How do I transfer/copy my itunes library from 1 external hard drive to another one?

How can i transfer/copy my itunes library from 1 external hard drive  to another one?

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449

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  • How do I transfer iTunes Library from external hard drive to another drive?

    I have filled by 160GB drive with my iTunes music library so I am purchasing a 400GB external drive. I want to transfer the entire library to the bigger drive. Can I simply drag via fire wire then entire libarary to the new drive and then "tell" by iTunes Mac where it is? Any step by step would be appreciated.
    Thank you.

    I just posted this to another topic, but it applies here as well. Hopefully there's no prohibition on cross-posting on this board, my apologies to all if there is:
    "I haven't read the whole thread, so someone could have already mentioned this, but I did the same thing, move my music library to an external drive. The Help articles are helpful, but only up to a point. When that didn't work, I called up AppleCare support up, and they took me through all the standard steps, and got stumped at the same point I did. Finally she suggested trying something, and that ended up doing the trick. So here in brief is what you do:
    1) Copy over your "iTunes Music" folder to the external hard drive
    2) Go into Advanced preferences to have iTunes look for the "iTunes Music" folder in the new location. If you're like me, your music won't appear in the Library.
    3) In iTunes, go to the Library window (which is probably blank), then in a Finder window, find the icon for the "iTunes Music" folder in the new location. Drag that icon onto the Library window.
    You should now see a progress window pop up showing all the songs that it's populating the Library window with."
    20" Intel iMac 14" iBook G4, 233 MHz Beige G3   Mac OS X (10.4.5)  

  • Backup and restoring itunes library from external hard drive?

    is there a way to backup and restore my itunes library to external hard drive and not through the internal itunes backup utility cos i have over 20gbs of music and i want to keep my album art and renamed songs etc. because i will be reformating my pc and dont want to go through painful task of manually adding stuff again.

    Try this...
    *Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
    Grab SyncToy 2.0, a free tool from MS. Use it to create a backup copy of your iTunes library & any other media folders onto another hard drive or network share. After making the initial backup copy use SyncToy to periodically synchronise the backup copy with your library and only the changed files will be copied saving lots of time.
    When the time comes to reformat your PC, do a final sync, then open iTunes & deauthorise the PC, reformat & rebuild Windows, copy the backup folders back to the same location as they were previously, install iTunes and it should all work perfectly.
    tt2

  • How to transfer my ITunes library from External Hard Drive to Mac Book Pro

    I recently had an issue with my Mac Book(OS X Yosemite)  Had to take it to the store and they fixed it (replaced graphics mother board or something like that) Before that  I backed up the whole laptop on an external hard drive. When I connect the external hard drive I can open all my files, not sure how to transfer it, I see the External hard drive and can drag it but where do i drag it because on my Mac Book I can't  find Music. Should I drag it to the desktop and then drag it to the music when I disconnect the external ? Thanks

    Choose Home from the Finder's Go menu, double-click the Music item, and drag it there.
    (123001)

  • How do i restory my entire itunes library from the hard drive of a new laptop to itunes?

    I recently got a new laptop and would like to transfer my itunes from the old to the new. I backed up the itunes library to an external hard drive, and have transferred it to the hard drive of the new laptop (I haven't deleted the library from the old laptop). I am operating on windows. I am now stuck and can't seem to restore my entire itunes library to itunes. The items purchased from the itunes store are in the library on the new laptop, but the rest of my music is not. How do I restore it to my itunes library? I have tried opening itunes while holding down shift and selecting "choose library" option, but when I select the itunes folder, it doesn't appear in the library.
    help?!

    Hello ggjsa,
    Congratulations on your new laptop!  I understand that you have copied your old iTunes Library to your new computer, but you are still not seeing the music.  I recommend reviewing Part 5 in the section titled "External drive" in the following article:
    iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4527
    If you are still having trouble transferring the library using this method, you may want to try using the Home Sharing method in the article. 
    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
    Best,
    Sheila M.

  • How to get ITunes library from external hard drive to new PC

    have ITunes folder from dying PC saved on external hard drive. PC now dead. New PC has Windows7, and have loaded ITunes.
    Now need to know exactly what to do to get all that lovely music from the external hard drive onto the new Windows7 PC. The ITunes folder has the following inside it:
    ITunesMusic folder in it, which looks like all the music is in there.
    Album Artwork folder
    ITunesLibrary.itl
    ITunesMusicLibrary.xml
    ITunesLibraryGenius.itdb
    ITunesLibraryExtras.itdb
    What do I do, and in what order? I'm thinking I should NOT need to plug in the ipod, since everything is saved on the external drive. (I don't want to accidentally wipe the Ipod, since I'm pretty sure it is set to automatically sync.....)
    the whole point of doing frequent backups was to not lose anything. Note: did NOT use apple for backups, just regular backup program. Can see the files and folders, just need to knkow what to do.
    Thanks in advance for the help!

