Music files

      I have been meaning to sync my iPhone to iTunes for a very long time. I think it was last year that my Dell laptop died, and I replaced it with the laptop I am using now. I have an external hard drive with most of my files saved to it. It's 4TB, and almost full. Anyway, yesterday my son wanted to access my digital music files. He also has an iPhone, so I wanted to sync his phone to my computer. Well, I ran into a problem. The files listed in my music library "cannot be found." This morning I uninstalled iTunes, updated my computer, moved files directly from the external hard drive to my computer, and am now waiting to see if I can make this work. I am waiting for the music files to "copy." Then I will install the latest version on iTunes, add the files to my iTunes library, and try to sync again. I think some of the problem was that I did not have the files on my computer in one spot. I pulled them directly from my external hard drive, and iTunes didn't like that. I hope my actions resolve the problem with syncing. I miss my "old" music that got me through A.I.T. in the Army.
     My first iPod was a gift. I was at Ft. Sam Houston, TX for "healthcare specialist" training, 68W, commonly known as combat medic. I did not run out and buy electronics as soon as we were allowed, like some of my peers did. I was afraid someone would steal whatever it was I bought. While others had their iPods, laptops, and new cell phones, I had my mp3/cd disc player. I only had one cd. I created it while I was a "holdover" at basic training in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. I made it at a cd making machine at the PX, and just picked different songs to add to it. Back to medic training. I made a friend who listened to music, and he let me borrow his iPod. It was totally awesome! I couldn't believe so much music could be in my hand, ready to listen to! Well, I accidentally dropped his iPod from my top bunk, and cracked the screen. It was still usable, just not pretty. After explaining what happened, and being so apologetic, he told me to keep it. He wanted a new one anyway! I couldn't believe my good fortune. From that point on, I would listen to my iPod without fail, anytime I was off duty. I love music. I kept that iPod until one day it just died. By then I was hooked to having a large library of music with me wherever I went. I had to replace it somehow. I decided that it was more useful to purchase an iPhone instead. I would get one with more memory than the iPod had, and it would have more features for a little more than the price of a new iPod. I ended up buying an iPhone 4s, and have had an iPhone ever since.
     I wish we could file share like we did with napster and other file sharing programs. It was pretty cool. I'm also sure it was the reason my computer crashed so frequently, but it gave me access to music that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford. I love Pandora though. I can stream music when I can't find anything interesting to listen to. I was thinking about getting the apple music service. I have to read what it includes. Do you get to download music to your library? Or is it just another streaming/listening service? I will have to find out.