How do I access a library already on an external drive, from a new computer?

I moved my library from an old hard drive onto a larger external drive, following the online instructions and then continued to use the old machine to access the library. I now want to swap computers completely (the library can stay where it is) but am baffled by how to do this.
Looking at the folders on the external drive there are noi library files just media filders and files.
I've ensured that the new laptop sees the external drive as it was (ie its ths G drive on old and new machines).
I have pointed iTunes at the relevent folder
I have deauthorised everything and then authorised the new laptop
When I open iTunes I have nothing....
The helpdesk are trying.....
Old machine was XP, new machine is W7
HELP!

The library file is still on the old computer in the iTunes folder.
Move the entire iTunes folder from the old computer to the new computer.

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How do I get my library off of my flash drive onto my new computer?

I just got a new computer today, so this morning I made sure to put everything that has to do with itunes on my flash drive so I could transfer my library onto the new computer. I have tried following many steps on how to move a library from an old computer to a new one, but so far I have only recovered purchased songs. I have plugged in my flash drive into the new PC and I can see the itunes library file, but when I click it, nothing happens. I hhave installed itunes on the new PC and like I said only some of my songs are in it. When I plug my ipod nano into my new PC, I get a message asking if i want to scan and fix my ipod. I have hit "continue scanning", but if I do hit scan and fix, will that erase all the songs on my ipod? I really can't have that happen, so I'm trying to be very cautious on what I do. Also, I have my ipod plugged in and in itunes I hit the arrow next to my ipod and it shows the drop down menu including my music. All of the songs that are in my old library and currently on my ipod are there, but they're all grayed out. I've tried copying the music folder to my ipod and it says I don't have enough space, but like I said, I am not going to erase all of the songs on my ipod. If someone could please help me out I'd really appreciate it! By the way I have Windows 7.

This is how you should have done it. I don't know if you still have the files to do it this way:
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
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. Start iTunes with the option (shift on Windows) key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.

How do I copy my files from an external drive to my new computer

I had all my music files on my old laptop whose motherboard burned out. I removed the hard drive, and would like to copy my old music files from my old hard drive to the internal hard drive in my new computer. I think I can do this one file at a time but there are like 4000 files so that is impossible

File -> Add folder to library.
Select the topmost folder with the music

Due to a divorce all my music is on my iTunes and iPod. I had to buy a new computer and want to transfer my Library to the new computer. How can I do this without using an external drive and use new computer just like I do the old one? Thanks.

Due to divorce, all my music is on my iTunes and iPod. I have had to buy a new laptop and want to transfer the library to the new computer before deauthorizing the old one. I dont want to have to use an external drive every time I want to listen to my music. How can I do this and have the same basic iTunes setup as before? HELP!

You might consider itunes match for moving CDs you've copied into your itunes library if you dont have a way to use home sharing.
iTunes match is an optional service offered by apple that costs about $25 a year. It scans your music library and if it finds music that is already in apple's itunes catalog it'll automatically "unlock"/"store" these in the cloud for you. Items that it does not find in the catalog it'll upload and store these in the cloud for you and you can download them on your devices. See http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/

How do I access songs I've purchased in the past on a new computer?

I got a new MP3 player as my iPod recently died. However, I haven't purchased any songs since Fall 2012. I'm currently on a new computer I purchased in November 2012 and just realized I haven't used iTunes in some time. Now I'm trying to get my songs and library I had previously on this computer. I've paid for these songs already so shouldn't I be able to download them again without paying a second time? Thanks in advance!

Hi there SuperHumanC,
You may find the information in the article below helpful.
Downloading past purchases from the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBooks Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519
-Griff W.

How do I share itunes library files using an external drive?

I can't find the exact answer I am looking for.
I have an XP Machine and a Mac. I have a shared external USB drive with all of my music files on it. The files are accessed by itunes on both machines as needed. I do not have both networked, so Home Sharing is not an option, it also is something I am not interested in doing in this particular case.
Here is my problem, if I add a song on my Mac, it does not show up on my PC and visa versa. The other problem is that it does the play count, playlist updates etc. on only one machine.
So my question is this. Is there any way that I can have itunes use only one library file no matter which machine is operating? In other words, if I add a song while on the PC, I want it to show up on my Mac library. If I want to change a playlist on my PC it will be changed on the Mac when I get on.
Can anyone answer this one?

Bump

I have spent a long time getting my iTunes library fixed up. Adding album artwork to songs that had no album artwork, added artist and all the other metadata that goes into a song. How can I move my library exactly the way it is to my new computer?

