Help. Had to move iTunes Library...lots of exclamation points

I keep my iTunes library on an external HD. I had to switch to a new external, I copied the whole iTunes Music folder to the new one, went to preferences>advanced and pointed iTunes at the new library. I tried to play a song, or sync my iPod and iTunes says it can't find any of the songs. I really do not want to manually point iTunes to each song in my library. They are all there, iTunes just doesn't find them. They were and remain organized by iTunes.
How do I fix this? Thanks.

Yeah, it's different in iTunes 9.
It's now *Organize Library*.
I never deleted it from the old location, so it is still there. I opened iTunes holding Option and pointed it to the old location.
You indicated you moved the \iTunes music\ folder, not the \iTunes\ folder.
Holding Option is for when you have moved or created a new \iTunes\ folder.
You can move the entire \Music\iTunes\ folder to the external then hold Option and select Choose library and select the *iTunes library file* (not the .xml) in the \iTunes\ folder you moved.

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TS3212 over 100 of my songs stored in my library have an exclamation point next to them. When I click on the song it says that the song will not be downloaded to my phone because the original song cannot be found, and would I like to locate it? I need h

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See this article: iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
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How do I move itunes library from my ipad back to my itunes library in my windows computer ? All the songs got transfered by mistake from my windows itunes library to my ipad. All i had wanted to do was to move a select # of songs newly purchased from my ipad to my ipod but I got mixed up. Before i knew it all teh library had been moved to my ipad? HELP!

You don't have to move the songs back into iTunes if you don't want to, the songs are still in iTunes on your computer - you just copied a version of the songs onto the iPad from iTunes.
If you want to remove them from the device itself, just swipe across the song while you are in song list mode in the music app and a red delete button will pop up. You can also tap and hold down on a playlist or a album icon and the X to delete will pop up. It will not work for Genius playlists.
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HT1364 Move itunes library from a windows computer and import this library to itunes on a macbook air

Is it possible to move itunes library from a windows computer to an external drive (time capsule) while, keeping all the playlist, ratings, plays etc. And importing this library to itunes on a macbook air? And how is it done? The media files should stay on the external drive since there is not enough space on the macbook air.
Regards
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Hey man. Thanks a lot for the reply (hold the options instead of command key while launching). My old itunes library is now on my new computer in itunes, but the mp3 files are not in the same itunes folder. Where do I place these or what do I do to play them in my new itunes library?
All the songs in the library have exclamation marks in front of them because itunes can't find them.
Thanks again
Søren

How do I move iTunes library to an external hard drive to use less space?

How do I move iTunes library to an external hard drive to use less space?

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. 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

Not able to move iTunes library to Mac OS 10.5.2 - causes Finder crashes

I have struggled most of the day trying to do what in the past has always been very simple - move iTunes library to a new computer/OS. Old eMac housed the library, xml and album art files on the main hard drive. My music library (all the song files) was stored on an external drive. New Mac Pro, along with the same external drive with all the songs, will not accept the transported iTunes folder without crashing the Finder.
I solved the Finder crashing problem by "File/Import..." the xml file from my eMac library. However, using that approach causes me to lose a bunch of library data, including date created, last skipped, and skip count. There may be other parameters I am missing. Lastly, when going the import path - the new Mac Pro can't locate 20 of the songs.
I don't know why OS 10.5.2 won't accept the previous OS (10.3.9) iTunes library files without crashing the finder, but it doesn't. Are there any other work-arounds that will allow me to port the actual iTunes library file containing ALL metadata? I am starting to regret getting this new system - nothing but trouble in upgrading.

First, there is nothing you can do unless you can upgrade the computer to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 which is the minimum version compatible with your iPhone and the current version of iTunes. Furthermore, you will need a compatible version of iPhoto to use. That version should be available for installation using the original installation discs that came with your computer.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mavericks if your computer meets the requirements.
     Snow Leopard General Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
       2. 1GB of memory
       3. 5GB of available disk space
       4. DVD drive for installation
       5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;
           fees may apply.
       6. Some features require Apple’s iCloud services; fees and
           terms apply.

Move itunes library from old computer to new computer

How can I move my itunes library(including songs from CDs) from an old computer to a new computer? I can only seem to find instructions to move purchases, but not all the songs I downloaded from CDs.

Type "move itunes library" into the google search bar.

