How can I place iTunes on my external drive

I would like to place itunes on my hard drive to preserve space on my laptop. How can I go about the process.
Thanks in advance.
Teejaver

iTunes the application cannot really be moved. If you mean your collection:
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
do not confuse moving your whole folder and library with moving just media files as in
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.
iTunes Terminology
- iTunes - the application itself.
- iTunes account - an account with Apple used to buy items from the iTunes Store
- Computer account - a user area on a computer
- iTunes library - Usually refers to a specific file on your computer (library.itl) that contains information about all the media you use with itunes, playlists, play count, etc.
- iTunes collection (library) - The collection of iTunes files and media files and folders that makes a complete package that represents all you have in iTunes and the files presenting this organization.

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How can i use Itunes from an external drive

How can I install iTunes on to an external drive an use as my master librarian for music and movies, it must pretty simple, thanks guys!

Hi,
Read this http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
Jim

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Use Migration Assistant in the Utitiies folder to return the deleted user account back to the machine, I don't know exactly how to go about this as I don't use TimeMachine as it's so limiting, but Pondini can help
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
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Once the account is back onto the machine you can log into it and transfer files between accounts on the same machine using the Finder > Go to Computer > Macintosh HD > Users > other account > Public > DropBox and drop files/folders in there, the permissions will change to the other user and the files/folders will be there when you log into the other user account.
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How Can I Put iTunes On My External Hard Drive?

How Can I Put iTunes On My External Hard Drive? I would like to free up space on my laptop's hard drive by moving iTune onto my external hd. Thanks, Dave

Click here and follow the instructions to move the library. The iTunes program itself cannot be moved.
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How do i install itunes on an external drive

How can i install iTunes on an external hard drive?

Thanks, but I'm not referring to the music library, I'm referring to the actual iTunes application. I've read other threads saying that it can only be installed on the C: drive, so guess i'm out of luck.
Thanks anyway!

G'day. I am using iMovie 11 and need to clear disk space. How can I do that using an external drive, leaving me the option to go back and make changes or access old events or projects from that external drive?

G'day. I am using iMovie 11 and need to clear disk space. How can I do that using an external drive, leaving me the option to go back and make changes or access old events or projects from that external drive?

The slightly bigger question is whether you want to move all movie content to the external drive (essentially meaning that drive will always need to be attached when you're working with your videos), or whether you just want to archive older videos off to the external drive.
If you want to move all videos, then just move the 'Movies' folder in your home directory to the external drive, then create an alias of the external 'Movies' back in to your home directory. Now the 'Movies' icon in your home directory will point to the external drive and everything will just work (as long as the external drive is attached when you launch iMovie)
If you want to archive older movies then each Movie should have its own subdirectory within your Movies folder. These can easily be moved off to the external drive, and moved back should you ever need to work on those movies again.

How can I install Itunes in the data drive and not in OS partition?

My PC has a 3 partitions and I hace installed Itunes in the OS partition, very small. How can I install Itunes in the data drive?

See Williams Lloyd's post > https://discussions.apple.com/message/15670671#15670671

How Can I Keep Music on an External Drive?

