Can't move iTunes library onto external drive?

I am trying to clear some space of my MacBook Pro's internal hard drive by moving my iTunes library onto an Mac-formatted external drive. I have followed to the letter the instructions of the Apple document (setting external HD as location of new iTunes library, then selecting Advanced/Consolidate Library).
The process continued for a bit before it crashed and said, "Copying Music failed. The disk could not be read from or written to."
I had noticed that the error occurred when trying to copy a file that had the "#" symbol in its name. Typically, that character is only a problem with Windows, and I both disks are Mac OS. Nevertheless, I found that the song file in question was a duplicate, so I deleted it and tried again. This time, I got the error message right away!
I have installed all updates, repaired permissions, and can see no reason for this to happen. I have Googled the error message and found a lot of references to this happening when copying to an iPod, but I am moving my library to an external HD.
Please help! My internal HD is running out of space!

That was it! Thanks! During the straight-up copy of the iTunes Music folder, the operation crashed because "some data could not be read or written." Had the iTunes error message been similar, I would have known that was the case.
Currently, I am running an additional copy of the library using the ditto terminal commmand, so I can see a list of all the corrupt song files. So far about 15.
Thanks again!!!!

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Want to Move iTunes library to external drive & access from home & work

I want to move my Windows iTunes library to my new external drive and be able to access my music library from my work computer and my home computer. I have read some discussions here about move libraries and I have some concerns:
1. What is the best solution to the problems people reported about iTunes Helper changing the drive letter back to C: if they booted the computer without the external drive connected?
2. Can I buy music and make playlists from both computers and not run into problems?
3. Any other advice to avoid gotchas?
Thanks,
Mark

If the drive is formatted NTFS, the Mc will not write to it. You need a driver installed to write to NTFS.
Or refomrat the drive to FAT32/MSDOS and it'll work fine.
If you have the entire iTunes folder on the external, connect it to your Mac, hold Option, launch iTunes and select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
Note that the iTunes versions need to be the same between computers.

Can't move iPhoto library to external drive

My poor little iMac only has 200 MB of hard drive space on it, so I need to make some room! I'd already moved my iTunes library from it last year, but I figured now I need to move my iPhoto library to my external hard drive too.
I went to Apple help for instructions, which said drag the iPhoto library folder to the hard drive. I couldn't find an icon that looked like a folder in Pictures, but I found an icon that said "iPhoto Library" so I moved that icon to my external hard drive. On the hard drive, the icon turned into a blank document icon. I put my iMac's iPhoto library in the trash, reopened iPhoto, selected "choose library" and tried to choose the iPhoto library that was on the external hard drive, but it was grayed out, so I couldn't! I went through all these steps several times.
Also, just for curiosity's sake, I double clicked on the iPhoto library blank icon on the external hard drive. It said it needed an application to work with it, so I tried to choose iPhoto, but that wasn't working either.
I have iLife '08, by the way. The hard drive is a 250GB WD. Can anyone tell me how to do this?

What is the size of the resulting file on the external HD? Also how is the external HD formatted? If it's one of the FAT formats for PCs that may be the problem. Try copying that file back to your desktop and see if it will reconvert back to a library. If that's the case, reformat the HD to OS X Extended (journaled).
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

HT1660 move iTunes library from external drive to internal drive

I had to move my iTunes library from my internal hard disk to an external one so that they could replace the recalled hard drive on my iMac. Is moving the library back to the internal drive as easy as dragging it into the Music/iTunes folder?

iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music [library] to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527 - a somewhat bewildering and not always easily understandable set of options.
Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.itl file in the moved iTunes folder.

Can't find iTunes Library on external drive after iTunes 8 install

My music library (50GB) has always been on an external drive. After installing iTunes 8 I went to preferences to change from default to this drive but nothing showed up. The complete library is still on the disk. Tried reinstalling V 7 but still no luck.
Any ideas how to "reconnect" the library ?
iPOD is also still complete. Is there a reverse recovery that my iPOD content could be retrieved to my external drive as the library ?
Message was edited by: samben52

Changing the Library location within iTunes instructs the program were to store future music when Importing - not where to go look for current music.
You music files may be on the ExHD, but your music metadata (Playlists, Playcounts, Ratings, and other potential important attributes) are kept in the Library Database file. See: What are the iTunes Library files?
If you did not save a copy of this file, you may be in for a long recovery.
This well-written iLounge Article is a must-read for anyone who wants/needs a better understanding of how iTunes manages your music. It may shed some light on what you need to do next. or at the very least, help you describe your specific problem here a bit better.
Also see: Managing your iTunes Library on an External Hard Drive
Best of Luck

