Hard Drive w/ iTunes Kaput. Now What?
I had my iTunes library on my HP mini netbook 1151NR. The hard drive went bad and I had to replace it. Before I spend half a day with HP trying to get an answer, can someone tell me what, if any, options I have for extracting my library from the old hard drive? I spent countless hours transferring my CDs. Nothing in the library was bought from the iTunes store.
I thought I had backed it up on another computer but it turns out I only backed-up the iTunes application, not the files. I won't pay someone a couple grand just to extract my iTunes library. Other than recording all my CDs again (hundreds of them) any other options I should consider? Thanks.
So the hard drive is bad, but you think you can get some files from it?
The default itunes setup puts the itunes library database in this folder on Vista
C:\users\username\Music\iTunes
iTunes Library.itl, it's what holds all the ratings and playcounts, playlists, etc.
The itunes library content is stored in subfolders in the same place, the itunes folder.
Sorted by subfolders for artists and then subfolders for albums, this is all the CDs you ripped.
If you can't get it from the failed hard drive, and it's all on an ipod, there are 3rd-party ipod managers you can buy that will get it off the ipod onto your new PC.
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/copying-music-from-ipod-to-co mputer/P2/
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I replaced my hard drive on my G5, now what do I do??
I replaced my hard drive, do I boot my computer with the factory disk or OS X?
Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. Upon completion quit DU and return to the installer. Complete the OS X installation. -
I have a new computer. I have copied Itunes library from an external hard drive. Itunes now tells me I cannot sync with my Ipod as it thinks the 20gb on the computer are different to the 20gb on my Ipod touch! What have I done wrong? How can I fix it? Alan
See:
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities
Sync Your iOS Device with a New Computer Without Losing Data - How-To Geek -
I imported files from an external hard drive to Itunes on a new computer. they imported & play fine, but the ratings & playlists are gone & i am unable to update any info. I found a file name playlist on old drive & imported now most files are missing! Help!
Can you locate the iTunes Library.itl file on the old drive? Ideally you would have simply copied over the entire iTunes folder structure from <User's Music> on the old computer into <User's Music> on the new one to transfer the library will all playlists, ratings, play counts etc. intact.
tt2 -
I just backed up my mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine. What would happen if I turn Time Machine off and then plug the external hard drive back into my computer?
What I am ultimately wanting to do is make more room on my computer by backing up all of my files onto the external hard drive and then deleting them off of my computer. However, neededing to be able to retrieve them from the external hard drive later down the road.
From what I have read and am trying to understand, is that I probably shouldn't have used time machine. I need to use the external hard drive like a basic flash drive where I can put things on and get things off without having it automatically update through time machine everytime I connect it to my computer.
Not tech savvy at all and barely understand basics. I need very simple and easy to understand explanations.sydababy wrote:
and then deleting them off of my computer.
BIG BIG MISTAKE ..... youre making a linchpin deathtrap for your data trying to shove everything on a single fragile HD.
Dont suffer the tragedy other people make, buy another or 2 more HD, theyre cheap as dust.
The number of people who have experienced terror by having a single external HD backup is enormous. One failure that WILL HAPPEN, and kaput,......all gone!
Dont do it, its all about redundancy, redundancy, redundancy.
follow here:
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
Deleting them off your computer is fine....having only ONE copy is extremely BAD.
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. -
How to put my music on my external hard drive through itunes
How do i put music on my external hard drive from itunes after creating a folder.
Our iTunes guru Terence Devlin advises the following:
1. Quit iTunes
2. Drag the iTunes folder from your internal hd - located in ~/Music folder - to your external hd (which has to be formatted as HFS Extended (Journaled)). DO NOT delete the original one from your internal hd... yet!
3. When the transfer is complete, press and hold the Option(alt) key and fire up iTunes.
4. A "Choose iTunes Library" window will come up. Click on the "Choose Library" button.
5. Navigate to where the iTunes folder is located in the external hd.
6. Within the iTunes folder, select the iTunes Library file and click Choose...
That's it. iTunes will now display all your playlists, songs, movies, podcasts etc. At this point, should you wish, you can delete the iTunes folder from the internal hd to free up space.
More info:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
Or if you prefer a more complicated explanation:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive -
I have more music than I can keep on my Macbook hard drive by over 200GB. I'm hoping to be able to show and play all music from my external hard drive in iTunes without having to add any of it to my Macbook Hard Drive
Hello B3NN13,
If you would like to add the music from your external hard drive to iTunes without copying it to the iTunes Library on your internal hard drive, you may find the following article helpful:
Add files to your library without adding them to your iTunes folder
When you add an item already on your computer to your iTunes library, iTunes places a copy of the file in your iTunes folder. The original file remains in its current location.
