Set up iTunes on a new MacBook Pro to access an existing music library on an external hard drive?

We just replaced an old MacBook with a new MacBook Pro. We had to keep our iTunes library on an external hard drive because we didn't have space on the old computer. Since our library is large, I'd prefer to keep it that way with the new computer. I want to set it up to see the library on the external hard drive but as I've had issues with iTunes in the past so I wanted to know how to do this from the beginning instead of guessing. Help!

You have to click on the external drive, you will be able to play your tunes, plg in your external dive then double click on your exdrive, all your music should be there. just click on the song/playlist off the exdrive and they should play.

Similar Messages

  • HT1329 My large iTunes library is on an external hard drive. Can I set up iTunes on my new Macbook Pro and copy the library to it or are there any pitfalls?

    I have my large iTunes library on an external hard drive. Can I set up ITunes on my new Macbook Pro and transfer/copy this library to the internal hard drive or are there any problems I should be aware of?

    ITs an old Iomega 100gb external HD that has about 90gb of music on it. The Macbook has a 500gb HD. I would like to put the iTunes library on the internal HD so I have room to expand.
    Phil0124 wrote:
    You can copy it to the internal hard drive as long as it fits on it. How big is your library, and how big is your internal HD?
    The only thing you do not want to do is over-stuff the internal hard drive. The OS needs some space to operate correctly, so if your iTunes library uses up more than say 80 to 85% of the internal HD's available space it may not be a good idea to transfer it over.
    With that said, the internal HD will provide slightly faster access to the library than the external would, but other than that, you can point iTunes to the external drive just fine.

  • What is the exact name of the cable I need to connect my old hard drive from my macbook pro (it has been taken out of the computer) to my new macbook pro?  I need to transfer files from the old hard drive to the new computer.

    What is the exact name of the cable I need to connect my old hard drive from my macbook pro, which has been removed from the computer, to my new macbook pro?  I need to transfere files from the old hard drive to the new computer.

    No eSATA to USB. Just a SATA/IDE to USB adapter. Google SATA/IDE to USB adapter and you will get tons of links to buy them. Most likely your local computer electronics store has them, although they might be more expensive buying locally than online.
    I have several. You can get either USB 2, which what I recommend, or USB 3. USB is backward compatible so a USB 3 adapter will work on a USB 2 port and a USB 2 adapter will work on a USB 3 port. Backward compatible in both directions.
    I suggest a USB 2 type because there have been some problems with certain USB 3 devices, the USB 3 interface used isn't all that good in those certain devices. USB 3 is still fairly new where as USB 2 has been around for over 10 years.
    synghem wrote:
    Thank you LowLuster,
    At the apple store they said I needed an esata to usb wire.  But looking at wires on line has been confusing.  Is sata the same as esata?  How do I know if I need a usb 3 or usb 2?

  • My macbook pro's memory is full and I purchased an external hard drive. I am using timemachine, but need to earse/free up some memory on my laptop. How do I do this?

    My macbook pro's memory is full and I purchased an external hard drive. I am using timemachine, but need to earse/free up some memory on my laptop. How do I do this?

    Christinag1317 wrote:
    My macbook pro's memory is full and I purchased an external hard drive. I am using timemachine, but need to earse/free up some memory on my laptop. How do I do this?
    Ok when you refer to "memory" that is the Random Access Memory which is temporary memory the processor (worker) uses to store stuff while it's using it. Power goes off whats in the memory is gone.
    Your storage drive is where data is pernamnetly stored if the power is on/off.
    So what you really mean to say is your storage drive is filled up and you need to make some room.
    You have a TimeMachine drive, what this does is makes a image of your internal storage drive as a backup method, it also allows some "back in time" restoration of your previous deleted files depending how much space is on that drive. The more space, the less data you have, the more days you can go back in time to retrieve something.
    Unfortunatly the TimeMachine drive is not a extra space storage drive, it automatically rotates what appears on your internal storage drive. So if you delete something from the internal drive, it eventually gets deleted from the TimeMachine drive.
    So you need to make some more room on your internal drive, this is rather easy, all you need is ANOTHER external drive and connect it to the Mac. Give it a name like ExtraStorage#1 and thenyou will have to decide which of your User files you really don't need on the internal drive.
    For instance the best choice would be to move some movies out of your Movies folder to another MoviesExtra folder on the ExtraStorage#1 drive.
    Movies take a LOT of drive space and you can always copy them on or off, or watch them from the ExtraStorage#1 drive as well. But if your going to do this a lot, you should consider getting a Firewire 800/400, USB 3,2,1 combination drive as Firewire 800 is fastest and decently priced (Thunderbolt is very high priced and overkill at this time)
    The other things like Documents are quite small, Pictures can take a lot of space if you have a lot, but if you need them on the internal drive then that's better. Music one tends to use a lot or manage playlists and such, but perhaps some music you may which to move off or "prune", I suggest always burning data DVD's of music especially for extra backups.
    Once you have freed some room on the internal drive, this liitle neat program will show you what is taking the largest amount of space on your internal drive.
    http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/
    After a scan, right click on the big squares to "revel in Finder" to show you what's taking the largest amount of space, be warned it also opens up hidden system files and folders, which you won't be able to move. So concentrate on what's inthe Users folder.
    Likely if you have a lot of Movies this is the biggest culprit on most standard internal hard drives. Also if you have something in iTunes that's auto-downloading something like PodCasts and not deleting the older ones and you forget. So go there and fix things and that can free up drive space.
    If you bought a small SSD with your new Mac, then the price of that SSD has come back to haunt you with low storage space, you will have to think carefully what you can live without on the internal drive.
    Once you have slimmed things down, TimeMachine will update to reflect your slimmer internal drive. What this means is there is only one copy of your data on the ExtraStorage#1 drive.
    You need to maintain two copies of your data at all times on seperate hardware, so now you need ANOTHER storage drive (ExtraStorage#2) to copy everythinng of ExtraStorage#1, or else if you drop or have a mechanical problem with ES#1 all that data will be gone!
    If you wish to learn more then I suggest reading these two links
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201
    http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

