Desperate help needed: Itunes and library in external drive

I've had for a few years my whole music library (files) in an external drive. Since the last versions (7 onwards), everytime I open ITunes I keep seeing my library in ITunes, but when trying to play, the link is lost.
Sometimes this happens after loosing the location of the external hard drive in preferences (pointing back to default my documents), other times keep the right location but the file links keep broken. I always switch on the drive before opening Itunes, so this mustn't be the problem.
Mates, got like 90 GB of music, which means that is virtually a nightmare to relink everything again.
I'll happreciate any help that you can give.
I've followed all the related tutorials and emails on how to keep Itunes on an external hard drive already.
Thanks in advance

You HAVE to have the exHD operating before opening itunes. That is just the way it works.
Another common problem is Windows changing an exHD letter on you when you plug in a new device like a digital camera. That will mess up the paths in itunes....if itunes was told to look on the E: drive and suddenly Windows has changed it to F:
Make sure you assign a drive letter to your exHD that will not change.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307844
And lastly, other software packages can meddle with itunes saving its ITL library database file. So make sure you make frequent backups of the ITL file, and possibly investigate what could be happening that it is not being saved correctly: security software, other media managers like Sony, Verizon, Songbird, Zune....

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How to put iTunes and library on EXTERNAL hard drive? Having major troubles

I started importing my entire CD collection about a week ago. Got halfway finished before realizing it wouldn't all fit on my computer's hard drive.
Bought a Maxtor 100GB external hard drive, moved all library folders there, then reinstalled iTunes on there as well. I used "Ad Folder to Library" to return all the tunes into iTunes library.
All of that seemed to work just fine, but now I've resumed importing my CDs and they are automatically going right to my computers C drive (the stock internal hard drive) and into "my music folder". Obviously, there is no room there.
How can I get it so that I import CDs onto the NEW external hard drive, and have iTunes pull them from there? I want ALL my library and music folders in the same place, on the external E drive. Can I do this? If so, how??
Many thanks to anyone who can help!

"I want ALL my library and music folders in the same place, on the external E drive. Can I do this? If so, how??"
If you want to make another drive (direct or portable) on your PC the main music location for iTunes, move all song files there, as well as any future imported music from CDs, here is one method (see the links below):
You will maintain your playlists, ratings, comments, etc. This will only move your music folders location, NOT your iTunes program files or the Library database files. It is my opinion that programs (i.e. – iTunes) work better when installed on your main hard drive. At the very least, it makes it easier to manage all your programs if they are centrally located on one hard drive (the Windows default standard).
See these links for some step-by-step info:
iLounge: Moving your iTunes Library to a New Hard Drive
MacMuse: iTfW: Move iTunes music/Library to new drive
iTunes: Moving your iTunes Music folder
If you are moving the music to an external hard drive or network drive, after the transfer (and to work correctly), the drive must be running prior to your opening iTunes. If not, iTunes will reset the location of your music folder location to the default location (usually: ‘C:\...My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music’). If this happens, you need to manually change the path back to your external location, or future CD ‘Imports’ will be deposited on your internal HD.
Also make sure that the new drive always loads as the same Drive Letter, otherwise you will lose the references within iTunes.

How to move iTunes and Library to External Hard Drive

Is it possible to move the program and its contents to an external hard drive? The external can hold much more and it would be easier to bog down my external hard drive every so often than try to keep iTunes and its contents on my Mac.

beilenguitars wrote:
For instance would it all work if I simply dragged the "iTunes" application to my external?
Yes providing you use
Consolidating Your iTunes library
and allow iTunes to Manage your music.
Once you are positive that the External is working to your Satisfaction you can Delete your iTunes Library off your computer.
Leaving the iTunes Application / Program installed on your computer...
To Operate iTunes from the External Drive...
Start iTunes with the Option key held down and Choose library... and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external drive.
On Windows, hold Shift, launch iTunes and select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external drive.

