Backing Up iTunes with Song Ratings

Is there any way to backup and restore iTunes library with song ratings?

My canned response on how to back up a library to an external hard drive. You didn't specify onto what you wanted to backup.
PT
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://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
If you are just testing to make sure a backup copy works and still want to use the internal location, 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. Otherwise you are all set to use the library from the external location.
Additional info...
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751?viewlocale=en_US
Cheers,
Patrick

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Can't Get External music back into itunes with song rankings

For various reasons my wondows PC crashed and I've had to clear out various drives.
No problem I thought, because I regularly back-up my 10,000 plus songs on an external hard drive.
Problem is that when I connect it to the PC and try to copy the songs into itunes I do not get my song rankings appearing any more, I just get the other ID3 tags details. Where are they stored and can I find them again ?
Also,
all the while the external HD is attached and I've copied some folders into itunes, all appears fine with the songs showing and playing, but when I disconnect the song still appears in my open version of itunes but then no longer plays and says it can't find the song ?
Help ! I don't want to rank all 10,000 songs again and I want the songs all back on my PC.
I could use my 60 Gig ipod to reload the PC but I only have about 80% of all the music files I own, so the obvious choice is the other external drive with everything from my PC on it. Can you help me please ?

luckily that is also backed up on the external drive too so I'll try looking there, but do you have any thoughts on why I can't get the backed up files to stay on the PC correctly ? because until they are back on my PC I can't use it or get the rankings back right?

I have backed my iTunes with over 10,000 songs on a hard drive and than i reset my computer to factory settings, when i put it back on my macbook pro only 2030 were able to be downloaded back to the same computer

i have backed my iTunes with over 10,000 songs on a hard drive and than i reset my computer to factory settings because my email was hacked, when i downloaded the music back to my macbook pro only 2030 were able to be downloaded . how can i download all my music back?
michel p.

I usually err on the sideof caution when someone says "downloaded" and take it to mean anything fro actually downloaded, to copies, to imported, to moved (frolder to folder), but even if they were "downloaded"... if the old email was hacked, and subseuqently closed out, that leaves the downloaded files "orphaned" if you will, belonging to the old ID. So, while they may be on the HD, they're inaccessible now.
One of the biggest reasons I NEVER keep anything in my library with DRM employed in it. I bought it. I own it. I'm not going to get locked out of it.

ITunes playlists, song ratings gone in 10.4 under Lion

Im in a crysis here. My iTunes Libaray is gone under 10.4 in Lion. when i first started up it just gave me the standard iTunes window when you have no music or anything. You know it tells you where you can get it. So then i just told it to search my user folder for stuff to import and it started. but then when it gets done none of my songs had ratings that i had applied and none of my playlists where there. I checked my Music folder for playlists and didnt find any. what can i do?

Your playlists, song ratings, comments, or other information you create are stored in the iTunes Library file found in /Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library. What are the iTunes library files?, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
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.
Look in your /Users/username/Music/iTunes folder for a folder called previous iTunes Libraries. These files are dated with the date created.
How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists, http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451 explains how to recreate your library and playlists using these previous files.

How do I fix broken song files in iTunes with songs transferred from my iPod to my computer?

Recently got a new computer but when I tried to transfer the files in My Music>iTunes to my new computer I realized that only about half the songs in my library have folders in the iTunes folder, even purchased songs (no idea why). I could download mp3s of every broken song and re-do it that way, but I would rather figure out a way to restore the files from my iPod and save a lot of time.
I enabled disk use on my iPod and dragged the folders from iPod_control>Music to a folder on my desktop but the songs are all assigned random four letter names. I don't know if iTunes will be able to detect the right file to restore each song if I just direct it to this folder (using the prompt when you try to play the song), not to mention that the random songs are broken up into 49 separate folders so I would just have to randomly guess which folder to direct it to (I have 1993 songs). If I drag all the files into iTunes will it just create doubles of each song? I don't care about play counts, I don't know if that's stored in the song file, but it's not a big deal for me to replace all the songs in iTunes with the files from my iPod as long as all the files work.

