Can I and if so, how do I move the whole of iTunes from my computer to my external hard drive? I have absolutely no space left on my computer and desperately need to free up space! Many thanks for help:)

How do I move iTunes completely off my computer and onto my external hard drive? I have no more space on my computer and need to free up space quickly! will iTunes work from external hard drive only? many thanks :)

With iTunes closed, copy (safer if you don't yet have a backup) or move the entire iTunes folder from <User's Music> to X:\ as X:\iTunes (where X is the drive letter of the external). Press and hold down shift as you click the icon to start iTunes, keep holding shift until asked to choose or create a library, click choose, then browse to and open X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.
Note that changing the advanced preference for the media folder location doesn't change where iTunes expects to find existing content. Moving the library in the way outlined above however will work.
You should think about backing up your library to another external drive or network share.
tt2

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Can I shift my itunes from my PC to an external hard drive with laptop???

Hey
I really want to shift my itunes from my pc (because its running low on memory now) to one of those external hard drive books which will be attached to my laptop ---- but is this possible????
Does anyone know of any manuals that i can read or any information?
Email me on [email protected]
Manny xxxx
iPod Nano Windows XP

To move your iTunes music...
1 Quit iTunes.
2 Move the entire iTunes folder including music to the external drive.
3 Restart iTunes holding the Shift key in Windows, Option key in Mac.
4 iTunes will ask to Create new library or Choose existing library. Select Choose existing library and select the library in the folder you just moved.
5 Move the old iTunes folder to the trash but do not empty it.
6 Restart iTunes normally and verify the songs work. If they do, empty the trash.

I use an external hard drive for my Lightroom library and I notice that all the images shown on there are DNG. On my MAC hard drive I have images shown as NEF. I desperately need to free up space on my hard drive, can I safely delete these NEFs?

I use an external hard drive for my Lightroom library and I notice that all the images shown on there are DNG. On my MAC hard drive I have images shown as NEF. I desperately need to free up space on my hard drive, can I safely delete these NEFs?

dj_paige wrote:
however, I do point out that obtaining an additional hard drive and not throwing anything away seems a preferable solution to me.
heidie22, dj_paige has a very good point there. I would not through away the NEF files; I would archive them to a external drive.
By the way, I am assuming that converting RAW files to DNG is a decision you have made and not an accident.

Hi, I was wondering if someone can help me. I have a MacBook Pro, it has came up saying I need to free up space on the disk as it full every time it starts up, so I log in and no icons or applications show up on the screen just my background wallpaper, t

Hi,
I was wondering if someone can help me. I have a MacBook Pro, it has came up saying I need to free up space on the disk as it full every time it starts up, so I log in and no icons or applications show up on the screen just my background wallpaper, the only thing I can do is the force quit keyboard shortcut but there is nothing to quit, I have tried to start up in safe mode but again there is no icons in the desktop,
I have my disks that came with my laptop I have went into disk utility to repair disk and I still seem to have the same problem .. No icons or apps or anything lol just the cursor I can only shut down the laptop via power but and the press shut down.
Please help I am going out my mind with this thing :(
Thanks x jade

This can be used to boot the machine and delelte enough files to get it to boot normally.
.Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
Read about storage drive so you can store your extra stuff.
Most commonly used backup methods
Also here to see how a full boot drive slows the machine down
Why is my computer slow?

I'm having some difficulty with Time Machine. It appears to be deleting backups from random dates on my external hard drive. I am not deleting them. Are they hidden and how do I prevent this from happening? Can I retrieve them?

I'm having some difficulty with Time Machine. It appears to be deleting backups from random dates on my external hard drive. I am not deleting them. Are they hidden and how do I prevent this from happening? Can I retrieve them?

