Backing up iTunes folder

I have my iTunes library located on an external firewire drive (Source). I have made a backup of that folder to my Time Capsule by merely dragging and dropping (Destination). Now, I'm curious about how to keep these two folders "in sync". I put "in sync" in quotes because actually what I want is the Destination to be a mirror image of the Source and not actually synced. Once in a while, I delete stuff from iTunes which results in the Source having music files deleted. I want to keep those files deleted so how do I make sure that the Destination (or Copy of iTunes) makes sure that it is a mirror image of the Source?
What programs out there can help? I have PersonalBackup version4 and I don't think performs this particular function. Thanks.

Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
Patrick

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Backed up iTunes folder, need to add files to new installation. How to?

Hi all,
Basically my Mac HD had some problems which forced me to backup by copying the entire iTunes folder as found in username/Library/ and save to disk.
I am now back up and running with a fresh installation of Leopard and would like to re-add all of my music and other data, as it was on my previous install.
Which of the files out of the iTunes folder do I need to copy over, and will it be a smooth transition?
Any help is much appreciated.

Move the entire iTunes folder back into the Music folder of your home folder. If you erased the hard disk and backed up the iTunes folder in the Library folder but not the copy in the Music folder, your iTunes library has been erased and needs to be reimported or redownloaded.
(34953)

Consolidating all iTunes libraries back to iTunes folder

I need some advice/confirmation on what is the approach to consolidate all iTunes libraries / files back under the one default iTunes folder location. Some time ago I ran out of disk space on the c: drive so I used the iTunes option and started directing all the iTunes Music to my D: drive [ location being D:\iTunes\iTunes Music. It appears that the Album Covers folder also gets saved to this D: drive location - is that correct? Anyway I now have a bigger hard drive and would like to consolidate all libraries back to C: under the default iTunes folder location, as a precursor toward migrating to an Apple Mac environment. If I use the iTunes advanced/consolidate command will all this be brought back under the C:iTunes folder? Do I have to change the point back to C: iTunes or specify default location some how? Will the Album Covers folder also get merged back under c:iTunes? How do I confirm it is all sweet before I delete duplicate iTunes files off of d: drive? Apologies for being rather verbose, but I really want to get this right the first time! .. future Apple'r.

*If I use the iTunes advanced/consolidate command will all this be brought back under the C:iTunes folder?*
No it won't. When you consolidate, any songs in the iTunes Library that are not in the iTunes Music Folder are copied to the Music Folder and the Library is updated to point to those new files. Files already in the iTunes Music Folder have no changes made to them: Copying all your iTunes files to one location - Windows
However once you've consolidated everything in the current location you can then copy the iTunes Music folder back to the C Drive yourself and point iTunes to the new location. The album artwork folder should be in your iTunes folder (not the iTunes Music Folder). The default location for iTunes if you are using the C Drive is \Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes. Inside the iTunes folder are the iTunes Music folder, the iTunes Library files and the artwork folder. You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?
If you are moving to a Mac sometime in the future these pages may be of some help:
How to move an iTunes library from a PC to Mac (and back)
Networking with a Windows PC
Don't forget by the way if you have purchased any tracks from the iTunes Music Store to deauthorise your old PC if you are disposing of it so you don't use up your 5 allowances: About iTunes Music Store Authorisation and Deauthorisation

Time Machine not backing up iTunes folder

Hi.
I am having an issue with Time Machine on my MBP running 10.5.5. I currently have 2 TM backups on a 400gb external hard drive. Each backup is roughly 45gb. However, both times, my iTunes folder not been backed up. I checked the Time Machine options and nothing is being excluded.
Is there a way to make sure this folder is backed up?
Thanks,
markzegarelli

Sorry for the lack of clarity. I mean that Time Machine has backed up 2 times to this drive.
To expand a bit further, when I browse the disk in Finder, and navigate to where the back up of the music folder should be, (eg. backups.backupdb/<computer name>/2008-10-27-030029/<hd name>/Users/<user>/Music) all I see is an alias. Clicking the alias presents an error which says "The alias 'Music' could not be opened because the original item can not be found."
Thanks again.

