Change library location when iTunes does not manage the library?

Question

There must be an easier way to do this...
I keep all our music files on an external NAS so it can be shared by my Sonos system and also sync via iTunes to various iDevices by my wife and I.  In this situation it is not desirable to have iTunes organize the folders or copy the music to it's own folder.  Using Windows 7 iTunes, I use the File | Add Folder to Library dialog to add music to iTunes, simply pointing this dialog at the NAS folder where the files are stored.  This creates a few problems.
1) When new music is added to the NAS folder, iTunes doesn't have the brains to re-scan the folder at start-up to see what has changed.  Instead I have to use the File | Add Folder to Library dialog again, choosing the same folder as before.  An annoyance.
2) When I do the procedure described in #1, ALL new files since the last scan get a check mark and are added to the iDevice sync.  That is also undesirable as I may add lectures or music that my wife doesn't want on her iPhone, or vice-versa.  One is forced to hunt through the entire library looking for items that she or I don't want synced.
3) I need to change the location of the music file storage.  BIG PROBLEM.  I can't figure out how to move the file location and have iTunes still honor the selected (and non-selected) file choices.
There must be a better way around all of this.  I saw one suggestion to do a global search and replace on the file location in the iTunes Music Library.xml file using a text editor.  Is iTunes really that backward?  Any help appreciated.

Answer 1

Use iTunes Folder Watch or make sure the designated iTunes Media folder is a folder on the NAS and drop new content into <Media Folder>\Automatically Add to iTunes.
Tunes Folder Watch includes an option not to check newly added songs (or rather it actually unchecks them) however checkmarks are a poor organizing tool. Use a combination of one or more regular & smart playlists to determine what should go on the device. That way you can still listen to albums that aren't scheduled to sync.
Exactly what do you want to change? Normally I'd suggest you make your split library portable, however running an iTunes library database from a NAS is generally not a good move. It may be necessary to do so temporarily in order to relocate the media folder, after which the library files can be copied back to an internal drive for performance. Alternatively you can move files around using my script ConsolidateByMoving, assuming you're not also trying to preserve an esoteric folder structure of your own. Or, it there is room to copy, then delete, instead of moving, then you can use the iTunes "consolidate" feature.
Editing the XML and "breaking" the library to force a rebuild from the XML is not the way to go.
tt2