Any way to backup iTunes to hard drive?

I don't have a CD burner on my computer. I want to backup my music collection, reformat my hard drive, reload the OS, then reload iTunes and my collection.
Can I do this somehow?

If you have access to an external HD or maybe a network drive, then you just copy your iTunes folder - assuming you have a standard set up with your muisc in the iTunes Music folder.
But you will probably want to copy the whole of My Documents which will also save your iTunes folder.
Of course if you have your muisc elsewhere such as a shared folder, you need to copy that.
It is possible to retrieve music files from an iPod with a little effort, but you would be taking a risk as there would be no backup if the iPod failed.
This Zevoneer post tells you about recovery from an iPod.:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4446066&#4446066

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HT203167 I have just installed itunes on my new comp. and searched for mp3 on the hard drive but it has not found all of them. There are 2000+ missing, is there any way to re-search the hard drive?

Is there any way to re-search my hard drive for mp3s which have been missed on the initial search?

If you've just moved the drive between systems then see Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows just in case that reveals the missing files. Apply to a single album folder first as a test. Otherwise, if you've not done too much with the drive since things went missing, an undelete tool might recover the lost media. FreeRecover looks promising... Select the drive, use the options to get file paths and check file integrity, then, presumably, you can restore anything that has been deleted that looks recoverable. Backup to another drive when you're done.
tt2

Is there any way to completely wipe my hard drive clean without losing the basic operating system

is there any way to completely wipe my hard drive clean without losing my operating system

Stellar Wipe Mac is a wiping software that wiper a hard drive beyond the scope of recovery. You can select from the software which drive to wipe leaving the OS X intact. Else, if the drive is a single partition then no software will be able to wipe without wiping the OS X. So be careful.
More Info on Disk Wipe Mac - http://www.stellarinfo.com/data-safety-eraser/wipe-mac/file-eraser-mac.php

Is there a way to backup my external hard drive with Time Machine?

Most of the memory used on my MBP is mainly used for applications and miscellaneous things for Logic and Final Cut. I have two external HD's. To save space on the internal HD, all of my music, pictures, and videos are one my external hard drive, while Time Machine set as the other. Is there a way I can back up my external HD using Time Machine? What would even be better is if I could only select specific files (My Music, Videos, Pictures) and not everything on my one external HD to be backed up in Time Machine.

TM can back up external HDs. If you have both of your external drives attached, go to the options in TM preferences. Be sure the data drive is not listed (this lists drives/folders to exclude from a backup). Then initiate a TM backup or wait for the hourly backup. That should back up the data drive.
You can only tell TM what to exclude from a backup, not what to include.

Best Way to Backup a Raid hard drive on Windows 7 Pro OS

This is my set-up
Lenovo W520 on factory installed Windows 7 Professional OS
Two 500 GB Internal Hard drive on Raid 1 (factory installed):
NO DVD burner
Have a 2TB External Hard drive partitioned into three -
#1--600GB; #2-- 600GB;    #3--600+GB
I already created a "Factory recovery disk" from the thinkvantage tool and put it in partition #1
The next step is to create a backup of my system, application and data.
Thinkvantage tools offers 2 options:
1. Windows backup
2. Rescue & Recovery
Question 1:
With the set-up as listed above, what is the best & most effective way to backup a Raid 1 on Windows 7 Pro OS?
How do you do it? How often to backup? (I am just a beginner on RAID)
Question 2:
OR do you use other Back-up/ Imaging software??? (e.g. Acronis,paragon system backup,norton ghost , novabackup, nero backit up)

Hi, Herb,
   RAID is no substitute for backing up your hard drive. For example, if you get a virus it will destroy the data on both RAID drives. In fact, I don't think that RAID 1 has much value for most users. Odds are much higher that you will encounter a software (virus) issue than a sudden disk failure. However, if RAID makes you feel more secure, then by all means.
   I recommend getting Acronis True Image Home. It is cheap and it works. It will enable you to take a snapshot of your hard drive and recover with ease.
Acronis
   Last thing - I'm guessing your external drive is USB 3 or eSATA? If so, it has the speed you need to run complete backups. I do mine every evening, as I can't afford to lose a whole day's work.
                                                        Best, ZZ
P.S. I recommend rotating multiple external drives. I use three and keep one in my car. Yes, external drives can fail/ be stolen, etc.

Is there any way to password protect a hard drive?

What I would like is that if you connect a hard drive, it cannot be opened or accessed or have the content visible without putting in a password. Is this possible?
Thanks very much.

Thanks. I'm leery of encrypting video files, especially segmented ones. Perhaps I shouldn't be.
Does the drive have to re-encrypt each time it's closed?
Thanks again.

My computer was totally destroyed & I do not have backup or external hard drive with my iTunes library. Will I be able to access my iTunes library when I purchase a new computer? It was the only computer authorized to play library.

My computer was totally destroyed & I do not have backup or external hard drive with my saved iTunes library from it. That was the only computer authorized to play library. I do not have an iPod or iPhone with any of that library (which has over $2K in music purchases & over 5K in songs I ripped). Will I be able to access my iTunes library when I purchase a new computer?

You should be able to access your past iTunes purchases. You'll need to re-rip your CDs See: HT2519 - Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store.
See also this backup tip so you don't get caught out again.
tt2

When I plug in my ipad it automatically tries to back up and download all the contents to the C drive - the PC is too full and I have iTunes on an external hard drive, how do I tell the system to do the backup to the hard drive please?