How to move iTunes library from Mac to external HD

I have my wifes itunes music on a macbook pro, and my itunes music is on an old Desktop G4. I have just purchased a Lacie 1TB external hard drive and would like to move both sets of music onto this external hard drive, and delete the music from the Macbook pro.
Does anyone have any information on exactly how to do this without causing any problems?
Many thanks, Ian

Ian Thompson4 wrote:
Thank you. I am guessing that I can then either import the music on the DVD's from one library onto the external hard drive with music from another library, and it will consolidate into one big library?
i should think so. the trick is to have iTunes authorized to the iTunes account(s) with which you and your wife purchased content. i'm guessing you have separate accounts ?
I have basically copied the iTunes library from the macbook pro onto the external hard drive. If I do the same with the G4 iTunes library, will they sync together in one complete single library?
you will have to to add the media files from the G4 library to the iTunes library that is now pointed to the external drive or iTunes won't know.
Would it be easier to import the music from the G4 library that is now backed up on DVD's onto the external hard drive?
i would do it like this:
connect G4 and MBP via firewire cable. start the G4 in target disk mode. in iTunes (pointing to the external drive and authorized to play purchased content from both accounts), choose +add to library+ from the file menu and navigate to the *iTunes music* folder on the G4.
my guess is you can also pop in the DVD but i haven't done it myself (don't trust DVDs), especially importing media files purchased with a different account, so i wouldn't be happy to give advice here.

How to move iTunes Library/Media Files to external firewire Hard Drive and make it the master library, and then point iTunes to that when adding new content??

How to move iTunes Library/Media Files to external firewire Hard Drive and make it the master library, and then point iTunes to that when adding new content??

Copy your ENTIRE iTunes FOLDER to an External Drive...
Full Details Here > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
To Operate iTunes from the External Drive...
Start iTunes with the Option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.
Be Sure the drive is Formatted Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Also... have a look at these 2 Videos...
http://macmost.com/moving-your-itunes-library.html
http://macmost.com/moving-your-itunes-media-to-an-external-drive.html

Itunes wont open only exclamation point inside red hexagon in the message

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After restarting several times now is giving the softwear agreement for itunes message before the message with the exclamation point.
IF ANY ONE COULD HELP, PLEASE!

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Had to rebuild iTunes library and it won't accept most of the videos it previously had? Why?

I'm having a strange problem with iTunes -
My boot hard drive recently crashed and took iTunes and my library with it. Fortunately I had all of the music and video files themselves backed up on another drive. When I reinstalled the OS and iTunes and then attempted to add all of the music and video files back into the new, blank iTunes, it accepted all of my music files but it kept crashing when I tried to add the video files back in.
The details: using a 24" iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with OS X version 10.9.4 both before and after the hard drive crash, and iTunes version 11.2.2 was my working copy of iTunes with all of my media files happily loaded in it's library, but the newly installed iTunes was at first 11.3.0 and now 11.3.1. Neither with version 11.3.0 nor 11.3.1 will it load all the video files into the library (haven't tried downgrading to 11.2.2, maybe I should? but we'll get to that in a minute).
I have about 300 video files of several different file types (.mpg, .mp4, .m4v, .mov) which over the years I had added to iTunes as I acquired them, and at the time of the hard drive failing, they were ALL in my iTunes library and I'd never had iTunes reject any file types. They all played fine as well as being a part of the library. And since I had added them over the years, they were added during quite a few different versions of iTunes as it was upgraded over time.
So, after I added all the music back into iTunes on the new drive, I attempted to add the videos all at one go, but it crashed after only 5 or so files being incorporated. Thinking it may have been too many at once, I tried adding them in smaller batches, but had the same problem. I took a look at what it had added before crashing each time, and found that every time it would load only mpeg 4 files, either .mp4 or .m4v, and would crash as soon as it encountered an .mpg or .mov. So I added all 50 or so of the mpeg 4's, and then tried adding the .mov and .mpg files individually and found that no matter which one it was, it was apparently the file type it didn't like, not the individual files themselves. Randomly trying about 75 led me to that conclusion, but I didn't try all 250, so I guess it's possible there might be some .mpg's it would take, however I only had about 10 .mov files and it won't take ANY of them. Considering all of these files regardless of their type were part of my old iTunes library for years and worked just fine, I don't understand why it won't take them again. I tried adding them by dragging them to the open iTunes pane, and by using the import command, and neither way works, all that happens is it crashes. Every time.
I tried converting these files to mpeg 4 types, and when I do that, it will take the converted version. However, a lot of them don't come out right when converting them, either the audio is messed up or the dimensions of the movie are incorrect and stretched or squished. It seems I could fix this problem by making sure every video file I add is an mpeg 4, but since I'm having so much trouble converting them properly and it's terribly time consuming, I was hoping someone would have insight into this strange, strange problem. I tried to see if this was a known issue with iTunes, that it only takes mpeg 4 files now, but I can't find anything about that. Anyone know if that's the case? And therefore hopefully an upcoming patch will fix it? Or is it just a weird, weird problem with me only?
Very frustrating, hopefully someone can help me out. Even if there's no apparent fix, maybe someone can recommend a good application for converting movie files that is easy enough to use for someone who's not familiar with the process, i.e. maybe it can auto-detect things like the audio quality and dimensions so it comes out right without me having to be a real whiz at it? Thank you all very much in advance for your help!

