Copying Music to External with Folder Organization

I have a MacBook and PC Desktop. I download music on both computers depending on where I am and like to keep the two libraries in sync with each other. However, I don't know iTunes for Windows (I think it runs poorly) so I use Songbird instead... that means using the new sharing media function in iTunes is out of the question.
When I tried to copy the new music I had downloaded to my flash drive, so I could copy it to my Songbird library... it's only copying the Files and not the Folders they're in (Artist > Album). Can I get iTunes to copy the Files as well as the Sub-Folders when I drag them from the iTunes interface to my flash drive. I like to copy through iTunes because it's more organized than navigating to the folders manually and easier to find the new music because I can sort them by Date Added.

take a look @ ChronoSync.

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ITunes won't copy music files to Media folder when songs are dragged

I am trying add songs from my external hard drive to my iTunes Library.
I have the following options checked:
"Keep iTunes Media folder organized."
"Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library."
In the past, I could just drag files from my hard drive into the iTunes song list and add them to the library. iTunes would successfully make a copy of the file to the iTunes Media folder so that I could disconnect the hard drive and still play the songs.
Suddenly, this no longer works. iTunes won't make a copy of the file anymore. It won't even make a copy of files located on my desktop.
I found a workaround -- copy the files from my hard drive to the desktop. Then I have to go to File > Add to Library in order for it to work.
It's an extra step, but it was VERY annoying to have to figure out.
So my question -- Is this an iTunes bug or some kind of deliberate attempt at making it hard to use files not purchased through iTunes?
I noticed this on one of the Apple support pages (my emphasis):
Copying music to and keeping the iTunes Media folder organized
You can select these options on the Advanced pane of iTunes preferences:
"Keep iTunes Media folder organized." Learn more about how iTunes 9 and later organizes your media.
"Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library." Select this option to store all your media files in the iTunes Media folder. Since it's all in one location, you can easily transfer or back up your media. When you purchase or import media into iTunes from a CD, it's automatically added to your iTunes Media folder. If you add media to iTunes another way (choosing "Add to library" from the File menu or by dragging an MP3 file into iTunes), it might not be added to your iTunes Media folder.
Well, why the heck not??

I have posted so many issues to APPLE on the staggering lack of basic functionality with itunes and each time they keep deleting it.
Automatically Addd feature does not work consistently if the library is on NAS or a drive not on the same bok as the Mac, iMac or PC.
iTuns will hang if you have the finder window open and the recently added playlist open
itunes will not add files automatically if more than three phases of adding folders to the automatically add to itune folder is refreshed
Once could even jump to the conclusion that the software testing and Quality Control in the iTunes development team had missed out whole chunks of tsting OR that the test designers wrote such basic test scripts which did not replicate real world useage.

How to copy music from external HD to ipod touch 4th gen

I would like to know how to copy music from an external HD to my Ipod touch 4th gen. I have windows 8
Thank you.....Paul

Light blue text is a link
iTunes: Syncing media content to iOS devices and iPod

E51 can not copy music to device with Ovi Suite

I have music files on my computer and I'm trying to copy them to my phone using Ovi Suite.
According to Ovi Suite's instructions, to do this manually I have to choose the music file and select Tools - Copy to device. But this option can not be chosen after selecting a music file (it stays gray) Why is that?
The E51 should have enough memory left for the music, but it does not have a memory card. Is that the problem?

Hi Seimussier,
Yes you are right, you cant copy music files to the phone memory through the OVi suite. It need a memory card for that purpose.
In case if you want an alternative you can go through your explorer, open your device memory and paste your music files.
Once you finish transfering your music files, disconnect your device, open your music player and update your Music library. Now you should be able to see your music files.
Note: Through this method you can only transfer your music files, but cant convert the same in case if it is not supported by the phone
Regards
Regards,
Diwa
If you like my post, kindly acknowlege the same by giving a kudos to me

Itunes 7.2 folder organization messed up

After installing itunes 7.2 for windows, I noticed that my songs are being sorted not by Artist\Album, but by Album Artist\Album. Why is this? I never had this problem before.
example.
Song: Hora Staccato
Artist: Heifetz
Album: 1936 Recordings
Album Artist: Emmanuel Bay
This should always be stored as \itunes music\Heifetz\1936 Recordings.
But now, with itunes 7.2 it is stored as itunes music\Emmanuel Bay\1936 Recordings\
This is really counterintuitive. It should organize as it used to, by Main Artist, not Album artist. My folders are all messed up now.
Anyway to fix this? Or is this the way itunes 7.2 is just going to be? The last release of itunes also had problems with folder organization.