Thank you so much! I now know how to convert AIFF audio files to ACC files, and I can keep the original AIFF file! One other concern though -- how do I tell which is the bigger AIFF file and which is the new smaller ACC file? iTunes doesn't have an obvious place/window that tells me the audio file size. Is there a way to tell the two apart. It looks like it creates an identical file name, not even a "copy" extension or anything -- so it's impossible to tell them apart. Is there another secret here?
g-5 Mac OS X (10.4.8) iPod Nano

Backing up itunes with two EHDs.

Can I use two EHDs to back up itunes library? I currently have a 2010 mac mini with over 200 GB of music, using Seagate FW EHD as clone. Is it doable to add another EHD using USB of at least 1 TB, partion it with one a clone of the internal HD and the other for itunes. I would then use the FW as a itunes back only. I will be using CCC. How do I choose which EHD to point the intunes location to?

If you want to make a backup, you don't point iTunes anywhere other than where it is. Just copy the entire iTunes library to whatever drive/partition you wish to use for your backup, either manually or via backup software. Should anything happen to the copy of iTunes on the main drive, just copy the iTunes folder back from the backup volume.
Or just set up a drive/partition to be a Time Machine partition and let Time Machine to do the work for you.
Regards.

Backing up iTunes playcounts and ratings

I have a fairly large library (just under 80GB) and have had some previous experiences with iTunes data loss. I'm getting dizzy going in circles looking for a way to save the information of my music (play counts, ratings, etc) in case of losing them, so I thought I'd try asking here.
Thanks very much for any responses.

Yes, just put it back to where it was before.
For example, I run my ITL file from my drive K: so that's where I put mine back.
Keep in mind, itunes uses absolute paths. Your music files still need to be in the same place itunes expects them.
I could change my drive letter to M: and shift-start itunes to use that the same ITL file, but I'd get ! next to all the songs. The ! means itunes can't find them.
The content would show in my library because I have the ITL file, but the itunes would still think the music was on K: (and not know about M:) and not be able to play the content.

Importing Text file in to iTunes with song and artist names

A friend made a compilation CD for me. He exported the artist and song names in to a text file from iTunes. I am having trouble importing the information in to my itunes. The people at the apple store said that it was not possible and that I would have to import his whole iTunes library.
Thanks.
imac

Hi Dennis,
In order to import flat files into MDM do the following. This solution is specific to MS Windows:
I. Set up ODBC for *.txt or *.csv files
1. Open Data Sources (ODBC) interface:
Start> Settings> Control Panel--> Administrative Tools -->Data Sources (ODBC).
2. Select System DSN Tab in Data Sources (ODBC) interface.
3. Click on [Add]. Select the Microsoft Text Driver. Click Finish.
4. Write a Data Source Name
5. Uncheck Use Current Directory to enable the [Select Directory] button.
6. Click on [Select directory] to determine the source directory.
7. Select the source file.
8. Click [OK] and return to the ODBC Text Setup screen.
9. Click [OK].
10. Return to the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog and click [OK].
II. Importing from Flat file
1. Run MDM Import Manager.
2. Select ODBC from the Type drop-down field of the Connect To Source dialog.
3. Enter the DSN name from the Setup ODBC Connection dialog above.
4. Select the file name with extension (.csv or .txt) in the Tables panel of MDM Import Manager and the file content in the Records panel.
Hope this solved your problem.Please mark helpful answers
Regards,
Santosh.

How do you "sync back to iTunes" with Games?

