iTunes can't find Network Storage

I would try browsing to the network location rather than inserting it. If it shows up in "my computer" then you should be able to browse to it. If it doesn't show up in "my computer" you need to figure out how to get it there. Perhaps you need to give it an alias which makes it look like any other drive?

Once iTunes sees it it still won't play the files until you add them. Naming a music folder in iTunes advanced preferences only tells it where to put files it adds in the future, not where they are now. To add them you can either use the iTunes menus or just drag and drop the file folders into the iTunes library.

I think Herman is onto it. You have identified the location to place music and where to look for music (to play), but now you have to run your search for music from iTunes to populate the music into iTunes.

As for Apple not supporting iTunes, this does not at all surprise me. Over the past 10 months my house has converted from PC to Apple - 4 laptops and 1 desktop. I called a couple of weeks ago because one of my batteries just died and found out via the internet that there was a problem and that Apple will replace the defective ones, even when out of warranty (which mine wasn't).

Apple technical support refused to even discuss anything with me until they could confirm my computer was under warranty (which I could not do during my first call). They would not respond to a single question, unless I was willing to give them a credit card number to charge me for asking a few questions about a defective product.

Overall, I have been completely unimpressed with Apple from a service perspective, though their operating system is light years ahead of MS.

The iTunes application in your new computer has not yet mapped its library (database) to your NAS drive (location). Try File/Add Folder to Library... and navigate to the folder in your NAS where all the music files reside.

When the mapping process is complete, go back to Edit/Preferences/Advanced/iTunes Music Folder Location > Change...and once again navigate to the same folder in your NAS (assuming it's the same folder you wish to add music files in the future).

Hope this helps.

I've yet to find a media player that is supported well by the ones behind it's issuance. For that matter I’ve found little erstwhile support from any PC apart from Dell, and they ain’t no picnic to deal with either. The only resources are the other users predominately, and that’s a sad story if you ask me. Even for those media players you are forced to purchase if you want the advanced feature set the upscale version offers, you simply can’t rely upon them.

It’s like, Pay me, have fun, hope it works for you.

To apple/iTunes credit they did help me one time. Couple years ago I had a drive fail and lost a significant amount of tracks I had purchased from them. Several thousand in fact. Some were no longer available, but following a few emails, one lady on the Apple support team enabled me to re-download all they had on file for me. That amounted to close to two thousand tracks. Whew! I was grateful for that and had the idea of buying more digital acreage for backing up burned into me once and for all.

One thing…. When experimenting with pointing to folders, importing, etc. Just do one folder … an album for instance… when first trying to get things situated. Wasting time to sit and watch itnes import files it won’t track back to or play outright is not helpful. Once one artist/album is successfully imported, THEN go get the balance of the library.

If the drive is mapped properly itunes will play it. If not mapped, firewalls, permissions and such need be setup right. XP Pro is mighty picky… way more than XP Home.

YOUR NAS DRIV E should have a setup menu wherein you can map a folder directly to the Pro pc… and it’ll be seen as another drive. Browse to whatever folder you seek to add to itunes that way. Wx. If the nas folder containing the music = tunes… and tunes shows up as tunes on nas Z: … look for that folder outright… and not in your workgroup.

BTW… that has to be done if some other media player is used to play itunes protected files… sometimes… and definitely on my xp pro box.

If you tick the Make itunes the default player box in Preffs, Windows Explorer will show it in the right click menu when browsing and playing files from there.

If a mistake is made just delete the *.itl file from the itunes folder in My Music, (default location) and start over. They should put a clear library option in the player, but have not yet. Deleting that file will also delete your playlists, but leave the files alone. Make sure too, not to tick the box saying copy files to the itunes library folder when importing or adding files. That is a problematic selection!