Copying Music Files and iTunes Playlists Onto New Computer

I just received my new MacBook Pro and am going to need to copy my music files, iTunes playlists, etc. from my existing PC to my new MacBook Pro. Can anyone recommend some good/definitive articles or posts on how to do this seamlessly?
One thing I should note is that while I keep a lot of my music in my iTunes folder, I also keep a lot of it in other folders on my hard drive, and I'd strongly prefer to maintain this file organization. I'm hoping this won't cause any issues with the transition. I also really, really, really hope I'm able to cleanly transition my playlists without having to manually recreate anything, as I have hundreds of playlists that I've spent literally thousands of hours curating!
Thanks in advance,
Alex

if i were you, i would move my complete library to the Mac first. you can easily move content to different locations later on. please post back if you want to know more.
my reasons are these:
1) as the articles i linked above outline, it is not as simple as +drag & drop+ if you want to retain playlists, ratings, etc. when making the move from winsloth to Mac. check this thread for possible problems: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=11495714#11495714.
2) it is generally better to let iTunes do the moving of files. if you do his manually, chances are iTunes will lose track of their location.
well, you might want to wait and see if another user comes up with a brighter idea
good luck !
JGG

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Transferring Itunes Playlists onto new computer!!!

This weekend I purchased a HP 64 bit tower with Windows Vista. My main concern with making a smooth transition from my old computer: *How do I transfer my Playlists from my old computer (or from my ipod) to my itunes library on my new computer? I have about 10,000 songs, so you can imagine how long it will take for me to reconstruct all of my playlists if I lose them Thanks!*

johnnc46lp wrote:
I just transferred my 16,600 songs from my iTunes on old HP DEsktop to new HP Envy Desktop
Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder from old computer to /Music/ on new computer. Do not copy only the songs.
Open iTunes.
That is all you need to do. Your library is moved with everything the same.

I transferred my files, including iTunes, to a new computer. When I go to sync, it says I'm still synced with the old, do I want to erase and resync. AND then it says not enough space. What to do?

I transferred my files, including iTunes, to a new computer. When I go to sync, it says I'm still synced with the old, do I want to erase and resync. AND then it says not enough space. What to do?

Pictures, assuming they were taken with the device, can be copied off at any time. This has nothing to do with syncing.
If the pictures were instead synced to the device via iTunes, they are not the original images. Instead, they are optimized copies of the originals for display on the iPhone. There is software that can extract them, google it.
Where is the backup of the computer? And before you ask, the iPhone, like all iDevices, is not and has never been a backup device.

I want to play music bought from itunes on my new computer but apple id is old email address no longer accessible and password forgotten. Security information date of birth also not accepted

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Welcome to the Apple Community.
The following article(s) may help you.
Moving your iTunes library to a new computer

I have installed the new OS and have lost a part of my personal data: music files and pictures. The new safari is horrible. Give me back the previous version!

I have installed the new OS and have lost a part of my personal data: music files and pictures. The new safari is horrible. Give me back the previous version! Or fix the bugs!

These are user-to-user forums, they are not monitored by Apple (there are too many forums/threads/messages for that to happen). If you want to leave feedback for Apple then you can do so here : http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html
What bugs ? Have you not got your music, files, photos on your computer so that you can sync them back to the iPad ?

Getting iTunes library onto new computer

Ok, so about a month ago, my computer died of a broken motherboard. the hard drive did survive, however, and now lives on in an external case. i purchased a new computer, and do not know how to go about getting all of my music onto it. i currently have:
1) An iPod nano full of my music
2) my old computer's hard drive, also full of the same music
3) My new computer, with NO music at all on it
What would be the best way to get my entire music library into iTunes on my new computer? The iPod or the old computer's hard drive? what would be the easiest way to do it? i do have quite a few songs purchased from iTunes. Thanks in advance.
-Kyle

bump

Reloading ipod and itunes on a new computer

I am trying to reload ipod and itunes on a new computer I recently bought. Because of disc management issues, I had these on an external drive (assigned the letter "F") on my old system. The letter "F" is assigned to a disc drive on my new computer. Every time I try to load ipod or itunes, the installer sequence tells me there is no available memory on drive F of the new machine (true enough), but will not let me re assign to a new drive.
suggestions on how to resolve this?
many thanks. Bill

Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer
For non-iTunes music (such as CDs or third-party), follow through this:
Transfer Non-Purchased Songs?
Hope this helps.

Is it OK to copy and paste Aperture and iTunes libraries to new computer?

Is it OK to copy and paste Aperture and iTunes libraries to new a computer in OS X Mavericks?

Well, yes, you can copy them over. It's probably easier to use Migration Assistant though, as a lot depends on how the machines are connected, etc.

Downloading Itunes again onto new computer, protecting current library

Hi, first of all my apologies if I'm posting in the wrong forum. Please let me know if I am, and where I should post my question/problem.
First of all I'm quite new to Itunes and the Ipod. I received an Ipod Nano 3rd generation as a gift several months ago. On my old computer (Dell Desktop, Windows XP), I had downloaded Itunes, had no trouble keeping my library and syncing the Ipod each time I needed to, or whenever I charged my Ipod. I also had my Ipod registered on my Itunes. My problem is I don't have access to my old computer any longer. I recently had to abruptly change computers. I'm currently using Toshiba laptop and Windows XP. Can I download Itunes again onto this new computer and register my Ipod again? If I do this, how can I ensure I don't lose my current library. I have less than 500 songs at present, but I don't want to lose all the music I paid for. But I don't want to mess anything up by registering my Ipod again. Am I making sense? I'm going to need to charge my Ipod soon, so if anyone has any ideas to help me, I'd appreciate it. Also, I didn't have any way to backup my Itunes library by burning to disc. Eventually, I'll be acquiring another laptop, a Dell laptop that will be using Windows Xp also. Sorry if this is confusing. I'm confused myself, lol!