    Drag and drop the whole folder into the iTunes application.
    The iTunes application meaning your library once iTunes is open

  • Migrating iTunes library from external hard drive to new laptop

    Hi there, I am wondering if anyone can help me please? I am a complete newbie to this forum thing, I am just getting into this cosmic sharing world but find myself utterly frustrated with iTunes and my new laptop - with little help on the Support pages, so i am venturing into the unkown and seeking help from anyone out there.........slightly scary for me, this really is my first post on a forum - so be gentle with me :0)
    On my old steam driven laptop I had to move my iTunes library to an external hard drive, my 250MB hard drive just wasn't enough (I know pathetic wasn't it). All ok there and I have been using it no problem. I have now upgraded (finally!!) to a new wonderful laptop (with webcam and all sorts!)but I am at the end of my tether trying to get my iTunes library from my external hard drive to appear in the Library on the laptop. boo hoo.
    I have tried changing the file location in the Advance section of preferences, i have tried choosing the library after holding down the shift key on start up (you see not a complete numpty). They all appear to work as i don't get any error messages, but the songs just don't appear in the library. Am i being a complete numb nuts here? what am i missing?
    If anyone can help i would be really grateful as this is spoiling the euphoric feeling i have of my lovely new laptop!
    cheers Latte

    tonybassplayer wrote:
    Thank Chris I have just done that. How do I now get them in to Itunes ?
    If you simply copy the iTUnes folder to /Music/ and launch iTUnes, everythign will be there. No need to import anything.
    This will work the same with iPhoto.
    Simply copy the Photo library to /Pictures/ folder and launch iPhoto.

  • Need to move iTunes library from external hard drive to Mac desktop.

    I moved my iTunes library from my Mac desktop to an external hard drive. I needed to do this so the Apple Store could do maintenance work on my computer and I didn't want to lose my files. How do I move the iTunes library back to my Mac desktop?

    Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings:  Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive.  Open iTunes and immediately hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) so you get a prompt to select a library, then guide it to the 'iTunes Library.itl' file in the moved iTunes folder.
    If you put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music  then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there.  (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)

  • Can't import entire iTunes library from external hard drive

    I recently had to reset my IBM ThinkPad T40 (Windows XP) to factory settings. Of course, I backuped up my iTunes library on an external hard drive, and there didn't seem to be any problems doing so. (I've had to do the same thing before) But I can't re-import the entire library now! It only imports about a thousand songs (I had about 5,000), and I get an error message saying "The file iTunes Library.itl~ cannot be imported becuase it does not appear to be a valid exported file.") I also tried to import a previous back-up (stored in a different folder, and it wouldn't import all of those files, either -- no more than in the more recent backup files) either. I've tried re-downloading the iTunes software several times. Help!!!!
    Thanks!!!
    PS: Is there a way to sync my iPod to import songs from that BACK into itunes?
    IBM ThinkPad T40   Windows XP  

    This seems to have deleted ALL of my iTunes. The folder (and all iTunes files) is still there on my backup, but now the newly-installed iTunes won't import ANYTHING (It at least imported about 1,000 (out of 5,000) songs before. But now it says all files are invalid, regardless of where I attempt to import them from. (although the names of some playlists import -- but they're empty files) It appears that SOME of the music files are located on the backup copy, but simply won't import. Perhaps they're corrupted?

  • Copying saved iphoto library from external hard drive back to Macbook Pro

    Please help, I have accidentally managed to permanently delete my iphoto library and by this I mean that I somehow dragged my library into trash and then emptied it.  I don't know how this happend but I quite quickly found out I had done it and shut my computer down.  I have since done a recovery with disk drill and have hopefully recovered most of my photos though I havent had time to look through all the 1000's of photos yet.  I do have a copied version of my library on an external hard drive that I did in 2012 and I have tried to copy this library back to my pictures folder so i at least have my photos up to 2012 back but it is not working.  I have read through some of the threads on here regarding iphoto library back ups and I think the issue might be that the external hard drive is formatted Fat32 and not os extended.
    I am hoping someone can help me get this working.  Here are the facts.
    1.  I am running iphoto 11, version 9.2.3 on a macbook pro running os x 10.6.8
    2. The copied iphoto library is on an external hard drive that is fat32 formatted.  I can open the package contents and see the originals folder with all the yearly folders inside and all the numbered folders inside that with the pictures in them, so I know the pictures are there.
    3.  If I try to copy the library folder over to the pictures folder on the macbook i just get a pop up window saying 'preparing to copy iphoto library' and the scrolling bar but the copy doesn't actually start.
    4.  If I try to open the library through iphoto by holidng down the option key, iphoto tells me that the library has to be upgraded but i am reluctant to upgrade the original copy of the library.  I would prefer to copy it first in case anything goes wrong but then i have the problem above that the copy doesn't work
    Thank you in advance for any help.

    The copied iphoto library is on an external hard drive that is fat32 formatted.
    Therein lies the problem.  iPhoto libraries need to be stored, placed on a disk formatted OS X Extended (journaled).  The FAT format doesn't support the complexity of an iPhoto library and can, and more often than not, corrupt a library.
    Try the following:
    Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    1 - download the free version of iPhoto Library Manager and launch.>Click on the Add Library button,
    2 -  select the library you want to add from those in the selection window.
    3 - make sure that in the rebuild window the checkbox  "Scavange orphaned photos" is checked.
    4 - now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
    5 - in the next  window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed, i.e. in the Pictures folder of your MBP. Click on the Create button.
    Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
    Note 2:  Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
    OT

  • Can't restore itunes library from external hard drive

    Prior to my hard drive crashing, I dragged my entire itunes folder (with all sub folders) to a firelite external hard drive. I replaced the power book HD, and I want to put my backed up library on the new HD. I dragged the folder from the firelite to the music folder (in place of the itunes folder that was already there). Unfortunately, the itunes library is still empty. Am I missing something?

