Collections w/ external hard drive

I set up a bunch of collections that filtered out pictures based on various criteria (keywords, ratings, etc). I then decided to move my pictures to an external hard drive since my laptop was getting full (I backup elsewhere).
Since then, I have not been able to use those collections or create any new collections that access the pictures on the external hard drive. I have searched everywhere online and can't find anything that tells me either a) it's not possible to create collections from pictures on an external drive, or b) some setting needs to be tweaked.
It's driving me crazy, as now it's really hard to find pictures, because I organize my pictures in folders by month. If I want to find all of my pictures with a keyword of "flowers", I now have to go to every single folder to look, instead of clicking on the collection searching the entire drive for that keyword.

Thank you SO much Curt. I can't believe you responded that fast...
especially the day before Thanksgiving!
1. I don't need to search across "different" drives, just my external hard
drive. I don't keep any pictures on any other drives (including my internal
hard drive).
2. I did try this but unfortunately it didn't solve my problem.
Basically I can't create a collection from my external hard drive that
works. I actually can't even do a "find". If I navigate to a folder on my
external hard drive from within Organizer, and filter on a keyword ("bird"),
I can then see all of pictures with "birds" as the keyword. But if I go up
to find and select that particular folder to search for that keyword, there
are no results (I've tried it every way I could think of).

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    If you've made it this far you can now connect this drive to your new computer and connect to the library with the shift-start-iTunes method without needing to worry which drive letter has been assigned. If your new machine has a big enough drive you can copy the entire iTunes folder to, say, C:\iTunes and it will just work, meaning that your external drive can function as a backup... You really should keep at least two copies of eveything.
    Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows)
    Grab SyncToy2.1, 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. If your media is all organised below the main iTunes folder (which is the point of doing all the above) then you should also be able to open the backup library on any system running the same version of iTunes.
    tt2

  • How can I transfer Itunes from external hard drive to a new computer?

    Hello,
    I had a Dell laptop with Windows XP on it recently crash, but I have everything saved to a Seamagine external 1 terabyte hard drive. I have about 250 gigabytes of media on it, mostly CD's and audiobooks. The setup I had on the XP computer was my Itunes folder saved on the C drive, but I kept all the actual music and audiobooks on the external hard drive, which was labeled the F drive.
    After the crash, a relative sold me their three year old Compaq laptop, with Windows 7 instead of XP as the OS. My relative already had Itunes downloaded on it, but when I opened the Itunes on the new (new to me) laptop, Itunes only recognized their (my relative's) account. So, I uninstalled their Itunes and then I re-downloaded Itunes for 64-bit Windows 7. I then opened the Windows Explorer folder so to drag and drop my backed up Itunes folder and library information from the old C drive to the new Itunes folder in the new C drive. But, it wouldn't do anything. It still wanted the password info from my relative's account. It wouldn't recognize my account, even though I had uninstalled and then reinstalled a newer version of Itunes. Dragging and dropping my backed-up Itunes folder from my external hard drive to the new C drive didn't work because it said it didn't have certain permissions or something like that. I think I might have downloaded a newer version of Itunes, different from what I had saved a couple of days ago, which might be one of the problems here, not to mention that I switched OS's from XP to Windows 7. 
    When I plugged the external hard drive USB into the new laptop no Seamagine manager came up for user-friendly accessibility. I didn't know what to do, so I installed Seagate Dashboard onto the new computer. It didn't do anything for me either. No problem, I thought, I'll just use Windows Explorer to move the Itunes library, and then once I transfer (i.e., drag and drop) the old Itunes folder to the one, all will be as it was. I could then direct my Itunes account to use my external hard drive as the media source folder. I was wrong. It won't let me do that either. It says I don't have permission to do it. 
    How c an I get my old Itunes library info onto the C drive of this new computer, but keep the 250GB of media files on the external hard drive, just like the setup I had on the old laptop before it crashed? If you can help me, then you will be my hero. I'm scared to death that I've lost my library info and afraid to mess with it too much more for fear of erasing it or, worse, losing the 250 GB of media that is on the external hard drive, which has taken me a tremendous amount of time and money to compile. It is, in effect, irreplaceable. I'm very worried and frustrated. I've been working on this for days, to no avail. You're my last hope. Thank you.

    Hmm, I think we should start over...
    Here are the typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
    In the image above the red outline denotes the "media folder", that is the folder listed under Edit > Preferences > Advanced. In the standard layout where the "media folder" is inside the "library folder" the iTunes library has the advantage of being self-contained and portable. Since you've lost the "library folder" from your old computer you're going to have to start over so you might as well get organized properly.
    If the folder curently holding your media files is called G:\iTunes then rename it as G:\Media.
    The support doc How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one explains how to create a new iTunes library where you want it. In short click the icon to start iTunes and immediately press and hold down the shift key. Keep holding until asked to choose or create a library, click Create and browse to G:\, make sure the folder is going to be called iTunes and click save.
    Move the folder that actually holds the media inside the folder G:\iTunes\iTunes Media. We're going to let iTunes reorganize everything (unless you have a collection of .wav files in which case stop and tell me because they require a different approach).
    Use File > Add folder to library and select the folder G:\iTunes\iTunes Media. iTunes will search through the whole series of subfolders adding all media files into the library and reorganizing them into the correct artist & album folders.
    Again, for data security, you really ought to obtain a second external drive at some point and backup your library to it. Only having one copy, as you have found, leaves you vulnerable to failure. External drives are no less prone to it.
    A) Windows uses \ as a folder separator in path descriptions, Mac uses /.
    B) Do you have a backup of the iTunes folder that was on drive C:\ or are you simply referring to the location of your media as a "backup" when it really the only copy? If you have a backup copy of your "original" iTunes library you could move/copy that to G:\iTunes shift-start-iTunes to open it, and then I can offer tools or techniques for fixing the links that will be broken becuase the drive letter has changed.
    C) Use Store > Sign out and then Store > Sign in to sign into your iTunes account. You will also need to use Store > Authorize the computer to allow playback and transfer of any protected content. If your new library contains protected content from any other accounts then you will have to authorize the computer for those too.
    tt2

