How do I keep iTunes from indexing files on external drive?

Hi,
I did a clean install of Vista from XP. I used Windows Easy Transfer to restore my As part of the upgrade, I did a fresh install of iTunes 8. I think I was running 7 before but this may not be significant, and I may be mistaken.
iTunes automatically (?) indexed all MP3 and m4a files both on my C: drive and on my external drive. These files are largely duplicates; I only want my music on C: to be indexed by iTunes. I've searched and searched here, Help and with Google, have found some very good information about moving files to another drive, but haven't managed to find a way to limit the drive that iTunes looks at. (I have 3 external drives but only the one has music files on it.) Any help would be greatly appreciated.
tim

Chris CA wrote:
By default, iTunes copies the music into /My Music/iTunes/iTunes music folder.
Yes, but I don't use the default.
iTunes does not move files from their original location. It copies them to the iTunes music folder when they are added to the library.
I'm pretty sure mine does not copy them; it creates pointers to them in their original locations. I believe this is an available option to the default.
If they are not showing up in iTunes and they are not in the iTunes music folder shown in iTunes prefs -> Advanced - iTunes music folder location, then you are good to go.
Then I'm good to go. I've got 2800 tracks in my iTunes music folder, plus another 6000 elsewhere on my C: drive, all of which are correctly listed in iTunes. (There also a bunch of WMAs which, for these purposes, don't exist). None of the ones from my J: drive are listed in iTunes and none have been copied to the iTunes music folder. Thanks again for your help.

Similar Messages

  • How do I keep iTunes from moving files when I add them to my library?

    I use a site where artists give away their songs via torrent, so I like to seed as much as possible. But recently when I've added files, they're removed from their original folder and moved to a more generic "music" folder. How can I keep iTunes from doing this, so that my uploads aren't interrupted?

    In iTunes, go to Edit > Preferenes > Advanced, and make sure that "Keep..." and "Copy..." are both unchecked.

  • How can I prevent iTunes from copying files to C drive?

    I keep all my music files on my D drive. When I installed iTunes, I made sure that each song title in the library was linked to the mp3 on the D drive. Recently I found about 155 music files that are now duplicated in a folder on my C drive named "iTunes music" Most the file modification dates are either 9/11/2010 or 10/25/2010. I tried to think of any action I've taken that might have caused this. The only unusual thing I've done recently with iTunes is try out a new accessory called TuneUp. I've used it to find album art and find details about some songs that were missing, like what album the file came from etc. Is it possible that TuneUp is creating new modified versions of the music files rather than applying the updated data to the original files on the D drive?

    That sounds like a good guess.
    I know nothing about TuneUp or how it works, and I can't recall where iTunes keeps it's Artwork, but they may very well be related.
    Is your settings in iTunes for copying files/where they are stored correct? Perhaps installing the 3rd party application made a change to your settings.
    Try tracing back one of the files to your library and see if you can identify an action you took that created the files. For example... look at one of these suspect files and find it in the iTunes library. Sort your music by Date Added and see if you can find a correlation.

  • How to retrieve bookmarks either from folders/Files or external drive

    Hello Mozilla,
    I have looked up your FAQ and Hidden Folder and File Mozilla Support Forum and Community areas to try and search for my past Bookmarks that were on a previous laptop. I had the data backed up to my Passport external drive and transferred to another laptop, since then, that too went down and so I am looking to see if Mozilla may have a way of getting back these files either from the Passport or 'other' means.
    I did not Sync my bookmarks at that time, I have now and have looked into the Windows Hidden Folders and Files with no luck in finding these Bookmarks which are substantial.
    Any other areas and or steps that I may have missed/have not taken as I am on Windows 8 (HELP-anyway)
    Resources searched:
    https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/952646?esab=a&as=aaq
    http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders
    http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
    I have even searched the hidden folders and files in My Computer and see information going back to September 2011, June 2012 and June 2013. if I am able to pull this data up, what steps am I missing in retrieving the old Bookmarks or have I lost them forever?
    Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
    Ronald

    One way could be the following two-step approach:
    # create an HTML copy of the backed-up bookmarks - or from some other browser you may have been using in the mean time
    # import the HTML file as suggested here: [[Import Bookmarks from a HTML file]]
    Let us know, if it helped

  • How do I keep iTunes from automatically transferring purchases from my iPhone?