How do I recover uploaded songs from CD's after upgrading Itunes and Ios from external drive with older Itunes version?

I upgraded to the newest version of Itunes on a new PC and the latest version of the IOS operating system for my Iphone 3GS and lost all of my songs that were uploaded from CD's.
Prior to the upgrade I tried to synch and got a message that I need to save all purchases of songs and apps otherwise I would lose them. I did and they saved. However all of the music that I uploaded off of CD's were not transferred. No matter what I did to get that music transferred from Iphone to Itunes prior to the upgrade it would not upload so I did the upgrade. All of my apps and purchased Itunes successfully went back onto my Iphone but all of my music that I loaded into Itunes are gone from Iphone and Itunes.
I had saved all of my songs on an external drive in an older version of Itunes. I would like to plug that in tonight and see if I can get those songs loaded onto my iphone but now am worried that it will try and synch what is on the Iphone into that version and erase all of my songs. Also I am afraid that any newly purchased songs directly onto the Iphone will be lost if I get all of the old data back.
What do I need to do?

The music sync is one way - computer to iphone. the ONLY exception is itunes purchases.
The songs from cd came from your computer in the first place, so they should still be there and should be included in your regular backup copy of your computer.

Need desperate help with iTunes and now to report my issue

Hello,
I have just been cleared out of my £70 gift vouchers i received for Christmas by downloading an buying ingame things for something called "Kingdom Conquest"
I have never seen or heard of this game, I had an email saying it was downloaded onto another device that wasnt mine and i should change my password so i did.
Next thing i see is 2 emails saying i purchased 2 X £30.99 bundles. How do i get this refunded and reported. I am very frustrated about this.
Thank you.

Hi P3DR0X.
Don't worry, this sort of thing is easy to take care of. The iTunes Store can oftentimes refund you for purchases such as these. Just connect to them via https://expresslane.apple.com and ask about it.
Cheers.

I have an existing mini mac and 4 tb external drive. My iTunes library exists on the external drive under /itunes... I have purchased a new mini mac and I want to leave the library where it is but move to new mini mac.. what do i need to do ?

I have an existing mini mac and 4 tb external drive.
My iTunes library exists on the external drive under /itunes...
I have purchased a new mini mac and I want to leave the library where it is on the external drive but move to new mini mac and have it show as it did on the old mini mac..
what do i need to do ?
I have found multitude of articles about moving itunes to external drive or other similar things but I don't want to move itunes from the external drive, just change mini mac machines and have everything in itunes the same..
Thanks

I had already tried that one and got this...
below is screen shot of what is on the new mac mini
and what is on the external drive now connected to the new mac mini..
There are no media files on the mac mini just the library files and on external just media files..
Do I need to copy anything over from the old mac mini ? xml files ? .. the itunes folder on old mini is about 840mb in size which looks to have artwork ect ? .. I am fairly computer literate, but this one has me stumped.. ?
thanks for help

How to transfer itunes library to external drive and keep playlists and ratings

I don't have much space on my laptop. I have attached an external drive. I want to access my Itunes library from
the external drive. All attempts to move the library now result in me losing my "playlists" and even more importantly
my ratings and genre information.
How can I move the library with all my associated data intact such as the playlists, ratings, genres?
I want this external drive to be the main location where I access my Itunes library.
Once that is done I will work on backing it up, as that will be the only place that the data exists.
Also, will my Apple TV be also be able to access my Itunes library with playlists. thus far I have not been able to do this.

