App library into external drive?

I'm trying to save space in my PC's cramped HD. From iTunes, under Edit>Preferences>Advanced, I can define a folder in an external hard drive where the music library can be maintained, but there doesn't seem a way to do so for applications in my iPod touch. Any ideas? Thanks.

Hmm. That's odd. What I mean is like the iTunes folder on your local partition usually houses everything. At least that's how it works in my case as well as every other iTunes setup I've seen. That's cool how you can move them around though, do you remember how you set it up?

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Can I transfer iPad/iPhone apps to an external drive?

I maintain the apps for my five grandchildren's iPads. They are constantly asking me to search through all the apps we have purchased in the past, transferring old favorites back to their iPads. They love to browse through the apps in my iTunes account on my computer. However, these apps are now taking up over 80 GB of precious storage. I know that they could simply download the ones I have paid for; but they often cannot remember the names and must view the list on my computer. (Also I have learned, the hard way, that when I give them my password I pay for in-app purchases.) Is it possible to transfer the apps to an external drive that would show up when I connect their iPads to my computer? I desperately need the space. Thanks!!!

I maintain the apps for my five grandchildren's iPads. They are constantly asking me to search through all the apps we have purchased in the past, transferring old favorites back to their iPads. They love to browse through the apps in my iTunes account on my computer. However, these apps are now taking up over 80 GB of precious storage. I know that they could simply download the ones I have paid for; but they often cannot remember the names and must view the list on my computer. (Also I have learned, the hard way, that when I give them my password I pay for in-app purchases.) Is it possible to transfer the apps to an external drive that would show up when I connect their iPads to my computer? I desperately need the space. Thanks!!!

Can't read iPhoto library from external drive

I suddenly can't can't read iPhoto library from external drive. I have talked to WD and nohing is wrong with the network drive. I can open images and files from it. But, I can't read in iPhoto Library.

Network Drive? a NAS?
iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, exporting, saving edits and sharing the photos.
Basically, you need to move the library to a correctly formatted disk.

How to stop apps on an external drive from launching or showing up in menus

I use SuperDuper to keep a bootable back up of my main drive. The problem is those apps show up in the list of apps that can open a particular file, and if its the same version on the main drive and the external, you'll often launch the app from the external drive.
This is a especially a problem when using the "open with" feature. Is there a way to make sure it only reads apps installed on the main drive.

Hi,
sorry to hijack, but I have a similar question you may be able to help with.
I too keep a Super Duper clone, but on a second internal drive - I often use the "Open With" contextual menu option to open files, and it bugs the **** out of me that I have to wait several seconds for the second drive to spin up - freezing the Finder in the process. What's even more annoying is that I also use the contextual menu to move things to the trash, which invariably stalls on "Open With" because it's above it in the menu.
Do you know of any means of solving this increasingly annoying problem. I know I could simply unmount the second drive, but that interferes with Super Duper's scheduled backups.
Any suggestions would be appreciated
Regards

Can I run apps on an external drive?

Can you run apps saved on external drives? Is it possible to run them and save your app data only to the external drive?

1. It varies depending on the application; ones which used an installer as opposed to drag-copying them to the Applications folder may not run.
2. If the folders containing it are stored on the external, yes. This may require creating symbolic links or putting the entire home folder on that drive.
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Can I put apps on an external drive and run them from there?

I want to know can I put apps downloaded from the Mac App store onto an external hard drive and launch them from there? The storage on my mac is full and I want to put apps onto an external drive to create more space on my mac.

Bad idea. See this:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3472949?q=run apps on an external drive
Ciao.

Can't show User/Library in external drive

I can set my Mac to show Library in Users on the main drive (terminal or keystroke) but NOT on an external drive...
How can I access User/Library on external drives?

Check that you’re in the correct folder and entering the exact text posted.
If you’re using the Go to Folder command and providing Library, it’ll open the one in the current folder. If you provide ~/Library/, it’ll always open the one in your home folder.
If you’re using the chflags command, the path will look like /Volumes/volumename/Users/username/Library/ and not /Users/username/Library/.
(115061)

How do I transfer my apps from an external drive to my new iMac?