I've dealt with this issue before and asked questions about it, but I STILL don't understand how iTunes works when it comes to its "Library" "Media Folder" etc.
Can anyone break it down for me exactly how it all works? Is there a good resource to explain it?
The basic problem I have is the same one that many people have: I keep my actual music on an external hard drive. However, if I launch iTunes when that hard drive isn't plugged in, iTunes somehow changes so that all my music vanishes no matter what I do. Plugging in my hard drive doesn't help. iTunes has created a new Library that contains a list of all my music but with no idea where that music is. I try to tell iTunes where that music is, but nothing works.
You'd think an easy fix would be to always plug in the hard drive first. However, even that doesn't help. iTunes will sometimes not see that hard drive when it is plugged in, and I have no way to predict when it sees the drive and when it doesn't. I start adding new music or podcasts, and it might all be being added to some new library iTunes created and I'm totally lost once again.
On the Preferences/Advanced tab there is the option to change your Media Folder location, but that doesn't work. My music is on the external hard drive, but there is no Media Folder there. The iTunes Media Folder is here: My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Media
I've read that you can hold down the Shift key when you launch iTunes and then you get the option to "Choose Library" or "Create Library." The idea is that iTunes has created a new empty Library and that you just have to select your old Library to get things back to normal. However, there is only ever one Library file listed. There is no new one and old one to select from. There is no Library file on the external drive, either. So I have no idea what I'm looking for.
If I choose "Create Library", it then asks me for a "Folder name". I don't know what that is, either. I thought I'd just have to give my new Library a name. The more I try to deal with this issue, the more confused I get.
To further muddy the waters, under the "General" tab on the iTunes preferences page, it lists my library as "Doug's Library", the name I gave it long ago. However, the option to choose "Doug's Library" never comes up. I've never seen a file with that name or a Library with that name. So what is that all about?
I've used Windows Explorer to go into the iTunes folder to see what files are there, and then it gets more confusing. There is a file called "iTunes Library" and a second file called "iTunes Music Library." Why does the music have a second Library file?
Any suggestions or guidance? There has to be a way to cut through all this confusion. I've had so many problems with iTunes along these lines that I've literally stopped using it to listen to music. It's just not worth the hassle. I spend far more hours trying "fix" iTunes than listening to music with it.
Thanks to anyone who can point me in the right direction.
Doug

I do the same thing as you do...
My music is on an external drive as to not use up gigabytes of storage that need not be used for media.
There are a couple basic principles to iTunes that I believe you should know.
1. iTunes is not a media storage program. It does not store your media "in iTunes". It simply is an organization tool for your media already on a hard disk.
2. As iTunes is not a storage mechanism, it has no way to "know" whether or not the media that is listed is actually there. This is where the "design" of iTunes comes into play.
I like to think of iTunes as a bread-crumb trail. The "music" in iTunes, isn't actually there. The bread crumb is the location on the external hard drive.
If that bread crumb trail disappears (in this case the external drive you use). If said external drive is not plugged in, that bread crumb trail is not able to be followed. iTunes is "lost" and unable to find the media. The only way to remedy this is to place the media on your local drive.
To address your issue of the library. If you hold down shift, you can select your library on your external drive. It will be a file with an .itl extension. The folder name will be your external drive.
I go into edit > preferences > advanced and set my library to the correct location. Make sure you check the box "Copy to iTunes Folder when importing" (or whatever it says).
You can't fix the issue of iTunes not seeing the media if your drive is unplugged unless you physically move the content to your OS HDD...Or any other HDD you use.

How do i setup itunes only on external drive with windows

well i have windows xp running on bootcamp. i have my main library on my internal drive on my os x partition.
i want to have music with xp without putting music on my bootcamp partition ( i think my size is 25 or 35 gig). how do i do this on my external drive? do i install itunes on my windows external partition and just copy my music folder there and then import?
i want to make sure i have a good idea of what to do before i start fooling around. my windows partition is fat 32 while my bootcamp is ntsf

Move the iTunes music folder to the desired location, and then drag it into the open iTunes window. iTunes itself must be on the startup disk.
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How to back up iTunes Library to external drive so it can be restored

I recently moved my iTunes Library from a firewire Lacie external hard drive to a Western Digital USd hard that is now having problems (It keeps unmounting itself and I don't think that's good). It was not easy to move my iTunes folder and make it work again. I do not want to send 3 weeks plus using my spare time relinking songs or recreating playlists. I had to re-link 6,000 songs one by one. I iTunes will make a backup on CDs or DVDs why not an external device? Why would I want to copy 80 plus gigs to CDs?
If I simply copy my iTunes folder to the LaCie drive like apple recommends and the WD fails, I will lose all my playlists, track info, art work. I just got it all back. There must be some type of back up program I'm not seeing.
Please, some one help me. I am very disappointed that this solution is not on here.
I'm going to copy the file for now but it's really a poor solution.
Message was edited by: CindyLoo

I want to back up every thing, but I can't find a way to do it. That is the problem. Apple recommends if you are backing up to an external drive to copy folder the music folder to the drive via drag and drop. But I know when you do this that if you try use the backup you will only have the songs as if they were first added to iTunes.
I was able this time to move my music folder successfully (Last time the problem wasn't immediately apparent as it didn't affect my iPod, so I hope I'm not jinxing it). For now, my music is back on the Lacie drive, but it's still not backed up. If the LaCie drive were to fail I'd be faced with reimporting all my music and re-purchasing the TV shows and movies. (I almost always make a CD of new iTunes Purchases. which is why I have no desire to have a second huge stack of CDs.) My computer will not burn DVDs.
I want to backup everything so that it could be restored and be like it is now, but I don't see a way to do it. And I am not backing up all 80 plus gigs to CDs. My computer would crash and burn.

