Backing up my iTunes music to an external hard drive

Hi,
Rather than continue to backup my music to CD's, I'm going to purchase an external hard drive soon. What I'd like to do is use the external HD as an archive for restore purposes. My goal is to have two copies of my music, one copy on my iBook and one copy on the external HD. This is possible correct? All I would have to do is drag my "iTunes" folder on to my external HD correct? If there is more I'd have to do please explain.
Thanks for your assistance,
Marvin Jackson
iBook G4, Mac Mini w/ Core Duo soon Mac OS X (10.4.8)

An external hard drive is a good choice. Backing iTunes up by copying the iTunes folder is a good idea. Copying the whole folder brings with it the iTunes Music folder and also the iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows) database file which holds all the information about your songs (Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, Last Played, Date Added, etc). You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?

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HT1751 if i back up my itunes library to an external hard drive and then add subsequent music and want to back that up a few days later, can i backup the only newly added music without backing up the entire library again?

hello,
if i back up my itunes library to an external hard drive and then add subsequent music and want to back up the newly added music a few days later, can i do it without backing up the entire library again? or do i need to back up the entire library each and every time i back up to the external hard drive?

Just copy Users/yourusername/Music/iTunes (containing your library-files) to your external drive as well as that (extaernal) folder that contains all your audio-tracks.

I have backed up all my music on an external hard drive and i was wondering is there a quick way to put it all back on itunes.

i have backed up all my music on an external hard drive and i was wondering is there a quick way to put it all back on itunes.

Hello, Gazzlaa84.
You can import your media a couple different ways. If you plan on keeping the media on the external drive, I would just direct iTunes to read the media folder on the external. Here are the steps on how to make that change.
iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Also, here is another great resource for moving your iTunes media.
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Cheers,
Jason H.

I perviously transfered all my iTunes music to an external hard drive. But now when I connect the external hard drive and try to play a song, I get an error message saying that I need to "locate" my music. I don't how to find it on my external hard drive.

I perviously transfered all my iTunes music to an external hard drive. But now when I connect the external hard drive and try to play a song, I get an error message saying that I need to "locate" my music. I don't how to find it on my external hard drive. Please help for I am not that computer savy and don't want to mess anything up.
Thanks!

I called Apple Support and they walked me through it. They told me to basically copy and paste my music to the external hard drive. (I think.) Or maybe it was they had me transfer a folder to the EHD. I don't exactally remember it was a few years back. But I tried to plug in the EHD before starting and...nothing. Still says same thing, "locate file."

I got a new computer and backed up my iTunes library to an external hard drive. The external hard drive is not allowing me to access the drive. Is there a way to transfer the songs from my iPod touch to my new computer?

I got a new computer and backed up my iTunes library to an external hard drive. The external hard drive is not allowing me to access the drive. I no longer have access to the old computer. Is there a way to transfer the songs from my iPod touch to my new computer?

That's a bummer, didn't realize the exHD files were corrupt, esp if you have tried from another PC and not just this new computer.
You can get purchases from the itunes store transferred from an iPod using these directions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848?viewlocale=en_US
If you want everything (meaning non-itunes songs, app data, photos, etc) you need to buy a 3rd-party ipod manager that support iTouch. Here is an iLounge article to start your research:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/copying-music-from-ipod-to-co mputer/P2/

Can I directly back up my itunes files to an external hard drive? To save my internal hard drive.

Can I directly back up my itunes files to an external hard drive? To save my internal hard drive.

If your intent is to remove the songs from your computer's internal drive you don't want to manually move them because iTunes won't know where they are. The safe way to perform this move is to start iTunes, open iTunes Preferences, and select the advanced tab. Plug in the external drive if it isn't already.
Using the picture above as a guide, (1) click on the Change button and select your external hard drive. (I created a Music folder on my external drive because I keep more than just music on it). 2) Click to put checkmarks in the boxes marked (2) and (3) and then click on the Ok button. This sets the stage for copying the music to your external drive and will make sure all your new music is put there as well.
The last step is to select the File menu, choose Library, and then Consolidate Library. This actually moves the music. Depending on how large your music library is and the speed of your external drive this will take a few minutes to a few hours.

How can i back up my itunes library onto an external hard drive?

I can seem to figure out how to back up my Itunes library onto my external hard drive. Any advise?

A quick search provides the answer, see the following:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751 for backing up to an external drive.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1382 for backing up to optical media.

ITunes Music on an External Hard Drive

Sometime ago I put, or as you will see, thought I'd put, all my itunes music on an external hard drive, I used the instructions as outlined on the Apple website, and it all SEEMED to work fine, except that when I choose "organise library" or as it used to be known "consolidate", itunes copies about 300 or so tracks and thats it, but I have over 10,000 songs, vids and podcasts. Also if I go into Spotlight/Finder, there are a lot of iTunes files on BOTH the external hard drive AND in the itunes folder on the INTERNAL hard drive, now I'm worried about copying one from the other in case I lose some stuff, any ideas?

apple-lovin-it wrote:
Sometime ago I put, or as you will see, thought I'd put, all my itunes music on an external hard drive, I used the instructions as outlined on the Apple website, and it all SEEMED to work fine, except that when I choose "organise library" or as it used to be known "consolidate", itunes copies about 300 or so tracks and thats it, but I have over 10,000 songs, vids and podcasts. Also if I go into Spotlight/Finder, there are a lot of iTunes files on BOTH the external hard drive AND in the itunes folder on the INTERNAL hard drive, now I'm worried about copying one from the other in case I lose some stuff, any ideas?
check if iTunes is pointed to the desired location in preferences > advanced like so

HT1751 I have followed the steps to back up my itunes library to an external hard drive but when I try to drag my library to the hard drive it does not work. Any suggestions?