I just purchased a new iMac and am currently in the process of getting everything set up. My previous Mac was a powerbook, so there are many changes that I will be getting used to in the near future.
My primary concern at the moment is getting my apps into my new iMac iTunes library. I have all my music, apps, podcasts, etc. saved on an external drive which I plugged into my new iMac. To import the music into iTunes. I selected File > Add to Library > then selected the external drive with my iTunes folder & imported the enitre folder (which was 163.57 GB). Everything, including my music, movies, podcasts, books, & TV shows transfered over just fine with the exception of my apps. After researching the issue, I discovered the iTunes was saving all the apps on my powerbook instead of the external drive in a folder titled Mobile Applications. I then transfered the folder from my powerbook to the external drive and followed the steps above to try and import my apps into my new iMac library. But have had no luck. Each app comes up with the following message when I try to add it to the iMac library:
The app "[adult swim]" could not be added to your library because an error occured. An unknown error occurred (-50).
This is as far as I have been able to get. I am ensured that my new iMac Itunes account is authorized for that computer & have synced my iPhone once, which updated iCal, but no apps.
Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I tried to use the Mac Migrate program but did not seem to have any luck. It took almost 12 hours to run over wifi and hung up at the very end. Also, I do not see any evidance of any files being added.
Thanks.
Jeff / Texas

Migration didn't work for me on the music side of things either. What did work however was transferring the entire iTunes folder over to my new computer. Everything switched then, and it was just like iTunes on my old mac. Maybe if you can find the library files in there or something and transfer them over.

Saving Photos library on external drive?

I have been storing my iPhoto library on an external drive and opening iPhoto from that drive. How can I do the same thing for the new Photos app? I have so many pictures and I don't want to use up storage space on my computer or pay for tons of storage in iCloud.
Is there a way to import my iPhoto library into Photos on my computer (which already has some photos in it) and then move the entire new library to the external drive?

Is there a way to import my iPhoto library into Photos on my computer (which already has some photos in it) and then move the entire new library to the external drive?
You cannot merge Photos libraries. Importing an additional library into your current library is not supported in Photos. You can only migrate the iPhoto library as a second library and then switch between the libraries.
If you open an iPhoto Library in Photos, the Photos.app will create a migrated Photos library on the same drive where the original library is. So, before you open any iPhoto Library in Photos, make sure, it is on the drive, where you want the migrated library to be. To open any library in Photos you can drag the library onto the Photos icon.

Moved iTunes Library to external drive- now can't move iPad purchase to Mac

I moved my iTunes Library to an external drive because I didn't have enough internal HD space to move a movie purchased on the iPad to my Mac. Now iTunes won't sync my iPad - and wants to reformat it - because it says it was formatted on another Mac.
I've tried Aiseesoft iPad Manager but the movie - a iTunes+ movie, so I assume it is a package of some sort - doesn't show up in the movie pane.
This is a really crappy position to be put into. If I could re-download the movie I'd just reformat my iPad and be down with it. Unfortunately, this is not an option.
Help!

As a best practice, you should move your content to an external drive and import references to into iTunes rather than moving the whole database and app files. In iTunes > Preferences > Advanced, uncheck "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library". This will keep all your music and movies on the external drive, but iTunes and all references to the content on your desktop.
I know that's not what you wanted to hear as a fix, but this is how I have my MacBook Air setup and it works fine with the iPad. My son tried to move the whole app and database to a hard drive and we had endless problems with it.

Tiger, iTunes library on external drive, no longer recognised

Still using Tiger on the iMac.
Software update caem up with iphoto/Pro Apps updates and a security update.
Duly installed the lot.
When I rebooted my heart sank when iTunes could not find the external drive library.
Rebooted several times, no joy, thought "why do discs fail a few days after you think I need to back that up soon?".
At this point also realsied the significance of telling everyone not to rely on AppleTv for a backup, having not backed up recent weeks iTunes Store purchases.
Tachycardic and nervous connected said drive to the Macbook running Leopard and it worked instantly.
Back to the iMac, no luck, and after much testing found the drive is simply no longer recognised on the Belkin hub it's been on for about a year. Other identical drives are still recognised.
Unplugging the hub and connecting the drive to the Mac direct it's recognised again. Absolutely reproducible and I can't explain it.
Have backed the content up now, but I'm convinced this is related to latest security update or peerhaps Apple team hacking into my iMac after all my negative comments about take 2
So, I know this may be a bit OT, but then again it is to do with the iTunes library foir AppleTV.
Any similar experiences or suggestions?
Good time to remind everyone - remember to back up your media files - these things always happen out of teh blue.
AC

Still using Tiger on the iMac.
Software update caem up with iphoto/Pro Apps updates and a security update.
Duly installed the lot.
When I rebooted my heart sank when iTunes could not find the external drive library.
Rebooted several times, no joy, thought "why do discs fail a few days after you think I need to back that up soon?".
At this point also realsied the significance of telling everyone not to rely on AppleTv for a backup, having not backed up recent weeks iTunes Store purchases.
Tachycardic and nervous connected said drive to the Macbook running Leopard and it worked instantly.
Back to the iMac, no luck, and after much testing found the drive is simply no longer recognised on the Belkin hub it's been on for about a year. Other identical drives are still recognised.
Unplugging the hub and connecting the drive to the Mac direct it's recognised again. Absolutely reproducible and I can't explain it.
Have backed the content up now, but I'm convinced this is related to latest security update or peerhaps Apple team hacking into my iMac after all my negative comments about take 2
So, I know this may be a bit OT, but then again it is to do with the iTunes library foir AppleTV.
Any similar experiences or suggestions?
Good time to remind everyone - remember to back up your media files - these things always happen out of teh blue.
AC

