Backup iTunes Library External HDD?

I am upgrading to Leopard this week and want to do a complete clean upgrade to Leopard. My iTunes library is over 100GB, and I don't want to have to back it up to DVDs. How can I backup my iTunes library to an external HDD and still retain my precious playlists, ratings, etc...? I wan to also backup my entire library, not just purchased music etc..

The following link will give you the instructions to move iTunes to an EHD. These instructions need to be followed EXACTLY. From what you have posted, it sounds like one of the issues is you moved the whole iTunes folder, instead of just the iT music folder. The 2 metadata files within the main iTunes folder must stay on the main drive of your system as that is their "home", they can't be moved.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301748
As a suggestion for future posts, it's always much better to start your own topic rather than disrupt someone else's topic with a similar but unrelated issue. It can also get very confusing to try to troubleshoot with several different people on the same thread who have different issues. Thanks!

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Can I cut/paste my backups to an external hdd and then back to my mac?

Ok, here's my issue and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I have an iPhone6 and my wife has one as well, and we both have iPads.
I have to backup all of these somewhere, and my current device is a Macbook Pro with 250gb SSD.
As you understand, backing up so many things in so little space it almost renders my Macbook useless.
I have read some advice about using sudo commands to make iTunes store the backups in an external hdd.
However, I am not an experienced mac user, and I do not trust myself doing something like that.
What came to my mind, and that's what I want your opinion upon, is the following.
Something that I used to do when I was using a windows pc to keep many different backups, rename them etc.
As far as I understand, when I plug in my iPhone to my Mac, iTunes recognize the device and the last backup of that device.
Then, by pressing "Backup to my pc etc" it only updates that backup and rewrites on it.
My questions:
I backup my iPhone then quit iTunes.
I remove (cut) the backup folder (the one with the huge weird name from the directory library/application support/mobile sync/backup/0604f04blabhblahblah) and paste it on an external hdd where I have tons of space.
When I want to backup my iPhone again, instead of creating a whole new backup that would take a lot of time, if I take the backup folder that I had stored to that external hdd and paste it back to its original place (the directory I mentioned above), will iTunes recognize it and update and rewrite on that backup?
And then again move it back and forth from my mac to my external hdd.
And something even more important.
In case something happens to my iPhone (it falls from the 10nth floor) and I buy a new one, will I be able to "restore from backup" using the same method I mentioned before? Will iTunes recognize the folder?
Sorry for the long text and any mistakes but english is not my mother tongue and I wanted to make sure I would be clear about my questions.
My current backups use more than half of my 250gb internal SSD and along with some apps and other stuff I cannot get rid off I am left with only 50gigs of space which is terrible.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

edwardpeck wrote:
If I have iMatch can I move the music files to an external drive and then play the music off the cloud? This way freeing up space on my hard drive? If so how?
You can move the iTunes library to the external and use it there.
Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folde rto the external.
Hold Option, launch iTunes, select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
iTunes will use the external for everything.You can delete /Music/iTunes/ folder.
FYI: The iTunes media folder is not the (entire) iTunes library.

I've mistakenly deleted Time Machine backups from my external HDD. How do I fix this?!

I manually deleted several Time Machine backups from my external HDD. Whenever I attempt to empty trash, it states (error code -22) has occurred. How do I fix my predicament?
I understand (now) that I should never do this and ONLY delete from the Time Machine app itself but I did not assume this would be so complex by taking a blind stab at it. How do I either a) place the Time Machine backups where the originated (Put Back is not an option when right-clicked) or b) successfully delete these so I can clear my bin.
I am running Mac OS 10.10 on a 13" MacBook Air (mid-2013) w/ 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD. My external drive is a 5400 RPM WD USB 2.0 External Hard Drive.

Try Trash won't empty deleted time machine backups

How do I copy a TM backup to an external HDD with an existing TM backup (for another machine)?