  • I recently updated the software on my MacBook Pro. Now, my computer no longer recognizes my external hard drive. Could this be related to the software update and, if so, how do I correct the problem?

    I Recently updated the software on my MacBook Pro. Now, my computer no longer recognizes my external hard drive. Could this be related to the software update and, if so, how do I correct the problem?

    Ari343 wrote:
    No, the external hard drive does not show up on Disk Utility. I don't have another computer to try it on.
    Perform a PRAM reset:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
    Have you tried all the ports?
    Have you tried with a different cable?
    Have you tested all the ports with other devices to see that they are functioning?
    Ciao.

  • How to make iTunes recognize the music library in my external hard drive after instaIling Yosemite?

    How to make iTunes recognize the music library in my external hard drive after instaIling Yosemite? I tried re-setting the media folder location, but it didn't work. What else should I do?

    The issue is not related to the external drive. iTunes Match has difficulties matching tracks ripped fom CDs because they may differ slightly from the versions on sale in iTunes. You can try the match again. Otherwise do a search of this forum. There are already many discussions on this subject here that may help you.

  • New to macbook pro and have msmoney files (mbf) stored on an external hard drive. I want to transfer them to MoneyWiz and need to convert them to qif.  Does anyone know of any free software available and how do I do it. Thanks.

    I am new to macbook pro and have msmoney files (mbf) stored on an external harddrive.  I want to transfer them to MoneyWiz and need to convert them to qif.  Does anyone know of any free software available and how do I do it. Thanks.

    iTunes>Preferences (Cmd+,)>Advanced
    Choose the Ext HD (and the appropriate folder) as the location for your library.

  • How do i make itunes find my music library on an external hard drive?

    OK. So i got a new PC and ive downloaded itunes. Ive authorised itunes. However, no matter how hard i try, i cannot get it to find my existing itunes library which is situated on an external hard drive.
    I know ive done it before with my last PC but cannot remember how...and itunes made sense back then rather than the nonsense it is now.
    Any tips?
    Cheers

    Hi there,
    You may find the information in the article below helpful.
    iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
    -Griff W.

  • HT1296 How do I transfer my music library from my external hard drive to my new PC?

    I saved all my music to an external hard drive so that it could be moved to my new PC.  All my song titles are showing up on the new PC, but whenever I try to play something, it says the file cannot be found.  If I plug the HD in, it will play the music.  As soon as I unplug the HD, I can no longer play anything.  My music library includes both items purchased from iTunes and music I added from CDs I own.  Please advise.  Thanks!

    you moved your music to an E-HD and connect it to a new computer
    ahdn when you play something it will only play when the e-hd is connected ?
    if so yeah sure thats the whole point
    if you want it on the new computer first copy the music to the new computers hd
    and then add it to itunes
    some of us wish to move our media to NAS's to save storage on our computers
    so if itunes would force the media added to the local hd of the computer we would become very upset
    though itunes does have settings to auto move added media to the local hd

  • Problem with my new PC finding my music library on my external hard drive

    OK, my old PC (I know, I know!) was so old and decrepit, so I bought a new one. Before I junked it, I moved all the itunes music and videos onto a new external hard drive. Now, on the new computer, I just downloaded itunes 9. How do I go about getting my new PC to know where to look for my music library?
    Many thanks, you Apple Gods!

    check out kb article:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
    iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder

  • How do I get iTunes Match to upload my music library from my external hard drive?  It only got some of the music and not a lot of it at that.

    I'm trying iTunes Match and not having a great time of it so far.  It only got a fraction of my music from my music library.  I contacted support and they told me that it would recognize my external hard drive and take all of the music.  My collection is all from CDs with the exception of a few from iTunes.  I just want more of my collection to be available.
    Can anyone help with that

    The issue is not related to the external drive. iTunes Match has difficulties matching tracks ripped fom CDs because they may differ slightly from the versions on sale in iTunes. You can try the match again. Otherwise do a search of this forum. There are already many discussions on this subject here that may help you.

