Backing Up iTunes Library On External Hard Drive

Iv'e just bought and installed a LaCie Hard Drive for my mac.
As I have a library of 62gig I want to make a back-up just in case something went wrong and I lost the lot!
Does anyone know if there is an easy way to transfer the files to the hard drive, I have tried to highlight and drag the files to the hard drive folder but this will take forever, if you highlight too many items the computer just freezes.
Any help would be great, Brian.

The link William provided is about Windows computers. It will tell you the principles and the importance of backing up specific files.
If all your music is on your internal HD in the 'iTunes Music' folder (default setting), just drag the iTunes folder (in ~/Users/YourUsername/Music to the external HD.
This way, also your 'iTunes Library' file is copied.
If your ext. HD has a Firewire connection, it will copy about 1GB/min.
To make regular incremental backups, you have to use a 3rd party backup application.
M

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Re: Best Way to (Continuously) Back up iTunes Library to External Hard Drive

Hello friends :
My iTunes music library is getting rather large and I feel it's time to "properly" back it up to an external hard drive.
I understand that you can back up your iTunes music folder to an external hard drive by the simple old "click and drag" approach using Windows Explorer.
What I'd like to know is ... after intially copying the entire iTunes music folder onto the external drive, how can I achieve regular back-ups where only the files, playlists, etc. that have changed since the last back up are then added to the external drive . . . rather than having to copy the entire rather large folder all over again (and again)?
Hopefully, you know what I mean! Thanks for your help.

The first time I backed up my iTunes on an external drive, it took a 1 hour +. Do I basically need to start over on my external hard drive? Or is there an easier/faster way?
Yes there is a faster way.
Check this out -> Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy
Don't change the library location or hold Option to update the backup on the external.

How to back up iTunes Library on external hard drive & computer, after purchasing new music?

I keep my iTunes library on my computer's hard drive and also backed up on an external hard drive. I have added more music to my library since my previous back up, and I want to back up the new music to my external drive.
What's the best way to do this?

The first time I backed up my iTunes on an external drive, it took a 1 hour +. Do I basically need to start over on my external hard drive? Or is there an easier/faster way?
Yes there is a faster way.
Check this out -> Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy
Don't change the library location or hold Option to update the backup on the external.

Backup and restoring itunes library from external hard drive?

is there a way to backup and restore my itunes library to external hard drive and not through the internal itunes backup utility cos i have over 20gbs of music and i want to keep my album art and renamed songs etc. because i will be reformating my pc and dont want to go through painful task of manually adding stuff again.

Try this...
*Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
Grab SyncToy 2.0, a free tool from MS. Use it to create a backup copy of your iTunes library & any other media folders onto another hard drive or network share. After making the initial backup copy use SyncToy to periodically synchronise the backup copy with your library and only the changed files will be copied saving lots of time.
When the time comes to reformat your PC, do a final sync, then open iTunes & deauthorise the PC, reformat & rebuild Windows, copy the backup folders back to the same location as they were previously, install iTunes and it should all work perfectly.
tt2

ITunes Library to External Hard Drive...and iTunes Match???

So, my iTunes library is getting too large for my computer's storage capacity. I'm thinking of moving some of my library to an external, USB hard drive. However, I've never done iTunes through an external hard drive before and I have some questions.
Can I copy new discs (import) straight onto the external hard drive? Or do they need to go onto my computer first then get transferred to the hard drive?
Can I still use iTunes Match and pull songs from the library on my hard drive and from the main computer?
To partition a library between a computer and an external hard drive, do I need to activate sharing or anything special? Or will the computer/main iTunes library just consider the external drive to be a different location for some of the tracks?
How would I backup the external hard drive? Would Time Machine (running off a separate hard drive) back up another external hard drive if they were both plugged in?
Can you burn the entire library to data discs anymore? Or do you need to make a playlist of your entire library? If the latter, is there a way to turn off the message about iTunes in the Cloud playlists only accepting songs matched or uploaded? I have some songs that erroneously did not get matched or uploaded. If I try to put them in a playlist and burn it to a data disc for backup, iTunes won't do it.
Please help!

I recommend you keep everything inside the iTunes folder.
Quit iTunes.
Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder from internal to external.
Hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
This is all you need to do. Everything will work normally.
You can delete now /Music/iTunes/ folder on the internal.