Hi,
My question relates to the use of Time Machine for two different Macs ... I have two Macs: a MacBook Pro (ML) and an iMac (SL). I use Time Machine for both.
Unfortunately, the external HDD (A) drive I use for the backup of my MacBook Pro is on the way out. I am now in a situation where I need to copy this Time Machine backup to another external HDD (B) which I use for the backup of my iMac.
I have decided that I would like to use external HDD B for all future backups of both machines from now on. It is a 2Tb LaCie drive with one partition. Therefore, I would like to copy the Time Machine backup data from external HDD A to external HDD B. Since both TM files/directories have identical names, I am looking for some advice of how to do this without 'deactivating' any of the backups or corrupting them, or screwing with permissions.
In case this is known to be problemmatic, would it be 'better practice' to partition the external 2Tb HDD drive into two partitions, then just use one partition for each backup? Is there an advantage/disadvantage to partitioning the drive? Will this approach make it 'less confusing for Time Machine' and reduce potential problems?
Any advice would be great!
Thanks,
Mark.

Don't bother trying to copy a TM backup file. Just connect the other good drive to your MBP and create a new full TM backup on that drive. I do suggest you create a separate partition on that good drive for each Mac you will be backing up to it.

I backup to an external hdd with Time Machine, when it ran out of space it did not delete old backups, now my internal hdd says its full when before it had heaps of space. I have searched for extra files but cant find any. Can anyone help, please.

I backup to an external hdd with Time Machine, when it ran out of space it did not delete old backups, now my internal hdd says its full when before it had heaps of space. I have searched for extra files but cant find any. Can anyone help, please.

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight as described here. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
You can also use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

Backup itunes library

I'm unable to backup itunes library. The backup window does not appear to be active.Last backup, was on previous itunes version, present version is 9.02

Hello Loxi
I'm still learning about Itunes after 4 years but I have learned alot....I will back-up my music from library by inserting disc and clicking on "burn cd" i have never tried backing from the "file" or never have used a DVD-RW. Another pointer is to go "edit".."preferences"..."advanced"..."burning", click on "data" this will reduce the number of discs needed, I am backing up about 9Gig to 2 CD-RWs....this might help you.
Thank you for your reply HEC. I guess I'll use CD-RW disks if or until I can figure out how to get iTunes to find the DVD drive for backups (I use the DVD drive all the time to import songs from CDs, so I don't know why it doesn't see the drive for backing up songs).
It's funny that you never used the 'file' route because that is the instruction in the help file for how to create backups. Whatever works.
I actually chose the data option not long ago (it just looked like the best option when I happened to be in that section), so I'm glad to hear that this option (apparently) yields backup files that are smaller than they are in iTunes. No wonder all the data from my purchased file fit on one CD-R disc - that did surprise me, though I assumed that some sort of compression must have taken place.
The CD-R and CD-RW discs I saw at the store listed their capacity in MBs, and when I told the clerk my purpose, he advised me to purchase DVDs for greater capacity, so I did. The only DVD discs they carried held 4.7 GB each, so that's what I bought.
I tried disabling my CD drive via the device manager, reasoning that iTunes might then find the DVD drive, but it didn't. This resulted in iTunes being unable to find any drive at all and getting hung up.
I just have to figure out how to get iTunes to find that DVD drive for backups.

Backup iTunes library to external HD

How can I select or point to an external hard drive to backup my iTunes library rather than use hundreds of CD's?

StarDeb55,
I'm not trying to permanently replace the normal iTunes library on my PC harddrive, but only to back it up to an external hard drive where it could be restored back to the PC library if necessary. The only options currently available under the "Backup" command are to CD's or DVD's. If you have thousands of songs that would eat up a lot of media. I have done an "Export" to the EXT HD, but don't know if it's possible to resotre that file.
Thanks

Backup iTunes Library to External HD for System Reformat

I'm going to reformat my computer this month, and have been using Windows Live OneCare's backup utility to backup my iTunes library to my external hd. Once I reformat & begin the process of transferring everything back onto my desktop, will all of my songs transfer/play? (I'm mainly referring to the songs I've purchased from the iTunes music store) I thought I heard/read that the songs purchased from iTunes will not play afterwards. Also, do/should I deauthorize my desktop computer in iTunes before I reformat? Thanks for the help!

