Is there a way to convert Mp3 files to iTunes files?

iTunes plays mp3 files. I don’t see why you would need to convert them. And iTunes doesn’t have a file format.

I thought iTunes was mp4? Anyhow, I moved my iTunes library and iTunes is not finding any of the files. Most are MP3. I figured THAT was it. When I click on one of the mp3’s, Windows Media Player opens and not iTunes.

mp4 (AAC) is a open file format. Anything can use it. Open the Preferences and manually change the location of your music folder.

*preferences might be called something different on the Windows version of iTunes.

iTunes is just looking for the files in the wrong place.

Did you move them into the library folder or drag them into the itunes player window? unlike windows media player, itunes does not monitor a folder that you organize. It organizes the folder for you. So adding files to the library folder wont help. if you drag them into the itunes window, it will be copied to your library and added to the library database. you can then delete the original files.

john, I changed preferences.

wil, I used windows explorer to move the files to a folder on my external drive.

There’s no such thing as an iTunes file.

Drag the folder with all your music into the “Library” in the iTunes window. You will see this on the left above Podcasts and Videos. It will add them all to the application.

Go to settings and click on the advanced tab and under General, make sure the “copy files to iTunes Music Folder when importing” is unchecked; otherwise the files will be copied / duplicated when you drag them in to the iTunes window.

Nope, do not tick of that button! it will cause a lot of trouble later if you move your files. Let the button be ticked, import by drag and drop, then delete the original files!

All I know is I have changed the location of the songs in “Preferences”, yet iTunes can’t find them because the songs are actually in a folder named after the artist, ex. my songs are on H:\iTunes
they are not seen because they really are (ex.,) H:\iTunes\Beatles\Michelle

I tried removing the songs from the corresponding artist’s folder but, somehow, they went back.

wilhel is right and wrong in a manner of speaking…iTunes needs to link to your songs by way of the master library file. When you drag and drop files from various places on your computer, iTunes notates which directory they are located in and each time you open iTunes it will look in that directory to “re-link” to that song. While it is possible to have music files in multiple directories, if you later decide to move any of them, iTunes will not be able to locate them; when you select a file in the iTunes window, it will then have an icon of an exclamation point (!) inside of a circle, indicating that iTunes was unable to re-link to that file.

While the default setup enables iTunes to copy any file you drag and drop to it’s own location in your computer (the iTunes music folder), that location is on your C: drive; you can re-direct to another drive (Settings: Advanced: Importing), and as wilhel said, leaving the other box checked, the files you drag into iTunes from that point on will me duplicated and placed in a central folder.

One more word of note: in Settings: Advanced: Importing, there’s a drop-down menu that allows you to choose the format for the files that are created, the default being the Apple standard “AAC”; you can change it to .mp3 if you want your library to remain .mp3, as some people prefer .mp3 format’s audio quality. iTunes can read multiple formats though, so it is of little consequence unless those files are to be used by other programs down the line.

If I import, doesn’t it bring the songs back to the “C” drive?

Anyway, i checked some iTunes support forums. What I’m trying now is “File”, “Add Folder to Library” and entered the location through “browse”. Somethings happening. It’s putting songs on my playlist. I will check when it’s done to see where they put them.

Try these other discussions:

http://www.fluther.com/disc/18641/how-can-i-relocate-my-itunes-library-to-an-external-hard/

http://www.fluther.com/disc/12047/how-do-i-change-the-location-of-all-of-my-songs/

http://www.fluther.com/disc/5500/why-does-itunes-create-duplicate-files-when-i-drag-and-drop/

The last link was to a very relevant topic-avoiding duplicate files and imports; spargett asked this a couple of months ago, and I remember we flushed it out in the thread.

Too late! It worked but I have duplicates. SO, I’ll post a question asking if anyone ever used the software available to remove duplicates from iTunes!

I’ve used the itunes feature to remove duplicates, yes. however these days i have 100% control over my library. All songs have correct tags and album art. also, i do not have a single song without having the full album.

What iTunes feature to remove duplicates?

this

It just SHOWS dupes. You have to go in and remove them. I have a lot. They have software out there to do it.

@GolaYing: although that link you provide is for a true professional-strength media converter, that product is not free ($55!). I would think that’s a stretch for most folks who with a little practice can figure it out with iTunes, which is free. Just my opinion…