Start by consolidating your library. When you consolidate, any songs in the iTunes Library that are not in the iTunes Music Folder are copied to the Music Folder and the Library is updated to point to those new files. Files already in the iTunes Music Folder have no changes made to them: Consolidating your library - Windows
Then copy the iTunes Folder to your external drive. Copying the whole folder brings with it the iTunes Music folder and also the iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows) database file which holds all the information about your songs (Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, Last Played, Date Added, etc). You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?
Disconnect your external drive and connect it to your new computer, copy the iTunes folder to the new pc. When you copy the iTunes folder make sure you put it into the default location on the new computer. On a PC this is \Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\My Music\ (or C:\Username\Music\ in Vista). You should also use the same version of iTunes on both computers.
Once you have copied everything over hold down the Shift key in Windows when opening iTunes. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to an existing one. Navigate to where you placed the copy of the library file and open it up: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file
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

I moved my itunes library to external drive and now itunes wont work.

I moved my itunes library to an external drive and now itunes cannot find the library. I followed a youtube video and all seemed to work fine until i deleted the old library and emptied the trash. Prior to deleting and emptying the trash I checked preferences to verify the path of Itunes was to the external drive. It seemed to work even when I moved the original library to the trash.
Now when I launch itunes the song listings show but the songs cant be found. I checked the volume of my itunes that I moved to the external and it was about 4 GB that i moved. I have approx 2000 songs.
Any suggestions?

Hold down the alt/option Key when you start iTunes a dialog box will open
Select Choose Library and select the itunes library on your external drive

HT1349 Hello, how to move the iTunes master file from C drive to an external drive and them iTunes stick with the external drive after on an on going basic?

My desktop C drive is full HD of 1 TB, I would like to move the current iTunes master file to an external 4TB drive and then iTunes stick with the external drive
Could this be done, if yes how to do it?
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If it's the same as with a PC, the procedure would be to:
(a) Plug in the new external drive,
(b) Set your iTunes preferences such that the iTunes Music Folder is on the new drive,
(c) Use the iTunes "Consolidate Library" utility to copy your library to the new location.
(d) When the transfer is complete, check "Get Info" on some songs to verify their location.
The original files will remain on the old drive, so you'll have a way to recover should there be a problem. You may need to manually copy any iPhone/Touch Apps to the new drive since I'm not sure those are transferred with the Consolidate utility.

ITunes Music Library on external harddrive - no access

I have ALL my music on an external harddrive. After re-installation of Windows and iTunes on my computer dure to some function errors, iTunes doesn't recognise my music: I changed the root in "preferences" to the music folder on the harddrive - but iTunes would not upload the music and I cannot find ANY command where to do so ... WHO CAN HELP? I am desperate ...

What did you copy to the external drive?
If you have an iTunes directory on the external drive, try the following:
Hold down the shift key and start iTunes, keep holding down the shift key, you should be promted to choose a library. Navigate to the iTunes directory on the external drive and choose iTunes Library.itl.
Without knowing exactly what you copied I can't tell if this will work, but it is worth trying.

Reinstall of OS: iTunes Library on external drive not recognized

I've always had my iTunes library on my external drive. Now that I reinstalled my OS iTunes will not open the library. I've navigated to the correct library using the advanced preferences but that's not doing it. I've tried discarding the existing library in the music folder. Can't seem to find the answer.
Thanks

JS,
I had some trouble following macmenno's instructions, but have had almost complete success. If you DO have your original itunes library file, this should work for you too.
Background, my situation:
My harddisk was failing but warned me, so i copied the ENTIRE itunes folder to an external drive. The iTunes folder includes the "itunes library" file, the music folder, and the xml file. This was suggested in a book i have on iLife as the best way to backup itunes to an external HD to preserve playlists, et al. But the book failed to say how to copy the folder back if needed.
So the first time i naively just copied the entire folder back to the imac (new HD) but itunes failed to "find" it, even though it was exactly where i had deleted the equivalent default (empty) files/folder. Playing around i managed to get itunes to find the music but not the playlists and ratings...i.e., it was not finding the library file.
Macmenno's instructions:
I started all over: With Itunes closed, I deleted all three items from the itunes folder: the library file, music folder, xml file. to be safe, i also emptied the trash since itunes seemed to be following the files. But i left the itunes folder in place, albiet empty. Per macmenno's instructions, i then copied ONLY the itunes library file and the xml file from my external HD to the imac itunes folder. I then opened itunes, checked the preferences to be sure it was pointing in the right direction. I then dragged the Music Folder from the ext-HD and dropped it on the library icon in the itunes program window.
That worked. i have my playlists, ratings, comments, et all.
Only problem is i now have duplicate listings of all music songs -- one with an exclamation point that doesn't play (apparently came from my itunes library file before i dropped in the songs), one that does play.
So macmenna, if you are still with us, how can i delete the 3,000 song titles with exclamation points? I tried to click on the column head to sort them all together, then block-mark and delete... but apparently we can not sort on that column head.
Or did i miss something in your instructions?
Thanks. and good luck to you JS.
SB
imac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) itunes 6.0.5

