I have all my music on an external hard drive. I just transferred all my files to a new hard drive . How do I sync all my files with my itunes library without losing all my playlists etc and keep everything intact?

Launch iTunes with the Option key held down, click on Choose Library, and specify it. If the external drive doesn't contain the iTunes database files, create a new library there and import that music.
If the library contains any rented movies, they won't play on a different computer.
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How can I re-sync my iPhone and iPad after accidentally deleting my iTunes library (without losing all of the apps on my devices)?

Long story short: A sequence of bad decisions on my part caused me to delete my entire iTunes library (song files, apps, itl file, everything in the music folder). Another bad decision left me without a Time Machine backup of this folder. I have a backup of my music and I can redownload audiobooks from Audible, so I'm not stressed out about my audio.
The problem is my iPhone and iPad. I've downloaded >400 apps and have over 100 on each device. How can I begin syncing them to this new, app-free library without having every app deleted (along with their organization, settings and related-documents). I use these devices heavily so this is a huge conundrum for me.
The next step would seem to be to restore my audio files to a new iTunes library, but how do I then sync my devices to that library without wiping out every app on my iDevices? I'm a pretty technical user and am willing to hand edit the ITL files if necessary. I think that i _may_ be able to find a version of the itl file that's about a year old from an ancient backup. But that still doesn't solve the whole problem.
Thank you,
Spencer

I managed to lose an earlier reply I'd started before you came back with your "solved" so I didn't bother to retype it.
It went something like this:
You should be able to recover the media with the tips in this post from forum regular Zevoneer but I'm not sure what the implications are for your application settings. You can probably transfer your purchases into an authorised library, backup the device, recover any other media using third party tools, then restore the device from the backup.
The older .itl file is useful however as iTunes should see this as the "home" library for your device which will allow you to preserve the application settings. (.itl file? Mac? I assume the library has migrated from PC to Mac at some point). Any files in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder or did you kill those as well? The most recent of these would be the best place to start.
And no, the .itl file is not editable by mortals...
Once you've restored the media from backups or recovered whatever else you useful can from the device, the scripts MusicFolder Files Not Added and Super Remove Dead Tracks should help get the library up to speed with the contents of the media folder.
tt2

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I have an apple iPhone 3G, and got some songs from youtube to mp3 into my iTunes library. I don't want to lose all the songs already on my playlist even though I want to sync the songs to my iPhone. Also, it won't let me drag the songs to the little iPhone icon.
Basically, tell me step-by-step what I have to do.
Explain like I'm 5.
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519 Download again
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751 Transfer all library
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766 create backup , don't depend on this one.

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kordanay

iOS devices can only sync with one library at a time. To sync with a new library, you have to remove the current libraries content.
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how do i backup my iphone 3 started on one itunes account and restore to the same phone with a different itunes account without losing all my information?

Please search the forums. This has been covered here extensively.

HT201269 I have my iTunes library on my Windows 7 machine on an external hard drive. I purchased a new Macbook and would like to point my new machine at my iTunes library without losing anything and then deactivate iTunes on the Windows machine, help ple

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Sorry, but this does not seem to be an iPad question. I'd therefore suggest you ask in the iTunes for Mac forum.
Regards.

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How do I update to Itunes 11 without losing all my stuff on my current itunes (10.6.3)

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
You won't lose songs when you update iTunes to the most recent version, but I recommend you to make a copy of your library in another folder. After updating, open iTunes and it will update the library to use it with the most recent version

When plugging in my iPhone to my PC, I get message "The registry settings used by Itunes drivers for importing and burning CD'd and DVD's are missing..." Can I uninstall and reinstall the iTunes app without losing all the tunes I've purchased/loaded?

When plugging in my iPhone to my PC, I get message "The registry settings used by Itunes drivers for importing and burning CD'd and DVD's are missing..." Can I uninstall and reinstall the iTunes app without losing all the tunes I've purchased/loaded

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I'd start with the following document, with one modification. At step 12 after typing GEARAspiWDM press the Enter/Return key once prior to clicking OK. (Pressing Return adds a carriage return in the field and is important.)
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in 10 years 3 computers crashed and I'm the 4th-How do I transfer OLD music from my old Ipod Nano to my iTunes library without losing it. My nano is filled to the brim but I don't want to lose music from CDs I no longer have and the thought of re-purchasing seems crazy.
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The file structure is a little complex. I will use inbox as an example.
Inbox (a large file with no file extension)
Inbox.msf ( An index of inbox with tags etc. Can be deleted with only loss of tags)
Inbox.sdb (a folder, indicating that the folder within Thunderbird has a sub folder.
POP mail is stored in
Appdata/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/*.default/Mail/[Server name]/
Local folder is stored in
Appdata/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/*.default/Mail/Local Folders/
As long as you do not overwrite, you can copy and paste whole folder trees into local folders (stuff on your old computer under a mail account is best relocated to local folder and then sorted as necessary afterwards.
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Hi, so I got my new computer loaded up with iTunes and I want to be able to move my music from my old iPod to my new iTunes library without losing any of the music I already have placed on the iPod. How would I do this? And please I'm not too savvy with the new iTunes layout and such so if you could make this easy in layman's terms that would be great.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
If you purchased all songs in the iTunes Store, plug your iPod to your Mac or PC and iTunes will ask you to transfer purchases.
If you didn't purchase any song or you have non-purchased songs from the iTunes Store, you have to use an application to transfer the songs to iTunes. Here is a list of applications you can use for that > https://discussions.apple.com/message/11319208#11319208

Hi. I was given an iPod with hundreds of songs. Now I have created my own iTunes account on my computer. Is there any way of adding my iTunes to my existing iPad (someone else's iTunes account) without losing all of the songs already on my iPod?

Hi there. I was given an iPod loaded with hundreds of songs. I have created an iTunes account on my computer. Is it possible to add the songs from my own iTunes account onto my iPod, which was created by someone else using their iTunes account, without losing all the songs on my iPod. Probably a stupid question, but I am one of the "older" generation .... Thanks

The The person who gave yo the iPod did not have the right/licence to also give you the media on the iPod. If you use it yo are stealing.
Go to Settings>General>Reset>Erase all Content end Settings and set the iPod up with your media.

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If you have any photo stream photos on your old phone that you want to keep you might want to save them to the camera roll, then import them to your computer (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083) before deleting the account. The reason for this is that photo stream photos are only kept in iCloud for 30 days. When you enable photo stream on your new phone you will only receive photo stream photos from the last 30 days as older photos are no longer in iCloud.

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Are you concerned about photos that you have taken with the iPhone in the Camera Roll, or photos you have synced to the iPhone from your computer?
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look here:
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Transfer iTunes purchases by:
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to a computer
Transfer your music fom the old computer
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
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Copy music from Ipod to new computer...: Apple Support Communities
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I have all my music on an external hard drive. I just transferred all my files to a new hard drive . How do I sync all my files with my itunes library without losing all my playlists etc and keep everything intact?

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