ITunes HELP!!!!!

[sonickteam2]

so my computer crashed last night while i was sleeping and restarted.   so today i go to start up Itunes and nothing.  i mean, the program loads but no songs in my library!!!!
 
  is there any way to get back my playlists, song ratings and play counts?  do they get stored somewhere or did i just lose all of this information?   really sucks.  any help or experience would kick butt.

[HoyaSaxa03]

wow, one of my worst nightmares (sad but true)...
 
 look under "my documents --> my music --> itunes", do you see files that say "iTunes Music Library.xml"? ... i'm pretty sure this is where all that stuff is stored
 
 you may have inspired me to finally get off my ass and backup my music/itunes files

[beetsnotbeats]

This is how you can fix it in Windows: From the "Edit" drop-down menu click "Preferences." A box with several tabs should open. Click on the "Advanced" tab then the "General" tab (if that tab is not already chosen). Note the location of your music files listed in the box. Find that folder (using Windows Explorer [ not Internet Explorer ] or clicking through My Computer). Drag the folder onto iTunes "Library" in the left panel source list. Everything that was in the music folder should now be cataloged by iTunes; it could take a few minutes depending on how many songs you have.

[sonickteam2]

hmm, see, i didnt lose any files.  just the ratings and play counts. i dont have mp3s in that folder.  i reloaded one of the temp files in the mymusic/itunes folder, but that just give me my songs back, some ratings and play counts, but it looks like its from last year sometime.

[Jaguar]

Sounds like your computer was restored to an earlier date.
 
 I wouldn't dare do this without the go ahead from someone who knows much more than I do but you may be able to go into your system restore and select a date on the calendar that is more recent. But be aware that could cause a whole set of other problems, such as that caused your computer to crash in the first place.

[Shadrach]

Originally posted by le sonick:
  hmm, see, i didnt lose any files.  just the ratings and play counts. i dont have mp3s in that folder.  i reloaded one of the temp files in the mymusic/itunes folder, but that just give me my songs back, some ratings and play counts, but it looks like its from last year sometime.

I could see why maybe your ratings are important, but who really cares about play counts?

[sonickteam2]

Originally posted by Shadrach:
   

Originally posted by le sonick:
  hmm, see, i didnt lose any files.  just the ratings and play counts. i dont have mp3s in that folder.  i reloaded one of the temp files in the mymusic/itunes folder, but that just give me my songs back, some ratings and play counts, but it looks like its from last year sometime.

I could see why maybe your ratings are important, but who really cares about play counts? [/b]

true. but i am assuming all that info is on a file together somewhere (if it exists anymore!)

[vansmack]

If you're using a PC, I may be helpful...
 
 Actually, it sounds like the reboot corrupted your iTunes Library.  When iTunes restarted, it created a whole new iTunes Library.  The good news is no files were lost. The bad news is all playlists and rankings were lost.
 
 The first option to restore is that iTunes realized the error and created a file called: iTunes Library (Damaged).itl  Search for that, change the name to iTunes Library.itl and you should be good.
 
 If the corruption happened because of a power surge or some other non-iTunes failure, you'll have to use a backup.
 
 If you have a backup, all you have to do is close iTunes, delete the new files iTunes created, (sometimes I recommend reinstalling iTunes and before you allow iTunes to search for files, cancel) replace the new files with the old files (rename them if you have to).  Restart iTunes and you're golden, save for any changes you've made since the last back up.
 
 (everybody see how easy that was - back up these two files immediately:  iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml - you can usually find them in the following directory: C:\Documents and Settings\[your username]\My Documents\My Music\iTunes)
 
 Since I'm guessing you didn't create your own backups, when you upgraded to iTunes 7, sometimes iTunes makes a backup of your files for you.  They can be found in the following directory:
 
 C:\Documents and Settings\[your username]\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\Previous iTunes Libraries
 
 If that's the case, you can usually copy them to the iTunes folder, rename them, and iTunes will use those files.  Of course, this won't be a full restore, it will only be up until the day you upgraded.  Also, if I can recommend something, do not use the orignal file to restore your library - use a copy in case something goes wrong on the restore so that you can try again.  Sometimes the new 7.1 won't upgrade the 6.X library file automatically without a new install.  And on rare occasiosn I've had to uninstall 7, install 6.x, use you old library, then re-upgrade to 7.  You can get the old iTunes here:  http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/itunes605forwindows.html

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Shadrach:
  I could see why maybe your ratings are important, but who really cares about play counts?

It was the playlists that made me go through all of the above hassle, then as I was getting into it, I started breaking things to understand the makeup.

[sonickteam2]

awesome! thanks for your help.  so, if i just occasionally make copies of the .itl and .xml files and if this happens again i can just import them back into my Itunes?

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by Shadrach:
 I could see why maybe your ratings are important, but who really cares about play counts?

all my smart playlists are based on play counts, would suck if i lost that ... ratings would REALLY suck though

[vansmack]

Originally posted by le sonick:
  awesome! thanks for your help.  so, if i just occasionally make copies of the .itl and .xml files and if this happens again i can just import them back into my Itunes?

Yep, and the .itl file is the more important file of the two.  But to be technically correct, you wouldn't be importing as much as simply copying them back into your iTunes folder, but I know what you meant.  
 
 You can even set Windows to back those files up automatically for you (if you choose to do so locally).  Some people gripe about doing this locally, but I maintain that if you have a hard drive failure, the music and video files themselves will be 100 times more of a concern than the library.
 
 Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup
 
 Choose to run the Backup wizard.  Follow the steps to backup those files to a new folder (I keep the folder in the iTunes folder).  When it's done, schedule the backup to run on a preset basis (I do it once every two weeks).
 
 Next time your iTunes craps out, close iTunes, restore the files using the same program, reopen iTunes and you're set.
 
 And at least every six months, you should use iTunes to back up your entire collection.  Depending on the amount of music you have and the media you choose to store the backup, this can be tedious.  If you don't have a DVD burner, I recommend a second hard drive of some sort as it could be dozens of CD-Rs.
 
 iTunes > File > Back up to Disc

[sonickteam2]

Originally posted by vansmack:
  Yep, and the .itl file is the more important file of the two.  But to be technically correct, you wouldn't be importing as much as simply copying them back into your iTunes folder, but I know what you meant.  
 
 You can even set Windows to back those files up automatically for you (if you choose to do so locally).  Some people gripe about doing this locally, but I maintain that if you have a hard drive failure, the music and video files themselves will be 100 times more of a concern than the library.
 

yeah, cool.  ok, so i will just do that, and redo my playlists/ratings/etc.  
 
   all of my music is on my external hard drive (my computer is a bit shaky!) so i'll manually back em up to that drive.
 
  sucks that it happened but at least i know how to avoid a future problem.
 
  what are all of those tmp files i have in my Itunes folder anyway?  they dont seem to do jack!
 
  i feel so out of touch with technology today!