Access iTunes library from External drive after OS upgrade

Because of its size I have recently kept my iTunes library in the 'Media Library' on an external hard drive and accessed content from there without any problem. After upgrading to OS 10 Lion, iTunes has created a new library on my internal hard drive. Now I'm trying to re-access the old library on my external hard drive.
I have tried two things so far:
- Gone into the iTunes Advanced Preferences and changed the Media folder location to my external hard drive location. That didn't work.
- When I open iTunes holding the option key (as was suggested here) I am given the option of choosing a different library. But when I click on the iTunes folder in MediaLibrary I get the following message:
An iTunes library file could not be found in the folder "iTunes". Please choose a different folder.
All the content is there on the external drive but I'm assuming there are some .itl or /xml files missing. (I can see those as part of the new iTunes folder on the internal drive.) I have a floder named Previous iTunes Libraries on the external drive which contains some files with dates in them, two of which have the extension: .itl
Should I perhaps move those files somewhere...?
Any help is appreciated!!!
Hans

Hello there FunkyMuzak,
iTunes can be set to use the library on the external drive, and save new content.
To have iTunes open the alternate library on the drive use this option:
Steps to create or choose a different iTunes Library file
If iTunes is running, quit iTunes.
If you are using Windows, hold down the Shift key and from the Start menu and choose All Programs > iTunes > iTunes.
If you are using the Mac, open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option key.
You should see one of the following screens:
From: iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1589
And to tell iTunes to save your new media when you buy songs or movies, etc., use this part of our article named Where are my iTunes files located? found here http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
Discovering and changing the iTunes Media folder location
Note: You would usually only change the iTunes Media folder location to share music between accounts on the same computer. See this article for specific steps on how to accomplish this. Also, see this article if you want to know how to move your music to a new computer.
Mac OS X: Click the iTunes menu and choose Preferences.
Windows: Click the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
Click the Advanced pane. iTunes displays the location of your iTunes Media folder.
You can then:
Note where your media folder is, such as for backing up your media.
Use the Reset button to reset it's location to the default (which is the iTunes folder).
Click the Change button to select a folder for a new location. Once you change this location:
If you make a new or alternate iTunes library, the new location will be used by that library.
Existing files will not be moved unless you choose File > Library > Organize library and choose the option to "Consolidate files."
Cheers,
Sterling

Importing iTunes library from external drive

Cannot play iTunes after importing library from PC into Mac.