I bought a game with iTunes on my MacBook, then synced it over to my iPod 30 GB. I want to know if the "sync back" feature will work on iTunes on my PowerMac G4? Both machines are "authorized" but the game does not show up on itunes when I look at my iPod. I am afraid that if I sync "all games" when the game is not on the list, I will lose it.
===========================================
-=-Ron Evry-=-
Creator of 'Mister Ron's Basement' podcast on the iTunes Music Store
http://slapcast.com/users/revry
===========================================

How to Transfer Everything from an Old iPad to New iPad
http://osxdaily.com/2012/03/16/transfer-old-ipad-to-new-ipad/
iOS: Transferring information from your current iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to a new device
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2109
Moving Content to a New iPad
http://tinyurl.com/qzk2a26
Transferring your prepaid cellular data account depends on your carrier. AT&T lets you move it yourself when you go to Cellular Data in Settings and log into your account with your previous AT&T user name and password. For iPads with Sprint service, you can set up an account on the new iPad and contact Sprint Customer Care (888-211-4727 and go through the menus) to deactivate the old plan and get credit for unused service. For Verizon, call the company’s customer service number for mobile broadband support (800-786-8419) and ask to have your account transferred.
 Cheers, Tom

Backing up itunes with windows 7

I am unable to back up my itunes music with the latest version of itunes and find there are no ready solutions in the help sections. Will going under Library - export library accomplish this for me- and If i import from this export will it work? I preferred the older versions of itunes where it was easier to select what & where to back up to.

See this User tip for a backup strategy.
tt2

Backing up itunes with two EHD

Need to move 200 GB of music from my mac mini 2010. I currently have a EHD for backup of my mini with firewire. Thinking of buying another EHD with firewire. I would have one EHD as a clone of the mac mini with my itunes and the other for itunes only. I would then free up my mac mini of the itunes. Does this sound right? Also, what is the advantage of using partitions? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Well it all sounds right. well one of the advantages of partitions is saving the whole hd from crashing in cause something happens its only the partition your working on that crashes. Another advantage is that of organizing files becomes easier eg work in one partition and media in another or maybe if 2 different people are using the same comp each could use a different partition.

How to reconnect iTunes with song files

My iTunes music isn't all showing in iTunes. It is all on the hard drive I don't know the best way to reconnect iTunes and the files.
I had ITunes putting music files on an external drive into a folder "•MUSIC Files". Prior to setting that up ITunes had been putting files into Home/Music.
My iPod battery failed; an old iPod for which batteries are not available. So the replacement battery came in a refurb iPod sans my music and audiobooks. At that same time I upgraded to Leopard and moved the files from the external drive to the internal drive- to clear the external for Time Machine. The •MUSIC Files folder was put into the Home/Music folder.
ITunes sees the files in the Home/Music folder but it doesn't see the files in the •MUSIC Files folder (that is in the Home/Music foldet). Dragging files out of that folder doesn't work nor does dragging an album folder. I hope that I don't have to import one file at a time, HELP!

My recent post to a thread with a similar software limitation might serve as a solution to your problem. Check it out.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1304548&tstart=0
DIXIE

In itunes if "Songs" is selected a column with a Check Sign header is displayed. What does this column mean?

In itunes with "Songs" selected there is a column labled with a header which is simply a check sign. If you select "View" a pulldown menu titled "View Options" appears and one has the option to either display (or not display) the "Checked" column. I get that. But what does it mean when a song is shown as "Checked" versus not being "Checked" That part I don't understand. Is it used in conjunction with another operator? I understand columns labled "Name", "Artist", "Alumn" but "Check Sign" is new to me. Please help.
Thanks.

Diesel,
Thank you for your response. I never would have figured that out.
Russ

Only half of some iTunes Matched songs on my iPhone will play, then audio skips to next song in playlist!