    Yes, the relative location is the same, the user account has the same short and long lame as before.
    I did try to use the preferences to point to the backed up itunes folder. Once when it was on the eHD and once when I put it in the music folder. Unfortunatley no luck.
    I will try your idea about using "Consolidate Library"
    One other interesting thing I tried a few days ago was to follow the procedure outlined in the apple support section about restoring the library. It has you move the libray xml file to the desk top, trashing one of the other files (I forgot which) and then choosing the xml file placed on the desk top upon starting itunes. I thought it was kind of odd to select the very xml file I was having trouble with so I chose the backed up xml file. It put all of the playlist folders back in duplicate, but the library was still empty (probably becuase the xml file is just a reference file and I hadn't loaded any actual music files) If the consolidate doesn't work, mabye I'll try that again, but also put the folder with the actual files on the computer as well
    I'll let you know how "Consolidate" works, thanks for your suggestions!

  • HT1451 No longer able to add itunes library from external hard drive.

    Its been about a year since I used itunes because my old pc burned out. I was using an external hard drive to store my itunes libraryand my preferences were set to advanced preferences / itunes media folder location / F:\itunes data, and was working fine when I needed to reinstall itunes before now. Now when I choose it, nothing comes up, no saved apps, books or music not in the cloud. In fact, I don't even see apps anymore.
    Anyone know why this no longer works, and how do I get it back, get it all back?

    Hello there, bpbiv.
    The following Knowledge Base article should provide some assistance in redirecting iTunes:
    iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364
    Since you already have the folder located on the external drive just point it to that location, you wont need to perform the portion of creating a new folder.
    If the issue persists and reinstalling iTunes is necessary, refer to this Knowledge Base article as the uninstall/reinstall steps do need to be performed in a very particular order:
    Removing and Reinstalling iTunes, QuickTime, and other software components for Windows XP
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1925
    Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
    Cheers,
    Pedro D.

  • How can I transfer my files and documents from external hard drive to my new MacBook Air?

    I recently bought a new MacBook Air and I would like to transfer my files and documents which I already saved in my external hard drive to this new mac. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do it so far. I tried to drag some files but the rest of the documents cant be transferred.
    I appreciate it if anyone could help me in thsi regard.

    Describe exactly what you did when it failed and the error message you received that told you it failed. Dragging and dropping files from one drive to another will work. Having said that  however, you need to be aware that trying to copy items with the same name will result in a warning dialog box offering several different options including canceling.
    To better help you it would also be helpful to know about the external drive. Did you use TimeMachine to back up to that external drive? Did you copy files from another computer to the drive?

  • Question regarding the itunes library files when moving itunes library from 1 hard drive to another.

    My itunes library had out grown my 2TB drive (I'm a bit of a podcast addict) so I got a 4TB drive to replace it but for some reason my Mac Pro started to act up and eventually apps became crippled to where they would not open.
    So I had no choice but to go back to my 2TB drive for my boot drive for now but my itunes library is now slightly larger than the 2TB drive and won't fit so with my previous 4TB drive connected via a hard drive dock I followed the instructions to move my itunes library to a secondary 4TB drive in my mac pro and that went fine the one thing I noticed is in the article it says not to move the 2 library files but now my itunes media is on a internal drive and the 2 library files are on the hard drive connected to my mac pro via the dock so if I was to remove the drive from the dock the 2 library files would no longer be accessable and my itunes library would not be able to be found even though the media in on one of my internal drives.
    Anyone know how I can rectify this issue?

    Does this article help: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305451 ?

  • Moving itunes from external hard-drive to another and using another comput

    Hi,
    This has probably been posted before but i couldn't find it.
    My itunes works on another computer, with the library (Edit->Preferences->Itunes location as g:\itunes), this includes the xml files for the library.
    I've now got a new laptop and external hard-drive and want to move the library onto the new hard-drive and use it on the new laptop.
    I think i can copy the itunes folder from old hard-drive onto new one, then point the itunes install on the new laptop to the new harddrive and it should pick it up?
    Any ideas?
    Matt

    Welcome to AD!
    +this includes the xml files for the library.+
    Does this also include the important itunes database file, the one with the ITL file extension?
    If so, your idea should work. Use Windows Explorer to copy the ITL & music files/folders over to the new exHD.
    Connect the new exHD to your laptop and make sure Windows sees it as drive G:
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307844
    That is a very important step. Otherwise, iTunes will lose all the paths to the music.
    Now start itunes on the laptop by pressing *and holding* the shift key. Tell it to use the ITL file on the G: drive. Then set your iTunes preoferences to have any future additions go to the G: drive music folder.

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