It would be great if anyone could answer this, I don't feel like having to go through all my songs again and redo them.

Copy the ENTIRE iTunes folder from the old computer to the new computer.

HT1349 My library is backed up to the cloud, my old computer w/ itunes died. How do i access my library and set up new itunes on my new computer?

how do i set up new itunes on new computer. old computer is dead. library is backed up to cloud.

iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
smasma64 wrote:
... library is backed up to cloud.
Are you sure..?
What gets Backed Up > iCloud > http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2584
smasma64 wrote:
how do i set up new itunes on new computer.
From your OLD computer or it's Backup...
Copy your ENTIRE iTunes FOLDER to an External Drive... and then from the External Drive to your New Computer..
Full Details Here > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

How can I transfer Itunes from external hard drive to a new computer?

Hello,
I had a Dell laptop with Windows XP on it recently crash, but I have everything saved to a Seamagine external 1 terabyte hard drive. I have about 250 gigabytes of media on it, mostly CD's and audiobooks. The setup I had on the XP computer was my Itunes folder saved on the C drive, but I kept all the actual music and audiobooks on the external hard drive, which was labeled the F drive.
After the crash, a relative sold me their three year old Compaq laptop, with Windows 7 instead of XP as the OS. My relative already had Itunes downloaded on it, but when I opened the Itunes on the new (new to me) laptop, Itunes only recognized their (my relative's) account. So, I uninstalled their Itunes and then I re-downloaded Itunes for 64-bit Windows 7. I then opened the Windows Explorer folder so to drag and drop my backed up Itunes folder and library information from the old C drive to the new Itunes folder in the new C drive. But, it wouldn't do anything. It still wanted the password info from my relative's account. It wouldn't recognize my account, even though I had uninstalled and then reinstalled a newer version of Itunes. Dragging and dropping my backed-up Itunes folder from my external hard drive to the new C drive didn't work because it said it didn't have certain permissions or something like that. I think I might have downloaded a newer version of Itunes, different from what I had saved a couple of days ago, which might be one of the problems here, not to mention that I switched OS's from XP to Windows 7.
When I plugged the external hard drive USB into the new laptop no Seamagine manager came up for user-friendly accessibility. I didn't know what to do, so I installed Seagate Dashboard onto the new computer. It didn't do anything for me either. No problem, I thought, I'll just use Windows Explorer to move the Itunes library, and then once I transfer (i.e., drag and drop) the old Itunes folder to the one, all will be as it was. I could then direct my Itunes account to use my external hard drive as the media source folder. I was wrong. It won't let me do that either. It says I don't have permission to do it.
How c an I get my old Itunes library info onto the C drive of this new computer, but keep the 250GB of media files on the external hard drive, just like the setup I had on the old laptop before it crashed? If you can help me, then you will be my hero. I'm scared to death that I've lost my library info and afraid to mess with it too much more for fear of erasing it or, worse, losing the 250 GB of media that is on the external hard drive, which has taken me a tremendous amount of time and money to compile. It is, in effect, irreplaceable. I'm very worried and frustrated. I've been working on this for days, to no avail. You're my last hope. Thank you.

Hmm, I think we should start over...
Here are the typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
In the image above the red outline denotes the "media folder", that is the folder listed under Edit > Preferences > Advanced. In the standard layout where the "media folder" is inside the "library folder" the iTunes library has the advantage of being self-contained and portable. Since you've lost the "library folder" from your old computer you're going to have to start over so you might as well get organized properly.
If the folder curently holding your media files is called G:\iTunes then rename it as G:\Media.
The support doc How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one explains how to create a new iTunes library where you want it. In short click the icon to start iTunes and immediately press and hold down the shift key. Keep holding until asked to choose or create a library, click Create and browse to G:\, make sure the folder is going to be called iTunes and click save.
Move the folder that actually holds the media inside the folder G:\iTunes\iTunes Media. We're going to let iTunes reorganize everything (unless you have a collection of .wav files in which case stop and tell me because they require a different approach).
Use File > Add folder to library and select the folder G:\iTunes\iTunes Media. iTunes will search through the whole series of subfolders adding all media files into the library and reorganizing them into the correct artist & album folders.
Again, for data security, you really ought to obtain a second external drive at some point and backup your library to it. Only having one copy, as you have found, leaves you vulnerable to failure. External drives are no less prone to it.
A) Windows uses \ as a folder separator in path descriptions, Mac uses /.
B) Do you have a backup of the iTunes folder that was on drive C:\ or are you simply referring to the location of your media as a "backup" when it really the only copy? If you have a backup copy of your "original" iTunes library you could move/copy that to G:\iTunes shift-start-iTunes to open it, and then I can offer tools or techniques for fixing the links that will be broken becuase the drive letter has changed.
C) Use Store > Sign out and then Store > Sign in to sign into your iTunes account. You will also need to use Store > Authorize the computer to allow playback and transfer of any protected content. If your new library contains protected content from any other accounts then you will have to authorize the computer for those too.
tt2

Easiest way to transfer iTunes library on an external drive to a new Mac?

