External drive on new PC

old computer (PC) crashed, tunes/movies on external hard drive, moved it to new computer, new install of iTunes won't recognize library even though preferences pointing to it. What might I be doing wrong?

As long as you've got the contents all stored in your music folder, you should be good.
Worse case scenerio is you have to move the iTunes Music Library file outside of the music folder and let iTunes create a new one, then you import the music back in again.
That means you'll lose playlists and such, but it should get you back up and going again.

Similar Messages

Want to use external drive for new Mac, fresh iTunes

So I recently got a new Mac and have not transferred any music to it yet. In fact I haven't even launched iTunes. I want to store all of my music and play it from an external drive. I have found articles detailing how to transfer your library from your internal drive to an external one but I don't have an internal library of music on this machine. How do I set up iTunes to play from an external library for the first time? And how do I add my backed up music from my previous iTunes to that external drive's new music library? Do I just drag the files into the folder and hope iTunes will recognize them?
Thanks!

okay, i had to collect my thoughts for a moment
... but I don't have an internal library of music on this machine.
is *this machine* the new Mac ?
How do I set up iTunes to play from an external library for the first time?
the files will have to be added to iTunes. however, with the correct settings, they can be put straight on the external.
in order to set up iTunes on the new Mac, you will have to launch it. with the external drive mounted on your new Mac's desktop, go iTunes > preferences > advanced and point +iTunes media folder location+ to the external. this will cause iTunes to put all newly added content in that location.
also on the advanced tab, check +keep iTunes media folder organized+ and +copy files to ... when adding to library+.
And how do I add my backed up music from my previous iTunes to that external drive's new music library?
did you back up the music to disk ? if so, you should probably authorize iTunes with your iTMS account details, then just pop in the disk(s) and add the content to your library.
if you have backed up to an external HD, use the +add to library+ command from the file menu and navigate to the folder containing your media files.
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

Old computer dying want to use external drive with new laptop ........... HOW ??

need to get laptop to run my iTunes library from old dying comp. Have a 500gb external drive but what do i do ??

okay, i had to collect my thoughts for a moment
... but I don't have an internal library of music on this machine.
is *this machine* the new Mac ?
How do I set up iTunes to play from an external library for the first time?
the files will have to be added to iTunes. however, with the correct settings, they can be put straight on the external.
in order to set up iTunes on the new Mac, you will have to launch it. with the external drive mounted on your new Mac's desktop, go iTunes > preferences > advanced and point +iTunes media folder location+ to the external. this will cause iTunes to put all newly added content in that location.
also on the advanced tab, check +keep iTunes media folder organized+ and +copy files to ... when adding to library+.
And how do I add my backed up music from my previous iTunes to that external drive's new music library?
did you back up the music to disk ? if so, you should probably authorize iTunes with your iTMS account details, then just pop in the disk(s) and add the content to your library.
if you have backed up to an external HD, use the +add to library+ command from the file menu and navigate to the folder containing your media files.
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

Can't import library from External drive to new compueter.

I guess this could be more of a Windows 8 issue but maybe someone knows what I can do. My old 2006 Macbook died and I just got a new Windows 8 laptop. I had my iTunes library on an external drive (formatted in NTFS) because the Macbook had a tiny hard drive. Anyway, this new laptop has big enough HD that I can copy my library directly to it. The problem is, I can't... I opened up two Windows Explorers, one with my old library, and another with the location of the new library. It should let me just copy the contents from one folder to the other but for some reason it just won't. I select all the files/folders, drag them over to the new location, and nothing happens. I tried to copy/paste, both with the right-click menu, as well as keyboard shortcuts, and again nothing. Not even an error message. Why won't Windows let me copy the files? Should I just open up iTunes and drag the files over that way or will that screw things up? Please help!
PS. I'm using Windows 8 64-bit and iTunes 11.1.1.11

Benhermies wrote:
I guess this could be more of a Windows 8 issue but maybe someone knows what I can do. My old 2006 Macbook died and I just got a new Windows 8 laptop. I had my iTunes library on an external drive (formatted in NTFS)\
If this was used with your MacBook, Macs cannot write to NTFS drives.
So what was on the external drive? WHat do you mean by "library"? Which folders?
Copy the entire /iTunes/ folder.
Why won't Windows let me copy the files?
Dunno.
It's not an iTunes issue.

