Files cannot be located from external hard drive.

I just moved all my iTunes content to my laptop from my external hard drive (that I had been previously using with my PC), thinking it would be available on both as long as I had the Hard Drive plugged in. When I got downstairs however, I found that none of the songs could be located on the PC from the external hard drive, even though I had it plugged in. How do you solve this?

Then I tried to fix the problem by dragging my music from my external, to my iTunes but stopped it when I realised I was going to have a whole iTunes full of duplicates. (still got like 80 though )

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ITunes Media Folder won't switch location from external hard drive

So for the last few years I've had my iTunes library stored on an external hard drive (a LaCie Quadra), but I'm out of space, so I got a new one (a Lacie Rugged). However, when I go to change the iTunes Media folder location to the new iTunes folder in my Rugged, it's not switching over, and in fact what's even weirder is I've just discovered no matter where I set the iTunes Media folder location to, my iTunes library will only play from the iTunes folder in my old Quadra. I've Reset it numerous times, and even set the location to the Desktop (on which I have no music), yet it still is playing from my Quadra. It's as if it's locked onto it.
Does anyone know what's going on here and how to fix it? I should note I think I did get it to switch to my Rugged for a bit, as the first time I switched the iTunes Media to my Rugged (which at the same time my Quadra was still connected) I bought a song, which is no where to be found on my Quadra. But ever since I disconnected the Quadra, this problem started. Also, to transfer my files from my Quadra to the Rugged, I connected the Quadra via Firewire 800 and the Rugged via USB, and I intend to use Firewire with my Rugged from now on. Could that affect what's going wrong here? And FYI, every time I've connected to the Rugged, it does go through the Consolidate Files process, but that hasn't done anything.
Thanks

Do you only have media on the external (which by the way is not a "library" because it is lacking many parts of a complete library), or do you have a complete iTunes folder with library files and support folders (a true library)?
If only media and you have both drives connected you need consolidate/organize media from one drive to the other. iTunes 12 for Mac: Change where your iTunes files are stored - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH19507 - more information at: https://discussions.apple.com/message/22026652#22026652 - and steps 5-8 in https://discussions.apple.com/message/24491967#24491967
If you have your entire library on the external drive, copy the iTunes folder from one drive to the other. Start iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and select the relocated iTunes folder on the new drive.

Cannot retrieve photos from external hard drive

I had to upgrade my OS so that i could download the newest version of adobe photoshop. this upgrade also upgraded my iPhoto and erasing all photos. I do have photos backed up on external hard drive but cannot retrieve photos from the external hard drive.

this upgrade also upgraded my iPhoto and erasing all photos.
No update to the OS upgrade iPhoto too. So something else is going on there.
There are 9 different versions of iPhoto and they run on 10 different versions of the Operating System. The tricks and tips for dealing with issues vary depending on the version of iPhoto and the version of the OS. So to get help you need to give as much information as you can. Include things like:
- What version of iPhoto.
- What version of the Operating System.
- Details. As full a description of the problem as you can. For example, if you have a problem with exporting, then explain by describing how you are trying to export, and so on.
- History: Is this going on long? Has anything been installed or deleted? - Are there error messages?
- What steps have you tried already to solve the issue.
- Anything unusual about your set up? Or how you use iPhoto?
Anything else you can think of that might help someone understand the problem you have.

Access files on mac-mini from external hard drives hooked to PC...

Have two external hard drives hooked up to my PC. I am in the process of daisy-chaining (via firewire cable) from the one external-Hrd-Drv (only one that has firewire input) to my MAC-MINI. APPLE STORE REP says it will pick up BOTH hard dirves (through a "daisy-chain" -like cycle) and that their icons will just pop-up on my mac-mini. So, it's all hooked up and then I clicked over to the mac-mini and there's NOTHING. Both hard-drive icons are no where to be found! There still ONLY found on my PC, of course. Once a again, I was told that my mac-mini would pick-up or access both hard drives from my PC by JUST using a firewire cable! I've done that and I'm having no such luck. Is there a way to do this? Please Help...thanks!

Can you re-state exactly what drives are connected to which computers, and how?
An external hard drive plugged into a PC (or, indeed, even another Mac) on your network will not automatically "show up" on your Mac mini, no matter whether it's USB, Firewire or what. The only way you can even connect to it from the Mini would be to share it out from the PC as an SMB/CIFS (Windows file sharing) share across the network.
Matt

How do I import music files to new computer from external hard drive containing them

Have an older computer(G5 iMac) with Tiger 10.4.11 and iTunes that crashed. Have that computer and older version of iTunes residing on an external hard drive. I want to import music to new comptuer with newer version of iTunes. External hard drive is partitioned with just iTunes section. Any one done this before?

If you want to use the old iTunes library that you have from the ext HD then just drag the iTunes folder to the new Mac.
By default the iTunes folder Is Located - HD>Users>Your Account>Music>iTunes - if the internal HD has no iTunes library then just replace the iTunes folder with the one from the ext HD.
Launch iTunes with the 'option' key down and point iTunes to the iTunes Library that you want to open. It will remember the next time.
MJ

How to send files back to TC from external hard drive quickly?

