Backup iTunes Library to DVD

On Windows Vista trying to backup a 7.5 gb library to DVD, iTunes writes the first disk, asks for the 2nd, says it is writing song such-and-such and just freezes. Can anyone help?

You'd be better off posting this question in the appropriate forum.
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=791

Similar Messages

  • Backup of iTunes Library to DVD causes iTunes to crash

    I thought backing up my entire iTunes library onto DVD would be simple. iTunes reveals that it will take 3 disks for my library and proceeds to write Disk#1. After requesting (and inserting) a second blank disk, iTunes crashes -- EVERY TIME. Now what? Is this a common problem? Is there a workaround?
    I am using iTunes 9.0.1. All my software is up to date.

    I'm having the same problem -- Latest iTunes, and I've 'coastered' about 6-8 total DVD+R's trying different options, and I'm on Windows(!).
    Otherwise, the behavior is exactly as you describe!
    I'm running Vista-64 and the latest iTunes. My Library is about 48GB (12 discs required...). What makes this doubly strange is that once iTunes crashes, I simply cannot eject the disc it was on when it iTunes crashed (usually it's the second or third DVD disc...), and hence the CD/DVD drive us 'locked up'. I must reboot my machine and 'catch it' (hitting the eject button) before the machine gets to the BIOS (while it's still in the POST sequence).
    Any help would be appreciated!

  • Error in burning iTunes library to DVD as back up

    I'm keen to make a back up of my iTunes library onto DVD.
    When I try to do this, having followed the instructions to the letter, the system chugs through, checks the playlist, tells me it is initiating the burning, then I get a message canceling the operation reading 'unknown error 4251'.
    Now, I can't find anything relating to this error on the Apple website, however, there are other users with the same problem using other forums. The problem is though, there don't seem to be any answers resolving the problem.
    Any help would be great, thanks.
    Evesham Windows XP
    Evesham   Windows XP Pro  

    Well....You do not absolutely need to Use iTunes for Backing up your Music. Any program that burns DVDs can burn music files as data disks.
    iTunes can work fine for music files BUT: I prefer more control and completeness over my backup process. It is also very important to note that a large limitation of using iTunes to manage the backup is that the iTunes method does not maintain the two meta-data files (iTunes Library.itl & iTunes Music Library.xml) where your Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, etc. are stored. See: What are the iTunes Library files?
    If you are heavily invested in your Library data (Playlists, Play Counts, Ratings, Last Played, Date Added, etc.), it is critical that you also make and archive multiple backups of your ‘iTunes Library.itl’ file.
    If your music is located under one common Folder (e.g.-‘iTunes’), then it is easiest to physically copy that folder and all its sub-folders in one simple process. It can be done quickly, and incrementally – several times a day, when necessary. In the case of any data loss, just re-copy your entire (or partial) music library back to wherever it was, placing it in the main Folder that the previous iTunes expected. Along with the .ITL meta-data file, this completes a full ‘restore’ of your music to the time of your last backup.
    Use of a backup software program will greatly help. It will allow you to easily perform incremental backups of only the files that have changed. WinXP has such a facility built-in. I use a free program called FileSync ( http://www.fileware.com ). There are many out there. Some use Zipped files or proprietary formats, others use standard file formats. I like FileSync as it uses normal file formats that can be viewed/managed via any Windows program or utility.
    Here's a list of possible ways to copy your music files from your main iTunes computer to another storage medium for backup purposes.
    1) Use an External Hard Drive to store the complete iTunes meta-data files and underlying Music Folder structure and songs from your main computer. They are quite cheap now, for their storage volume. This is my preferred main medium.
    2) If you have two computers:
    2a) Connect them through a router
    2b) Connect them using a Direct (w/Mac) or Crossover (PC/PC) Ethernet cable (See: http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3001.html)
    2c) Connect them via a USB-to-USB Network Bridge. See: here as an example.
    Copy the files and folders from one computer to the other. Use the second PC as your backup repository.
    3) Burn several DVDs (at 4.7+ GBs each) with the music data files and store them safely. Re-writable ones are good for backup purposes (if your DVD drive can manage these).
    4) Burn 6x more on CDs (at 700MB each) than in #3 above and store them safely in more space Re-writable ones are good for backup purposes (if your CD drive can manage these).
    5) Use a larger USB Flash drive (1GB – 4+GBs) to store the files only if you have a small amount ripped music or have multiple and/or jumbo USB drives at your disposal that will fit your music library.
    6) Use the second internal hard drive (if available) of your PC -- not optimum, as you really want to physically separate the storage of backups from the originals, but good as a tertiary storage device.
    By keeping only one copy of your music (other than on the iPod), you are not truly 'backed-up' and are running a high risk of losing your music. Music files on just the iPod and the computer is not considered having any backup. If you cannot store your complete music files on the computer, then create and maintain two external sets.
    You need at least three sets of your music:
    -- One full set on the PC within iTunes (on internal HD or ExHD)
    -- One full set on an separate external backup medium (CD/DVD/ExHD/other)
    -- One (full or partial) set on the iPod
    It is a good policy to backup all your important data. It is a very smart policy to back it up on more than one medium.
    External hard drives now run less than $100 for 200-250GBs of storage. Very cheap backup insurance, indeed. See This Link

  • Backup iTunes 11 to DVD

    In addition to backing up to an external HD, I would like to backup my iTunes Library to DVD's. The size of my library will require multiple DVDs. I used to be able to do this in older versions of iTunes, but I can't find option for this in iTunes 11.  Is it possible to do?
    Thanks

    How to back up your media in iTunes - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1382  - to Cd or DVD only in iTunes 10.3 or earlier.
    Burning in Finder might still be available and you can simply burn the whole iTunes folder. In this era of movie sales resulting in huge file storage, for many people this might take tens if not hundreds of DVDs and many hours which may be why it is no longer included.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • I started backing up my iTunes library on DVDs

    I started to back up my iTunes library on DVDs some time ago but ran out of DVDs.  I now have a new supply in but I can't access the back up option under file/library - it doesn't appear at all.  All I get access to is organise library, export library, export list.  Could this be because I stopped half-way through?  Can anybody tell me how to continue with my back up please?  Thanks a lot.

