My i-tunes library is a bar steward

[Lambretta]

Right, here is the problem

My i-tunes library loses things. It's a forgetful piece of crap.

This does not effect my actual i-pod, ie I can plug it in and it wont erase tracks that the library has lost, but I cant actually listen to tracks without "locating" them first.

I have a computer and an external hard drive where I back everything up to.
The external hard drive is where all the cd's are now stored.

The drive in the computer is where I tend to store files I've downloaded until I clear them out to the external drive when the one in the computer gets full. So when the CD's were first put into i-tunes they were in the D drive for examplie but I've since moved them to the external F drive cos the D drive got full.

If a track or a set gets "lost" I-Tunes asks me if I want to locate it - so I type in the name in a box and it locates it.

Normally if I want to listen to a single 3 hour set or whatever, it's easy to locate, but when you've downloaded loads of CD's and the computer cant find 80% of the songs in your entire library it's a pain in the arse.

Sooooooo, is there anyway of saying to the i-tunes library..... "THEY'VE ALL MOVED YOU DUMB f**k, GO LOOK IN THE EXTERNAL DRIVE, YOU'LL FIND ALL OF THEM THERE" instead of me having to locate each and every sodding track individually.

Because that is a tedious task indeed.​

 

[danno]

Sooooooo, is there anyway of saying to the i-tunes library..... "THEY'VE ALL MOVED YOU DUMB f**k, GO LOOK IN THE EXTERNAL DRIVE, YOU'LL FIND ALL OF THEM THERE" instead of me having to locate each and every sodding track individually.​

Because that is a tedious task indeed.​

There is not a quick fix that I am aware of.

I did exactly what you did and had the same problem.
It won't solve your problem, but you have to select the option to "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" in Preferences - Advanced.

Be careful about wiping your Itunes Library and starting again because you cant copy from the Ipod to the Itunes Library in Itunes. However there are programs and methods to do it. PM me if you are interested.
The other alternative is not to use Itunes as a media player.

 

[Triptych]

When you plug an external hard drive in it sometimes will change the drive letter e.g. G: H: etc. iTunes will revert back to the C:iTunes music default drive and won't be able to find anything. This is the case also if you haven't plugged the drive in before you start iTunes. So, the key is:

1) plug in external hard drive first
2) open iTunes
3) go to 'Edit->Preferences->Advanced' and make sure that the source folder is directed to the correct folder on your external hard drive. To make it easy I name the folder under the external hard drive 'iTunes music' to mimick the default drive on your C:

By redirecting itunes to the correct folder all your music will be available.

 

[forward pass]

I have had the same problem - and so have thousands of others. There seems to be no known solution. You need to re-link every song.

I-tunes is complete crap - I hate it !!!!

 

[Joker's Wild]

I-tunes is complete crap - I hate it !!!!

This x 1000000

Floola is far superior but it doesnt work for iPhones unfortunantely