    Well, earlier in the year I had a Hard Drive failure. After having it fixed not all my files where on my Mac, including my iTunes media. So I connect my iPhone and it asks me if I want to transfer purchases? I click yes, the transfer wnet fine but some old media transferd too. I didn't want it so I simply deleted it. But when I plug my iPhone in now, it automatically says transfering purchases from Alex's iPhone. I then clicked on the "X" to cancel the task. But how do I keep iTunes from automatically transferring the old material?

    iTunes/Preferences/Devices - Select "Prevent iPods, iPhone, iPads from syncing automatically."

  • How do I keep itunes from putting things into the cloud after I've downloaded them?

    Hello - Not everyone lives in Silicon Valley or New York City.  I have a relatively slow internet connection so it takes about 2 hours to download a 45-minute tv episode.  Yesterday I did that, and today I went to watch it and it had been put back in the cloud!  "No problem," says Apple, "You can download it again."  It takes f**** 2 hours to download it again.  How can I keep Itunes from putting things I've already downloaded back into the cloud?

    How do I keep itunes from putting things into the cloud after I've downloaded them?
    You don't. They are in the cloud as soon as you make a purchase. As in immediately/right now. They don't get uploaded from yoru computer to the cloud.
    Did you delete it after you watched it?

  • How can I keep iTunes from importing doubles?

    I am wondering if there is a way to keep iTunes from downloading (pulling from the cloud) doubles of music.  I would like to update my computer and iPad so that the two music libraries match, however iTunes doesn't seem to recognize that some of the songs are already on one or both devices.  So the problem ends up being, that I have doubles of some songs, even though I have chosen the option (Not on this iPad or Not on this Computer).  Any thoughts....

    Take a look at this suggestion in OSXDaily.

  • How can I keep iTunes from opening when I insert a CD?

    I have gone through the preferences again and again, and I can't find a way to keep iTunes from opening whenever I insert a CD. iTunes is not my preferred player/encoder, and I don't want it to open unless I tell it to.
    Case in point, I'm converting many CDs to mp3, using an application that gives me the filename format I want (iTunes isn't that flexible enough to do that). It is annoying for iTunes to keep butting in, every time I insert a CD!
    Thanks for any advice.
    L.

    When you first insert a CD your Mac comes up with a box saying
    "You have inserted a CD" (duuh, Apple...)
    Then you choose from a pop-up menu that offers "Open in Finder", "Open in iTunes", etc
    At some point you (or someone) has chosen "Open in iTunes" then checked the little box that says "Make this the default from now on".
    If you go into System Prefs (as already mentioned) you have a choice to reset what you want to do with a blank CD.

  • How do i keep itunes from tyring to open in other sessions

    Is there any way to keep itunes from constantly trying to launch itself in every user session that is currently logged on?

    This is usually caused by missing or incorrect ID3 tags. See this web page for more information: http://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/grouping.asp

  • How do I Move Events from an Internal to External drive?

    Hello,
    I am trying to move events on my internal drive to my new external drive. Everything is set up and I see the external drive, but after reading other posts and replies it seems I can't just move the files from the internal to external drive by dragging and dropping using finder.
    Can anyone give some guidance on how I do this so i don't have to reload all my videos on the external drive.
    Also, when they are moved over, will i see the external drive when I open iMovie, or do I ahve to do something to see it in my Events Library.
    Any help be be appreciated.

    Can anyone give some guidance on how I do this so i don't have to reload all my videos on the external drive.
    Best approach is to import files directly to the external drive during the initial import process by selecting the appropriate drive in the import window. However, for Events already stores, here is A QUICKIE VIDEO TUTORIAL.
    Also, when they are moved over, will i see the external drive when I open iMovie, or do I ahve to do something to see it in my Events Library.
    You must activate the "external drive" icon in iMovie '08 to make your external drives visible in the Event Library list. (I.e. Press the icon to the right of the "Event Library" title and to the left of the actual Event Window.) Sorry, answered your e-mail message before seeing the second question here.

  • How to send the data from mac pc to External drive

    how to send the data from mac pc to External HDD
    or Pen Drive but with out deleting the preview as data

    You can use "Finder", which is in your dock, to copy files from your iMac folders over to the external hard drive.
    Hope this helps

  • 7.2 upgrade: how to recover corrupted iTune library index file from backup?