Move iTunes Library to External Drive

Hi,
I've read quite a few posts on this and tried a couple of ways, but it's not working. I come up with either an empty folder on my LaCie Hard Drive or duplicate folders that I have to import songs one by one on to the drive. I want to free up space on my iMac hard drive. There's one method that says on "step 11- choose *Consolidate Library*",under the Advanced menu in iTunes Preferences. That option is not even listed on my system (*OSX 10.3.9*).
Another method I tried was the Option button down at iTunes start up. After hitting "Choose Library" I wind up with an empty iTunes Library on the LaCie hard drive that I then have to import songs 1 by 1. (No way that's happenin')
Can someone make this a little easier for me? Any suggestions appreciated.
Thank you,
Randy

Thanks again for the information. My iTunes library is now on mt LaCie EHD,and I've freed up a about 12GB of disc space.
Now I'm curious about the whole gamut of iLife applications, iPhoto in particular.
For now this bridge is crossed, so I'll leave it at that.
These discussion boards are amazing.
Randy Allen
Applehead

Can't read iPhoto library from external drive

I suddenly can't can't read iPhoto library from external drive. I have talked to WD and nohing is wrong with the network drive. I can open images and files from it. But, I can't read in iPhoto Library.

Network Drive? a NAS?
iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, exporting, saving edits and sharing the photos.
Basically, you need to move the library to a correctly formatted disk.

How do I connect my 2nd generation Ipod to a Firewire 800 port? It no longer holds a charge and it doesn't power up with the newer generation USB cable. The only way I can sync my Itunes library onto this Ipod is when it is powered...

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I don't have much space on my laptop. I have attached an external drive. I want to access my Itunes library from
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How can I move the library with all my associated data intact such as the playlists, ratings, genres?
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If you have any iTunes purchases in your library don't forget that you'll need to authorise your new computer to play them. Also if you are disposing of the old one remember to deauthorise it so you don't use up one of your allowances: About iTunes Music Store Authorisation and Deauthorisation

How to move itunes media to external drive

I'm running iTunes for Windows 10.6.3.25 and have 3000+ songs in the library. I'd like to move the music files to an external hard drive, without losing the dates added, plays, genres or the directory structure. I've already made a copy of all the folders and music files to my external drive (I've called it M: for Music), but now I need to tell iTunes to look there for the music and not at my laptop's D-drive. Changing the iTunes media folder in the Edit-Preferences-Advanced tab doesn't seem to have any effect on the existing songs.
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Type "move itunes library" into the search bar at the top of this page or your favorite search engine and follow the instructions.

How to move iTunes library from C-drive to D-drive

I'm a Mac guy, but my wife has a PC running XP Home & iTunes 7.1.1.5. At this point, everything works fine. I thought I'd better ask this question BEFORE I did something stupid.
I've noticed that the C-drive has most (not all) of the apps on it and is only partitioned to give 14GB, whereas the D-drive has ten times that much. The system shows me that most of the C-drive space is used (only 15% free space remaining), so I thought it'd be a good idea to move iTunes to the D-drive before she goes crazy ripping her whole CD collection. Seems silly to not use the space!
I've seen enough horror stories about people's mishaps with their iTunes Library to not take this idea lightly.
How do I keep everything on the same computer, but move the app & the Lbrary to the D-drive?? BTW, I have not yet used the "Consolidate Library" feature... is that good or bad?
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Windows XP

First of all I still don't know how to post a question. There is nothing in here that asks me to do so. Therefore I can only reply to one already asked. My problem is that I followed the instructions in iTunes which tell me how to move the files from the C Drive to another location (which happens to be my D Drive). After doing that it then tells me to drag the old files into the recycle bin, however, it won't comply and tells me that the procedure can't be performed because of copywrite protections. Where do I go from here? Or at the very least, how do I post a question in this forum the normal way?

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I'm sure that solution would work, but I guess something else I did is messing things up.
the first tip I got was to Consolidate Library. It forced me to consolidate on another partition of my external hard drive. Now that I tried Add Library, it's putting all the music on that external location, which filled up fast and can't take anymore.
Any thought on how to get my full library back on my internal drive?

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As a best practice, you should move your content to an external drive and import references to into iTunes rather than moving the whole database and app files. In iTunes > Preferences > Advanced, uncheck "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library". This will keep all your music and movies on the external drive, but iTunes and all references to the content on your desktop.
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Can't Move iTunes Library to an external Drive using instructions given

Hi Guys.
I want to move my library to an external drive. However when I click Edit, then Preferences, then Advanced, as per the instructions, there is no inner tabs that give me the option of clicking on General as illustrated in the instructions and I can't proceed. What am I doing wrong? How do I move the library permanently to the external drive to make room on my computer?
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Thanks for clarifying that there have in fact been changes to the Advanced tab. That's what threw me. I've successfully transferred the library to the F drive and all is well!!
It's only a small thing, but I'm just wondering what method I should use to transfer the remaining folders which didn't transfer with the full library.
I have basically just followed the instructions, excluding the going into the General menu of the Advanced tab. I selected the new location, which came up as the new location for the library in the window of the advanced tab. I clicked OK and then Consolidated the library.
Many thanks,
K.

Can't move iTunes library onto external drive?

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