Hi,
I have just archived 500gb of my TC to external hard drive which was directly connected to TC. I have replaced failing hard drive in TC on 2GB (£50) and reformated gain. Now is ready to be used. Then I wanted to put archive files back onto TC from that external hard drive which is directly connected to TC. The problem is that when I was archiving it files where send directly from TC to external hard drive and it took approximately 5 hours to do it. Now to reverse all that taking about 5 days because for some stupid reason hard drive is sending all that files through my desktop and back to TC again.
Is there any faster way to do it?

A: you DONT modify your TM backup, youd just add files into the same HD, however thats no good because........
Youre trying to create a nasty choke point for data failure by putting time machine AND your files on ONE DRIVE,
very bad idea, hard drives are cheap as dirt, buy another, 2 MINIMUM external redundant backups of your vital data, period.
also, cloud isnt a place for data archives, and not safe, not secure.
The Tragedy that will be, the tragedy that never should be
Always presume correctly that your data is priceless and takes a very long time to create and often is irreplaceable. Always presume accurately that hard drives are extremely cheap, and you have no excuse not to have multiple redundant copies of your data copied on hard drives and squirreled away several places, lockboxes, safes, fireboxes, offsite and otherwise.
Hard drives aren't prone to failure…hard drives are guaranteed to fail (the very same is true of SSD). Hard drives dont die when aged, hard drives die at any age, and peak in death when young and slowly increase in risk as they age.
Never practice at any time for any reason the false premise and unreal sense of security in thinking your data is safe on any single external hard drive. This is never the case and has proven to be the single most common horrible tragedy of data loss that exists.
Many 100s of millions of hours of lost work and data are lost each year due to this single common false security. This is an unnatural disaster that can avoid by making all data redundant and then redundant again. If you let a $60 additional redundant hard drive and 3 hours of copying stand between you and years of work, then you've made a fundamental mistake countless 1000s of people each year have come to regret.

MOV. files will not import from external hard drive to iMac.

Do I have to convert MOV files somehow to be able to import them into an iMac from an external hard drive?
The files were moved from MacBookPro to hard drive. They play fine on external hard drive but won't import into iMac which says file format not recognised.

The file plays on my desktop and from the external hard drive, but I converted one file to an MP4 which then imported to iPhoto. Any recommendations on how to convert to MP4 files in bulk?

Cannot remove encryption from external hard drive

I have a Hitachi 500gb external Hard drive that I encrypted with Bit locker on a Windows 7 computer. After 3 years I want to use the Hard drive for something else and find that I can't decrypt it. I no longer have the computer that I originally decrypted
it on so it doesn't show up until I plug it in to use it. Can someone please help? Thank You.

it on so it doesn't show up until I plug it in to use it.
What's you meaning of this? to decrypt a external hard drive, you must have its encrypt password. If your problem caused by Hard disk is placed too long, you may need to contact Hitachi for further support or format the Hard disk.
Roger Lu
TechNet Community Support

Can't See Files in Folder Copied from External Hard Drive to Desktop

I recently purchased a Jobo Spectator (portable image tank for storing photos). When I connect it (USB) to my iMac I see it and can copy files to my desktop. If I copy an entire folder from the device to my desktop, Finder tells me it contains 0 files and I can't see any files in it. However, if I try to recopy one of the copied files from the Jobo to the folder, Finder tells me the file already exists there and asks if I want to replace it. If I then cancel the copy, all of my copied files show up in the folder. This behavior seems to be consistent. There is no Mac driver for the device. It doesn't look like I'm going to lose any files from this behavior but I find it frustrating.
Does anyone have a clue? Thanks.

A warm welcome to the forums Sue!
The Finder is a bit lackadaisical about updating itself, you can click back & forth enough times, closing folders, opening folders and eventually it'll be in touch, or you can try something like "A Better Finder Attributes", for it's "force the Finder to update stale information about your files" feature.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18736
Possibly this would help too, but haven't tried it...
http://www.finderpop.com/

HT1751 My win8 pc hard drive failed. After the hard drive was replaced, I copied iTunes Media backupfiles from external hard drive (Karen's Replicator was used). ITunes does not recognize the back up files - help! (it does show cloud & recently burned m

My win8 pc hard drive failed. After the hard drive was replaced, I copied iTunes Media backupfiles from external hard drive (Karen's Replicator backup software was used). ITunes does not recognize these back up files even though the location is the same as cloud & recently burned music that does show- help! The backup files consist of 34,000+ songs; almost all burned from my own CD collection. I do have most of the songs on an ipod classic but hesitate to try to restore from that. Can someone tell me how to get these 34,000 songs to show up in iTunes? Thanks!!