... I didn't know that Time Machine was more a last resort back up instead of main back up.
Don't rely upon Time Machine to the exclusion of all else. I compliment Time Machine with a periodic "clone". TM is much better than nothing, but it's a safety net, not a hammock
Here is my understanding of Time Machine's file deletion algorithm, distilled from Pondini's FAQ, Apple's KB articles, and my own observations.
Time Machine deletes ("thins") files from the backup disk as follows:
Hourly backups over 24 hours old, except the first backup of the day
Daily backups over 30 days old, except the first backup of the week
Older backups get deleted when Time Machine requires space and you deleted them from the source disk.
Therefore, assuming TM has been performing at least one backup per day, backup files will remain available:
at least thirty days, if they existed on your Mac for at least a day
until you run out of space, if they existed on your Mac for at least a week
In addition to the above, Time Machine always keeps one complete copy of your source disk so that the entire volume could be restored if necessary. Any files that remain on your source volume will be present on the TM backup, no matter how old they are.
If you are using 250 GB of space on your source disk, its Time Machine backups are likely to require at least twice that much. A good estimate of the minimum required backup volume size would be about three times the size of your source disk - 1.5 TB in your case.
A more thorough explanation would require Pondini since he has plumbed Time Machine's mysteries far more than I have.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

I need to back up my imac running Tiger (no time machine) so that we can upgrade OS. It is set up for multiple accounts. How do I capture all files in each account using newly purchased USB external hard drive?

I need to back up my imac running Tiger (no time machine) so that we can upgrade OS. It is set up for multiple accounts. How do I capture all files in each account using newly purchased USB external hard drive? Thanks!

Backup Software Recommendations
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
SuperDuper!
Synk Pro
Tri-Backup
Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
Or you can simply use the Restore option of Disk Utility to clone the drive to the backup:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

Can i use my time capsule to wirelessly backup my macbook and its external hard drive, which up until now was it's time machine and storage? How?

Can i use my time capsule to wirelessly backup my macbook and its external hard drive, which up until now was it's time machine and storage? How?

The external drive must be connected to the Mac using either USB or FireWire
You must remove the external hard drive from the list of items that are "excluded" from backups in Time Machine Preferences.
Here's how:
Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock)
Open Time Machine
Click Options
Look for the name of the hard drive in the list of "excluded" items and click on it to highlight it
Click the -- (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the hard drive from the list of "excluded" items....so it will now be backed up
Strongly recommend that you do the first backup using Ethenret from your computer to the Time Capsule since the entire contents of the external drive will be copied on the first pass. Ethernet will be 3-5 faster than wireless.
Once you have the first backup done, you can use wireless for subsequent backups since they will nornally be much smaller....unless you add large files to the external drive.

HT1923 hi, my mac air is really low on disk space, can i remove iTunes (which is huge) to an external hard drive to free up space and then just run it from the hard drive. instead of taking space on the mac? even if the mac no longer has enough to accommo

Hi, my mac air is really low on disk space, can I remove itunes (which is huge) to an external hard drive to free up space?...and then run it from the hard drive instead of the mac,even if the mac no longer has space to accomodate the size of the library?

Yes.
Copy your music iTunes Library folder to the external drive and change the Advanced settings in iTunes to point to this new location.
Once you're happy with these changes you can delete the same Library from your User account to free up space on the internal drive.

I am trying to copy more or less 30G from my MacbookPro to an external hard drive and it is stuck in the "preparing to copy" step. But that for more than one hour. What should I do to make it faster? Thanks a lot in advance!

I am trying to copy more or less 30G from my MacbookPro to an external hard drive and it is stuck in the "preparing to copy" step. But that for more than one hour. What should I do to make it faster? Thanks a lot in advance!

Thanks Shootist007, by blockd files I mean files that I have changed to blocked and when I tried to move then for the first time, I had to unblock again. I am trying to backup my pictures, my songs and other files like word documents and excel tables. First I put all of them as blocked, what caused the first problems on trying to move them. Then, I've unchecked the block option and if I try to move one by one, there is no problem. The issue is to move all together, because it gets stuck in the preparing to copy files step. Anyway, if I cannot do all by once, I'll do it one by one, event though that was not suposed to happen if we are talking about technology, right? Anyway, I thank you again for trying to help me!

HT201250 I use Time Machine to back up my entire computer with my external hard drive. I am getting a brand new iMac this month and was wondering what is the process of using this back up to restore my new computer exactly how my old computer was?