OK, so I have now found that this is apparently normal for iTunes, to only accept mpeg 4 movie files, all the searching I did before I must have worded it wrong because I couldn't find anything about this, incredibly. Had been looking for why iTunes won't take all the files it previously did, like if it had been changed, and it hasn't, it's allegedly always taken only mpeg 4 files. Also I had been searching for why iTunes crashes every time I try and add/import anything but mpeg 4 files, and even sometimes with mpeg 4 files. That isn't normal, it's supposed to just do nothing apparently as I've just found out. So for these reasons I didn't find the answer despite my searching all over the web.
So I guess that answers my own question now, but I'm still perplexed as to why I absolutely, definitely, without any doubt, had several hundred movies of a few different video file types loaded, accessible and playable in my iTunes library that everything here claims iTunes never accepted. It apparently shouldn't have been possible for me to have done this, but for probably 10 years it's been this way.
Perhaps since I don't remember adding these files to iTunes anymore recently than maybe 6 or 7 years ago, the iTunes back then did accept all kinds of file types? Or could I have somehow had some video codecs or software that expanded the capability of my movie players like Quicktime Player that unwittingly also allowed iTunes to take those files as well? All I know is somehow it worked! So now my question is how did I have it working before, so that maybe I can make it work again.

How do I move iTunes Library folder to another location?

Hi guys .. I have a question I can't seem to find a fully working answer to.
I have iTunes 11 installed, which has it's folder in the default location:
C:\Users\ahmadka\Music\iTunes\ ...
However I have all my music stored in one central folder located in my Dropbox:
C:\Users\ahmadka\Dropbox\ahmadka's Music Library\..............
I've recently made the switch from Dropbox to Google Drive, so I'm trying to move the above music containing folder to:
C:\Users\ahmadka\Google Drive\ahmadka's Music Library\..............
But before doing anything, I made a backup of my Music\iTunes folder.
Then I moved the folder as mentioned above (moved ahmadka's Music Library folder from Dropbox to Google Drive). However obviously after moving the folder, iTunes was unable to locate any songs (I see that ! sign next to any song I try to play). So then I tried going to File >> Add Folder to Library, and then I browsed for the new 'ahmadka's Music Library' folder. However now iTunes just re-added all the songs again, instead of realizing that they are the same songs which have just been moved.
Restored my iTunes backup and then tried this:
In another thread someone suggested running the FindTracks script to fix those incorrect links. I did this and it seemed to have fixed the links to 80% of the songs, but the remaining 20% still remain. Since they're a lot of songs, I can't manually fix each song's link.
One way would be to just delete everything in my library and re-add all songs from the new Google Drive folder, but I don't want to do this as I loose my ratings, playcount, etc .. I don't want to loose years worth of work.
Is there any other easier way that allows me to move the songs from one location to another ?

