10.4.10 External Hard drives, and other oddites

Greetings,
I decided to turn my Mini into my file server tonight, and connected a 160 GB hard drive via an external USB 2.0 Case, and formatted it, and then copied some 50 GB of data from another hard drive that was formatted EXT3. I then installed the 10.4.10 update, and can no longer read the disk with the data on it. It was formatted in the UNIX file system, becaue I kept getting "The Underlying task reported failure on exit" Now I can't even check the disk because of the same message. I can't format this disk's twin because of the same message. I have an Intel based MacBook, and a PPC based Mac Mini. The problem has exibited it self on both machines. Disk Utility can see both of my external cases, but can't seem to do any thing with them. Please help.
Josh

Dick, Snow Leopard has only been out for 3 days. It's a little early to decry Silcon Image for not having a driver available. The sad reality is that eSATA support for both windows and mac has always been poor. I've tried MANY times with both systems to convert to eSATA and every time have foudn it unreliable. SI was the best, IMHO, but even that seemed to have problems for me over the long run. It's no excuse but the blame does not lie with Adobe or Apple. Further SI doesn't to my knowedge only makes chips and doesn't market directly to end users, so someone else is responsible for your support, who marketed your eSATA card?
You're posting to an Adobe Photoshop forum about what you know to be an Silcon Image problem.... I know you're looking for other to commiserate with, but you really need to contact SI or the manufacturer of the card.

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UserEventAgent won't let me eject my external hard drive, and other problems