Second iTunes library on External Drive

I have a very large music collection (about 4,000 cds) that I would like to digitize. Ideally, I would like to be able to use the iTunes library on my MacBook Pro as a smaller, sort of "current playlist" library, while keeping the majority of my library on an external drive that I have access to when I attach the external drive. How do I do this?
Thanks!

use 3rd party apps such as these to rip the CDs and store the resulting files on the external.
temporarily disable +*copy files to ... when adding to library+* in preferences > advanced, then drag the content from the external into an open iTunes window or use the +add to library+ command from the file menu. iTunes will index the path to the location of the files but not add them physically to your designated iTunes music (or media) folder.
if you want to move certain files to your MBP's music folder, you could use this script:
[_*Re-Locate Selected v1.1*_|http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=relocateselected]
This script will re-locate the files of the selected iTunes tracks from their current location to a new user-chosen folder. iTunes will be updated with each track's new location and all of each track's meta-data will be preserved. Option to remove the files from their original location. (I don't advise using this on more than an album's worth of tracks or so at a time; re-locating dozens of tracks' files to a single folder doesn't seem to make much sense to me.)
NOTE: If your "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" preference set, you will not be able to create new folders in or re-locate files within the iTunes Media folder; outside is OK.

Move Mobile Apps Folder To External Drive?

Hi guys,
I've got a MacBook Pro running Lion with all the latest software / updates. This has become my secondary machine (since buying a lovely 27" iMac), and I'm using iTunes Match to keep both the MacBook Pro and iMac's iTunes libraries in sync.
Now that I sync my iPhone and iPad to the iMac, I don't have much need for the Mobile Apps folder on my MacBook Pro. I have a lot of apps, so my Mobile Apps folder is ~50 gigs, and it's suddenly one of the larger items on the MacBook Pro's drive. Would it be possible to relocate this folder to my external drive for the MacBook Pro? I found an older suggestion (to move the Mobile Apps folder, and create a shortcut in the iTunes folder pointing back to me new location), but this didn't work at all.
Is this do-able? As as alternate, can I just delete all the Apps from my MacBook Pro's iTunes library (from within the app) without screwing up the syncing or (via iTunes Match) inadvertantly deleting them all from the iMac as well?
Thanks!

How to use an SSD with your HDD
If you are going to use an SSD as a boot drive together with your existing HDD as the "data" drive, here's what you can do.
After installing the SSD you will need to partition and format the SSD using Disk Utility. Then, install OS X on the SSD. After OS X has been installed boot from the SSD. Use Startup Disk preferences to set the SSD as the startup volume.
Open Users & Groups preferences. Click on the lock icon and authenticate. CTRL- or RIGHT-click on your user account listing in the sidebar and select Advanced Options from the context menu.
You will see a field labeled "Home dir:" At the right end you will see a Change button. Click on it. In the file dialog locate the Home folder now located on the HDD (HDD/Users/account_name/.) Select the folder, click on Open button. Restart the computer as directed.
When the computer boots up it will now be using the Home folder located on the HDD.
Another more technical method involving the Terminal and aliases is discussed in depth here: Using OS X with an SSD plus HDD setup - Matt Gemmell. This is my preferred approach because I can select which of the Home's folders I want on the HDD and which I don't want. For example, I like to keep the Documents and Library folders on the SSD because I access their content frequently.
Be sure you retain the fully bootable system on your HDD in case you ever need it.