Backing up itunes library to a hard drive

I want to back up my entire itunes library to my hard drive but can only find instructons on backing up to cds, i have a very large library and dont want to lose any of my songs, please help
thanks

The instructions you saw are for using iTunes to back up to CD or DVD. You do not need them for backing up to an external hard drive. Just close iTunes. Make sure the hard drive is connected to the computer. Go into Windows Explorer, or "My Computer." Copy your entire "My Music" folder to the hard drive, along with anything else that you wish to back up.

Backing up entire iTunes Library on external hard drive?

I have recently purchased an external hard drive to backup all media on my computer (photos, music etc).
However, having searched apple.com for backup advice, the only instructions available refer to creating backup discs on an a CD.
I have already copied my Itunes Library to the external hard drive. However, please can someone confirm that this is sufficient and if, in the event that everything goes wrong, the $800 of music that I have from iTunes won't disappear.
Thanks for you help

Unfortunately the iTunes backup only works with DVD/CDs.
You can simply copy your iTunes directory to the external disk, or you can use backup software outside iTunes to manage it for you. If you have XP pro you already have a backup program. If you have the home edition, it has to be installed from the Windows CD if you got one with your PC.
There is a good article on backup here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1522195&#1522195

Can't import entire iTunes library from external hard drive

I recently had to reset my IBM ThinkPad T40 (Windows XP) to factory settings. Of course, I backuped up my iTunes library on an external hard drive, and there didn't seem to be any problems doing so. (I've had to do the same thing before) But I can't re-import the entire library now! It only imports about a thousand songs (I had about 5,000), and I get an error message saying "The file iTunes Library.itl~ cannot be imported becuase it does not appear to be a valid exported file.") I also tried to import a previous back-up (stored in a different folder, and it wouldn't import all of those files, either -- no more than in the more recent backup files) either. I've tried re-downloading the iTunes software several times. Help!!!!
Thanks!!!
PS: Is there a way to sync my iPod to import songs from that BACK into itunes?
IBM ThinkPad T40 Windows XP

This seems to have deleted ALL of my iTunes. The folder (and all iTunes files) is still there on my backup, but now the newly-installed iTunes won't import ANYTHING (It at least imported about 1,000 (out of 5,000) songs before. But now it says all files are invalid, regardless of where I attempt to import them from. (although the names of some playlists import -- but they're empty files) It appears that SOME of the music files are located on the backup copy, but simply won't import. Perhaps they're corrupted?

Backing up iTunes to an external hard drive

One more question from me. Previously, I'd used the official iTunes backup feature, through the "file" menu.
However, I've recently purchased a 500GB external hard drive, and I'd rather back up to there than have dozens of DVDs lying around.
How do I do this? iTunes only gives you the option, when you select backup, to insert a CD or DVD. Is it a matter of simply copying my iTunes folder over to that external drive?
If that's the case, then how would I "restore" it when the time comes that I need it? Simply by replacing the Library file on the C: drive with the backup version I had on the external drive? Because if I were to use the "restore" feature in the menu, I'm assuming it would want me to insert CDs or DVDs.
Apple really should make this easier.
Thanks.

I am working on trtansfering the itunes files and my music library to and external hard drive - XHD (WD, 750GB). I have transfered the files and the music library to my XHD but when I delete music selections from the cumputer c drive, the XHD updates it's files with the reduced music selection. I have also tried the to back-up the files by giong to start, accessories, system, etc, but I do not have an op[tion to back-up files. All that I have as faras options are the file and settings transfer. Please Help. -Hmanrose-

Moved iTunes Library to External Hard Drive - having trouble - HELP!

I have had quite the ordeal...upgraded my Mac iBook G4 from os 9 to os x 10 Tiger.
Bought an external hard drive to back up my 30 GB of music
Now...my computer won't function because it's out of hard disk space.
I moved my iTunes library to the external hard drive. Everything seems to be jim dandy...except that when I go to play a music file...the computer does not recognize the file.
I have to locate, and re-direct the path for each song to the new file location. SONG BY SONG!
Is there any way to do this globally for the entire library???
What else should I do to ensure I free up hard drive space, without jeopordizing my precious music files?
Thank you!!!