I'm running a MacBook Pro (2008-ish model) running Mountain Lion 10.8.2 with 4Gb of RAM and 750Gb of internal HD (the original 250Gb seriously cramped my style), and UserEventAgent is acting all weird.
Because of that old 250Gb HD, I was in the habit of storing files I didn't need at the time on an external hard drive, a LaCie 500Gb connected by FW800 (probably not relevant). And lately, whenever I plug it in, I can't eject it without forcing it to eject.
Using the "list open files" command and searching for that drive [ lsof | grep LaCie ] reveals that UserEvent drops an immediate hook in it for some reason. This connection is immediate, and short of force-quitting UserEventAgent in Activity Monitor at the exact moment I try to eject that drive, I can't disconnect it properly without forcing it or shutting down completely.
In fact, looking at UserEventAgent's open files and ports in Activity Monitor, something just plain doesn't look right:
/usr/libexec/UserEventAgent
/System/Library/Frameworks/Security.framework/PlugIns/csparser.bundle/Contents/M acOS/csparser
/private/var/folders/td/hnt8krzc8xj63p001s61rg7r0000gn/C/mds/mdsDirectory.db
/usr/share/icu/icudt49l.dat
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/ACRRDaemon.plugin/Contents/MacOS/ACRRDaemon
/System/Library/KerberosPlugins/KerberosFrameworkPlugins/heimdalodpac.bundle/Con tents/MacOS/heimdalodpac
/System/Library/KerberosPlugins/KerberosFrameworkPlugins/LKDCLocate.bundle/Conte nts/MacOS/LKDCLocate
/System/Library/KerberosPlugins/KerberosFrameworkPlugins/Reachability.bundle/Con tents/MacOS/Reachability
/System/Library/KerberosPlugins/KerberosFrameworkPlugins/SCKerberosConfig.bundle /Contents/MacOS/SCKerberosConfig
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/AirPortUserAgent.plugin/Contents/MacOS/AirPortU serAgent
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/AppleHIDMouseAgent.plugin/Contents/MacOS/AppleH IDMouseAgent
/private/var/db/mds/messages/se_SecurityMessages
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/AssistantUEA.plugin/Contents/MacOS/AssistantUEA
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/AutoTimeZone.plugin/Contents/MacOS/AutoTimeZone
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/BTMMPortInUseAgent.plugin/Contents/MacOS/BTMMPo rtInUseAgent
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/BluetoothUserAgent-Plugin.plugin/Contents/MacOS /BluetoothUserAgent-Plugin
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleHDAHALPlugIn.bund le/Contents/MacOS/AppleHDAHALPlugIn
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/BonjourEvents.plugin/Contents/MacOS/BonjourEven ts
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/CalendarMonitor.plugin/Contents/MacOS/CalendarM onitor
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/CaptiveUserAgent.plugin/Contents/MacOS/CaptiveU serAgent
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/DiskUnmountWatcher.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DiskUn mountWatcher
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/EAPOLMonitor.plugin/Contents/MacOS/EAPOLMonitor
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/GSSNotificationForwarder.plugin/Contents/MacOS/ GSSNotificationForwarder
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/LocationMenu.plugin/Contents/MacOS/LocationMenu
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/PrinterMonitor.plugin/Contents/MacOS/PrinterMon itor
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/SCMonitor.plugin/Contents/MacOS/SCMonitor
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/alfUIplugin.plugin/Contents/MacOS/alfUIplugin
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.UserNotification.plugi n/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.UserNotification
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.TimeMachine.plugin/Contents/MacOS/com .apple.TimeMachine
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.bonjour.plugin/Contents/MacOS/com.app le.bonjour
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.cfnotification.plugin/Contents/MacOS/ com.apple.cfnotification
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.dispatch.vfs.plugin/Contents/MacOS/co m.apple.dispatch.vfs
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.fsevents.matching.plugin/Contents/Mac OS/com.apple.fsevents.matching
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.iokit.matching.plugin/Contents/MacOS/ com.apple.iokit.matching
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.launchd.helper.plugin/Contents/MacOS/ com.apple.launchd.helper
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.locationd.events.plugin/Contents/MacO S/com.apple.locationd.events
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.notifyd.matching.plugin/Contents/MacO S/com.apple.notifyd.matching
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.rcdevent.matching.plugin/Contents/Mac OS/com.apple.rcdevent.matching
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.time.plugin/Contents/MacOS/com.apple. time
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.universalaccess.events.plugin/Content s/MacOS/com.apple.universalaccess.events
/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/com.apple.usernotificationcenter.matching.plugi n/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.usernotificationcenter.matching
/System/Library/Extensions/IOHIDFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/IOHIDLib.plugin/Con tents/MacOS/IOHIDLib
/private/var/folders/td/hnt8krzc8xj63p001s61rg7r0000gn/C/com.apple.LaunchService s-036501.csstore
/usr/lib/dyld
/private/var/db/dyld/dyld_shared_cache_x86_64
/dev/null
/dev/null
/dev/null
count=1, state=0x2
/dev/io8log
/Users/<username>/Library/Assistant/sync_flag
->0xc1a78b298c30c655
count=0, state=0
count=0, state=0
/private/etc/com.apple.screensharing.agent.launchd
/private/etc
/private
/usr/local/bin
/usr/local/bin
/usr/local
/usr
count=0, state=0
/private/var/db/PanicReporter
/private/var/db
/private/var
/private
count=0, state=0
/private/var/db/GPURestartReporter
/private/var/db
/private/var
/private
count=0, state=0
/private/etc
/private/etc
/private
count=0, state=0
/Users/<username>/Library/Services
/Users/<username>/Library
/Users/<username>
/Users
count=0, state=0
/Library
/Library
count=0, state=0
/Applications
/Applications/Utilities
/Applications
count=0, state=0
/Library/Caches
/Library/Caches
/Library
count=0, state=0
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.AirPortBaseStationAgent.launchd
/Library/Preferences
/Library
count=0, state=0
/Applications/Fun/Steam.app
/Applications/Fun
/Applications
/Volumes
/Volumes
The repetitions (I mean seriously, who needs three open connections to /dev/null?), and the multiple instances of "count=0, state=0", suggest that UserEventAgent is getting bad info from somewhere.
If I can track down what's making UserEventAgent imitate an overly amorous octopus, maybe I can straighten out this mess. But I wouldn't be surprised to find that this list has picked up funky smells and bad habits from all the earlier versions of OS X I've run.
Help? Please?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.
These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.
Below are instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects.
Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.
Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.
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.
When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.
Step 1
Copy or drag — do not type — the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:
kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}'
Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered (the text, please, not a screenshot.) You can omit the final line ending in “$”.
Step 2
Repeat with this line:
sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix)|edu\.mit|org\.(amavis|apache|cups|isc|ntp|postfix|x)/{print $3}'
This time, you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning.
Note: If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before taking this step. If that’s not possible, skip to the next step.
Step 3
launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|edu\.mit|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'
Step 4
ls -1A /e*/mach* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts 2> /dev/null
Important: If you formerly synchronized with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.
Step 5
osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item' 2> /dev/null
Remember, steps 1-5 are all drag-and-drop or copy-and-paste, whichever you prefer — no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.
You can then quit Terminal.