  • How can I have iTunes read my music library from an external hard drive?

    I am trying to use an external hard drive with more memory to store my iTunes music and movie library.  How can I get iTunes to read this external hard drive?

    Move the library to the external drive in its entirety.
    Then in Perferences > Advanced for iTunes in the box labelediTunes Media foler location point iTunes to the location of the library on the external drive.
    Allan

  • Macbook Pro Freezing, Can't back up files either to external hard drive either..

    Hi,
    I'm not entirely sure what happened but my Macbook Pro, (Lion/Mac OS X 10.7.5) just started to freeze a lot. I can hardly browse the web or sometimes browse folders. In some ocassions its even difficult to  check the Activity monitor or go to Disk Utitlity. I always see the rainbow beach ball of death and in the force quit window I see the red "Not responding."
    Because of this issue, I plan on taking my Macbook Pro to Apple but the problem is I can't even back up my files. I just started a time machine and it goes well until in the middle of the transfer it says:
    "The backup was not performed because an error occured while copying files to the back up disk.
    The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."
    so I tried a different ext. hard drive and still, it says the same message. Upon being fed up of the situation, I attempted to do the old school copy paste from drive to drive but again, in the middle of the transfer it stops and gives me a a differnet message:
    "The finder can't complete the operation because some data in ____ can't be read or written."
    I checked the file and its a .MOV a video file from my DSLR. I skipped this file and then again, it said the exact same message on a different video file. I can't just avoid these video files. I'm actually a film maker and all this clips are in desparately in need to be backed up.
    Does anyone know how to fix this issue? Atleast backing up the files..
    Thanks for the help.
    p.s.
    Not sure if this is related -- since my Macbook Pro has been running slow I deleted a couple of apps such as Things, DaVinci Resolve and FrameForge Previz.. Which to led to having my spolight indexing. I thought it was only the index thats making it run slow but the index done now and I can't back up my files!

    If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
    Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
    syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CSeq "I/O error" | tail | open -f -a TextEdit
    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
    Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
    The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
    A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Normally the window will be empty. If you get output like this:
    kernel[0] <Debug>: disk0s2: I/O error
    the boot drive is failing, or there's some other hardware fault in the storage subsystem.

  • Opening iTunes 10 Library on an External Hard Drive from iTunes 9.2.1

    Hi All,
    I backed up my iTunes library on an external Hard Drive using;
    'Machine A'- Powerbook, PowerPC, 1.25 GHz
    OS - Leopard
    iTunes - 10.1
    This Aluminum G4 is undergoing repairs so I am now using an older Powerbook which works fine.
    Configuration on this is
    'Machine B'- Powerbook, PowerPC, 400 GHz
    OS - Tiger / 10.4.11
    iTunes - 9.2.1
    My question is,
    'Is there any way for me to run iTunes 9.2.1 using the 'Music Library' from the external Hard Drive'
    and not loose any metadata (all the Tags/Ratings/Comments/Art Work)
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    It is likely that I will be using Machine B for a few months,
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    Cheers,
    Matt.

    The iTunes application should be installed on the system drive. You may need to repair iTunes to fix that error regarding a missing .exe.
    To organize your library properly see Make a split library portable.
    If you don't have a working version of the library that can be transformed into a portable shape I have tools and techniques that can repair the broken links.
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  • How do I authorize my MacBook Pro to add new files to my iTunes library on an external hard drive?

    Recently I switched from a PC running Windows XP to a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.5.8. I successfully imported my iTunes library from my external hard drive. The existing files play without a problem, but the computer is preventing me from loading any new music or podcasts onto the external drive. This includes podcasts through iTunes as well as outside sources such as Amazon. I get a message which reads that I am not authorized to make changes. I am the administrator on this computer. What should I do now? Thanks for your help.

    What exactly is the message you are seeing?
    I successfully imported my iTunes library from my external hard drive. The existing files play without a problem, but the computer is preventing me from loading any new music or podcasts onto the external drive.
    This is confusing.  If you "import" the library it is on your internal drive, but you say it is on the external.  Anyway, I think the drive's the problem.  Highlight the drive in Finder and get info on it.  If it says it is NTFS format that is a format commonly used with Windows but Macs can only read NTFS format, not write to it.  You will either need to reformat the drive (ideally to Mac extended) or buy software which will ket you use NTFS drives with a Mac computer.
    NTFS drivers for Macs (there may be others):
    Paragon NTFS - http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ - recommendation: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18708633
    Tuxera NTFS 2012.3.2  - http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/33122/tuxera-ntfs
    NTFS for Mac OS X 9.5.3 - http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/26288/ntfs-for-mac-os-x
    http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/ and http://i.vishalagarwal.com/post/30387627819/ntfs-write-on-lion-or-mountain-lion

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