You can change this setting so that files are added to your iTunes library without being added to the iTunes folder. You might want to do this, for example, if you prefer to store video files on an external disk but still want to view them in iTunes.
Choose iTunes > Preferences, and click Advanced.
Deselect the checkbox next to “Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library.”
From now on, when you drag a file to your library or choose File > Add to Library, the item appears in iTunes, but the actual file isn’t copied or moved.
Tip: You can temporarily reverse this setting by holding down the Option key while you drag files to the iTunes window.
iTunes 12 for Mac: Change where your iTunes files are stored
Sincerely,
- Brenden -
I want to move my music and photos to an external hard drive from my iMac. What kind of hard drive should I get? Will it remove it from iMac and only be on external hard drive?
How to correctly move your media:
iTunes: How to move the library to an EHD
iPhoto: How to move the Library to an EHD
It is important that the External Hard Drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (journaled).
And also make sure that all is working to your Satisfaction before Deleting anything Off your Mac. -
Copying Large Blocks of MP3 files from External Hard Drive to iTunes
I'm trying to copy large numbers of MP3 files from my external
hard drive to iTunes. I tried putting them in the iTunes music folder but this did not work. Then I tried selecting blocks of the songs and dragging and dropping them in iTunes. This also did not work because when I select a large block of files and then click on them (holding down the mouse button) to drag them, then they become "unselected." So, I guess my question is 2 fold: Why can I not copy and paste these files to some folder on the Macintosh Hard drive where they will be recognized by iTunes (show up in iTunes) and what is wrong with my clicking and dragging technique? Am I losing it?If you are trying to add tunes to your library then do the work from within iTunes not via the Finder. Droping the tunes into the iTunes folder will not create a reference for iTunes to find the tunes. You should be able to drag-drop the tunes/folders into the main iTunes window.
It is usually easier to use the 'keep' and 'copy' features selected. This way iTunes will keep your tunes organized and all in one place. If you work from in the iTunes interface then you will likely not go wrong.
From the iTunes File menu select 'add to library' (+O) and navigate to your ext HD and iTunes should bring those tunes into your library.
MJ -
Is it the hard drive? and battery? What's up with my specs? 3 threads?
My battery had not been fully recharging for a while. For weeks, it would "max out" at a lower percentage, lowering incrementally pretty much weekly. No, I am not eligible for the recall.
One fitful night, I came home to a shut down computer. When it powered on, I heard a very loud hard drive and saw a prohibitive sign, the "no smoking sign" as I called it. After several such attempts, I went for the included in purchase CDs, which I hadn't seen since I bought it/
I can start from the restore CD and have faced some varying results.
Most of the time, I can't see the hard drive as an option to install Mac Os X 10.3 ish. Once, I was able to see and select the hard drive. All got stuck after it told me that I would have to change installation options since I had a newer version of Mac Os X. (I read in maxoshints that someone uses his freezer and toaster to manipulate temperatures in order to rescue data from Mac hard drives.)
Both Startup Disk and Disk Utility saw the hard drive that one time since the fitful night.
An Apple store "Genius" had agreed with me that the hard drive was busted, but now I can see 74.5 GB TOSHIBA MK8025GAS in the list on the left. It does not show any volumes under it, like the 3.9 GB CD does (iBook Software). I can "info" and see that it even has a device tree.
I cannot drag and drop to Restore. RAID and Partition do not seem to apply.
Erase seems my best option and it seems to have been able to "write zeros" but not "8 track randomize."
...I am now trying to "partition" and I can see the progress bar waving, not progressing. Clicking on other tabs makes them flash, but not dominate the window. I am able to use the menu bar and quit, which prompts me that I am interrupting. The screen fades and the computer stops making noise after a long time, but still no progress.
Please advise. What should I do? What can I do? I have begun trying to learn about hard drives, but find the technology convoluted. I can't sort out my choices.... for example, when I try and look up my specs, I can't find an A1054 on apple's website. There's a M9623LL/A .
I'm typing this on a M9846LL/A, which is actually an A1133?!!?
The A1054 is a refurb, but the A1133 is not.
Bonus points for helping me understand, progress toward goal of working computer!Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
My battery had not been fully recharging for a while. For weeks, it would "max out" at a lower percentage, lowering incrementally pretty much weekly. No, I am not eligible for the recall.
Besides your other issues, it may simply be time for a new battery. The batteries not only have a limited number of complete charge cycles, they also have a shelf life that could expire even if you've never used it. Here is a little bit of information from Apple on batteries:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
As far as your hard drive is considered, I'm guessing you don't have an AppleCare Protection Plan? It really does sound like the hard drive is failing. Have you started up from your Apple Hardware Test disk yet and run the extended tests?