I didn't safely eject my external hard-drive and now my files are not showing up on my other computer?

I didn't safely eject my external hard-drive as my imac was in sleep mode and I thought it was shut-down. Now I have turned up to uni and plugged my hard-drive into the uni computers (apple) and the word document I was working on last night (before my computer went to sleep mode, and it may still have been open, I cant remember) is gone.....
I have phoned home and got a family member to try and recover the file. They said they can see it when they open Word under recent documents, however its "ghost" and nothing happens when you click on it.
My question is, when I go home and plug my hard-drive back into my imac, will I be able to recover this word file? or have I lost it forever?

I only saved it to my external hard-drive and saved it at the completion of working on it. However left the document open, went to dinner, and this morning pulled the hard-drive out, whilst the computer was asleep not shut-down and now the file doesn't appear.
I thought when I clicked save then it saved straight away, therefore anything i do after that point (ie a un safe ejection) shouldn't make a difference. Clearly, no matter if you saved the document, if you un-safely eject the hard-drive then the file is lost anyway?

I had a windows laptop, and I save files like photos, documents, videos and other things on an external hard drive, and now I want to move those files to the Mac book Pro, and then move those files again to another external hard drive 1T. My question is:

I had a windows laptop, and I save files like photos,documents, videos and other things on an external hard drive, and now I want tomove those files to the Mac book Pro, and then move those files again toanother external hard drive 1T. My question is: Is it possible? Doing this willnot affect the files that I had in windows? No information is lost? or how cani do it?

Connect the external drive to your Mac and drag the files from it to your Mac's internal drive. Then dismount and disconnect the external drive, connect the 1TB external drive, and drag the files from the internal drive onto the external. Nothing will have been deleted from any of the drives up to this point; the files will only have been copied. Verify that the files are readable. There's no reason they shouldn't be; this is just a precaution.
Now if you wish to delete the files from any of the drives, drag them to the Trash, and Empty the Trash while the drive from which they came is still connected. If you disconnect the drive before emptying the Trash, the files you were trying to remove from it won't be deleted. They'll remain in the Trash and continue to take up space on the drive.
Note that if your external drives are in NTFS format, you won't be able to write anything to them or delete anything from them, though you will be able to read and copy the files they contain. The NTFS disk format is read-only to the Mac OS, unless you have a third-party NTFS driver installed. To make your drives cross-platform readable and writable, you must reformat them in the FAT32 or ExFAT format.

Backing up photos on iMac using external hard drive and time machine

How do i back up photos from my imac using an external hard drive and time machine
Thanks in advance

Apple explains how to use Time Machine in http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427.
Setting up and using TM is very simple to do, connect any external HD (format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) using Disk Utility ) and your computer shoudl ask if you want to use that EHD for a Time Machine backup. If you have any questions visit your local Apple Store or reseller and they can answer how to setup and use TM and also should be able to offer suggestions on EHDs. My personal preference is OWC (www.macsales.com) Mercury Elite Pro due to the build quality and OWC's level of support.

I have itunes directory on an external hard drive and want to direct a new installation of itunes on windows 8 to use it. I tried holding down ctrl and clicking itunes and after many tries got it to work one time. When I went back in later it had reverted

I have itunes directory on an external hard drive and want to direct a new installation of itunes on windows 8 to use it. I tried holding down ctrl and clicking itunes and after many tries got it to work one time. When I went back in later it had reverted back to a blank version of itunes and I cant get ctrl to work again. Any other ideas?

This is sometimes caused by a problem with the iTunesPrefs.xml file, normally found at C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunesPrefs.xml. Try dragging this to the desktop and trying again.
Alternatively the problem may be that you have McAfee AV and it is preventing iTunes from updating the same file and thus causing the problem. See Why does iTunes delete my itunesprefs.xml? for details.
tt2

Backing up images on external hard drive and restoring to new internal driv

I recently purchased a new external hard drive and a new internal hard drive. Before installing the new internal drive, I backed up the old internal drive on the external drive. Then I installed the new internal drive to my Macbook Pro. However, when I tried to access and print my Aperture images on the new internal drive, I received an error message saying "versions with unavailable master images cannot be printed." I clicked on 'show referenced files," but couldn't determine how to recover my master images. I checked the forum and under "referenced files go offline after restore from a backup" it said to go to "File>manage referenced files" but nothing else. How can I recover my master images? Please help - I have nearly 6000 images that are lost without recovering the master images. And no, I was ultra stupid in not placing everything in a vault = but I'm relatively new to Mac OS and thought a backup would be sufficient. Thank!

