Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Duplicate Finder Erased much of my music?!

by oedipamass Apr 3, 2009 2:55AM PDT

Duplicate Music Files Finder
Windows XP

I ran this program to clean up my dupe music files, and now much of my iTunes library "can't be located" and pops up the grey exclamation mark icon. I go to the folder of the bands and the subfolders with the album name and they are empty. I probably did something wrong in the execution, but is there anyway to find out what happened or find/recover these files? It looks as though my iTunes library is still taking up the same 25+ GBs of music I used to have, but I can't play any of it.

Any help will be very very appreciated!

holly

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Two thoughts...
by John.Wilkinson Apr 3, 2009 8:05AM PDT

1.) Check your Recycle Bin for deleted files.
2.) Double-click some of the music files you have found in that 25GB collection and see if they are playable that way.

You may just have to tell iTunes to rebuild the library.

John

- Collapse -
Duplicate Finder Erased
by caktus Apr 3, 2009 11:41AM PDT

All to often such programs are much more trouble than they could ever be worth, IMO.

Often duplicate files are there for a reason. Many programs require their own totally dedicated or "duplicate" files in order to operate properly (or at all.) Often when nothing appears broken/causing trouble, it is best left alone.

If you actually know that a file (or song) is an unneccessary duplicate, often better to delete it manually and perhaps even keep it protected in the Recycle bin or some where until you are sure it is safe to get rid of.

Hope you get your tunes back.

Charlie

- Collapse -
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
by stayingcalm Oct 12, 2009 1:17PM PDT

I used this program last night and it erased about 50 songs from my library. After playing with the program a bit and sending everything back from the recycling bin I thought that perhaps it was my mistake. I recovered "most" of the files and decided to try again. This time...gulp...it erased about, oh, 700 tracks from my library!!

They are not in the recycling bin, it is not a mirage and I am not simply going by the iTunes library. I'm looking at the folders and searching my disc, but the music is gone. Gone gone.

This must be someone's vindictive joke.

Back to Download.com Site Feedback forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info