Actually I know exactlty what stradvcl is referring to, because I am running into the same problem. Thus my search in the forums.
Usually Ive had no problem in importing a song into iTunes, and changing the song IN iTunes to read as follows.
Name of Song: DAYS `EUREKA OPENING MIX`
Artist: Anime
Album : Eureka seveN OST 1
Album artist: FLOW
And the Windown path would look like this
C:\Documents and Settings\Varxtis\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Anime\Eureka seveN OST 1\1-01 DAYS `EUREKA OPENING MIX`.mp3
Notice It goes Artist>Album>Song Title
Album Artist would not even be part of the path, which is exactly what I want.
but now it shows
C:\Documents and Settings\Varxtis\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\FLOW\Eureka seveN OST 1\1-01 DAYS `EUREKA OPENING MIX`.mp3
Which goes AlbumArtist>Album>Song Title. it doesn't even include the artist as part of the path. How annoying.
It makes a HUGE difference to me because I need everything in "iTunes Music" library in windows to be pathed as Artist>Album: Song Title. I use a different MP3 Player so, it's almost impossible to have half one way (those that have albumartist) and half another (those that don't) BTW, Sorry apple. . .no Offense. I've had and loved an iPod. . . but it died and I got this as a gift.
I never changed any settings, and quite honestly it's been about a month since I had to update my MP3 player music (thus noticing the problem). So, there HAS to be a reason for it to change. And more importantly, a way to change it back.
"it's just new" is not going to cut it. iTunes is special for its efficiency for sorting music and organizing it. There has to either be an option, or a fix. Anybody know what it is?

How to transfer music to external micro sd card

When I browsed my nokia c3-00, I noticed there is a folder called \memory card\gallery\music files.
Copying music files to this folder actually reduces the amount of limited memory on the phone.
I was expecting the music files to be copied to the 2Gb external micro sd card.
How do I copy music files to the external micro sd card as I only have about 50mb of free phone memory?

You can move, copy, delete, or create new files and folders in your device memory or
on the memory card. If you organise your files into their own folders, it might help you
find the files in future.
Select Menu > Applications > Gallery.
Create a new folder
In the folder where you want to create a sub-folder, select Options > Add folder.
Copy or move a file to a folder
Select and hold the file, and from the pop-up menu, select the appropriate option
its handy to also give your memo card a name
If i have helped at all a click on the white star below would be nice thanks.
Now using the Lumia 1520

Problem with move of iTunes music to external hard drive

My hard drive was getting full and I bought a new external drive and moved iTunes to it carefully following directions on ilounge and Apple support.
1. I first hit consolidate library and only moved the iTunes music file (as per the iLounge directions), then went to Preferences and changed the location of the music file to the external drive.
2. Itunes did not find the paths on the external drive.
3. I then tried to follow the Apple directions and here is when this went wrong. By hitting create new folder and consolidate music again, the whole music folder copied again to the eHD resulting in 10k duplicates.
4. However, this time the songs all worked, so now I had a duplicate problem. By checking these discussions I found an easy way to get rid of the duplicates by sorting by Date (meaning move date- the second time I copied the music file the move dates in all the songs was yesterday, and this was the link where all the songs worked.
5. I thought all was well after checking the music played and even testing remote on my phone, turning off the computer, restarting and confirming iTunes launched fine. Instead of following excellent advice many of you have posted on waiting a few days to check everything works before deleting the old music folder, as my internal HD was completely full I deleted it opening up 100GB of space.
6. Of course, I did not check everything- my playlists were all gone. The iTunes Library files are now both on the EHD and on the iHD but I cannot recreate the playlists. I suspect the playlists were all linked to the original music files copied the first time with the broken paths.
7. At this point is there any advice to recovering the playlists- I have them on an ipod and iphone. Worst case I will need to manually the Playlists.
8. Learning from my mistakes, NEVER, delete the original music folder till you are sure everythng works and even then wait a few days so you will have an opportunity to properly check everything.
9. Finally, I am at a loss to understand why the iLounge instructions did not work for me- only copying the music files to the eHD, leaving the Library files on the iHD, and changing Preferences to the new music file location.
thanks

kneedragger101 wrote:
Note this is an iTunes Library that was on a PC
you might want to read these articles: one and two.
why not move your media files using _*Home Sharing*_ ?