The volume name of the new hard drive needs to be the same as the old hard drive - rename it if you have to - then they should be fine.
If you cannot seem to make this work then you will have to reconnect them with locate referenced files under the file menu. Select all the files that are disconnected before going into the dialog.
RB

My songs have all been duplicated. All my music is on external hard drive and I want it to stay there. Am using a new computer and thought I'd done all the required things for my library to show on iTunes 11.

I'm using a new computer. All my music is on an external hard drive and I want it to stay there. Before installing iTunes on the new computer, I followed turingtest2's instructions as to the layout of all the iTunes folders (Itunes folder, Itunes Media, Music, etc...). I also followed his instructions as to get all my music in iTunes on the new computer (but keeping all the media on the external drive). Now my songs are all duplicated in my library (I normally have about 15,000 of them). They all play when I click onto them. Also, I've lost all my playlists, and all the songs in the library are now ticked. I've already spent hours trying to sort this out, but can't seem to find a solution. Help please!

Hi turingtest2,
Thank you for replying. I've been looking at your posts about setting up iTunes using an external drive. A bit of background info. My old computer broke down, so I got a new one from work. I've always kept my music files on my external drive (I have around 170GB of music). I didn't follow the suggestions in the "migrate iTunes library" post because my old computer died on me. However, I've looked at your posts about lay out of the iTunes folders. Before connecting to iTunes on the new computer, I had reorganized my iTunes folder on my E: external drive, and created an iTunes folder which contains an iTunes Media subfolder. The music files are in a Music folder, which is in the iTunes Media folder. I've also put the following files in my iTunes folder: iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, iTunes Music Library.xml, as well as sentinel. I then followed the advice you gave bmw99 on 2 Nov 2013 at 9.58 (sorry, can't copy the exact answer).
Just to clarify: I'd like to keep all my music media on the E: external hard drive (the computer hard drive is too small), and I'm aware i might never have my playlists back, and that all the songs in my library might be ticked. However, I don't want my library to be duplicated.
I'm at work at the moment, but will be back home in about 10 hours, so I can be more specific about folders / files names.
I'm glad you picked up my message and greatly appreciate your help.
Patrice

I am trying to save a doc. to a external hard drive and it wont allow me. I says its read only, any ideas on how to correct it?

I am trying to save a doc. to a external hard drive and it wont allow me. I says its read only, any ideas on how to correct it?

Save it on the internal HD then copy it from this safe location to the external device.
iWork applications can't apply their save process on devices which aren't formatted as HFS+.
But it may also be that for some reason, an external device formatted as HFS+ is set to Read Only.
If it's this case, you will have to change de setting before moving the file on it.
Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) vendredi 20 mai 2011 11:01:05
Please :
Search for questions similar to your own before submitting them to the community
To be the AW6 successor, iWork MUST integrate a TRUE DB, not a list organizer !

Cannot access shared external hard drive with other mac accounts

I cannot access a shared external hard drive with other mac accounts (all accounts are on the same macbook Pro). The shared external drive is shared via time capsule and is connected (of course) in USB. I see well this external hard drive as a shared disk with my main account. Yes shared option has been activated with the Airport Utility .. but when I open other account these othe accounts can see the external drive but cannot access to its content that is flagged with a no way sign. Strangely enough when I close my main account and start opening a new session with one of the other account then fine I can access the external hard drive and its content .. BUT then it is from my main account than I cannot access its content the no way sign showing ..
Looks like only one account at a time can access the content of this SHARED external hard drive .. any one as an idea on how to really make it a shared hard drive so that all accounts on the same mac can also access it ? I am at my wit ends on this case. THANKS ..

Results of my enquiries at Apple Genius Bar .. the guys found the problem interesting. They've been unable to provide a fix neither to give any explanation as to the reason why. To be fair I was not much impressed by the technical level demonstrated ..
In the mean time I have found that if account no.1 can see the shared external drive content and in such case account no.2 (same Mac computer) cannot see its content (only the external HD with a no way sign) this account no.2 can UNMOUNT (by ejecting) this external HD from account 1 and then remount it (just clicking on the TC shared part in a finder window) and .. see and access its content ; whilst account no.1 cannot see its content anylonger. Unless it unmounts the shared external HD and remount it .. then account no.2 can see its content anylonger. This can goes on an on.
So eventually YES the TC can allow to share a USB external drive between several accounts and a same Mac .. BUT this require to unmount and remount EACH time the external drive is accessed from a "no.2 account". So OK to share files with seldom access but not practical in case of frequent access needed.
I just I have now to figure how iTunes can automatically unmount and remount a shared external HD when it needs to access one of this shared HD content from on time account no.1 and then next time from account no.2. May be I am asking too much ..

