iTunes and QTFairUse

if you're like me and simply prefer the .m4a file extension to the .m4p file extension that hangs from the end of files newly purchased from iTunes, you probably use either QTFairUse (QT) or myFairTunes. to continue to purchase music from the iTunes store, i was forced to upgrade to at least version 7.4. i also noticed earlier that QT was no longer functioning correctly - it would just spit out the name of all the songs on my list preceded by the test 'could not play track'. i figured an upgrade/reinstall wouldn't hurt and may actually solve both problems. the download page for the iTunes installer only allows you to download version 7.6; however, the latest version that QT 2.5 supports (despite the readme file saying that the max is 7.0.2) is 7.5. luckily, i always keep a local copy of the iTunes installer for the latest version supported by QT.

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am i the only one to notice a strange correlation between the timing of QT supporting the most current version of iTunes and iTunes prompting me to upgrade to a newer version that contains just fuckloads of new features. ever wonder why iTunes seems to be the only product that doesn't come with a 'what's new' document, or why you can't find any reference to this on their website? that's because, as far as i can tell, nothing new has been added since 6.0 - maybe even somewhere in the 5.x realm. why can't the assholes just admit that the only new feature is a new encryption key to keep the crackers (the computing type, not white people in general) off their tails for a few months?
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that was the background, here is the problem: i upgraded to 7.5 and was able to download my music, but QT kept saying it couldn't find my music library. i navigated to my music folder and found an assload of .itl and .xml files with ' - copy (n)' and even some ' - copy (n) copy' appended to the filename, where n went as high as five or six. i assumed these were created by QT since there is an option to backup the current library and this option is selected by default. what i couldn't find was the non-copied version of my library, which is what QT was looking for. i moved all of these .itl and .xml files to a backup folder thinking that iTunes would prompt me for the location of my library and i could just rename my latest copy to the default name and put it back in the original location and everyone would be happy. this didn't happen. iTunes instead created a new .itl and .xml file with ' - copy (x)' (can't remember which it was) in the default location and the application came up with nothing in my music library.

solution: close iTunes, then hold down shift and launch it again. it will prompt you to use an existing library or create a new one. at this point, you can copy one of the backups to the default location, give it the default library name, and you will have all your music back in your library and the ability to strip your songs of evil, evil copyright protection once again

p.s if anyone needs either the installer for iTunes or QT, feel free to contact me.