunes again

It probably won't keep your old play lists and stuff, those files are kept elsewhere and you would have needed to back those up

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Jun 02, 2010 4:43 AM GMT

Not to sound dumb but can you give me a more step-by-step approach to doing that?

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etaion

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Jun 16, 2010 12:13 AM GMT

Hey there, i recently moved from winXP to OS X and i managed to get my iTunes library working with osx.

not sure if it will work for you but i'll tell you how i did it incase it does.

on your old XP:
1. in iTunes go to the advanced tab in options/preferences.
make sure that the directory listed there is on your external harddrive.
2. then go to file --> Library--> Organise Library...
then check the first option - Consolidate Library. click ok and it will move all files in your library to that folder,
if you are able to click on the option 'Upgrade to itunes media organization' do that as well, it could be the cause of your problem.

3. move to your new computer, plug in the external hard drive, then open itunes holding the [shift] key, (i think it's shift on windows) it will open a dialogue box with "create new library" and "chose library" click chose library and locate the folder on the external hard drive.

That should be all you need to do, AFAIK changing from winXP to win7 (or in my case winXP to OS X) won't make a difference.

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Jun 27, 2010 3:30 AM GMT

Here's MY deal...I had over 2K songs on iTunes on my Mac and the Mac died. No longer usable. I bought a laptop and signed on to iTunes using the same username/password and it's a clean slate! Since I have already created an account with iTunes previously, shouldn't my library remain in that account and I can access it at any computer?!

Please don't tell me I have to start all over again!!!!

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etaion

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Jun 27, 2010 6:29 AM GMT

sorry, you'll have to start again, the iTunes account is only used for purchasing things off the itunes music store, you'll be able to download any music you bought off the itunes store again, but anything other music you've lost.

if you've got them on a non iphone/touch ipod you can find all the music that is on the ipod in hidden directories when it's mounted as data storage, if you've got a touch or iphone then there are programs you can get that will get access to the music, but i've never used any of them

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Jun 27, 2010 12:30 PM GMT

I have all my favorite songs downloaded from iTunes to my iPod. How do I upload the songs from the iPod to iTunes on my laptop?

You said "if you've got them on a non iphone/touch ipod you can find all the music that is on the ipod in hidden directories when it's mounted as data storage, if you've got a touch or iphone then there are programs you can get that will get access to the music."

Do you or anyone know the step-by-step, SAFE method of doing this without losing the songs during transfer?

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etaion

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Jun 28, 2010 12:16 PM GMT

sorry i don't have an iPod anymore, only iPhone, so i'll need to recite it from memory. also i only ever did it on a windows machine so it might be a bit different on OS X

You need to enable the iPod to be used as a mass storage device, which hopefully you had that option set before, you can turn it on on by clicking on your ipod in itunes and there will be a check box for it, also turn on manually manage songs

The folder that the music is stored on is hidden in finder, so to get there you have to CD in to it from a terminal.

So open up a terminal (it's in applications/ Utilities)

type:
cd /Volumes/ [enter]
ls [enter]
this will list all your mounted drives, including your ipod, so type:
cd *ipod name*/iPod_ControlMusic [enter]
open -a finder . [enter] (include the '.' at the end)
This will open a finder window in the hidden folder, there will be a whole bunch of folders with random letters in it, your mp3's are all in them.
The easiest way to get them all is to search for any mp3 from the current folder and then copy them to where you want on your computer.

Un-mount and unplug your iPod.

Open iTunes and then add all the music to your library, after you do this you'll want to plug your ipod again, and try to copy a song to it, it will say something about that your ipod can only be synced to one computer and this will erase all your music on the ipod, click ok and then you'll need to copy all your music back over to the ipod.

there's probably also a program you can get that does it easier, but i've never used them, a quick google suggests a prog called Senuti

hope this helps

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Jul 07, 2010 2:54 AM GMT

Thanks for the help with this guys! It seems from your responses that I'll need my old computer to complete the transfer. I left it back east at Mom and Dad's house but I'll be sure to get it when I go back to visit in August and try this out again then.

Thanks so much again!

Dan

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Jul 07, 2010 3:10 AM GMT

bigeasydude saidI have all my favorite songs downloaded from iTunes to my iPod. How do I upload the songs from the iPod to iTunes on my laptop?

by design, Apple made sure you can't easily copy songs FROM the iPod TO the computer. if you could do that, it would be easy to populate/propagate your own music to others' computers.

you CAN move music from an iPod into iTunes, but you might need some shareware or purchased apps to do it. on Macs, you can achieve this task with Xray and TinkerTool, both of which can be downloaded as 'trials'. not sure what programs on Windows do the same thing or if a separate program is even required. here's a link that apparently offers a solution for getting music from an iPod into iTunes in Windows, but not sure it works (make sure you read the 'tips & warnings' note midway down the page):
http://www.ehow.com/how_2187421_transfer-music-ipod-itunes.html

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iTunes library recognition