Using iTunes on external drive with new computer

My mac died a few weeks ago but I had my iTunes library on an external drive.
Trying to point my new mac at this same external drive so that I can get iTunes running again but can't seem to make it work.
Is there any way around this without reimporting everything?

ldav wrote:
I had my iTunes library on an external drive.
what exactly do you have on the external ? the entire iTunes folder or just the iTunes music (or media) folder ?
Trying to point my new mac at this same external drive so that I can get iTunes running again but can't seem to make it work.
that tells iTunes where to put newly added content, not where the current content is.
JGG

Mac no longer sees old external drive, or new external drive

I have been using a Seagate external drive for months. All of a sudden, my Mac doesn't see it in Finder (Or Disk Utility), and no longer mounts it. I bought a new Drive today and when I plugged it in, my mac doesn't see the new drive either. (WD My Book) I have seen a lot simular threads but nothing is working for me. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Does the time machine volume meet the requirements?
-internal drive, not start up disk
-XSAN volume
-USB drive
-fire wire drive
-eSATA drive
-network server via AFP (from machines running Leopard), including machines running file sharing
the volume must be formated as Mac OS Extended or Mac OS Extended (case-sensitive)
You can't use:
-Boot Camp partition
-iPod
-disk image
-AirPort Disk
-iDisk

Moving music from external drive to new computer, not showing music

Hello,
I was running iTunes 7 or 8 on Windows XP on a laptop. I ran out of room on the laptop and followed Apple's doc to move library to external drive and point iTunes to the new location. It's been working that way for over a year.
Old laptop crashed and I purchased a new laptop running Windows 7. The external drive is fine, and I was able to restore info and pics backed up to that drive on my new laptop. I installed iTunes 9 on the new laptop and tried several things to get it to see the music folder on the external drive, but it doesn't see the music at all. I even copied everything to the iTunes Media folder on the new laptop, but nothing shows up at all. I assume it has to do with what library files are available and where they're located. There are no library files on external drive, only a My New Music Folder. The old laptop can be on for about 10 minutes before it crashes, so I could try to retrieve the old library files if I knew what I needed and where to find them, but I hope I can do it without having to turn on old laptop. Any help is much appreciated. Are my playlists gone? Help!

If everything on the external drive is in WMA format then that method would work, otherwise you are likely to get duplicates, which is why I suggested you work with the Not Added folder.
Different audio formats have different ways of compressing and storing the information from the original source. Most software and hardware will only work with a limited range of formats. iTunes cannot play WMA directly, but can convert it to one of the formats it will play. Given this is a clean install of iTunes that format is likely to be AAC if you haven't changed it. MP3 may be a better choice if you might want to put the media on some non-Apple device in future, otherwise ACC is supposedly slight more efficient, i.e. a smaller file for the same quality.
The main factor affecting file size is bit rate. The more original data that is kept, the larger the file and the more closely the reproduced music will match the original source. WMA is a lossy format typical bit rates are 128kbs and 256kbs. Conveting a 128kbs file to, for example, a 256k AAC file results in a file larger than the original, but no better quality.
If you put Windows Explorer in details view you should be able to enable a bitrate column and scan through to see what the current values are. You can adjust your import settings as given. You may want to import in more than one batch if there is a mix of bitrates.
tt2

Moving iTunes from external drive to new computer

I have my itunes stored on an external drive lettered "E". How can I move them to my new computer. The external drive letter "E" is not available on the new computer but the hard drive is plenty large enough to hold my whole collection and I would like to install them on it. I have already copied my itunes music folder and libraries to the new computer.
Thanks for any input.

This did not work. I signed into the iTunes store as the same user and I can still not play the music I purchased or the music I am authorized to play that others purchased. Can anyone help out with this question?

