Damaged iTunes file. Starting over!

[james6000]

So the last couple of days iTunes has been hell for me. Couple of days ago, when I opened iTunes like any other time, I was presented with an error message saying my itunes library was damaged.

Anyway, long story short, I've started over and created a new one and imported all my songs, podcasts, videos etc in. That all worked well, but I was still missing my precious play counts and ratings, though I was able to import my playlists.

So what I did was import one of the itunes database files from the "previous itunes libraries" option. What happened then was that it removed all the files that I purchased after the date in which the database file was created. Annoying as I can't remember every song I've purchased.

The 2 main problems at the moment is that the files I purchased are already in my iTunes media folder, I found that out by just searching some songs I remember, but the matter of remembering each one is impossible. I contemplated the idea of "Add to library" but I think all that does is import everything again into the library rather than find any ones that aren't already in it. Is there anyway to get iTunes to automatically find the files that aren't already my library and JUST add those?

Second problem is I have is the dreaded '!' next to many of my songs, again I am sure that I have these files in my media folder (I've checked), iTunes has just (for some reason) not found those files. Again, is there a way for iTunes to automatically find those files? As opposed to me finding and clicking on everyone of those '!'s and locating the files manually?

Sorry for all the boredom I caused!

 

[GermanSuplex]

If you have iTunes set to automatically arrange your media files, just drag and drop your iTunes media folder into iTunes... it will not add items already in the library, just those items not already in the library. However, it will re-add songs with the exclamation marks next to them. This is because something in the song changed since your last backup...maybe you changed the track number, the artist name, the song title, etc., and it renamed the file since your last backup. This can also happen because sometimes iTunes won't always update a file immediately, such as when you rename it, but will do so when you re-import it, as you did when you started fresh.

After you add your media folder back to iTunes (again, this should only import stuff not already in the library), create a smart playlist with rules "Artist is not f;kjad;fjakdfj" or something to that effect. This should create a playlist of all your items. You can name it "All Files" Create a new regular playlist. Name it something like "Good Links" Highlight everything in the smart playlist you created, then drag the files to the new Good Links playlist. Lastly, create a new smart playlist with rules "Playlist is All Files" and "Playlist Is Not Good Links". This should create a list of your dead files. You can either delete them all, or, if something has a high playcount, delete the good link to the file (which was created when you reimported your library), double-click the dead link, and then point iTunes to the location of the file.

There is no way for iTunes to automatically find dead links. The only way it will re-find files is if you rename/relocate the original file back to what/where it was and double-click the item or restart iTunes. This is, in almost all cases, impractical. That's why I suggest deleting all dead links with a playcount of zero and reimporting.

 

[james6000]

Thank you SO much for this. It worked out exactly as you described.

Now all I have to do is go through 800 odd '!'s