*Can I download Itunes again onto this new computer and register my Ipod again*
Yes you can download the iTunes program onto your new computer, you don't need to register the iPod over again to use it on another computer.
*how can I ensure I don't lose my current library*
If your iPod is set to sync automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod. When your iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual, that will let you use our iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it: Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
*Also, I didn't have any way to backup my Itunes library by burning to disc.*
Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you have any iTunes Music Store purchases the transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. You'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
The transfer of content from sources such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod2PC Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
SharePod Windows Only
iPodRip Mac & Windows
YamiPod Mac and Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
Floola Mac & Windows
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible - Windows version only)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide
Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync. I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay.

Can I copy music on an iPod to a "new" computer?

I have a new computer and would like to copy the current music on my iPod to the new computer. Music was originally loaded from the old computer.
Is there a way to transfer the files FROM the iPod to the new COMPUTER using iTunes? (iPod --> computer)
If not, is there another way to do it? Many thanks,

Welcome to Apple Discussions.
If you still can access your old computer, you may try:
Copy songs over a network
Use the iPod to move music to a new computer
If not, then check this: MacMuse, "Computer Crashed" #4, 11:49pm Feb 7, 2005 CDT

How may I prevent loss of Music - not from iTunes - on a new computer?

The original iTunes Library I had for my iPod Touch was on a computer that has broken down.
I am concerned about what I'm reading in the iTunes HELP files, because I see no way to prevent loss of my non-purchased (at least from iTunes) music when syncing with a newly authorized computer. I do not have all of the original CDs anymore for most of this music.
I have just installed iTunes on this new computer & wish to save ALL current iPod Touch content into this new and empty iTunes Library! What must I do to save my non-purshased content?
I did just do a BACKUP of my iPod contents but have stopped there, not knowing if it will contain everything... What now?
THANKS!

Well, I really do appreciate your input Kappy. When it comes to doing backups, your info is correct and, in general, very helpful. I am suspicious, however if it will actually have any bearing on the iTunes interaction and what iTunes will allow me to place into the new library.
As for iTunes and what it will allow - or not allow, I'm not sure that the backup will allow me to slip it into the library per se. I thinking that it's an iTunes issue instead of a backup issue, but maybe not...
If I had any other model than a Touch, I believe I could use the iPod as a hard drive and transfer accordingly, but having a Touch, I do think my original question remains unanswered.
Thanks again!

Moving all music in my itunes to a new computer

I am a windows user and I recently got a new laptop. I was wondering the easiest way to move all my music, purchased and imported for cd's to my new laptop. When I downloaded itunes on the new computer and hooked up my ipod, it told me it was already syncd to another computer and can only be..
Any ideas and help would be appreciated...

You should always have a backup, as computers rarely announce their pending failure.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1382
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iTunesWin/9.0/en/15482.html

Copying Music Files to Itunes on new computer

Hello,
I was wondering if I could copy the music files on my ipod to my new computer. The only catch, however, is that I did not put them in a folder and put them on the ipod to transfer to my new computer. This was because the old computer is completely destroyed, or else I would. I would appreciate it if there was ANY way to put my songs on my ipod to my itunes library/harddrive on my new computer.

These links will give you
i several
methods of recovering whatever songs remain on your iPod; some free, some third-party software, some more comprehensive for restoring playlists, ratings, counts, etc. Read them and their associated links before deciding on a strategy that works for you. There are various third-party software programs that will offer a more robust process, or an easier GUI. Do a Google search if the links below leave you wanting.
How to import songs from your iPod to iTunes
Use the iPod in its alter ego - that of portable computer disk drive
Copying music from iPod to computer
Copying Songs from Your iPod to a Mac or PC
iPodRip Software
After recovering your song files, consider developing a backup strategy for just this type of situation. Below are some very good threads to read on the subject:
Buegie, "Can I backup my library?" #2, 05:21pm Aug 7, 2005 CDT
StarDeb55, "Backing up music Please Help" #1, 10:04pm Jun 24, 2005 CDT

Problems during copying music files from iTunes 10.6.1 to iPhone

1st problem
In new iTunes 10.6.1 on my MBP when copying music on iPhone if during copying add additional musical files in queue, copying of files from the previous queue stops. In the previous iTunes version of such problem didn't arise. Whether there is a solution of this problem?
2nd problem
In older version of iTunes i could adding new music files to my iphone with drag and drop from Finder. Now i must add files in iTunes library and then from library drag and drop files to iphone. How to solve this problem?

You would have to purchase 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and install it, assuming your computer is compatible.

Automatically sync local files and iTunes playlists

Is it just me, or does Spotify not update playlists and local files from iTunes automatically as you add more tracks?
This is so annoying. I use iTunes to add and organize my local files, which Spotify is not able to do. But the least Spotify could do was to do a check up once in a while to see if i added new local tracks or changed my playlists in iTunes.As it is now i have to import playlists and local files everytime i add new music. So i first need to add it to iTunes and then again to Spotify. Toooo much work.

Hey guys,
I am interested in the "Local File Refresh Button" functionality described initially in this post: http://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Ideas/Local-File-Refresh-Button/idi-p/188652
I consider that having the "Local File Refresh Button" option would make a lot of users happy, is anyone else interested in this idea?
Cheers !

Copying Music Files and iTunes Playlists Onto New Computer

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