I use Time Machine to back up my entire computer with my external hard drive. I am getting a brand new iMac this month and was wondering what is the process of using this back up to restore my new computer exactly how my old computer was? I want to make sure I will still have various important files on my new computer, like my songs in iTunes, my photos in iPhoto, etc, etc. Thanks so much in advance!

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
When you turn on the new iMac for the first time, Setup Assistant will ask you to restore a backup, so connect the external disk and follow steps to restore all your files to your new iMac. Your new Mac will have the same settings and programs as your old computer.
In other cases, I would recommend to restore the whole backup without using Migration Assistant or Setup Assistant, but a Late 2012 iMac uses a special OS X build, so the OS X version that you're using on your old Mac won't work on the new one. For more information, see > http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

How can I edit lightroom 5 smart previews on mac book pro (mbp) when the lightroom 5 master image files are on my external hard drive is disconnected from the mbp

How can I edit lightroom 5 smart previews on mac book pro (mbp) when the lightroom 5 master image files are on my external hard drive is disconnected from the mbp? So far when I try to disconnect the external HD from the mbp, I get the following pop up window: The disk "external hard drive A" couldn't be ejected because "Lightroom" is using it. Quit that application and try to eject this disk again. When I do that and restart Lightroom 5, the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - Select Catalog screen pops up but doesn't list my external hard drive A as a choice.
I've reviewed Adobe's Lightroom Help | Smart Previews Lightroom 5 web page and still haven't been able to figure what I'm doing wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Your internal HDD. by default, is named 'Macintosh HD'. From what information you supplied, it looks like there is already a Lightroom catalog installed on you local (internal) HDD using the standard naming convention Adobe uses as well as a Lightroom catalog on your external drive which you created. To be sure of which catalog Lightroom is loading when it starts up, To do this, start Lightroom as you normally would. After it starts, select the Lightroom menu item, then select the Catalog Preferences item and finally, navigate to the General tab. The Location information will tell you exactly what catalog Lightroom is opening by default. This will likely be the Photography Mac Book Pro Versions catalog on your external HDD. Once that is confirmed, you are ready to proceed. As an additional test/verification, you can shut down Lightroom and, this time, start Lightroom while holding down the ALT/OPTION key. This will cause Lightroom to pause and display a screen which will allow you to chose a different catalog to open. Navigate to the /Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder and select the Lightroom 5 Catalog.lrcat file. When Lightroom comes up, there should be no previews or folders as this catalog should be empty. Now you can be certain which catalog is being used and which catalog has all your data and you are ready to migrate your current catalog. Shut down Lightroom.
To migrate your current catalog, use Finder to locate your Photography Mac Book Pro Versions folder on your external drive. Select the folder and select COPY from the context menu. Next, use Finder to navigate to the /Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder on you internal HDD. You can start at the Macintosh HD level and work your way down by opening each level (Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures). Select the /Pictures folder and then select PASTE... from the context menu. When the COPY/PASTE is complete, you should see the following files on the Macintosh HD:
Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom/ and
Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions
The Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder will contain the empty default catalog the Adobe created when Lightroom was installed and Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions will contain a copy of the catalog you created on your external HDD.
You are almost done now. Make sure your external drive is still attached for this step. Restart Lightroom using the ALT/OPTION key again. When the Select Catalog screen appears, select the Choose a Different Catalog button (lower left side). When you do, a Finder window will open to allow you to navigate to a catalog of your choosing. Navigate to Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions and select the file Photography Mac Book Pro Version.lrcat. This is the copy you just created. Select the Open button and Lightroom should start. You should see all of your previews and settings just as before. Also, in the left hand panel, all of your folder should show up and none of them should be dimmed and none of your previews should display a small exclamation point badge. Either a dimmed folder name or an exclamation point badge indicates that Lightroom can't find the associated image file. If everything looks good, go to the Lightroom menu, select Preferences and then select the General tab. Under Default Catalog, select an option to either load the LAST catalog opened or select the Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions catalog from the drop down. Shut down Lightroom and then restart it normally. This time, when Lightroom starts, you should be viewing the new copy of your catalog. You can confirm this by looking at the General tab on the Catalog Preferences screen (Lightroom/Catalog Preferences menu items). Shut down Lightroom once again and this time, eject your external drive before restarting. This time, your folders in the left hand panel will be dimmed but you should be able to work with your smart previews. If Lightroom should display a Select Catalog screen with the external drive detached, double check your settings as it indicates Lightroom is still looking at the copy of the catalog on the external drive rather than the new copy you made.
Finally, if you are seeing dimmed folders and/or exclamation point badges with the external drive attached, this indicates a problem. You can select any folder and select Update Folder Location from the context menu. This will allow you to navigate to the copy on the external drive and select it. Lightroom will then update the catalog (select to synchronize the content). This will not only clear the dimmed folder problem but also remove the exclamation point badges for all photos in that missing folder. However, it may indicate that not all went well with the copy of the catalog so make sure to verify all went well. You can use the Get Info option on the two folders. You should see the same number of files/folders for both the copy on the internal drive as well as on the external drive but you can't rely on the byte count because of the possibility of differences between the geometry of the two drives. Hope this all helps!

