Exporting iTunes Music to Ext HDD

Hi all,
I just bought a Seagate 300GB Ext HDD with Firewire.
My intention is to move all songs from iTunes currently in my iMac HDD to the Seagate Ext HDD. Thereafter, I hope to access my iTunes from this ext HDD.
Pse advise on
a. Whether there is a need for me to partition the HDD further as I have partition it into 80GB (for iMac HDD backup) and 320 GB.
b. How to export all somgs in iTunes fron my iMac to the ext HDD
c. What else I need to do?
I am also seeing a few folders in my finder, they are :
a. Music.- Inside this folders, I am having:
- a few other artiste music folders
- a iTunes folder
- gararage band folder containing my own mixes
- music art work for some of the CD covers
- plus a whole list of MP3 music.
b. New Music. - Just MP3 music
I am currently using iTunes Ver 6.0.4(3) and on OS X ver 10.3.9
Looking forward to freeing up space on the iMac.
Thank you
TC

Welcome to Apple Discussions
Good choice getting an external drive. On the iMac partition (80gb), look into using SuperDuper for creating a clone backup. Great app. Another choice would be CarbonCopy Cloner.
The partitions are really up to you. My choice would be to create one partition matching your existing computer HD, a second parition for holding a "bare-bones" copy of OS X (perhaps including Utility apps. and a browser), and the 3re partition for music etc.). Use Disk Utility to create the partitions after plugging in your drive to the computer.
iTunes - best way to move the music is simply drag/drop your music folder (if you want all music on the external), or your iTunes folder (if you only want iTunes related items on the external) to the external drive after partitioning. Remember though, any music you move to the external to "free up space" still leaves you lacking a backup copy. Something to consider, especially regarding music, garage band items etc. you value. Lacking another external source, and not wanting to keep music on your main drive, consider burning your more valuable items to DVD.
Once the music is transfered to the external, go back to iTunes>Preferences>Advanced>General>Music folder location and select "change", redirecting iTunes to the new external location.
Post back with results, or any other questions.

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