HELP! Just deleted entire iTunes Library

[Capt Underpants]

I just accidentally deleted my entire iTunes library by dragging it to the trash.

What is the best software to recover it? I'm very shook up about this.

 

[S.B.G]

Restore from Time Machine.

How/why did you do that?

 

[Capt Underpants]

Restore from Time Machine.

How/why did you do that?

Was going to back up my library to an external hard drive. Went to delete iTunes library on my external but must have looked at the wrong window and grabbed my current library.

I'm looking for someone who has had a good experience with recovery software.

Any recommendations?

 

[S.B.G]

The only one I am familiar with is Time Machine. I know there are others, but I don't have any experience with them.

Don't you run Time Machine?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I presume you have emptied the Trash (you don't say)?

If that is the case, I have had good experience with Data Rescue 3 (http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php), but you should use another Mac for that and start your Mac in Target Disk Mode (or remove the HDD and put it in an enclosure) and immediately stop all writing processes to your HDD where the iTunes library resided.

 

[Dave Braine]

If you haven't emptied the trash, then just drag it back.

 

[Fishrrman]

"I'm looking for someone who has had a good experience with recovery software."

Data Rescue III or Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery.

DR3 will let you scan the drive to see if the files are recoverable before you pay for it. I've never used SPDR, but believe it works the same way.

IMPORTANT! Try to write as little as possible to the drive in question until you do the recovery (best not to write to it AT ALL).

As another poster mentioned, if you dragged the library to the trash, but didn't actually _empty_ the trash, the files are probably still there.

And of course, one very important word to learn about:
BACKUP.

Yes, losing the files hurts. Been there, understand all about that. That's how most of us learned.

 

[Capt Underpants]

Thanks for the help everyone. I prematurely freaked out yesterday. Turns out the backup on my external was only a few months old, and I've only purchased a few albums since then. I lost them, but that's all right. It could have been much worse.

I appreciate your recommendations nonetheless.