Use external hard drive to copy music to second computer

Ok, here's the situation and what we're wanting to do. I'm so confused by all of the iTunes file manipulation, copies of music, libraries, playlists, etcetera.
We have a home computer (Win. XP) that has a slave drive in it. We use the slave drive for image, video and of course, our iPod music storage.
I have a work computer (Win XP Pro) that also has a slave drive in it, and I use it for image and video storage.
I have an external portable Maxtor USB hard drive.
My wife and I have different music tastes, but both of us do mutually like about 70% of the music on our home computer. It's that other 30% that we can't stand of the other person's music. Since iTunes makes it near impossible for us to use multiple iPods on one copy of iTunes (without jumping through hoops (such as computer user accounts, manual vs. automatic management, using Playlists, etc.) and confusing us to no end), I'd like to simply copy all of our music onto my external hard drive, carry it to work, put a fresh copy of iTunes 7 on the work computer, copy the music off my hard drive and onto my work computer's slave drive. Then do a fresh setup of my iPod again (since it's been loaded with some of her junk by accident).
I don't want to change my home computer's settings or anything. My wife does 90% of the music purchases. I'd just like to pick and choose what I want from home and I'll manage it at work on that computer. You see, she has her iPod setup to put any and all new music onto her iPod. If she buys an album, all of it goes on her iPod. Me, I like to pick and choose which songs go on there.
So, how is the best way to copy the music, library, whatever it is I need onto my external HD and then copy it onto my work computer's slave drive?
From then on, if we add songs/albums at home, how should I best keep taking the new songs/albums over to my work computer so I can manage my own iTunes/iPod? Can I just go in and copy the files out of "iTunes Music" folder onto a zip drive and then drop them in the work computer's "iTunes Music" folder?
BTW, I've decided my next computer will be a macbook. It will be my first Mac and I'm really looking forward to seeing what all the Apple/Mac fuss is about. But GESH, I'd thought Apple was a little better than all of this non-sense. I hope it's just that I'm really confused by iTunes and not yet up to the Apple/Mac way.
Oh, and THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP!
Message was edited by: JJCoke

Thanks ed2345!
I was thinking maybe I could just use the "Moving your iTunes Music Folder" instructions all the way down to, BUT NOT INCLUDING steps 11 & 12. Instead, once the consolidation and copy to the external drive was done, I'd just need to go back up and point to the original iTunes Music folder, right?
I have no problem manually adding to the work PC during the week as we add new stuff to the house. Is just copying the new music out of home iTunes Music and onto a USB zip drive to carry to work and then drop in the work iTunes Music folder the way to do it? If so, that's easy enough for me!
As far as playlists, I thought had a pretty good understanding of what they were, but your use of the words "points to songs" better cemented my understanding of what they were. I thought they were duplicating songs into miniature libraries. I would have no problem doing as you suggest (creating a JJ Playlist) and then pick-n-choosing through the library. However, is there a not problem with two different iPods (both are Nanos, but hers is a 4GB and mine is an 8GB) plugging into iTunes (at different times of course) under the same computer user? Will it recognize that my 8GB Nano is connected and not her 4GB and then let me manage my iPod manually or by only updating "JJ Playlist"? And then 5 minutes later after I've unplugged she could go in and it would do her automatic full sync?

Best way to integrate system Music & Movies folders with iTunes' default folder structure?