Several (maybe 5%) of iTunes Matched songs on my iPhone do this... at EXACTLY 1/2 way through the song.
EXAMPLE: At 2:25 of a 4:50 long song (Shania Twain - From This Moment) the next song in playlist (Taylor Swift - Tim McGraw) starts as the audio skips to beginning of next song in playlist. Oddly, Shania's attractive album artwork and title stays up while Taylor's tune plays (?)
When the timeline for the first Shania song hits the end, the artwork slides to Taylor Swift's CD Cover art and the timer slider adjusts to near the end of that song.
When I play same songs on the same playlist on iTunes (also downloaded from iTunes Match) this does not occur.
Does anyone else see this happen or are there any suggestions?
THANKS
geo

Hey Guys, from my late model iPhone 4, I am also seeing my iTunes Match songs terminate playing very abruptly ...some won't play at all ...others skip to the next track after 10 seconds.
I checked the source files on my iMAC, and they are 100 percent perfect.
Tried deleting them, recreating them, signing out and then back into iTunes with Match On & Off, etc ...still no resolution to these problems.
Maybe the MATCH product is crashing under it's own weight now? It used to be good, but now I am not so sure anymore.
Please post if you have any solution or suggestions.
Thanks!
Pat

Backing up itunes library to DVD -- process interrupted

I'm backing up my entire itunes library on dvd-rw and the burner will stop in the middle. then itunes will say: please insert another disc while the burning is taking place. The problem is, the burner won't stop burning. So, I stop the burner and am unable to pick up where I left off in the backing up process. I have over 50 g of music that i'm trying to backup before i take my lappie to the geek squad (long story). does anybody have any ideas how to specifically backup a particular section of my library?

SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS, BUT LET ME ASK U R U BACKING IT UP IN DATA FORM, I SUGGEST U CHOOSE DATA BURNING WHEN U BACKING UP ITUNES, IT SAVES U DISK AND IT IS BETTER.
1. OPEN ITUNES
2.UNDER EDIT CLICK ON PREFERENCES.
3.LOOK FOR ADVANCE
4.CLICK ON BURNING
5 AN LOOK FOR AUDIO FORMAT
6.CLICK ON DATA CD /DVD.
THIS SHOULD BURN IN DATA FORMAT. MAKE SURE ALSO U CHOOSE THE HIGHEST SPEED OF BURNING.
AND OPEN ITUNES BEFORE U INSERT UR DISK FOR BURNING. MAKE SURE THE DISK IS FREE AND NEW.
IF U ENCOUNTER PROBLEM RESTART ITUNES AND REBOOT UR COMPUTER. THIS SHOULD BURN UR DISK WITHOUT PROBLEM.IF U DO ,I SUGGEST U GO GET USB DRIVE AND SAVE UR ITUNES IN IT. THEN U DONT HAVE TO BURN THEM.
ALSO IF U ENCOUNTER LOTS OF PROBLEM, JUST DEAUTHORISE UR COMPUTER BEFORE U TAKE IT FOR REPAIRS. U SHOULD NOT LOOSE UR MEDIA, BUT IT CAN HEPPEN. THEY SHOULD REPAIR UR COMPUTER WITHOUT U LOSING ANYTHING. IF IN CASE U LOOSE EVERYTHING U CAN USE UR IPOD TO REINSTALL OR REIMPORT UR SONGS FROM IPOD TO ITUNES. SO MAKE SURE ALL UR SONGS ARE IN UR IPOD BEFORE REPAIRS.WHEN U GET UR COMPUTER BACK REAUTHOURISE UR COMPUTER AGAIN, DO UPDATE AT APPLE.COM THEN U USE UR IPOD TO REIMPORT UR SONGS. U CAN DO THIS VIA A THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE. U CAN USE IPOD2COMPUTER.COM. THERE ARE MANY OF THEM THOUGH. JUST GO ONLINE AND TYPE IPOD TRANSFER SOFTWARES. U WILL SEE MANY OF THEM. U SHOULD NOT HAVE PROBLEM U JUST PAY THEM ABOUT 22 DOLLARS AND ALL UR MUSIC WILL BE TRANSFERED BACK TO ITUNES WITH NO PROBLEM, SO U KNOW WAT SLEEP EASY.

Backing Up iTunes with Song Ratings

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