Oh ****!!! My iTunes Library is GONE!!!

[Shake 'n' Bake]

My mom went to sync her iPod yesterday and it just wouldn't work. So I checked our iTunes server, and 1/3 of our music folders were there. No problem, I thought. I went to the backup (which is just an automated copy/paste to the second HDD in a PM G4). The other 2/3 of the files were there. I though that was strange, but patched it up. I gave iTunes the night to redo the libraries (deleted the .xml and .lib).

I come home from school today not feeling too well and find that iTunes only has around 100 of our 611 songs. I tried again and again to put the "iTunes Music" folder from the server into iTunes to no avail. Finally, I checked the Coldplay folder...

And it contained only The Scientist music video.

So now that all of those songs are gone, what do I do? How do I get the songs back?

I'm not too worried about the ones from CD or vinyl (hey, this is a good opportunity to start completely over, with everything iTunes+ or Apple Lossesless), but what about the many downloaded songs? There are about 100 of those missing.

Thanks for your help. I'm off to beef up the security of my network and see what a low-capacity external HDD costs.

 

[Blue Velvet]

You could try some file recovery software. Most apps will have a trial/demo version that will check if the files are recoverable, although you'd have to weigh the cost of software against repurchasing your favorite tunes again.

If this is the route you go, it's best to keep the use of that problematic drive to an absolute minimum as 'deleted' files can be quickly overwritten.

 

[Shake 'n' Bake]

It's probably already overwritten. And I don't have much money to spend.

Can I call Apple and see if they'll let me re-download the songs for free?

 

[Sky Blue]

Look at the iTunes support page, you can fill in a form to get your stuff downloaded.
I've done it before.

 

[Shake 'n' Bake]

Thanks. I'll find that and fill it out and see what happens.

I can't find a form anywhere. Got a URL? Or an email address to ask about it?

EDIT: Never mind, found it and sent it.

 

[Shake 'n' Bake]

Wow.

I sent the message and within an hour I was downloading my items again. They weren't able to get everything, but some of that is on the various iPods of the house.

I also wiped out the iTunes Music folder so we've got a fresh start now.

I've learned my lesson, and from now on, I will keep many backups on many media. DVD, external and (extra) internal HDD for starters. I'll probably also copy to my Studio 540 which has a 750 GB HDD with not too much one it. I think I can fit at least a 6 month catalogue of backups on there without any trouble. In fact, I'll delegate 200 GB for that task.

By my calculations, it'll take at least 20 hours for the downloading to be over. Then another day or so (weekend project, here I come) for the CDs, which will be imported as Apple Losseless.