I have followed th steps to back up my itunes library to an external hard drive but when I try to drag the itunes folder to the hard drive it does not let me. Any suggestions?

Go through the below forum with similar issue and follow the process mentioned by "Macjack" in the beginning.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4499820

New hard drive on laptop, itunes music stored on external hard drive...

my hard drive on my laptop crashed and I got a new one installed...I kept all my itunes music on an external hard drive, and that is ok. I have reinstalled itunes on my laptop, but how do I get itunes to read the music from my external hard drive??

When you say "when i double click on my itunes files it just opens up this list of music." it doesn't mean anything to me. You need to explain clearly, remember I only know what you tell me.
I need to understand how you have things set up and if you had you iTunes library database on the external drive or the c: drive. That is the iTunes folder containing iTunes library.itl.
What do you see when you open iTunes on the new PC, are your music files there. If not, every time you play a track it gets added to itUnes so you should at least have some files in your library.
What problem are you trying to solve? Is just getting the tracks into your iTunes library, or are you also concerned about ratings, count and playlists from the old PC. If so do you still have access to the old PC?

How can I back up multiple itunes libraries to an external hard drive?

How can I back up multiple itunes libraries to an external hard drive? I have tried dragging them across but they all open up as the primary library.

See this -> https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2682

How do I store iTunes music on an external hard drive?

My iBook has a small hard drive and I can't store any more music on it. How do I store the music on an external hard drive and have it appear as a library (its own or part of the library on the iBook)?

Assuming that your hard drive is plugged into your computer (USB or Firewire connection) and switched on, drag the Music folder (HD > Users > Your Name) on to the external drive icon. The Music folder is the default location for your iTunes files.
If you wish, you can set this new location in iTunes preferences so that any additions or deletions to your iTunes library will be applied to the folder on your external drive. You must remember to swich on the external drive to enable this. To set the new location open iTunes and go to preferences>advanced and click on General. You will see where you can designate the new location for the iTunes Music folder.

Can I get back to iTunes Music after failed external hard drive transfer?

I am in the middle of moving a bunch of files to an external hard drive. I followed instructions posted and mentioned on this forum to move iTunes Music; changed iTunes Music folder location to go to the EHD, then consolidated library there. I never deleted the iTunes Music folder that was in My Docs. I noticed a problem with the EHD file and had to delete the iTunes Music folder that I had just set up with a plan to just redo it. I did this thinking that once I reset iTunes to look for the Music folder back in My Docs I would be fine....but, iTunes can not find the original file for any songs. I can manually point iTunes to the song in My Docs, but there must be a better way. I have already changed the Music location in iTunes back to My Docs. Is there something I am missing?
Thanks
Dell Windows XP Pro

cgb33,
You can use the Add Folder to Library option as explained in this article in the Apple Knowledge Base.
Note that while this will add the songs themselves to iTunes, playlist and related information will not be included.

How to copy everything from my ipod, back to my itunes library? Crashed external hard drive- containing all music/media that was linked to itunes.

My external hard drive crashed and that is where I had all of my music/media files. I do have some content on another external drive, but not all (and not my movies, etc).
How can I copy everything, from my ipod classic, back to my itunes on my PC with Windows XP?

The media is laid out on the iPod in a completely different stucture to that used by iTunes. However, if all your files on the iPod have tags (i.e. are not wav files) then you can try the following:
Create a new empty library by holding down shift and clicking the icon to launch iTunes, then select Create. Choose a location with enough room for your media, ideally on the same drive letter your missing media folder used to be on.
Copy the contents of \iPod_Control\Music into the Automatically add to iTunes folder of the new library.
Move the resulting iTunes Media folder into the location that your current library expects to find it. (If you can't do this for some reason move on to the next step, then use my FindTracks script to reconnect your media)
Hold down shift and click the icon to launch iTunes, then select Choose and select your original library.
tt2

How do I move my iTunes Music to an external hard drive? Please help!

I bought an external hard drive and moved the iTunes Music folder from my local hard drive to the external hard drive and now the iTunes library appears empty. I moved all my music back into the local hard drive and the libarary is now full full of music again. How can I move all the files to the external drive and have iTunes retrieve the music from there?
Thanks!
Paula

This article tells you the proper way to move your music:
iTunes: Moving your iTunes Music folder
After a successful move, always connect your external disk, before running iTunes.
Failing to do so will iTunes cause to reset the 'iTunes Music folder location'.
That means your next ripped CDs will be stored on your internal disk.
If that happens, just set the proper location again in the preferences.
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.6) Several ext. HD (backup and data)

Backing up my iTunes music to an external hard drive

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