Problems moving library from old external drive to new one

I keep all my music on an external hard drive connected to my laptop at home. I am now spending several months away from home, and couldn't take my external drive with me.
I planned to handle this by using iTunes backup feature to put my whole library on DVD, then buy a new external hard drive to take with me, and sse iTunes backup feature to rebuild the library on the new external HDD.
However, I can't get the library to restore/re-load/re-import from the backup DVDs. The iTunes backup/restore instructions tell you to open iTunes then insert the backup DVD. When I do that, I get the following error message:
"The Disc "Backup2007-07-09" cannot be read. An unknown error occurred (-69)."
However, I can read the DVD using just going through My Computer, so I really don't believe it's a problem with the disc.
So, if this backup method isn't working, how can I re-create my library on the new hard drive? I have dozens and dozens of playlists, a lot of them smart playlists that depend on such things as play count, rating, and date added, so i really need to keep all my tags.
I thought of two possible work-arounds.
Plan A: Copy all the music myself (ie, not using iTunes) onto the new external hard drive, using the same filename and path as they had on the old external hard drive, then import the Library.itl file that's on the backup DVD (manually copying over the default one created by iTunes).
Would that work? The big annoyance of this plan, I should add, is that, looking at the files on the backup DVD, i can see that iTunes added a number behind each folder name (ie, "01 Al Green") and behind each album title (ie, "01 Al Green - Greatest Hits"). It seems to me I would have to go through and manually delete all the numerals in both artist and album names in order for the .itl file to point to the right place. That would take hours...
Plan B: (Really not a great plan, but I'm grasping here...)
Give up on the backup altogether. Keep adding music and podcasts to my library as is. All my music that is sitting on my far, far away home HDD will get the exclamation point next to it in iTunes. Then, when i try to sync the ipod, if i'm thinking this through right, iTunes will go ahead and add the new stuff to my ipod, but all the old stuff will just not copy over, and then at the end of syncing i'll get the error message to the effect of "itunes didn't copy song x because the file could not be found." This option is far from ideal, as my playlists won't update, but at least i'll still have the playlists.
Do either of these sound like they would work?
Any other suggestions?
Any help would be very much appreciated.

If you can you connect both external drives to the computer at the same time, it would be easier to use the "Consolidate Library" utility in iTunes to move (actually copy) your media to the new drive.
1- Open iTunes preferences and select the Advanced tab. Change the location of your iTunes music folder to a location on your new drive. Also select the options "Keep iTunes music folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library". Close the preferences dialog.
2- On the iTunes menu, select Advanced/Consolidate Library. This will gather all your media and copy it to the new location (the folder you designated in step 1).
3- After the consolidation is complete, verify that your music still plays, and check "Get Info" on some items to verify that iTunes is looking at the new location.
4- Optional. Delete the original files on your external drive. Do this only if you are certain that everything copied over to the new drive.
5- Optional. Close iTunes and locate your "iTunes Library.itl" file. This is typically in your iTunes folder, which may be on your computer's drive and not the external drive. Move this file to somewhere on your new external drive. Next, hold the Shift key as you launch iTunes and you'll be prompted to "Create Library" or "Choose Library". Select "Choose Library" and navigate to where you put the "iTunes Library.itl" file. This is a one-time step that tells iTunes where to boot the library from.

Migrating Library From Old External Drive To New External Drive - How?

So my current external drive is filled to the max so I need to buy a new one. I have a lot of playlists (representing albums) but if I get a new hard drive, will the playlists and their contents be linked to the music correctly? If not, how am able to accomplish this to insure a flawless transition?

You might find this article useful: iLounge - Transferring your iTunes Library to Another Drive

How to get itunes library from external drive to new computer

i recently purchased a new computer w/the windows vista platform. there were posts regarding how to transfer the library w/playlists on this board, which i followed to the point of hitting shift while opening itunes, and choosing a library. however, when selecting such from my external drive, which has the itl and xml on it as well as the itunes music folder, it gives me an error noting it is locked or that i dont have write permission to use it. my external drive on my old computer was the G drive, now it is the F drive on new one. can anyone please advise what to do other than copy all music over and have to completely recreate all playlists?

polydorus, this was the response/post that i found and it was posted by sweepea on 9/4/2007. and all my music is now from the external drive to the itunes music folder on my laptop and it let me keep all my playlists. thank you again for your help!
I had that problem too. I tried to remove iTunes from my computer and then download it again, but that did not make any difference. Then I tried polydorus' answer ("starting iTunes with the shift key held down, when asked to choose a library, navigate to your iTunes folder and choose iTunes Library.itl"), but that did not work either and that same message about the library being locked appeared again.
Then I had a brainwave. I deleted that iTunes library.itl file. (To find it, go to My documents, then My Music, then iTunes, and there is the itunes library file). I now tried to open iTunes by clicking on the iTunes icon on my desktop, nothing happened, as if I had not clicked on it at all. I restored the file from the recycling bin to where it was before. But that also returned me to where I had been before, i.e. I got that locked-library message again. So I deleted that file again. Then I tried right-clicking on the iTunes icon. On the little menu that appeared, I clicked 'Open' and hey presto, suddenly the iTunes set-up assistant appeared and everything went smooth from then on. When I checked, there was a file called iTunes library.itl again and this one worked OK.
By the way, I did not lose any of my music downloads or podcasts when I deleted that file, so it's definitely worth a try.
custom built Windows 2000