With iTunes 7.x you can transfer iTS purchases from the ipod back into iTunes.
To prevent your iPod from syncing - hold down the 'option' and  keys at the same time when plugging in your iPod. Keep the keys held down until the iPod show up in iTunes.
MJ

No success moving iTunes library to external hard drive

I'm trying to move my iTunes library to an external hard drive to free up some space on my laptop. I'm working on a Macbook running OSX 10.8.2 and trying to transfer the library to a WD My Passport for Mac (which is optimized for Mac OS Extended). I followed all of the steps in this article from apple: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449. When I reopen iTunes, as instructed in step 15, I get the message that "The folder containing "iTunes Library" cannot be found, and is required. Please choose or create a new iTunes library." In the article, it just says that if you get that message, then take your old library back out of the trash. It offers no real solution! I don't want to keep my iTunes library on my Macbook! I've tried holding down the option key when opening iTunes and choosing the folder on the external drive. When I do that I get this message: "An iTunes library file could not be found in the folder "iTunes 1" (which is what I called it). Please choose a different folder." What am I doing wrong? This should be a simple process!

I just want to clarify: Your library had been moved to an external, but your database files are still where they ought to be, right? In the home / music / iTunes folder?
If not, try putting these files back in the Music / iTunes folder in your user folder.
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.xml
Keep the media on the external drive. If you get a message about missing content, go to preferences and make sure that the library location points to your external drive's itunes folder.

Can't back up iPhoto library to external hard drive

Just purchased a new ext. hard drive; when I try to back up my iPhoto library (v. 5.0.4) to it I get a message "can't copy one or more of your items". When I click to continue, it simply stops. I had no trouble backing up iTunes and other files. What am I doing wrong?

Hi Lori;
Thanks to you for your support as well. I have tried dragging the iPhoto Library both directly from the Pictures File in Finder, and from a copy of the iPhoto Library folder on my desktop. I get the same non-result in both cases: "One or more items can't be copied. Do you want to skip them and copy the remaining items?" It doesn't specify what items can't be copied, and when I click yes (to continue) nothing gets copied.
As I said earlier, I successfully backed up my entire iTunes folder with room to spare, so I know the external hard drive is operating properly. Any ideas? Thanks again.

Backing up iPhoto Library from external hard drive through ChronoSync to Time Capsule

I have a 2008, 2GB Mac Mini. I moved my iTunes library, which is mostly movies, to a 4 TB My Book Studio, as it exceeded the space on my Mac. I back up my computer to a 2 TB Time Capsule. I exclude the My Book Studio from being backed up on the Time Capsule as it takes up all the space due to the iTunes library. I am wanting to move my iPhoto library as it is starting to take up to much memory on my Mac also.
My question is, if I move my iPhoto library to the My Book Studio, then get an application such as ChronoSync (or an App that will do incremental back ups & not do a completely new back up each time) to automatically back up my iPhoto library to my Time Capsule, can I set it to specifically bak up the library off the external hard drive, or will it only back up info that is stored on my Mac?
Thanks!

Thanks Terence!!! I received a reply back from Chronosync. I will be purchasing their app......it sounds pretty slick
Here is their reply to the same question I asked here:
ChronoSync Express will back up the contents of whatever volume or folder you target as your source target to the volume or folder you choose as the destination target. As long as you can access the volume or folder via Finder of your Mac, ChronoSync Express can access it as well. You can create a sync document that targets your iPhoto library and nothing else on the My Book Studio and backs it up to the Time Capsule then schedule it to run automatically.

Backing up iTunes Purchases to External Hard Drive

I tried to download the 2.0 upgrade for my touch last week. It completely crashed my system. Corrupted my user log in on Windows. I was able to transfer my purchases from my touch back to my computer, but I'm wanting to back up my purchases to an external hard drive before I try to download the 2.0 upgrade again, in the event it crashes my pc AND my touch. I've read the info on backing up to disc, but unfortunately my pc is on the out, and the cd burner isn't functioning properly. Any suggestions? Is the backup file a document? Can I export my library to a desktop file, and then send it to the external hard drive? Any help would be appreciated greatly!

Open the folder \Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents\My Music\iTunes where yourname is the name of your Windows 2000 or XP user account, and drag the purchased content to the external drive as you would any other file. If you're using Windows Vista, look in the \Users\ folder for your iTunes library, or right-click a song, get info for it, and look at its location. Rented movies won't have a listed location.
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Back up iTunes purchases to external hard drive

Can someone please tell me how to back up just my iTunes purchases to an external hard drive? I don't want to save my whole iTunes library.

Well, I have Vista, but Im assuming the processes will be similar.
You can attach your external hard drive, make a folder in it. Then, open up iTunes and bring up the "Purchased" playlist.
Do select all (thats option+A for Mac's right?) and then, simply drag all of those purchases right onto the folder in your external. Then bam, the items will start to transfer, might take a while if you have lots of purchases.

Backing Up iTunes Library On External Hard Drive

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