When I plug in my ipad it automatically tires to back up and download all the contents to the C drive - the PC is too full and I have iTunes on an external hard drive, how do I tell the system to do the backup to the hard drive please?

You can open a command prompt by hitting the start button and typing CMD<Enter> in the search box that opens up.
To move the current backup folder from C: to D: type in this command and press <Enter>
Move "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
Where <User> is your Windows user name.
To make iTunes look for the data in the new location type in this command and press <Enter>
MkLink /J "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
If your external drive has a different letter or you already have a folder called "Backup" then edit "D:\Backup" accordingly in both commands.
tt2

Is there a way to recover library following hard drive replacement. No backup

Is there a way to recover library following hard drive replacement? No back up.

vazandrew pretty much laid it out for you. At least you've got 8GB of your library on your ipod, so it's not all gone - depends how much you want what is on there, whether you feel like buying a 3rd party ipod manager program.
Sounds like a hard lesson in making backups. : (
Here are some other ipod manager programs
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/copying-music-from-ipod-to-co mputer/P2/

How to restore library from backup on external hard drive

I am helping my wife move her library to a new computer after the old one crashed. I backed up my wife's music library to an external hard drive by simply copying and pasting all the files in her My Music >> iTunes folder into the external hard drive. When she got a new laptop, I tried placing those same files from the external hard drive into the My Music >> iTunes folder on the new computer (overwriting the few default files that were there), but that didn't seem to work. iTunes does not acknowledge that any songs have been added. I also noticed that almost all of the files say "(protected)", although I'm not sure if that is having an impact on the failure.
Additional information: some of the songs are iTunes purchases and some are from CDs we imported. Because restoring involves more than just iTunes purchases, I can't simply plugin her iPod to the new laptop and use the import purchases feature.
Finally, I see a great deal of information in customer support about restoring from a CD or DVD, but not from an external hard drive, although an external hard drive is mentioned as one way to backup iTunes music, so I believe there must be a valid way. Any literature on that would be helpful as well.
Thank you.

EmmanIsaac,
Do you just want a new drive that can be read by Macs and PCs? I would suggest taking a look at MacMall and shopping for, at least, a 1TB drive (they're cheap these days) and, when you get it, format it as FAT32 on a PC. Then you'll be able (with some limitations) to share the drive on both platforms.
For the limitations on using FAT32, see here.
Good luck,
Clinton

Need to backup and remove photo library form my iphone. This library was previously backup on a hard drive that crashed. So these photos are only in the photo library and not in the camera roll. If I do a full backup, it only takes the camera roll.

Need to backup and remove photo library from my iphone. This library was previously backup on a hard drive that crashed. So these photos are only in the photo library and not in the camera roll. If I do a full backup, it only takes the camera roll.
So this is a 2 part question:
1) how to I backup the Photo Library to my new hard drive (as the last one was unrecoverable but previously backed up)
2) how do I remove the Photo Library form my phone (preferably after backup in item 1)
Thanks, Janis

Since it has always been very basic to backup your computer and all it's data, Apple provides no way for you to transfer music from your iPhone back to your computer. As you know, you can re-download all iTunes purchases, but music that you ripped yourself you'll have to just re-rip again.
You can try and find 3rd party applications that might help you. I'm sure you'll pay, however.
Let this be a very important lesson learned.
Best.

Itunes, external hard drive , and Time machine

Hello I am a college student at RIT with a problem
Right now I have my itunes library on an external hard drive that I leave plugged into my laptop, my friend recently installed the software for remote time machine backups on a file server in his room. I want to find a way to plug my external hard drive into that server to do time machine backups and store my itunes library remotely so I can access them anywhere on campus
How would I be able to do this in the easiest manner
Thanks

You may find more help in the TM forum, here.
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1227

How to backup an external hard drive plugged into a time capsule using time machine

How to backup an external hard drive plugged into a time capsule using time machine.
I want to move my itunes library from the mac HD to an external plugged into the time capsule, but I want to be sure this drive will still be backed up by time machine. I currentlly see no way to do this.

There is no way. You can connect the drive to your Mac and remove it from the Time Machine exclusion list. Then it will be backed up, but that will stop when you reconnect it to the TC. While it's connected to the TC, you can copy it manually to another AirPort Disk by following the instructions here (with a slight modification):
Using AirPort Utility to make a copy of the Time Capsule disk

When I attempt to open iphoto, I get the loading icon in the working space/picture area. If I try to reinstall ilife '11, will I lose any pictures? Where, on the hard drive, are all my pictures actually stored?

When I attempt to open iphoto, I get the loading icon in the working space/picture area. If I try to reinstall ilife '11, will I lose any pictures? Where, on the hard drive, are all my pictures actually stored?

You won't lose anything because you have a back up, right?
Most Simple Back Up
Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.
Slightly more complex:
Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically. Examples of such apps: Chronosync or DejaVu . But are many others. Search on MacUpdate
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one. .
Regards
TD

Unsual question about backup to external hard drive

Hi,
I have a large iTunes library on my laptop (+140GB). My hard drive is running out of space. I am planning on backing up my music and everything in iTunes to a backup 2TB external hard drive. I know how to do this but I like to tweek it a little: I want to be able to back up all my files to the external drive AND then delete some of the less-used songs on my internal drive. BUT i want to keep them in the external hard drive! Is this possible?
I know I am probably not clear, so please let me know.
Thanks,

I'd normally suggest this method for backing up.
You should always keep at least two copies of any file you don't want to lose.
tt2

Any way to backup iTunes to hard drive?

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