Simply highlight and delete
But doing so it will also trash all playlists, data added, ratings, etc. Something the OP said about having to rename lots of files during a previous library rebuild suggests to me they may even be stored in WAV format. If the OP deletes them from the library all the labels will be lost, they will get added back with only file names as track information and they will have to be renamed again.
This will delete not only the reference to the file, but the library.itl file that Limnos refers to.
I don't think so. The file will still be there, it will just be stripped of any entries.
Now you should have an empty iTunes.
Now go to where the files are on your external drive. Two options. Choose the one you prefer:
In iTunes, go to >> Preferences >> Advanced -- Select the location of your files on the external drive. Tick OK and iTunes should re-add all the files. Depending on how many, it may take some time as it organises everything. But your files will remain on the ext drive. Any new songs you get will get added to your external drive by default now.
Changing this preference setting will not get iTunes to inventory the files in the media folder, nor add them. It simply tells iTunes to put any new media added in the location selected.
Or, select the files on your ext drive, hold down OPTION and drag the files into iTunes. It will add them to your library, but leave the files on your external drive. Note that any new files you add directly to iTunes (like from the store) will be added to your default iTunes folder, not the external drive.
Well, yes, it will do it, essentially creating a brand new library that the OP will have to organize again vs. using the existing organization. My reservations about the need to rebuild the library from scratch still exist.
If the OP desires to keep storing media on the external drive in the long run it is best simply changing the preferece to use the external drive for media storage.

ITunes library on external drive, starting without causes library chaos

I have my iTunes library on an external drive (WD MyBook USB). The iTunes library is consolidated into one directory and has been working fine under OSX 10.4. I could disconnect the drive, access and use iTunes on the MBP (for example ripping CDs or browsing iTunes Store) and then when I reconnect the drive it would sync back, and show the full library.
Now though I find that when I disconnect my external drive iTunes sets the library to the Users/Mike/Music/iTunes/ directory and when I reconnect the external drive it doesn't recognise that the audio files are now available again i.e. go back to using the library file on my external drive.
I may be misinterpreting / misrepresenting what happens when using an external drive but the behaviour does seem to have changed recently. I've twice had to reset and rebuild my library when starting iTunes to recognise the external drive recently. The process works, it's just slow and tedious.
I've recently upgraded to OSX 10.5.2. Don't know if that makes any difference?

Using an EHD to run iTunes from has always worked this way. If you don't have the EHD available & open iTunes, iTunes will default the location of the iTunes music folder back to the main drive as that's where iTunes thinks the location is supposed to be. All you have to do is close iTunes, boot up the EHD, & re-open iTunes, problem solved.
I know it's annoying. I couldn't tell you how many times I forgot to have the EHD available to iTunes when I was still on my old PC. Usually I would catch it immediately, other times I would have ripped a CD or purchased from the store, realize the problem, then have to copy all of the new files over to the EHD, & delete them from the main drive. It does the exact same thing on a Mac, no way around it. Hope this helps.

Keeping iTunes library on external drive

I have moved all of my music files to an external hard drive to free up my laptop's drive. Now I want iTunes to read and save to the external hdd without moving any of the files back to my laptop. How can I set this up? Please Help. Thanks.

you have to tell i tunes that you want your music stored and read from your ex hard drive.if i remember you go to itunes on your computer then in upper left corner at top go to edit>preferences...then put in your storage folder or harddrive info. after you have copied your itunes library to the harddrive, close out itunes and unplug the hard drive. hook up the harddrive back to the computer open the harddrive, open your music folder in the harddrive, play 1 song out of the harddrive, (itunes should reopen on its own as long as it is the default music player on your computer)the song should start playin. this tells you that it downloaded correctly. once this is fine, you can erase your i tunes music library on your computers' internal harddrive. you then can reload the file into itunes(just remember that you changed where your music file is stored and read from)this will repopulate your tracks and albumsand will be kept in your computer. every time you want to play music, hook up the ex harddrivefirst then open itunes on your computer. this is very important especially when you go to add or download a cd or music, otherwise if you open itunes without the harddrive hooked up first your new download will go to your computers internal harddrive and start taking up space on your computer. you will also know if you did it right by disconnecting the external harddrive then open up itunes on your computrt and play a song, you should get an error msg saying (itunes cannot play the file because origional file cannot be found)do you want to locate the file? close it, hook up the harddrive wait a min then play a song and it will play.research other similiar questions and the ere will be exact way to do this. if your having problems.

Desperate help needed: Itunes and library in external drive

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