You need to de authorise your computer before reiinstalling Windows to avoid using up an authorisation.
If you have a default arrangement with your music in iTunes\iTunes Music, you need to ensure that your iTunes folder and all its subfolders are backed up.
you can simply copy the iTunes folder to the external drive, but it is also fine to use backup software.
To restore, install iTunes on the new system. Drag the iTunes folder to the desktop and replace it with the backed up iTunes folder. Start iTunes and authorise your PC.

Backup iTunes Library on External HardDrive ?

iTunes should be made on an option to be able to backup the entire library and an external hard not only on DVD or CD?

*Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
Grab SyncToy 2.1, a free tool from MS. This can be used to copy your entire iTunes library (& other important data folders) onto another hard drive or network share. You can then use SyncToy periodically to synchronise or echo your library to the backup. A preview will show which files need to be updated giving you a chance to spot unexpected changes and during the run only the new or updated files will be copied saving lots of time. And if your media is all organised below the main iTunes folder then you should also be able to open the backup library on any system running the same version of iTunes.
tt2

Time Machine Backup iTunes Library on External Drive?

Hi, my external firewire drive that holds all of my iTunes music and videos recently crashed (it had close to 100GB). It is completely unrecoverable (tried Data Rescue II - nothing).
Would Time Machine by default backup my iTunes library if it existed on an external firewire drive (assuming, of course, that the drive is plugged in when Time Machine is working)?
If not, can this be made to happen for the future?
Thanks.

Yokenny,
To add to the former comments...
Time Machine will not "by default" backup extternal HDs attached to our Mac. You would have to go in an remove them from the TM Prefs exclusion list first, as the 'default' behavior is for TM to ADD external drives to the list.
If you do determine that your crashed hard drive was attached and backed up (you can check your TM backups via the "time travel" interface.) you may still be able to recover the backed up data. But you would need another drive named the same as the crashed drive to do it.
Let us know if this was helpful.
Cheers!

Backing up entire itunes to external HDD

how do i "export" & "backup" my entire itunes library (music/vids/pics etc) to an external HDD?
after reformatting my PC, can I import again without problems, even songs purchased from itunes store?

Here is how to move it to an exHD:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
Before you reformat your PC, deauthorize it
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1420
Yes, you can get your library back intact - if you save the ITL file and have the same user name on your fresh system:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93732

Backup Itunes to External HD, Problems with duplicate filenames

Seems, basic enough. I have my iTunes library and media files located on my home media server, and I would like to make a backup on an external hard drive for safe keeping. However, I have a problem just copying the iTunes media folder over to the hard drive.
First off, yes I let iTunes organize and consolidate my media, so it is all contained in the normal iTunes media folder. The problem comes with media which has the same name. For example, movies are all orgnaized by itunes into subfolders for each movie. So I have say "The Karate Kid" (orginial) and "The Karate Kid" (newer version). I
So when iTunes organized the files it allows two folders with the same name "The Karate kid" in the iTunes Media, Movies folder. Thus, when I go to merely copy the library over to the new drive I get hung up because of the error, there already is a folder/file of that name existing once the first is copied..
This isn't a big deal for movies since there are not as many to deal with and I can work around it, but when goign through thousands of songs, that may have same names, album and live versions, or that fact that itunes somehow created two folder for the same album if the typing case was different between one or the other (i.e. Back In Black, and back in black)
I can't find any report of people experiencing this same problem, is there any simple backup programs for Macs that would allow me just to export, or back up this libray to the external drive and get around the naming conventions of the folders that prevents me from simply copying the whole folder over to the drive?

