I should state that I am however fundamentally opposed to any software that requires 3rd party fixit scripts to accomplish basic operations that should have been possible through the original software.
Rather than rehashing it all I feel I can leverage some of the advice already given and push this thread along on topic. I am not here to praise the Zune and condemn iTunes but rather to try and learn what it is that iTunes expects of me for a harmonious relationship(because it is not obvious from what I have been using). I loved the software player for my zune but alas the hardware and software are dead so I must move on. So I feel a necro-post may not be entirely inappropriate. This thread is currently at the top of the google search list for duplicate files in iTunes. If you want to sort out existing content into your relocated library use my ConsolidateByMoving script to, um, consolidate by moving files instead of copying them.įor tips on getting WMP and iTunes to play nice see this thread.įirst thing first. If you start fresh then just move everything into X:\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music before adding it to iTunes (up to you whether or not you want iTunes in charge or organising the structure i.e. that you want to preserve then it might be better to copy your existing iTunes folder out to X:\iTunes and then use the shift-start iTunes method to connect to it. If you already have a device attached to the current library, or ratings, playlists etc. If you hold down shift as you start iTunes you can create a new empty library at X:\iTunes where X: is your external drive letter. With your media held on an external drive you would probably be better off placing your iTunes Library there too.
For example if you have albums already imported into Windows Media Player and sitting in the default folders as \\ then iTunes can create the first set of dupes (although they are unique to iTunes at this point) as \iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\\. Depending on the options involved that can create duplicates. iTunes only offers to "collect" files on the first launch after the initial install. ITunes doesn't monitor your media folders in the way that Windows Media Player does. ( MediaMonkey's AutoTag From Filename is quite good for this). option and use my TagFromFilename script or fix the tags before importing into iTunes. Manually dedupe before importing or see my DeDuper script for use after the fact.Move new stuff inside the iTunes Media folder before adding it to iTunes or disable the Copy to. If you add in untagged files then iTunes will lump them all into Unknown Artist/Unknown Album and set the track name to.If you add a folder to iTunes which already has a bunch of duplicate files in it, iTunes will add in all the duplicates.If you have iTunes set up to Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library (default option) and then repeatedly import a folder that is outside the iTunes Media folder into the library, it will do as it is told and create a new set of copies of all those files.That's not always exactly what they intended to tell it to do and, more often than not, not exactly the way you would like or expect it to.
Like any other piece of software it works the way its programmers have told it to.