Hi i bought a new 500gb hard drive on my 2011 macbook pro, it is a blank hardrive and i forgot to save my other files on an external hard drive , i have a usb stick with mavericks installed on it. can i just go ahead and do a straight install by using it?

hi i have a macbook pro 2011 model, i decided to upgrade my hardrive and bought a 500gb blank hardrive, my query is because i wasnt able to save most of my files and my operating system to an external hard drive, i have a usb stick with a mavericks os installed on it. will i be able to do a straight install by just doing this method? i will be grateful for any tips or help u might offer, thanks.

Is it just bootable or does it have the Mavericks installation files on it? If so, yes. If not, no. You might consider getting an external enclosure. Put your old drive in it and boot to its Recovery partition. You can install from there. As a matter of fact, you can run Migration Assistant and get all your stuff over too.
http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-Inch-Aluminum-Enclosure-EC-TB4P/dp/B005EIGUD4/ ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1396656137&sr=8-3&keywords=2.5+enclosure

TS2972 How do you move your music within itunes from your regular library to the homeshares library so that you can import it to your new computer?

How do you move your music within itunes from your regular library to the homeshares library so that you can import it to your new computer?

You do not have to move it as such. Here are the steps to setup HomeSharing
1) Ctrl B to turn on the top menu
2) File > Home Sharing > Create Home Share enter your apple id and password, click create
3) repeat steps 1 and 2 for the other computer and create home share using the same apple id and password
On your new machine if you have turned on the left hand sidebar the Shared Library should be about halfway down like this.
Select the songs you want and click import at the bottom right. If you want all songs then I would select one song nad Ctrl A to select all
Finally if you have a lot of songs to transfer Switch off the wifi on the old computer. Leave the wifi on the new one. Connect with an ehternet network cable. The copying speed is way faster.
Click import and grab a coffee

How do I export video files from iPhoto to a backup external hard drive for safekeeping?

How do I export video files from iPhoto to a backup external hard drive for safekeeping? Each time I try, the video will not play from the external hard drive.

Use the File ➙ Export ➙ File Export menu option with Kind = Original. That should get the original video file exported. Try to export one to the Desktop first and open it with Quicktime Player. If all goes well export the rest to a folder on the EHD. How is the EHD formatted? It should be OS X Extended (journaled).

Using IMOVIE '08 to import from DV camera to 'BUSLINK' external hard drive( formatted for MAC ) but no success and kept getting this message: The import was canceled. You may not have permission to write to /Volumes/BUSLINK/iMovie Events.localized. Thanx

Using IMOVIE '08 to import from DV camera to 'BUSLINK' external hard drive( formatted for MAC ) but no success and kept getting this message: The import was canceled. You may not have permission to write to /Volumes/BUSLINK/iMovie Events.localized. Thanx in advance!

I finally got a representative that was able to help me, she had me go to Get Info, by right clicking iMovie from the finder, and I had to click on Sharing & Permissions>Everyone>Read & Write

Can I and if so, how do I move the whole of iTunes from my computer to my external hard drive? I have absolutely no space left on my computer and desperately need to free up space! Many thanks for help:)

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