Hello,
I currently have my entire iTunes Library (Music, Movies, TV Shows, etc.) on an external hard drive.
I have a new Mac arriving tomorrow, to replace my current one. What is the easiest way to get my entire Library into iTunes on my new Mac?
I know Migration Assistant is normally supposed to help with this, but I assume that's only if the Library has been stored internally. Can I simply plug the external drive into the new Mac, authorize the computer, and Import my entire Library from the File menu?
Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks!

mattfromallston wrote:
I have a new Mac arriving tomorrow, to replace my current one. What is the easiest way to get my entire Library into iTunes on my new Mac?
From your OLD computer...
Copy your ENTIRE iTunes FOLDER to an External Drive... and then from the External Drive to your New Computer..
Full Details Here > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
An Added Bonus is that you will have a Backup of iTunes.
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
NOTE:
It is important that the External Hard Drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (journaled).

I had my itunes library on an external drive, I now have a new Windows 7 computer. How can I access my library?

I had my itunes library on an external drive, I now have a new Windows 7 computer. How can I access my library?

Hello, robertfromboulder city.
Thank you for the question. You can direct iTunes to read your media off your external drive. To do this, follow the instructions below. See the section in the first article labeled Discovering and changing the iTunes Media folder location.
Where are my iTunes files located?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
iTunes: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751
Cheers,
Jason H.

I cannot open a photo library from an external hard rive I get a message that says: You have made changes to your iPhoto library using a newer version of iPhoto. How do I access this library?

I cannot open a photo library from an external hard rive I get a message that says: You have made changes to your iPhoto library using a newer version of iPhoto. How do I access this library?

and
and have you opened this library with any other computer?
LN

Access my library from a new computer

How do i access my library from a new computer?

I have done this but now I get the following error when I try to copy the song to the iPod.
"SongName" was not copoed to the iPod "IPodName" because you are not autorized to play it on this computer.
Although it will let my play the song on the computer?
History: Old computer crashed, got a new one and copied the songs off the old hard drive to new hard drive. Now things do not work right.

I just need to know how you get an iTunes library off the original hard drive of a mac and onto an external hard drive and still have it work normally?

I just need to know how you get an iTunes library off the original hard drive of an imac and onto an external hard drive and still have it work as it normally would?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

How do I combine an old itune library thats on an external hardrive and a newer library thats on a newer computer into 1 library and keep them on the external hard drive so I won't use up all my memory on my newer laptop

I copied an old iTunes library off my old Toshiba laptop with windows xp and put it on an external hard drive. I have a newer Microsoft surface pro laptop with windows 8.1. I have a small iTunes library on my newer laptop. I want to combine the 2 libraries into 1, add newer podcasts to the combined library daily, but keep it all on my external hard drive, so I don't use all my memory on my surface pro. I have an older ipod classic that I have all my old library on. I love it and don't want to stop using it, but want to be able to add podcasts from my 1 library from time to time. What I usually do is download podcasts for a few weeks then, download them to my ipod. Haven't done any of this in about a year. But want to start getting regular with it again. PS I'm not very computer savy Thanks for any help or advice!

This article explains how to open a different library: iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one. The assumption is that the whole library was copied to the external drive from the old Toshiba laptop, not just the media. If that isn't the case make a new library on the external drive in a folder called \iTunes and move the media inside \iTunes\iTunes Media before adding it to the library.
Once iTunes is using the library on the external drive you can add any content stored on the internal drive to the library by drag & drop or by moving/copying the content into \iTunes\iTunes Media\Automatically Add to iTunes. Make sure the option under Edit > Preferences > Advanced to Copy files to the folder iTunes Media when adding to library is selected. Once complete you can delete the original copies on the internal drive.
Should your library contain duplicates after merging see this recent post on deduping.
If there are ratings, playlists, play counts, or content stored on the iPod classic and not located anywhere else then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
Ideally you should backup your library to a second drive for security. See Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy for a suggested strategy.
tt2

How do I access a library already on an external drive, from a new computer?

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