Backing up iTunes folder,best way to just backup changes (extra to TM backu

Hi
I now have my iTunes library running off a USB powered portable HDD. I have setup Time Machine to back up the iTunes library from here to.
I also however as an extra backup, copy the iTunes folder to my NAS. When I add stuff to iTunes, I dont want to keep copying the whole folder over to the NAS, so how can I easily just copy over whats new?
Any easy way to do this?
cheers

the loc-man wrote:
Any Mac programs that compare 2 folders ? preferably free
again, Carbon Copy Cloner is free and can be configured to incrementally backup any changes. it can also be scheduled to run @ certain times or e.g. when the target disk is mounted.
i'm just not 100 % certain if CCC can backup from a NAS. check the site. however, ChronoSync will be able to do that.
my iTunes lives on a 2 TB firewire drive. i have an identical 2 TB drive acting as backup. when the backup drive is mounted, CCC automatically kicks in, compares the two disks, and copies the new content over. it's fire-and-forget if you will.
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

Backing up itunes folder to a secondary hard drive

How can I set up iTunes to back up songs to a secondary hard drive instead of to a CD?
Thanks.

Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
Patrick

Time Machine not backing up iTunes folder Proper

I was browsing TM latest backup of my system and noticed that there was one file of iTunes it wasn't backing up "iTunes Music Library.XML" file wasn't included in the backups, anyone know why?

I'm seeing .xml files in my TM backups, however for whatever reason it's not backing up the iTunes "iTunes Music Library.xml" the "iTunes Library.itl" is included in the backup, and all other files and folders under iTunes. I have send this into Apple via the OS X feedback, I see lots of tweaks to TM in the future, after Apple see all the issues people are having with it, as well as suggestion people have forwarded on via feedback.

I have 2 yr old Iphone 4 and have not backed up or connected to Itunes or backed up for 1 yr. I have new computer and want to connect and copy Itunes folder from external HD to new computer and install Itunes. What steps should I take and what precautions

I have a 2 yr old Iphone 4 and have not backed up or connected to Itunes up for 1 yr. I have new Windows 7 computer and want to connect and copy Itunes backed up folder from external HD (a year ago) to new computer and install new Itunes and new IOS. What steps should I take and what precautions? I don't want to lose any data on my phone such as music, photos, contacts, notes, texts etc, nor lose music from prior backed up Itune folder. Apps should be OK from app store? Thanks for any help.

Hello CosK,
The following guide can step you through the process of using a backup of your iPhone 5 to transfer your content to your iPhone 5s.
Transfer content from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to a new device
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2109
Should one or both of your phones fail to appear in iTunes, the following article provides troublesooting steps that can assist.
iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538
Cheers,
Allen

Frustrating iTunes folder/library issue

In my PM G5, I had my iTunes Music folder stored on a second internal hard drive. When I switched to a new iMac recently, I used Migration Assistant to bring over all my user folder data, but obviously my iTunes Music folder wasn't part of that since it wasn't in my user folder. So, I copied the folder from a second partition on my Time Machine to my user folder/Music/iTunes, reset iTunes to look at the default location, and everything seemed to be working fine. Then I noticed that iTunes was still looking to the backup partition as the location for all my files.
So I'm trying to figure out how to tell iTunes to stop looking there and instead look where it's adding new files (the default location). I tried a Consolidate Library, but that duplicated everything in my folder, but not with iTunes itself (no dupe entries). I reverted to my backed up iTunes folder and am trying to figure out the best way to go from here. I thought there might be something helpful on Doug's AppleScripts site, but came up empty. Any ideas?

I had this same issue with my PPC Mini running OSX10.5 which is still on iTunes 10.7.
My hard drive on my iMac crashed and I lost my library files. After the hard drive was fixed, I updated all my software including iTunes. I then proceeded to recreated playlists for many nights on the faster computer in iTunes 11 using an external drive to hold my songs. I thought I could replace the library files on my Mini. Wrong.. I got the error: "iTunes Library.itl cannot be read because it was created by a newer verion of iTunes". I didn't think it through because I didn't realize at the time that I was only running 10.7 on the Mini and that I could not upgrade, because iTunes 11 doesn't support PPC anymore.
I ended up exporting the Library, File > Library > Export Library on iTunes 11, then on the computer running iTunes 10.7 I imported the playlist, File > Library > Import Playlist. Even though it says playlist it worked. I did the same for all the playlist, I exported the Playlists and imported them into the older iTunes. I used these instructions as a starting point: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451

I just changed the OS from Vista to Windows7. I have a folder on the same computer with the old iTunes library. I installed a new version of iTunes from scratch. How do I move my music library, etc from that backed up folder into the new iTunes folder.