I understand that OSX has system folders that can't be moved (Music, Movies, Documents, etc.). These folders are the only ones that get their specialized icons in the sidebar. I like those icons as they make choosing the right folder easier (even though I can read).
MUSIC:
Isn't there something very un-elegant to have my actual music files buried 4 layers deep in OSX's folder structure? By that I mean, I'd like to click on my (system) Music folder and see my music. But OSX and iTunes have schemed to make users have to deal with Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music. It's weird, right?
I am aware that the iTunes library location can be altered via Advanced Prefs, but I like having Music, Podcasts, Movies, etc. be on the same folder level, if that makes sense. If I point iTunes to my (system) Music folder, then my other media will be down below in the iTunes Media folder.
MOVIES:
Likewise, if I let iTunes manage my files, movies go to the Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Movies folder. I don't let iTunes copy everything into the Media folder (as I don't want to eat HD space with duplicates), but that's still where it wants movies to go when it organizes. Similar to the Music folder issue above, how can I make use of my (system) Movies folder given this setup?
I know that I can just remove whatever folders I want from the sidebar and put in the ones that iTunes uses, but then I lose out on the icons and I end up having permanent folders in my Home folder that don't even get directly used for the media files they're supposed to hold.
Thoughts?

first of all, to get rid of the duplicates, you tell iTunes to consolidate Library.
I think you may be missing the idea of what iTunes does for you. If you have content, like music, that you want to find the file of, you right click the name of the file in itunes and then "show in finder" . For things like iChat, you can simply drag and drop your music into the chat window from itunes, just like it was finder. iTunes organizes your media for you so you don't have to go looking for it.
The same thing goes with videos.
There is no reason to have two of the same files on your computer. Think of iTunes like finder, only it plays media too.
Not everyone uses itunes. Things like quicktime player, after you do a recording, will save the content into your videos folder. They're not on itunes but it uses your video folder to save the recordings. This is just one example of how your video sidebar icon folder will still be useful.
Delete the backups you have of your media unless they're in a format the itunes doesn't support, like lossess formats such as Flac, because it is pointless and wasteful to have two of the same files for music and video on your computer.

How can I copy or move files with elements 10 organizer ?

Hello,
since a couple of days I use Elements10 Organizer under Windows 7 Home. Since then Im testing how to come along with the product and it's features. Though I had many good impressions of many functions that work excellent I now have severe problems to organize my workflow. The problem is: I can*t copy or move files or directories with the organizer and worse, I can't find files or directories that where copied, moved or renamed by Windows 7 Explorer even when I import or load the specified directory into the elements10 catalogue again. Off course I understand the elements 10 philosophy to have an image only one time within the data base and to arrange every collecting idea by tags and catagiories. Nevertheless there is a need to have sometimes a copy and also to know where the copy is and to manage it. Right now I find no way to handle these tasks by elements 10 organizer. I am a newbe on photoshop elements.
I would appreciate if there is anybody who knows a solution to me. Thanks and bye, Woenni

I am also having this same exact problem. Only some, and not all of the files on my external hard drive will copy. I get the "No Symbol" when trying to copy or move files.
I am able to duplicate all files. I also can right click on a file and select copy. However on some files, I can't ever paste it (paste doesn't show up or is grayed out), drag it to another folder, or drag-and-copy it to another location or drive.
The files are not locked and I have read and write permissions.
The external that I'm trying to move and copy files from is a FAT32. Could that be a problem? How do I get my files off of this drive?
*PLEEEEASE HELP!*

Can I use home sharing with an external iTunes folder??

I just set up and am using home sharing for the first time. I have a MacBook Pro and iMac both set up, running iTunes and sharing will not work like I'd like. I use an external hard drive with my iMac and have an iTunes folder there (that sometimes it points to automatically, but sometimes I have to go under advanced and show the iMac to use that iTunes folder because it defaults to the internal iTunes folder on the computer). Should iTunes home sharing work with the external iTunes folder or does it only work with iTunes folders on the computer? I currently have my iTunes folder pointed to the external and can play music from there, but I cannot find a way to access that folder from my MacBook Pro.
I'm wondering if it's a limitation of home sharing or a result of not having the iTunes folder "properly set up" on the iMac to always point to the external.

I use an external hard drive with my iMac and have an iTunes folder there (that sometimes it points to automatically, but sometimes I have to go under advanced and show the iMac to use that iTunes folder because it defaults to the internal iTunes folder on the computer).
Make sure the external drive is powered on and mounted on the desktop before launching iTunes.