  • HOW TO MOVE YOUR ITUNES LIBRARY TO AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE

    Read these directions before actually doing anything, just so you can do this right. I've messed things up before, it can get ugly...
    That being said, here's what you've gotta do if you're running on a Mac:
    Have all your music on the external hard drive. It should be organized in folders the way iTunes set it up
    The folders should be organized something like this:iTunes Media (Top folder, everything is inside of this folder)
    Audiobooks
    Automatically Add To iTunes
    Books
    Downloads
    iPod Games
    iTunes U
    Mobile Applications
    Music
    Podcasts
    Ringtones
    TV Shows
    Voice Memos
    Those folders are what I have in my 'iTunes Media' folder on my external hard drive. You don't necessarily need to have all of these folders. (I happen to just have a lot of things in my iTunes.)
    Finding your iTunes Library Files
    The way iTunes works is there are two parts to make what you see in iTunes work right. There's your media (songs, video, iPod games and Apps, etc) and there are your library files. They tell iTunes what your playlists are, where your 'iTunes Media' folder is located, and a lot of other important things. Here is how to find the iTunes Library files (there will probably be more than one!)
    Look in (yourusername)/Music/iTunes
    There will be a few things in here:
    Album Artwork (It's a folder)
    iTunes Library Extras.itdb
    iTunes Library Genius.itdb
    Itunes Library.itl
    iTunes Media (a folder)
    iTunes Music Library Backup.xml (this file might or might not be here. If there is no file with this name, it's okay.)
    iTunes Music Library.xml
    Some "temp" files (maybe, maybe not -- they are not important for this)
    Anything in the list that is BOLDED needs to be placed in (yourusername)/Music/iTunesIf you copied these files to your external hard drive, you will need to copy them back onto your internal hard drive. These library files do not need to be in the same place as your iTunes Media folder.
    Telling iTunes Where Your Music Is
    Now that your iTunes Media folder is on your external drive, and your Library Files are in place in "(yourusername)/Music/iTunes", we need to open iTunes.
    On the top bar of the screen, go to iTunes>Preferences.
    In preferences, go to the farthest right tab, titled "Advanced" with a picture of a gear.
    The top section says "iTunes Media Folder location" and underneath that you see a filepath ending in the 'iTunes Media" folder.
    This path is probably wrong, not leading you through the external hard drive.
    If it is incorrect:
    Click "change" on the right and then locate the folder in the prompt that shows up. Once the "iTunes Media" folder on your external hard drive is highlighted blue, click "Open" in the bottom right corner of the window.
    Give iTunes a moment or two (depending on the size of your library) to re-locate all of your songs. Voila!
    If it is correct:Do nothing!
    While you're in the advanced section, let's check to make sure you have a few important 'housekeeping' things checked off:
    "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" (CHECK THIS BOX!)
    "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" (CHECK THIS BOX!)
    At this point, iTunes should be all ready to go. Before I get into any troubleshooting, note a few things:
    If you ever unplug/disconnect the external hard drive from the computer, you must first make sure that iTunes is NOT running.
    Also, if the hard drive is unplugged and you open up iTunes, all of your songs will have little symbols next to them. Until you plug/reconnect the hard drive, the songs will stay like this and will be missing.
    TROUBLESHOOTING:
    Not having permission to access the external hard drive:
    In Finder (or on your desktop), right-click the external hard drive (if you don't have right-click, control-click will also work).
    Click on "Get Info"
    A thin, tall window will appear on the screen.
    Part One:In the "General" section, make sure that "Locked" is unchecked. If it IS checked, uncheck it.
    Part Two:
    We are now focusing on the very bottom of the window, where it says "Sharing & Permissions"/
    In the bottom right corner of the window there is a small padlock icon. Click it. When asked for an administrator password, type it in, and click "Ok".
    You will now notice that the bottom section of the 'get info' window is not greyed out anymore. Make sure your user name (it says in parentheses "(Me)" so there is no going wrong here) has "Read & Write" privileges.If not, click on whichever privilege you currently have, and a drop-down menu will appear. Click on "Read & Write".
    If you have any other issues, I will add them to the troubleshooting list to help you out. Hope this was helpful!

    My iTunes library is set up the way I said in the top post and works totally fine.
    Yes, and that is the default structure to which I was referring.  iTunes will organize it that way automatically unless people do start changing settings (in which case they should know what they are doing and how iTunes works with library files and media structure.)
    Both ways work, the advantages of mine would be that should iTunes try looking fo a library, it will always be in the default location.
    It makes people think they have to change media location in preferences.  They do not unless they want to relocate media only and leave other things on their internal drive (in which case there is no point in copying library files to the external, and you certainly wouldn't want to then delete them from your internal).
    Downside is that then should someone move their iTunes library to anther computer they need to remember to get those library files on the external hard drive.
    Just copy the whole iTunes folder and it will get the library files to the other drive in one step, along with all the other files.
    Your post has good stuff but it makes a move appear intimidating and look like people have to do a lot of organizing to move the collection.  It also throws in  extra steps (namely altering preference settings) that could cause confusion or even make a mess of things.  If people leave iTunes to default preference settings (which most people do) the move summarizes into a short line:  Copy a folder and hold an extra button the next time you start iTunes.
    Note that the instructions in the link I provided earlier do also include many steps, but those are to ensure that everybody does have it all organized correctly before simply copying the iTunes folder.  In the end it is just a simple action.

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