Create shared library on external drive from scratch

I have seen many posts about creating shared iTunes libraries on external drives with many different configurations, but mostly with pre-existing libraries. My question is creating the library from scratch. The purpose is obviously to share songs among several computers AND only have one copy of a song as to not take up unnecessary disk space on several computers.
All of our songs are on an external USB hard-drive attached to Airport Xtreme. Every song is in album folder, and every album folder is in an artist folder (very organized). All the artist folders (with their album and then song contents) are in a root folder called "Songs" on the external hard-drive.
We have upgraded our three Macs (iMac, MBP and MacMini) to Leopard and deleted all iTunes folders on each local hard drive (there was nothing in them anyway). We now want to create ONE iTunes folder on the hard drive so that each computer can access it. What are the steps? Here is what I "think" I've learned here on the postings with my questions:
1) First I opened iTunes on my first, main computer (iMac) and went into "Preferences" to change the iTunes music folder to [Ext HD]:iTunes:iTunes Music. The option, "Copy to music folder..." is deselected. (This will also be done on the other computers).
2) Now what to do? I could just move all of my song artist folders with their album subfolders and music files inside them, into the "iTunes Music" folder. But then what do I click to get iTunes to see all the songs and put them in its database? The other option is click "Add to Library" - but then don't I have to select all the individual songs? (I actually tried the latter method and it kept crashing). Can I just move all the folders into [Ext HD}:iTunes:iTunes Music folder and click something to get it to create its database based on all the music files that are now in its subfolders?
3) Next step. I have seen many people write that they then create an "Alias" and put the Alias in their "Music" folder on their LOCAL, computer's hard drive. Could someone now explicitly, step-by-step, describe how this is done? I assume I go to the external hard drive. Am I creating an alias of the entire "iTunes" folder, or of the "iTunes Music" subfolder, or of the library file??? Please answer this specifically.
So now I have "XXX alias" that I copy to my local, computer's hard drive and put it on my desktop. I take out the "....alias" word, and drag it to my local "Music" folder. It asks me to replace the existing folder/file, and I say yes. Correct? And then I do this on all three computers, correct?
4) Finally, after I've done all of this, I still have the following functionality questions -
4a) When we now add to the library, either from a CD or online purchase, ONE copy of the music should go in the "iTunes Music" folder on the external drive, correct?
4b) This system means that all three computers MUST have the same iTunes library, playlists, etc, correct? The downside of this system is that you cannot personalize libraries for each computer and just share the actual music files, correct? (If so, is there another process [steps 1-4 above] that results in a more customizable system where *ONLY ONE COPY* of the actual song file is shared?)
Sorry for the length of the message, and the questions. Truly I have read all the postings but was unable to map out my plan before I go and creating, finally, this one set of music that we can share. In advance, thank you all for your help.

I was afraid you'd say that, because I'm a long time Mac guy and I don't have the perfect answer. Have you ever messed with remote desktop? That'd seem to give her full access and control, something I personally wouldn't do, although it may work for you.
Another thought came to me that might work: copy over the complete library to her machine, and then when you do another major shoot, create a new catalog, edit, etc.and then import as catalog to you main one while sending her the new one.
I am sure there are more elegant solutions, but these are a couple of ways.

ITunes Library on External Drive - NO .xml file

i recently had some serious hard drive corruption on my old computer, and figuring it was time for an upgrade anyway I decided to buy a new MacBook.
i had been storing all of my iTunes music on an external hard drive. i'm trying to figure out how to get my new MacBook to be able to access the music. I've changed the location of my library to the external drive in iTunes preferences, but no luck.
I know that iTunes has an .xml file where it stores things like song titles, data, etc etc -- unfortunately, that .xml file is on my old, ruined hard drive -- all i have is my external drive with my MP3s.
what do i do at this point? how can i access all of these songs using iTunes on my new MacBook without that .xml file?

There are 2 files that give iTunes and other apps the info the need to perform. The files are iTunes Library and iTunes Music Library.xml.
The default location of the 2 files is HD>Users>User Account>Music>iTunes - do not move regardless where your actual tunes are located. If the files are not present in the default location then iTunes will create new files with no info in them until you add the tunes back to the library.
This is from the iTunes Help Menu with a search for "files":
What are the iTunes library files?
The iTunes library is a database iTunes uses to organize your music. Two iTunes library files are created and maintained by iTunes for different purposes. They're both in the iTunes folder.
Mac OS X
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml
Microsoft Windows
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music Library.xml
The two different iTunes library files serve different purposes.
iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows)
This file is a database of the songs in your library and the playlists you've created. Some song-specific data is saved in this file. If you delete the file, iTunes creates a new, empty copy when you open the application, but any playlists, song ratings, comments, or other information you created is lost. The iTunes Library file is only used by iTunes.
Note: The library file name for versions of iTunes prior to 4.9 was "iTunes 4 Music Library" for Mac OS X and "iTunes 4 Music Library.itl" for Windows. After upgrading to iTunes 4.9 or later, the older library files are moved to a "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder.
Tip: New versions of iTunes sometimes include enhancements to the iTunes library. When you open the new version of iTunes, iTunes upgrades your existing library to the new format and places a copy of the old library in the Previous Libraries folder. If everything goes fine during your upgrade to the latest version of iTunes, you can delete the older iTunes Library files.
iTunes Music Library.xml
This file contains some (but not all) of the same information stored in the iTunes 4 Music Library file. The purpose of the iTunes Music Library.xml file is to make your music and playlists available to other applications on your computer. In Mac OS X other iLife applications (like iPhoto, iDVD, and iMovie) use this file to make it easier for you to add music from your iTunes library to your projects.
MJ

App library into external drive?

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