If you decide to replace your hard drive that's out of warranty, you just need a 2.5" IDE/ATA hard drive that's less than 9.5mm tall. (This is a standard configuration for notebooks.) While it's possible to install yourself, it's quite the operation and you may want to take your iBook to an Apple Authorized Service Provider to do it for you. Or you might consider sending your iBook in to a service like MCE Technologies to do it for you.
-Doug -
My Ipod Classic shows a red circle with a cross in the middle. I've completed diagnostic tests which have popped up, however any HP/FW/Hard Drive tests freeze the ipod, as if the hard drive won't spin. What do I do?
After holding down the Select and Play/Pause button, I was able to restart the Ipod and then it brought me to a Diagnositc test. I have tried doing both the Mannual and Annual test on the ipod however in each test, the ipod freezes on different access tests. The HP (headphones) test, shows the headphones are detected, but then if it tries to play a song to make sure they work it freezes and goes back to the red cross. I have looked at various other questions regarding the FW cable, however I don't believe i have such a cabel. Then the Hard Drive test freezes up and I can hear a ticking noise coming from the drive but it doesnt seem to be spinning. Alongside these test issues, any computer cannot see the Ipod when plugged in (including itunes). Therefore some tests for the USB drive cannot be completed. I do not recall dropping it badly, though I have dropped it previously. Does all this mean there is damage to the drive? Should I instead take it to an apple store?
Many ThanksThe stats look fine. Try the DFU Restore method shown in Corrupt iPod classic. It may pay to disable any anti-virus software and use the staged transfer method to reload data, assuming you get that far.
tt2 -
My hard drive was replaced last week on my macbook pro. The geek squad from Best Buy backed up all my information prior to replacing the hard drive. They reinstalled everything on the new hard drive including iTunes. When I opened I tunes, i had some but not all my songs listed. All my playlists and purchases were missing. I attempted to sync my iPod so my playlist and information would be reinstalled but iTunes does not recognize the iPod to allow it to sync.
Hello Boylen33,
I was very disappointed to read about your experience when taking your phone in to the Geek Squad for service. I agree with avm5689, purchasing the Geek Squad Protection plan is a great way to protect your investment in a product that is so necessary to our everyday lives. The agent should have known exactly what steps to make the exchange an easy, and smooth process, and I sincerely apologize for the frustrating experience you received instead.
I assure you every single post on the forum from our customers is of utmost importance to us, and we are always happy to help in anyway we can. As per the terms and conditions of your Geek Squad Protection plan, you should receive one battery per the life of the plan, and you can order it simply by calling our Partstore. As I mentioned previously, this is something the Geek Squad agent should have explained to you, or as the mobile specialist did, call them for you, and I'm truly sorry this wasn't handled in that manner causing you to waste a lot of time at the store. Using the e-mail you registered on the forum, I was able to locate the service order, and I will be documenting your experience for further training opportunities.
Once again, I am very sorry for any disappointment this has caused, and I appreciate very much you bringing this to our attention. I hope you will give us another in chance to offer you a much better experience.
Respectfully,
Maria|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message -
had a new hard drive installed last month. now iphoto won't start up, popup says "you can't open the application iphoto because it may be damaged or incomplete". can this be repaired without going to the repair shop?
What installed iPhoto there in the first place? Was it the same version of iPhoto that came with the Mac? Was iLife added at a later time from a Mac Box Set? You can selectively install iPhoto, and then apply the appropriate iLife update without taking it to the shop, after removing the application, or recover it from your backup.
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i copied itune music from old hard drive to memory disk the copied onto new hard drive into itunes and music wont play unless removalbe disk is inserted
Then your iTunes must be looking at the removable disc, not your hard drive. Did you actually copy the songs onto your computer, or simply tell iTunes to look at the removable drive?
Highlight a song and click on File/Get Info/Summary>Where and check the location that iTunes has listed for the song. What does it say? -
Importing music files from ext. hard drive to itunes
If I import all my music files (years of collections, unorganized about 90 Ggs some duplication) from ext. hard drive to itunes will itunes organize my music collection and be accessible?
what is the simplest way to transfer these files from ext. hard drive to itunes
ThanksIf I import all my music files (years of collections, unorganized about 90 Ggs some duplication) from ext. hard drive to itunes will itunes organize my music collection and be accessible?
Do you want it to do this?
You can leave it on the external and play it from iTunes. Nothing will be moved or organized. Everything will stay as it is.
Or you can leave it on the external and have iTunes organize it.
Or you can add it to iTunes and copy it to the internal and organize it.
what is the simplest way to transfer these files from ext. hard drive to itunes
This is two differnt things.
You can have these songs in iTunes and leave them on the external.
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