How do I back up my itunes to an external hard drive and restore from same if necessary

How do I back up my entire itunes to an external hard drive and restore from same if necessary.
Thanks

This is where iTunes stores backups for different operating systems: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946
I do not use a Windows machine, have a Windows Vista Dell I rarely startup now. But, from what I remember with Win boxes is, you will have to create on the external hard drive a file system like that one iTunes normally uses, and then in the iTunes preferences or control panel edit the location for the storage to specify the name of the external hard drive, or its letter code, with the name of that file system you created on the exernal drive.
I would also move all of the files from the internal file system to the external since you have now told iTunes that is where they are...before deleting from the internal drive, test iTunes to see that it goes where you want it to go.

I just need to know how you get an iTunes library off the original hard drive of a mac and onto an external hard drive and still have it work normally?

I just need to know how you get an iTunes library off the original hard drive of an imac and onto an external hard drive and still have it work as it normally would?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

Can some please provide instructions on how to import an iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Mac without getting a bunch of duplicates? I tried transferring my pictures using an external hard drive and then copying it to the Pictures folder on my Mac

Can someone please provide instructions on how to import an iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Mac without getting a bunch of duplicates? I tried transferring my pictures using an external hard drive and then copying it to the Pictures folder on my new Mac. I ended up getting a bunch of duplicates. My old Mac has an older version of iPhoto while the new Mac has iPhoto '11. Is that the cause of the problem? Please advise. Thanks.

Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then launch iPhoto. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.
Regards
TD

How do I backup my iPhoto Library to an external hard drive and keep my photos grouped by their events?

How can I backup my iPhoto Library to an external hard drive and keep my photos grouped by their events?

I have attempted to make sure my iPhoto library has been backed up on the external hard drive and that it is safe to delete some events from my internal hard drive
You need to think this through.
Time Machine is a back up application. It keeps a rolling back up of the data. It's called rolling because it means you can revert to the data you had on a specific date and time. But that's not eternal, and as time goes by, and your drive fills up, older backups are deleted. So if you delete Events on your Mac they will - eventually - also be deleted from the Time Machine back up.
If you wan tot archive data hendon't use Time Machine for that job. Here's how you might archive an iPhoto Library:
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager

HT1364 I have moved my library to an external hard drive and changed the location of the iTunes media folder in Preferences, but every time I close and re-open iTunes, I have to do it all over again. How can I make the iTunes media folder change permanen

I have moved my library to an external hard drive and changed the location of the iTunes media folder in Preferences, but every time I close and re-open iTunes, I have to do it all over again. How can I make the iTunes media folder change permanent? I have an older machine with Windows XP.

I don't believe mounting the hard drive should be necessary, unless you have several external drives and want your computer to recognise them as folders, rather than drives. I've never had to mount a hard drive, ever. If you don't know how to do it, then it shouldn't be necessary now.
Try this:
Prepare iTunes so that it can see the external drive.
Make a note of which drive-letter the external drive has been allocated. (Look in Windows Exploer)
Look at the file location for a song. Make sure it plays (and therefore that iTunes has found it). Highlight it and select File/Get Info/Summary>Where: and make a note of the drive letter for that song.
Close and shut down the computer.
The next time you turn the computer on again, connect the external drive
Before you start iTunes - check the external drive in Windows Explorer. Is it ready, does it have the same drive-letter that it had last time? Can you go into the drive and see the files on it?
Once you can, start iTunes. (If the drive lettter has changed, you need to work out why before going any further.)
If iTunes fails to find your external drive, you need to check where iTunes is looking for your Library.
Select the same song you checked before (presumably iTunes can no longer find it). Follow the procedure for locating it. You should be able to see where iTunes thinks the file is. It's the drive that counts. Which drive letter is iTunes looking at? Is it the same one that it was previously (which should also be the same one that the drive has now).
What happens, which step do you have problems with?
Message was edited by: the fiend

10.4.10 External Hard drives, and other oddites

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