    No it's because they made a change in the way you back up your Library. I haven't been able to get an answer as to how we are suppose to do it in the 10.4 version. If anyone knows how please share the information as it is really getting frustrating.

  • 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 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

  • How do I burn iTunes library onto DVD-RW? I'm a schmuck.

    Tab: Advanced/Burn only says data - CD; Why can't I burn it as a Audio DVD. I checked help. I got Itunes 6, Sonic ain't working. Neither is Windows Media player. I don't get it. I created playlist, went back to main library, selected all, then back to playlist, and pasted, then burn; I don't know, I'm a schmuck. Nothing can work for me. Like I'm a 3 year old, step 1, 2, 3, how do I do this please? Ask me whatever ya want regarding this, to ensure this can even be done, but please, someone kindly help me? I'm using a (period) > "Staples" DVD-RW, says up to 4x, what am I doing wrong or am I that much of a *******? My email is [email protected] Thank you in advance. My iTunes library is: (367) songs, and 1.53GB. Take care.

    Currently, you can not burn purchased videos to a "Playable" DVD. You CAN burn them to a Data DVD for backup, but there not playable.
    If you look at the "Terms of service" agreement, it states in section 9 under Usage rules.....
    "You shall be entitled to export, burn (if applicable) or copy Products solely for personal, noncommercial use. You shall not be entitled to burn Video Products."
    http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/service.html
    I know, this does suck, I myself wish I could burn the videos I buy to a DVD to play on the TV. Its just currently Hollywood wants there content very well protected, and currently theres no way to burn it to a DVD and have its protection carry over onto the burned DVD.

  • Help Needed: Backup iTunes Using Virtual DVD Media (Image)

    Hi,
    My iTunes library is stored on external drive and managed by my G4 Mac mini.
    I'd like to backup my library using the internal backup functionality in iTunes so I can do incremental backup. The problem is that I only have CD-R drive inside the Mac mini and not DVD-R so it will take me dozens of CDs to backup the whole library. I do have a DVD-R drive on another PC so I wondered if there is a way to use a virtual DVD-R media (like DVD image file) to perform the iTunes backup and then copy that virtual media to the other PC and burn it. I already tried it using Disk Utility and Toast but iTunes didn't recognize the DVD image that were created using these applications.
    Does anyone know if there is a solution for my problem besides installing a DVD-R drive on my Mac mini (which of course is a bad investment on such an old machine).
    Thanks,
    Tal

    Hi Tyler,
    You'll really need to use rsync for this I reckon, rsync should already be part of the Mac OS.
    I found this post on LifeHacker which is an extract from this MacRumours forum post, which works perfectly for me to keep an exact copy of my iTunes Music folder on my network drive, which is now accessible for any computer on my network.

  • 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!

  • Backing UP ITunes Library - To DVD's

    I have the most current ITunes on a Windows 7 Lap Top -
    Backing Up the Entire ITunes Library to CD's or DVD's is gone -
    I have 4171 Tracks of Music ALL Loaded from individual CD's - (240 Plus)
    How can I backup the Library Now...

    That feature has been gone for well over a year. Use Windows backup or the tools supplied with the drive.
    Or get an external drive and backup properly with this User Tip.
    tt2

  • Backing up entire iTunes library to DVD

    I am trying to backup my library to a dvd by file, library, backup to DVD. I am able to check the fields in the backup box but when I hit the backup, it does nothing. I cannot use the cancel button either. If I close this box, I get another box which states I need to highlight the playlist I want to backup. I want to backup the entire library.

    mary.e wrote:
    ...when I hit the backup, it does nothing. I cannot use the cancel button either. If I close this box, I get another box which states I need to highlight the playlist I want to backup. I want to backup the entire library.
    Mary,
    Nowadays people don't back up to CD/DVD. They get an *external hard drive* and copy over their entire iTunes folder, and whatever else they are backing up.
    The advantages are (1) this method does not depend on iTunes's horribly unreliable burning capability (2) you can look at the external and see that the stuff you backed up is really there. (If you want to see an unhappy person, it is when they try to restore from CD/DVD and discover that it did not burn correctly in the first place.) (3) it lets you back up your other valuable files besides your music.

  • When I try to restore my iTunes library from DVD, iTunes stops copying the files after some minutes

    On 2 of my 9 DVDs, iTunes stops copying and I can't do anything with iTunes anymore. I have to reboot my computer. So I'm not able to bring back all my files. Has anyone got help?

    Thanks but I already did read all of the help notes, which aren't very helpful for this.  I did find out the problem- Apple.....they evidently changed one of the major upsides to their old software- being able to back up your entire library onto dvd's- so you can longer do that or restore from the dvds created from older versions of itunes.  I suspect greed is at play in that Apple now wants you to pay $24.95 per year to use a "cloud" service where they back it up for you.  I can buy a lifetime supply of back up dvds for one year's worth of cloud.  So I am now looking into other music software as I am Appled-out.  There is no reason for them to take away the back up portion of the software other than to sell you thrir cloud service.  As we have already given them a ton of money for 5 Ipods and a bunch of music, I think we have contributed enough.  Time to look to solutions outside of the Apple money tree.  But thank you for reading and replying.

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