How to get library stored external drive on new computer with song details

hi, i currently have my itunes music stored on an external firewire drive connected to my powerbook. i would like to move this library with playlists, ratings and play counts etc intact to my new macbook pro, however i would still like the library stored on the external drive, not on the macbook pro itself.
any help would be great,
thanks
Matt

You might find this article useful: iLounge - Managing your iTunes Library on an External Hard Drive

How to Recover Playlists when Transferring iTunes Library from External Drive to New Computer

iTunes library copied to external drive and then loaded to new computer. All songs are there but all of the playlists that I had set up do not appear. I cannot figure out how to retrieve/recover them. The back-up was not done by me so I'm not sure of the steps that were followed. Is there something special that needs to be done when backing up to external drive in terms of saving playlists? Help!

Hello TNCGRCT,
It sounds like the library was successfully transferred to the new computer, but the songs were imported into a new iTunes library. If you still have access to the external drive, or better yet the previous computer, we will want to transfer the iTunesLibrary.itl file and open it with iTunes:
iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
More helpful information...
Where are my iTunes files located?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1391
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Thanks,
Matt M.

Swapping external drive causes new clips to be ingested onto internal Mac drive. Why?

Hi folks,
I've recently begun to swap my external hard drive (the one I use for ingesting AVCHD video clips) for another, due to many projects on the go. What I'm finding now is that when I ingest new footage, it winds up being ingested onto my laptop's internal drive, even though in the FCE4 settings it says that my scratch drive is the external one. Of course, my laptop drive then fills up very quickly. I then have to copy all the files from the laptop's internal drive to my external video drive and reconnect the media. It's time-consuming and frustrating. Anyone know why this is happening and how I might correct the problem?
Thanks very much,
Vic

Both of the drives I'm swapping out are firewire drives. The system picks up whichever is connected and identifies it fine. However, I did notice, the first time I swapped, that when I swapped back to the first drive, FCE created a whole, second set of files for video capture, render and audio; both sets of files are on the one drive; from that point on, any new projects went into the second (redundant) set of capture/render files. Everything still worked fine, so I let it go.
I continued to use the system that way, but when I swapped out the external drive a few more times, the ingesting of new project files started going to my MacBook Pro's internal hard drive. It's as if the computer has become confused because I've been swapping drives.
I read awhile back that it's very important to name external drives with names that are very different from one another, otherwise the system doesn't always know which drive is which. Weird, especially since computers are so very particular about keystrokes! Anyways, I heeded the advice and gave each of my drives names that are in no way similar. I mention this because it could be relevant to what I'm currently experiencing. All I know is I'm baffled. Seems to me that switching out drives between projects seems like a logical way to deal with the huge file sizes involved in HD video.
Anyways, I will try your suggestions. How do I trash the FCE Preferences?
Also, what does Repair Permissions do? Is that, like, some kind of factory re-set?
Thanks very much Al.

How to move iPhoto Library from external drive to new mac?

I have exported a copy of my iPhoto Library from my old mac to an external hard drive. How can I import entire library into iPhoto of new mac? When I click Import to Library, I'm unable to highlight iPhoto Library file listed on my external hard drive in Finder. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Is the iPhoto library on the new computer empty? If it is, quit iPhoto and just drag the iPhoto library on the New Computer to the trash and drag the iPhoto library from the EHD to the pictures folder on the new computer - there is no importing involved - you NEVER want to import an iPhoto library into another iPhoto Library
If you want to run the new computer with the iPhoto library on the external drive simply launch i{Photo while depressing the option (alt) key and use the select library to point to the EHD
LN

Importing library from external drive on new computer

My hard drive recently crashed, received new one from mfgt. and sent old drive to have data extracted and put onto an external drive. I am trying to get my library onto new drive. Was able to get purchased off of Ipod. I tried going to file, import, clicked on itunes folder on external drive but nothing seems to happen. My itunes currently shows only what I have put on it from disk and what the purchased I was able to transfer from ipod. But in my documents folder it appears that my old library is there but doesn't show up when i open itunes.
what am i doing wrong?

I actually just answered my own question. I had to import the XML file. It took awhile but I have a lot of music. It imported a few automatically generated playlists that I never had before (???) but I just deleted them. Everything is there!

External drive on new PC

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for