Okay, thanks for that explanation.
First let me tell you the paths for my specific scenario:
My library folder (i.e. A) (i.e. the one containing the ITL file) is: C:\Users\ahmadka\Music\iTunes
My media folder (i.e. B) (i.e. the one mentioned in Edit > Preferences > Advanced) is: C:\Users\ahmadka\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media
But do note that as I've said above, all my active music is currently in this Dropbox folder: C:\Users\ahmadka\Dropbox\ahmadka's Music Library
For example, here are some music folders/files I have here (just to tell you how it's organized):
C:\Users\ahmadka\Dropbox\ahmadka's Music Library\30 Seconds To Mars\A Beautiful Lie\01. Attack.mp3
C:\Users\ahmadka\Dropbox\ahmadka's Music Library\30 Seconds To Mars\A Beautiful Lie\02. A Beautiful Lie.mp3
C:\Users\ahmadka\Dropbox\ahmadka's Music Library\Game of Thrones (OST)\01 - Main Title.mp3
C:\Users\ahmadka\Dropbox\ahmadka's Music Library\Game of Thrones (OST)\02 - North of the Wall.mp3
etc...
Since the actual songs folder (i.e. C:\Users\ahmadka\Dropbox\ahmadka's Music Library) is not within either the media or library folder indicated above, how does this work with your solution ?
Remember that I'd just like to move the ahmadka's Music Library folder from Dropbox to Google Drive.
EDIT:
Also, you said this in your last post:
"A contains B as an immediate subfolder and the library is portable if all the content that is attached to the library is located somewhere inside this media folder."
While A does contain B in my case, do note that B does NOT contain all the media files. The actual media files are in that ahmadka's Music Library folder, which is currently located outside both A and B.
When I download a new song or album from iTunes, it gets downloaded inside B by default. But then I manually move it from there and place it inside my ahmadka's Music Library folder. This causes the link to the media file to break in iTunes, but I fix this by removing it from my iTunes library, and then re-adding the C:\Users\ahmadka\Dropbox\ahmadka's Music Library folder to iTunes. iTunes then scans the folder, realizes that 99% of the contents were already mapped, and just adds the new addition which I had just pasted into ahmadka's Music Library folder. Doing this everytime is a nuisance for me at times, but I'm now used to it.
Also, I like to keep my actual songs outside in a more 'public' location such as Dropbox, so that I can easily browse to that folder from other synced places (e.g. office, consoles, etc.) to listen to songs, etc.

Trying to move iTunes library to new external hard drive

I'm trying to move my iTunes library to a new, second, external hard drive and I'm not having much luck. I have two G-Tech 500 GB external drives. One is my Time Capsule and the other one I plan to use to house my iTunes and iPhoto libraries -- I want to free up space on my internal drive.
The iPhoto library moved over to the new disk with no problems. iTunes, on the other hand, keeps hanging up, with the "beach ball of death" and a lot of file error messages. I began moving my iTunes library onto the external drive by following these steps:
• Open iTunes
• Go to Itunes Preferences
• Click the Advanced Tab
• Note where the Music Library's located under iTunes Media folder location
• Navigate to the folder and drag the library onto the external HD.
The plan was to then go back over to iTunes and input the folder location in the iTunes Preferences so iTunes can find the library again. However, the simple drag-and-drop just isn't working. My iTunes library is about 10,000 songs and videos; if I have to do this album by album (which seems to be working, but I'm still having the occasional hang-up and freeze) it will take weeks! Has anyone had this problem before, and if so, did you find a fix?
Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for taking the time to look -- Tom

the support article Dennis pointed you to would consolidate your media files to the external but keep the iTunes folder on your startup disk.
another approach would be to copy the entire iTunes folder to the external and run your library from there (this assumes that all your media files are currently in <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music/iTunes/iTunes music).
so, if you're willing, start over yet again. before you proceed, erase the external using disk utility and make sure it is formatted for Mac (make sure the partition map scheme of the drive is GUID and the volume is Mac OS extended (journaled)).
now copy the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music folder) to the external using the finder. when the copying has finished, launch iTunes while holding the option key, click on +choose library+ when prompted, and select the iTunes folder on the external.
once you're satisfied everything worked as expected, you can delete the contents of your local iTunes music folder.
JGG

Can't move iTunes library onto external drive?

I am trying to clear some space of my MacBook Pro's internal hard drive by moving my iTunes library onto an Mac-formatted external drive. I have followed to the letter the instructions of the Apple document (setting external HD as location of new iTunes library, then selecting Advanced/Consolidate Library).
The process continued for a bit before it crashed and said, "Copying Music failed. The disk could not be read from or written to."
I had noticed that the error occurred when trying to copy a file that had the "#" symbol in its name. Typically, that character is only a problem with Windows, and I both disks are Mac OS. Nevertheless, I found that the song file in question was a duplicate, so I deleted it and tried again. This time, I got the error message right away!
I have installed all updates, repaired permissions, and can see no reason for this to happen. I have Googled the error message and found a lot of references to this happening when copying to an iPod, but I am moving my library to an external HD.
Please help! My internal HD is running out of space!

That was it! Thanks! During the straight-up copy of the iTunes Music folder, the operation crashed because "some data could not be read or written." Had the iTunes error message been similar, I would have known that was the case.
Currently, I am running an additional copy of the library using the ditto terminal commmand, so I can see a list of all the corrupt song files. So far about 15.
Thanks again!!!!

Help. Had to move iTunes Library...lots of exclamation points

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