This diagram shows how a typical iTunes library ought to be set out (click on it to enlarge)
The red outline highlights the media folder and its contents, the various subfolders are only created if that kind of content is in your library. The right-hand side shows the files that should be found in the iTunes library folder; sentinel is normally hidden so may not be visible. The core of your iTunes library is the file iTunes Library.itl, you need to restore this, the other library files and the Album Artwork folder, as well as the media folder, to restore your library.
tt2

Can't permanently delete song file from external hard drive

Hi Guys,
I want to be able to delete actual song files from my external hard drive as well as from my iTunes library in one easy, lazy step, via the iTunes window. I am not interested in finding and manually deleting the files through my external hard drive.
When I hit delete it only deletes the song from my iTunes library but not the actual destination music file aswell (from my external hard drive). I am aware this is because my external hard drive is not the original "Music\iTunes\iTunes Music" destination that the apple crew have designed and so I am not offered the option of sending the file to the recycle bin or "trashing it" when I hit the delete key (this permanently deletes the file).
I am also aware that I can find the music file destinations and delete them through the iTunes window by hitting "CTRL & R" or by the "show in windows explorer" command. I am not interested in these options either.
Basically, I have 20,000 songs to clean up and don't want to have to take my laptop with me to my grave...
I suspect there is some way of changing things around, possibly via some particular parameters to be set in the "Edit" > "Preferences" > "iTunes Music Folder Desintation" command area but still haven't been able to crack it.
Any help would be welcomed with open arms.
Cheers.
Labia.

Camoracer,
You are right. Pardon me. The majority of the music that I was trying to delete off my external hard drive was in a separate folder (on the external hard drive), not in the directory specified in my iTunes preference settings.
Problem solved!!!
This should also be a lesson to those who believe a one step delete function (from iTunes library and actual music file) is not possible when the music files are stored on an external hard drive (or other storage medium for that matter). I have read a host of other forums who say a one step delete function is not possible without additional software.. Perhaps these posts were from the authors of the software trying to make a $.
Cheers.

Disk utility recovery of files after deleting from external hard drive?

I had downloaded some files to add to an external hard drive, the hard drive was assigned to a pc before adding these files so it wouldn't let me add files from my MacBook..
Had a look around online and made some changes (well thats what I thought) and I was able to transfer files form my MacBook onto the external hard drive.
What I then figured out was that there was nothing left on the hard drive except for the two file sI just transferred..
It turns out I deleted everyting without noticing.
The stpes I followed was to go to disk utility then select the hard drive and click erase (not knowing this would erase evrything).
So now I have two files on my hard drive and no idea how to recover the 'delted' files.
I tried using Disk Drill, which found the files but then it said I need to buy the full version to recover them.
I am wondering if there is any free methods to recover these files at all, any help is appreciated.

The files are still on the drive, and will remain unless and until you overwrite them with new data. So don't write anything more to the drive in addition to the two files you added after reformatting it, and do download the free trial version(s) of one or more data recovery utilities:
Data Rescue 3: http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
FileSalvage 7: http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id= 1
Each is offered in a free demo version that will show you exactly what the full version could recover before you have to pay for anything. There are others on the market, but these are the ones I'm familiar with.
To recover data using any such utility, you must have another drive available on which to save the recovered files. Saving them on the same drive they're being recovered from would just overwrite other files that haven't yet been recovered.

I able to copy and paste files from external hard drive to mac, but not the other way around. Please suggest. Thanks

I m able to copy and paste selected files from external hard drive to my mac but not the other way around. Im not able to copy files from Mac to external hard drive.
The same is working fine with USB flash memory.
Please help.

Vijay Raymond Daniel wrote:
The only thing is we need to buy this software. if there is a free solution to inter change files between NTFS and HFS it would be better,
Don't use NTFS, remove your data off it first and change the format to something the Mac and PC can read, but doens't cost money or require software.
Drives, partitions, formatting w/Mac's + PC's

Files transferred from external hard drive (backed up from pc) are locked. Can't unlock & can't delete them from Mac now.

I just picked up a new Mac and have been trying to transfer files backed up to an external hard drive from a PC. I was able to transfer some of the files without issue, but most of the files show that they are locked. Now that they are on the Mac I can't unlock or delete them.

Try http://www.apple.com/ie/support/macbasics/
This will explain Mac in PC terminology
Allan

Importing photos from external hard drive.

I had stored my photos on a external hard drive from power book G4(which had iphoto4.0.3).
I recently purchased IMac G5. I cannot import my photos into G5(has iphoto5.4) from external hard drive. I get a message saying you have installed a new version of iphoto.
How can I get my photos back on the new machine?
Thank you in advance.

Shyman
Had another idea. Since you were not upgrading a computer to iPhoto 5 - which would upgrade your existing iPhoto Library Folder (database) and since you, I presume, already have a working iPhoto 5 Library Folder -- perhaps we have to trick iPhoto into doing the upgrade.
Quit iPhoto5. Move to the desktop or rename the existing iPhoto 5 Library Folder.
But also move or delete the existing iPhoto 5 preferences file:
You will find it in your Home directory:
(Home/your account) >Library>Preferences>com.apple.iPhoto.plist
Remove or trash the preference (.plist file) and restart iPhoto.
This will get iPhoto 5 to launch like it was the very first time. With only the backup in your Pictures Folder it will try to open with it and do the upgrade.
Peter

Files cannot be located from external hard drive.

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