How can I run iTunes on my external HD via a PC?

My 54 GB iTunes library was transferred from a Mac to an external hd. I want to run iTunes via the external on an old Dell PC Inspiron 700m. I don't have enough hard drive space to transfer that 54 GB.
I've tried changing the advanced preferences to point to the iTunes folder on the external, but that didn't work.
I tried the 'choose a library' option with the shift open, and found no .itl file in any of the iTunes folders on the external, though all my music, video, album artwork, etc are there on the external in the correct folders. Is this a translation issue of the Mac files not having file extensions the PC recognizes?
If you are kind enough to answer this request, please keep in mind that I haven't used a PC in almost 9 years, so I find doing anything on it challenging.

Thank you for the reply!
All the files were copied:
Folders (with content):
Album Artwork
Automatically Add to iTunes
iTunes Music
Mobile Applications
Previous iTunes Libraries
Files:
iTunes Library
iTunes Library Extras.itdb
iTunes Library Genius.itdb
iTuens Music Library.xml
sentinel

How can I run Itunes from an external hard drive?

I have over 35GB's of music. Its killing my hard drive. Help!!!?!!!!

heres an apple article on how to move your itunes media folder, sounds like exactly what youre looking for.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
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HT1751 How can I move iTunes Music from one drive to another?

I'm having trouble ... hoping someone can help.
Windows XP Pro.
My MP3s were on a networked Data Drive (Z:). I drag the songs I want on iTunes from there to the iTunes program, and it's library
was in the "normal" place (\Documents and Settings\MyName\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music ).
I copied my iTunes library folder onto an external drive and also copied the Z drive MP3s onto the external drive. I then put the MP3s
on a new computer with Windows XP Pro, downloaded the latest version of iTunes on the new computer, and then drug the iTunes
folder from the external drive onto the new computer in the exact same "normal" place as above.
When I open iTunes, my music is not there for some reason. Is there any way to correct this sort of readding all my music and all
my cover art?
Thank you.

Thank you for the response.
I cannot find the file iTunes Library.itl ...
I have the structure you mention:
<User's Music>\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl where <User's Music> is the music folder of the profile as defined by the operating system.
but that file is not there (I looked in the preferences of iTunes in order to find the location and that is the location it stated).
"iTunes can be connected to a library in a different location by holding down shift as you start it and clicking Choose from the options to Choose or Create a library."
I can do this, but again, there is no .itl file that I can find ... now I'm more confused Of course, if I fire up my old computer, there is no drive Z any longer, so while all my music appears on iTunes, I cannot click on any as it then will not be able to find the song on the drive that no longer exists.
I am going to do a search on the old computer for that .itl file to see if it was just in some other place for some reason.

How do I move itunes to an external drive and use from there

Mid July 2010 Mini running 10.9.4, 320 gig HD, about 95 gigs left on drive and I need to add bootcamp/windows7 which will need about 90 gigs, maybe a little less for what I need to do with win7. Next problem will be figuring out how to make bootcamp work. Like how do I make a ISO out of a dmg? That's for another post. Excuse me.
What do I move to an external drive? The media folder? Do I move iTunes? Seems to me iTunes needs to be on the MacHD and it pulls media from the drive to be rendered or played. Do I drag and drop? From where? Why doesn't Apple have simple easy to understand certified answers to issues ordinary people have? Something about once "it" is moved, do you restart and then I think hold control down while starting iTunes? What about iTunes Match? Should that be off? If it is off during the change over and then after restating Match will it matter that now the media is all in a different location? Absolutely at a loss.
Can someone please shed light on this?
thanks,
tom

Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) so you get a prompt to select a library, then guide it to the 'iTunes Library.itl' file in the moved iTunes folder.
If this is to a new computer and you put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there. (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music [library] to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527 - a somewhat bewildering and not always easily understandable set of options.

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How can I place iTunes on my external drive

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