Mirrock wrote:
Seems, basic enough. I have my iTunes library and media files located on my home media server, and I would like to make a backup on an external hard drive for safe keeping. However, I have a problem just copying the iTunes media folder over to the hard drive
You need to copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder, not just the iTunes media folder

When syncing iPhone with iTunes, my external hdd disconnects

Hi! After I updated iTunes to the last version (9.1.1) appears one problem — when i connect my iPhone 3G 16Gb and iTunes is launched, it starts to sync as it is intended — and my external usb hdd disconnects. And it is required to restart the whole system with disconnected iphone to connect hdd as usual.
The itunes music library is on this hdd. I have mac-mini 1.83 core 2 duo with 4Gb ram and latest update of 10.5 Leopard.
I also recently installed fruux for syncing this mac-mini with my macbook, and may be it is the reason, but I uninstalled it fully (as writen on fruux website), but the problem is still as is.
Please, help — this problem makes my iphone fully isolated from my iTunes library :(((

Make sure the following setting is unchecked:
Lightroom / Preferences / Import:
[ ] Show import dialog when a memory card is detected
Report back if it is already unchecked and LR still starts up.

Backup iTunes Library on Seagate Backup Drive

I'm trying to backup my iTunes music on my Seagate backup drive. When I create a new folder and drag all of my music files into it, dragging that folder to the Seagate drive icon doesn't result in its being copied there.
I have gone to Library and tried to drag the iTunes icon there into the Seagate drive. That is quickly copied there, but it's all text--no music.
What am I doing wrong? How do I make a backup of my iTunes Library with all of its music in my backup drive?

I don't find a /Music/ folder when I open the HD.
Then you ae not looking in the right place.
Go to Macintosh HD\Users\{your username}\.
You should see the following folders...
\Desktop
\Documents
\Dowloads
\Library
\Movies
\Music
\Pictures
\Public
\Sites
But when I open Applications I find an iTunes icon.
That is only the iTunes application. It is not the music files and the library.
Dragging that icon to the external drive caused the contents of my iTunes to copy there. I also found such an icon for iPhoto, which answered my next question.
No it did not. You simply copied the applications to the external. The iTunes library/music files & iPhoto library/photos are not on the external.
If you are looking to backup, you should check out -> SuperDuper! or -> Carbon Copy Cloner
and you can post over in the -> Forum : Using Mac OS X Tiger for advice.

Need logical setup advice for new iTunes on external HDD and new laptop

New to Win7, would like to know the best way to re-create from scratch my 5+ year old iTunes library on a new external hard drive without simply copying the previous iTunes folder structure over. I guess that I would like to add all the music, video, movie and iPhone app files to a new library. What is the best method to do this so that iTunes can organize all of the new data from scratch correctly? What about reauthorizing apps and media I purchased through iTunes? anything special to do to reintroduce this data to a new iTunes?
(to clarify - I intend to install the iTunes program on my local C drive in programs on the laptop and all data on the external drive) Thanks...

Steve M. wrote:
I know I should have redundant backups and should probably have a second external HD and eventually will.
Yes, that's best.
But for now, if I partition (I'm assuming I should) a new 1 TB external HD, how big should I make the TM partition vs. the SD partition at this point assuming I have under 100 GB on my internal Mac HD? Is this a feasible way of doing things here in the near term.
Your best bet is to make your TM partition 2-3 times the size of the amount of data you anticipate backing-up. Put it first on the drive; that way, later on you can delete the partition below it, expand the TM partition, and make a new, smaller partition for SD (or use the whole drive). See #1, #3, #5 and #6 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum, for details.
By the way, any recommendations on which peripheral HDs to consider? I was very surprised on a recent visit to my local Apple Store that they have a large stock of WD My Studio drives. I mentioned to an Apple sales person that I had always heard WDs were kind of a no-no among Mac users but she assured me the current crop of them were much improved. Any comment on that??
Most any drive will work with Macs, and Time Machine.
If you're going to put a "bootable clone" on it, be sure it's a bootable drive. Most PPC Macs can boot only from FireWire; most Intels can boot from F/W or USB. But some Western Digitals won't boot a Mac. Their list of which ones should and +should not+ boot: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/stdadp.php?pfaqid=1787. But note the disclaimer that they don't support it +*at all.+*.
In addition, many of them have a built-in sleep mode that cannot be disabled, and sometimes interferes with Time Machine backups: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/stdadp.php?pfaqid=1376

Backup iTunes Library External HDD?

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