I need help with moving my music library.
I recently upgraded the OS on my computer from Vista to Windows7.
During the process it copied my iTunes library to a folder on this same computer (marked it Windows.old)
Once the OS was done, I installed a new copy of iTunes on the Windows7 but it now has a blank library (folder)
How do I move my music from its current folder location (on this same computer) into the new iTunes library folder ???
There don't seem to be specific instructions on how to do this.

Skydiver119 wrote:
My situation may be different from yours since all mu music is ripped from cd's not bought from iTunes, but I would think the premise is the same.
Doesn't matter what is in your library.
When I moved computers I literally dragged and dropped the music where I wanted it to be. THen when I opened iTunes I imported the files back into iTUnes
This creates a new library with all the same items but you lose a lot of info: Ratings, comments, date added, custom EQ, playlists, etc.
If you simply copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder, it is the exact same library, not a new library. No info is lost.

How do I back up my iTunes folder to my time capsule?

How do I back up my iTunes folder to my Time Capsule?

A couple of issues here:
First, keeping backups and other data on the TC's internal HD presents problems. See #Q3 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule for an explanation and some possible workarounds.
Second, as Bob says, Time Machine can't back up either the TC's hard drive or a USB drive connected to it.
it's a bit messy, but this might work:
Attach a USB drive to the TC and put your iTunes library on it.
Create a disk image (as in #Q3) on the TC's internal HD, and use a 3rd-party app such as Chronosync to back iTunes up to the disk image. I've not done that, so can't swear to it, but it appears it would work.

By backing up the iTunes Library via saving the iTunes folder on an external drive, is it also backing up all iPad and iPhone backups as well as App Data and Documents from your devices?

If I backup my iTunes Library by saving the iTunes folder on an external hard drive using the instructions contained in the link below, will it also back up all my iPad and iPhone backups as well as App Data and Documents from my devices? In other words, will it also create backups for the backups? Thank you.
Back up your iTunes library by copying it to an external drive
Furthermore, when it is time to restore the iTunes folder I copied to my external drive to a new iTunes program on my new computer, how will it merge the information once I plug in my iPad or iPhone to that new laptop to sync? If I did the iTunes library backup a couple months ago and I've added documents/music/pictures on my devices since then, what will happen when I try to sync it with the new laptop now working off of the iTunes library backup from a couple months ago since the information is no longer the same? Which information will dominate and thus be kept? Will it delete the new information/data/pictures/documents/music off of the devices since it is not on the iTunes program when it syncs?
Sorry for so many questions, but they are all related to backing up and restoring iTunes. I am not very tech savvy if you cannot tell

It would be a good idea to look into a bigger hard drive. They are not that expensive any more and can save a lot of headach. This is even more important if you are buying music from the iTunes music store. If you lost those files they are gone.
The point of having it on your PC and iPod is to have a backup. If the iPod fails, or you need to go back to the DVDs and find they are scratched, or just can not be read you have lost days of work converting and organizing all of those songs.
Or the iPod could hard drive could fail and then you will have to try to bring all of those files back from DVDs. You end up with a mess since some songs will probably be on multiple DVDs, have different names ect. Trying to reorganize it all can be a pain.

I moved iTunes folder location, now all my personal song ratings and playlists are gone. How can I get them back? All the iTunes files are intact, just in a new location. Running iTunes 11.1.5.5

I moved iTunes folder location, now all my personal song ratings and playlists are gone. How can I get them back? All the iTunes files are intact, just in a new location. Running iTunes 11.1.5.5 on Windows 7

Put everything back the way it was.
Them move the folder correctly.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364

Itunes folder on external drive keeps reverting back to local iTunes folder

So I have all my digital music,pictures and videos stored on an external drive. I have 3 different MBP acessing these files and itunes randomely reverts back to the default local itunes folder and then I have to change and organize all over again which includes dups that I have to manage and delete later. What a pain in the arse! Does anybody have a solution that prevents this from happening, running Lion on all 3 MBP.

They are all using the library (and by that I specifically mean the library file, not just the media files) at the same time? Maybe when one is actively using the library file it prevents the others from using it or somehow interferes and makes them think the library on the external is not usuable and they revert to the internal one.
If this is set up through some fancier nettwork then probably hte person who can answer your question will want to know the details. iTunes typically revets to default when it cannot find a library on an external drive and perhaps something is happening with the network to change the identity of the drive in the way your computer perceives it.

I put all my itunes folder on external hard drive, now I want to put it back on the mac how do i do this

put all my itunes folder on external hard drive, now I want to put it back on the mac how do i do this.

Drag the entire iTunes folder back to /Music.

Backing up iTunes folder

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