    Hi folks,
    I upgraded to iTunes 7.2 and my library file (the xml one)
    got corrupted...
    My >40 GB of mysic seem to be on the safe side fortunately,
    same for a half way recent backup of the file
    iTunes Music Library.xml.
    Both sit on an external hard drive, while the corrupted files
    are on the main disk. Sounds not to bad, compared to what I read from others!
    Questions:
    1) How can I use my backuped XML index file to recover my playlists etc in iTunes? Unfortunately I only backuped this single index file, i.e. the "Music"
    one, yet not the other iTunes database file.
    2) Then, I had still made some modifications (mostly MP3 file tags)
    after the backup of the index file. I realized that while looking on
    the time stamps of the directories that contain my actual music.
    Do I need to do something to make these modifications visible
    in the recovered iTunes??
    Thanks for any useful hints in advance!!

    I solved my problem through a minor variation of this recipe:
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313

  • How can I keep iTunes from automatically reseting it's library? Or, a faster way to bring my files back?

    I have decided recently to back up all my audio to iTunes, seeing at it is a powerful tool for audio archiving. My issue is that I want to keep my hard drive free of the enormous library, so I have an external drive dedicated to it. In the advanced features, I can set that. But, why in the world does iTunes insist on relocating my library when I forget to plug in the external disc? I know why, to make a smooth experience for me in the short term -- since these are built for a mass market that doesn't think -- but for me, I know what I want, but sometimes I'm forgetful. So if Apple wants a smooth experience for me, then how about this oversight? The reorganization process ("keep iTunes organized" preference) goes through all 300 hours of audio library by piecemeal, when it should just be looking for changes and surpassing anything that doesn't look different. Perhaps it is only looking for changes but can only do so by piecemeal, anyhow this seems like something that could be devised in preferences. Am I missing something? Can't iTunes send a warning before importing in to a reset library? Does this question make sense?

    If it reverts to default because you forgot to plug the drive in, plug the drive in and start iTunes with the option key held down and show it the library on the external.
    Does this question make sense?
    The first part did. I started to drift after the "keep organized". 

  • How do I stop spotlight from indexing files?

    I only have 2GB of RAM and Indexing files really slows down my computer, so much that i can hardly operate the computer. Is there any way that i can stop Spotlight from indexing my files automatically or have it index every week instead of every day?

    It shouldn't be running so much that it slows down the computer. It will run for a while, initially, but after that it should index files on the fly as they are added. I suppose if you dumped a ton of files onto the hard drive, it would spend a while indexing them.
    You might try restarting the index as it might be corrupt. To do so, go to the Privacy tab in Spotlight. Add your hard drive to the list. Wait about 10 seconds, then remove your hard drive. Don't do that while you're working, though.

  • How to I keep iTunes from covering my hidden task bar?

    Is there a way to keep iTunes on the windows OS from dominating so that I can't see my hidden task bar?  This is very annoying as with iTunes open, I'm not able to switch programs using the the task bar.
    I know I can do Alt-TAB and other things, but I don't like iTunes always on top!  I don't use it to watch TV or Movies on, I use my apple TV for that.

    I found the button for IPOD options in Itunes, which appears on the lower right hand corner of Itunes ONLY when the IPOD is plugged in (recommend Apple looks at having it always there) and unchecking the "start Itunes automatically when Ipod is plugged in" box. If you have an IQ over room temperature, your computer doing things automatically for you is usually just not a good idea.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Need to fix the exchange rate in KB15N

    Hi Gurus, We are actually posting actual to WBS element using cost center using KB15N in different currency. We want to fixed value of exchange rate before posting (means overwrite actual exchange rate). Can anyone tell can we fixed value of exchange

  • The relationships and links between the various SAP database tables

    Hi Gurus, I am trying to learn the relationships and links between the various SAP database tables (SAP FI-AA, SAP SD, SAP MM, SAP HR and so on) for correctly extracting data from them. Especially I am expressing an interest in the SAP database table

  • Popup link inside  a r portlet - 'calendar'

    Hi All, I'm trying to pop up a link that I've define inside a caledar portlet, but the link opens up on the entire window instead of just inside the portlet itself. I've set my "TARGET" to null and do not know what the "TARGET" value should be. Withi

  • Problem when trying to install iTunes 7.7

    Hi Experts, While trying to install iTunes i get an error message as follows - "Older version of Apple software update cannot be removed. contact your technical support group." Now I cannot even get into iTunes nor does iTunes start automatically whe

  • GL Cost items problem

    Hi I have a FI documents without cost on GL 1234 and when I change document and define a cost account then system said that "You must create an account 1234 for 13.05.2008 for cost item". This GL account was created in 2007 yet How to define a cost a