HT1751 After "Restoring iTunes Library Backup" it wont link to the files in the iTunes folder. I've followed the correct procedure, and iTunes lists all my music correctly (but with no artwork), but can't locate any of the files. Using Windows 7. Help ple

After "Restoring iTunes Library backup" it wont link to the files in the iTunes folder. I've followed the procedure as described, and the iTunes folder is in the correct location. iTunes lists all my music correctly (albeit with no artwork), but can't locate any of the files.
I've been restoring my iTunes folder from a backup hard drive to a new computer on which I've downloaded the latest iTunes (10.7). If this is a newer version than the one I backed up with could this be the problem? (I had the latest (to my knowledge) iTunes when I backed up the folder about 3 weeks ago, was this version 10.7?)
Or is the version of iTunes (within recent updates) not an issue when restoring a library?
Using Windows 7.
Any help please?

From the top of the page where the scripts live...
The general method of use is to download the script to a folder of your choice, e.g. your Desktop, Downloads folder or create a folder at ...\iTunes\Scripts. Select a playlist or highlight some tracks in iTunes and then double-click on the script to execute it. If no specific tracks are selected the script will try to work with all tracks in the current playlist. Some scripts offer a choice of track by track confirmation of changes or fully automatic processing of the selection. Many of the scripts can optionally display a progress bar while running.
You are strongly advised to backup your entire library, or at the very least the iTunes Library.itl file, before use. Test the behaviour of your chosen script on a small group of files first to make sure it does what you want before applying it to large numbers of files.
Most builds of Windows will execute *.vbs scripts when you double-click them. If that doesn't happen then you might need to visit the Add/Remove Programs or Programs & Features control panel to enable the Windows Scripting Host. I can track down details if you have issues.
Backing up and restoring data is an area that is often glossed over. Most people don't try to learn much about it until they've lost something important. (Me too )
If your iTunes library was in the usual layout then normally copying the whole iTunes folder from the User's Music folder in the old computer to the User's Music folder in the new one will usually work fine. Ideally this is done before iTunes is installed so that there is no empty library to replace, and all settings are picked up from the old library. This post contains more details.
tt2

Music on external drive. Use I Tunes to organize. Stream to TV and home stereo through Mac Book and Apple TV. Updated to Mavericks operating system. Now Many times art does not match song or music stops playing altogether. Any ideas ?

I have music on external G drive. Use I Tunes to organize and play music. Stream it to my TV and home stereo using MacBook and Apple TV. Just updated operating system to Mavericks. Now have two issues when playing music. 1) Many times album art displayed on TV will not match song playing, and 2) Music will just stop altogether sometimes. Any ideas ?

Agreed! This bug with the ringtone delay (№4.1) is really annoying

I'm trying to copy music from my PC to itunes. I open itunes, go to 'file', go to 'add folder to library', select the folder and nothing happens. What am I doing wrong?

I'm trying to copy music from my PC to itunes. I open itunes, go to 'file', go to 'add folder to library', select the folder and nothing happens. What am I doing wrong?

Hello there, gleab.
The following Knowledge Base article reviews the ways to import content into iTunes:
Adding music and other content to iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1473
Also keep in mind which formats can be added:
You can add audio files that are in AAC, MP3, WAV, AIFF, Apple Lossless, or Audible.com (.aa) format. If you have unprotected WMA content, iTunes for Windows can convert these files to one of these formats.
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.

HT3842 Does iTunes store the original music file and copy it into a separate folder? If i delete the original file from finder will it remove it from my iTunes library?

Hi, on my last PC when transferring music to my new MacBook Pro i noticed i had about 6 duplicated of each song in every album i took hours in removing them.
I Just wondered Does iTunes store the original music file and then copy it into a separate folder?
If i delete the original file from finder will it remove it from my iTunes library or vice versa. I didnt want to lose any music like i have some how managed to on my old computer.
Or should i keep both files of it in the Music folder and also iTunes library folder?
Which is best ?

DrewPowell wrote:
I Just wondered Does iTunes store the original music file and then copy it into a separate folder?
It does both at the same time.
When you add files to iTunes, it copies them into /Music/iTunes/iTunes media/ folder. The original file remains where it was.
You can drag a file to /Music/iTunes/iTunes media/Automatically add to iTunes/ folder.
This will add to iTunes and move it to /Music/iTunes/iTunes media/.
I keep a shortcut of this folder on my desktop then simply drag files to the shortcut to add to iTunes.
Then there are no "extra" files around.

Copying Music to External with Folder Organization

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