ITunes is wiped out
I just posted this: http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...=1#post2034564
about a trojan:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Troja...t-138453.shtml
which I acquired recently. Anyway, we managed to figure out the problem and get rid of it with ClamXAV.
Now, I wonder if someone here might be able to help me with an iTunes problem. I have used iTunes for several years w/o problems (except I can't find out how to switch identities and take my tunes with me). I use an iPod Nano (several years old) and I keep copies on my computer and also on an external hard drive. I have bought a few tunes from the iTunes store but mostly download from other sources, all legitimate purchases or free downloads.
About two weeks ago, I came back to Canada from Mexico which is where I picked up the trojan. After downloading the malware (didn't know it at the time, of course) I had trouble connecting to the Internet so didn't use my computer much -- at the time I thought it was just the server but other people were doing okay with the same server so it's suspicious.
Anyway, back in Canada, I went to my iTunes and it was empty!! Not a file left. No Playlists. Nada.
I used Spotlight to access the same files on my computer and they were now listed in iTunes whereas before they had been in separate folders with different names. When I clicked on a file on my computer it played and that one file was then in iTunes.
This is both weird and upsetting. I wrote to another forum for help and was told something like, "computers don't disappear files, people do" and no one would talk to me except to advise that I should take the time to learn about iTunes. Big help.
What I want is to be able to add to my iPod w/o it being wiped clean or something equally disastrous.
I can, I suppose, manually find all the mp3 files on my computer and put them back in iTunes. Probably won't do that because I don't know why they vanished in the first place.
I'm hoping someone here will say "oh, that's an easy one". Well, I can hope!
Thank you.
about a trojan:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Troja...t-138453.shtml
which I acquired recently. Anyway, we managed to figure out the problem and get rid of it with ClamXAV.
Now, I wonder if someone here might be able to help me with an iTunes problem. I have used iTunes for several years w/o problems (except I can't find out how to switch identities and take my tunes with me). I use an iPod Nano (several years old) and I keep copies on my computer and also on an external hard drive. I have bought a few tunes from the iTunes store but mostly download from other sources, all legitimate purchases or free downloads.
About two weeks ago, I came back to Canada from Mexico which is where I picked up the trojan. After downloading the malware (didn't know it at the time, of course) I had trouble connecting to the Internet so didn't use my computer much -- at the time I thought it was just the server but other people were doing okay with the same server so it's suspicious.
Anyway, back in Canada, I went to my iTunes and it was empty!! Not a file left. No Playlists. Nada.
I used Spotlight to access the same files on my computer and they were now listed in iTunes whereas before they had been in separate folders with different names. When I clicked on a file on my computer it played and that one file was then in iTunes.
This is both weird and upsetting. I wrote to another forum for help and was told something like, "computers don't disappear files, people do" and no one would talk to me except to advise that I should take the time to learn about iTunes. Big help.
What I want is to be able to add to my iPod w/o it being wiped clean or something equally disastrous.
I can, I suppose, manually find all the mp3 files on my computer and put them back in iTunes. Probably won't do that because I don't know why they vanished in the first place.
I'm hoping someone here will say "oh, that's an easy one". Well, I can hope!
Thank you.
Comments
/Users/<name/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl
If that files was deleted, moved or corrupted in some way, your music disappears from iTunes. Check the size of that file as well as the .xml file in the same folder. If both are quite small (<20kB), they will have been deleted and rebuilt in which case, you will have to import your music again.
If they are a decent size, it may be that iTunes is just looking in the wrong place. In iTunes, open preferences and click advanced. Check that the iTunes media folder location is set to the above iTunes folder. If not, change it to it.
I would greatly appreciate your advice on how to reload my iTunes. I have the files on my Macbook, on an exernal hard drive, and also a lot of them on my iPod. The easy way would be to start with the iPod and then fill in the gaps from my computer.
My fear is that iTunes will simply wipe my iPod clean. Last time I tried to change identities there was a warning. I then spent a long time (days) trying to find out how to put my files on the new identity. There seemed to be no way to do that, I let iTunes wipe my iPod clean.
It was a huge bother to reload my iPod back and many files were lost.This time should be better because I have more backup (I think) but everything about iTunes scares me so some advice from you would be great.
Thank you!
I would greatly appreciate your advice on how to reload my iTunes. I have the files on my Macbook, on an exernal hard drive, and also a lot of them on my iPod. The easy way would be to start with the iPod and then fill in the gaps from my computer.
My fear is that iTunes will simply wipe my iPod clean. Last time I tried to change identities there was a warning.
If you make sure to go into the iTunes preferences, click on devices and select "prevent iPods, iPhones and iPads from syncing automatically", that should avoid any wiping.
To extract data from your iPod, you can use one of the following:
http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/
http://thelittleappfactory.com/irip/
They aren't free unfortunately but they do the job. I think they will also rebuild your playlists.
For any missing music that is on your computer, you'd drag a folder containing audio files onto the iTunes window while the library is selected and it will scan the folder and add audio files in. Once you have all the music on your computer, it won't matter if iTunes needs to wipe the iPod again as you can put all the music back on.
You were a great help and I feel confident about the process.