how do I restore my entire iTunes music libray when all songs appear however have an '!' next to each song meaning it cannot find music media folder? I accidently deleted the music folder and know for a fact it is lost. My iPad hoever does have the complete library of songs but when I attempt to use the 'Transfer Purchases' option it does not "overlay" the missing content in iTunes which thinks the songs exist??? When I go to iTunes Store and use the 'Puchased' option on far right margin it opens new window which DOES show all of my songs that also appear in the Libray Music folder containing the '!'? All songs show the icon 'Downloaded' on the right margin. My iPad/iPod's are all up to date w/complete content. I have purchased content on these devics and when I choose 'Transfer Purchases' it will only transfer new apps, music that was downloaded from that device. I was tempted to delete all of the songs in iTunes showing the '!' however don't know if that also deletes my record of purchase for that item. I have been exchanging emails with Apple's iTunes Support which is a big JOKE!!! Seems each email comes from a different tech and they only provide me with links to 'Transfering Purchases' which does not solve my problem. I have articulated in detail the problem but they don't get it HELP!!! Warm Regards, Larry

To add one additional caveat - my new iPhone 4S arrived this past Friday and am waiting to sync it until I have my iTunes library fully restored.

FOR ALL - HERE WAS MY MSG TO APPLE SUPPORT (btw 3rd tech in 2 days) AND RESPONSE

Naveen
iTunes Store/Mac App Store Customer Support

Please Note: I work Sunday-Wednesday, Saturday 07:00 AM - 04:00 PM CST

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Nisha, To precisely articulate my current issue will describe in detail:
1. My iTunes Music library shows all of the songs I have purchased since 2006.
2. I somehow mistakenly tried to move my music media library to a portable hard drive due to low disk space on my notebook.
3. I had already deleted my default music media library from my notebook.
4. I experienced a portable hard drive error and lost my entire library meaning I had no backup.
5. When I open iTunes all of my music still shows up under my library however if I attempt to play any song (other than recent purchases) an '!' exclamation point appears next to all 3700+ songs with message cannot find location of music... which I already know has been lost.
6. Good news is I own an iPad (1st gen), iPod Touch 3G, and iPod Touch 4G which all have my complete library's - with all of these devices mirrored I consider any of these devices my backups. They all function properly, etc.
7. I was told from iTunes support to perform a 'Transfer Purchases' from named device via context menu.
8. This only appears to be working for any purchases made on the device and will not transfer my entire library which has been lost.
9. Finally my REAL question is how can I restore my entire music library from my iPad/iPod device to overlay my iTunes music library? In other words I want to 'Transfer Purchases' of entire content from my device to iTunes.
10. When I execute the 'Transfer Purchases' option from iPad to iTunes nothing really changes as when I go to play a song from iTunes music library I get the message as mentioned above cannot find the location of song.... with an '!' next to song name.
11. If I were to DELETE the entire iTunes music content that have a '!' next each song would 'Transfer Purchases' option work to restore my library????
------------------------ HIS REPLY TO MY PROBLEM ---------------------------------------
Naveen here from the iTunes Store, taking over for Nisha. I am sorry to hear that you are still unable to restore your purchases made from the iTunes Store. I will try to provide as much information as I can to help you resolve it.

Larry, I would like to inform you that the iTunes Store gives you the ability to download your past purchases without incurring additional charges as long as what you want to download is shown on your Purchased page. You may be able to download your past purchase using this feature.

To enable this feature, you must have the latest version of iTunes. It is available on the Apple website:

Apple - iTunes - Download iTunes Now

The latest version of iTunes will not affect your library or any items in your account.

To learn how to download past purchases, check out this article:

Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

If you don't see what you want to download in the list, it may have been removed or modified since you purchased it, and no longer available for download.
----------------- Does Apple iTunes Support even read your emails???? -------------------