03-20-2010, 08:41 AM

Hello,

I really hope that somebody can help me out here...

I read up on some of the forums that said; once I had added all of my music to iTunes that I could then safely delete the original files from (XP) 'My Music' folder on my computer.

I have just spent days uploading all of my music to iTunes and sorting out my music library and rating everything etc

I have just deleted all of the files in the 'My Music' folder (except iTunes folder) and then checked that all was still well with itunes only to find that nothing played!!!

I have no idea what iTunes has actually done, I thought it made its own copies of each of the files (the iTunes folder is over 14GB?) but now the info is still displayed but every file requests that I locate the file???
If it has not made its own copies then why the **** id the itunes folder so huge?


And worse still, the files are not in the recycle bin!!!
So I cant just select them and restore them, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, if you are reading this and can offer any advice I will be very very grateful indeed.

All of the files are still on my iPhone though, so maybe it is possible to restore them from there if the F*%#ing XP has deleted them!?!?!!! (cant wait to buy myself a new mac later this year!)

03-20-2010, 08:50 AM

Ok, did you consolidate the library after importing?
Have you looked in the iTunes library folder to see if the files are there?
Try using search to locate one of the songs and see if it's put it in an unusual place, chances are the others will be with it.
Check iTunes preferences to see where your default import folder is located.

03-20-2010, 09:36 AM

Thank you, will check that now.

Consolidate the library?
Erm... No. what is that and what does this do please?

03-20-2010, 09:43 AM

Thank you so much for helping,

I have just done as you suggested and found that the option to 'copy' files was not ticked under preferences. however if this was NOT ticked then what on earth makes up an itunes folder the same size as everything else combined?

I had a look in the music folder within the itunes folder and oddly enough there are some tracks in there, but only some! that does not make any sense, they should all be there or none of them???

Also, i do not knwo what you mean by consolidate the library, so this has probably not been done.

All of my music IS still on my iPhone and so I should be able to recover all of the files from there somehow.

I also noticed that there is an option to convert newly imported files into 'MP3' format, is there any advantage to converting all of my music files to mp3, some are WMA some are AAC. and if so how can that be done en-mass?

Thank you again for your help

03-20-2010, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by SonicIndustries

I also noticed that there is an option to convert newly imported files into 'MP3' format, is there any advantage to converting all of my music files to mp3, some are WMA some are AAC. and if so how can that be done en-mass?

Unless you are looking for the perfect quality and the professional sound, MP3 should be what you are needing. The others are quite large in there file size and will take up a lot more room on your HD.
I cant remember the size comparison but im sure AAc is nearly or just over twice the size of a MP3 file ...


Cheers

03-20-2010, 09:56 AM

Consolidate the library is very well explained in this article:

Transferring your iTunes Library | iLounge Article

In fact that whole article is very useful, but when you move files around for iTunes it's important to do this, as it means it will find the files.
I would keep your songs in the format they are in if space isn't a problem, but I personally find MP3 to be perfectly adequate for portable devices like iPods/phones.
There is plenty of software out there to help you recover your files from the iPhone too.

03-20-2010, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Kevriano

Transferring your iTunes Library | iLounge Article

Some sound advice there Kev .. +1 for virtual Rep as that article is a bloody good read. I have stickyed to my Docs lol

cheers

03-20-2010, 10:08 AM

Thank you, will check that now.

Consolidate the library?
Erm... No. what is that and what does this do please?

03-20-2010, 10:11 AM

Means combine or join it all together... In other words get it all in one place

Cheers

03-20-2010, 10:28 AM

Thank you, will check that now.

Consolidate the library?
Erm... No. what is that and what does this do please?

03-20-2010, 10:31 AM

Hi Guys, thank you for that.
I am just about to read the page suggested.

I would like to convert all none 'mp3' files to 'mp3' what is the easiest way to do this en-mass please?

03-20-2010, 10:38 AM

It is very late here but from memory if you highlight ALL songs you want to convert, highlight them, then in the Advance tab click on "make a mp3 version"

Is that easy, but remember you will have to go through afterwards and trash all the AAC versions you have. You will see you will have 2 versions when looking at them

Cheers

03-20-2010, 10:50 AM

Oh how I wish I had read that a week ago before I started importing and rating all of my music files etc etc etc.

But now I know!!!

So my plan of action to achieve what I originally intended is...
~figure out how to restore all files from my iphone
~Convert them all to ".mp3" format
~Copy all of the files to the itunes library
~Consolidate the iTunes library
~Then I can delete the old files

and that should be that! Hurray!!!
If I have missed anything please tell me...

03-20-2010, 10:51 AM

iTunes on Windows doesn't copy files to the library by default. It leaves them where they are. If you imported them into iTunes, then trashed them... you trashed them. I think they did it that way because of a big difference in Windows users and Macintosh users.

Windows users are very likely to use tag editors, have their own unique organization based on folders and filenames, and honestly have lots of really weird, personal ways of doing things, dating back to the days of Winamp and all that junk.

I think that's why Apple left that option un-checked by default. But still, the fact remains... if you imported, then trashed the files with that option turned off...

... You trashed the files

03-20-2010, 10:52 AM

Thank you so so much everybody! Very much appreciated!
If ever you need any graphic design/web/print work done I will do you a good deal lol.

Thank you so much.

My site btw Index of /