Traktor - all cue points and loops disappeared - pls help!

I just replaced the hard drive on my mac, and restored it with time machine. Recently i've changed computers a few times, (upgraded to a newer mbp but had to send it back so I'm back to my old one)...ive not had a problem before...but this time i had to reinstall Traktor Scratch Pro 2 again.
My installation discs are in england, and i'm not, so i couldn't get them quickly, (plus would take forever for someone to find them) so I installed the tractor demo from the website and it seems to be running fine.
(Says license type - full , and running version 2.1.3)

However, all my MP3s that i'd very nicely edited (loop points, cues etc) now no longer have these cues and loops....very worrying...
I thought that this info was stored on the mp3 itself, and if i had the MP3 still I wouldn't lose it?

Does anyone have any suggestions if I can possibly recover them?

Many many thanks in advance!

Import your previous collection, then run a consistency check and find any missing files.

something that's interesting is that when i play a track i was sure i had created cue points etc for, first it analyses the track which it hasn't done since the first time i played it etc, and says it can't determine a bpm because the track is locked...

it also seems as though it has been manually beatgridded. so if it retained the beatgrid i made and the lock i put on it, why not the loops and cue points?
is there a simple setting somewhere or back up i just need to activate?

If this info was stored on the hard drive and i lost it when i replaced the hard drive, how would I prevent this next time? relative to how many mp3's i plan to prepare, i'd hardly started..but now i'm loathe to prepare them all if this could happen again?!

sorry I had written that reply below before i'd seen your comment. I will try that now Lethal Pizzle thx a lot!

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Originally Posted by lethal_pizzle

Import your previous collection, then run a consistency check and find any missing files.

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To be honest my music collection is a mess, and i need to locate the majority of the tracks. I was waiting to really tidy up my collection before putting them all in, i.e. write correct iTunes tags etc, sort the decent from the crap etc (they've been on an external drive etc while i was changing computers so much)

so a consistency check shows lots of missing tracks. however, the ones i do try that play just don't have the cue pts/loops.

i have put in a whole playlist now for example but doesn't make a difference...all the mp3 info for that playlist is gone.

I also came across a helpful piece of advice on the NI site Knowledge base entitled "How to transfer the TRAKTOR collection, playlists and settings from one computer to another" - I followed that word for word but hasn't solved the problem... :-(

Did you actually import your last collection.nml file from your old HD?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lethal_pizzle

Did you actually import your last collection.nml file from your old HD?

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yeah I tried that :-(

well, I mean, i have restored this new hard drive with time machine, so i'm importing another collection but from the same hard drive, as my new hard drive should be an exact replica of how my old one was.
I probably have lost this info as there's been a few laptops involved and a new hard drive I suppose..frustrating but at least I probably won't have so many variables involved if it happens again (i.e. its kind of hard to know where it went wrong now)

Do you think I should put my old HD in a case and try to import from the old hard drive? (i wouldn't be able to swap them inside the laptop myself, don't have the screwdrivers etc)

also my friend told me that mp3's would keep their tags, but wavs were a completely different story...so i double-checked, but they are all mp3's :-(