How do I keep my library on an external hard drive?

I have limited space on my lap and want to redirect all files to be saved and accesed via an external hard drive. I already have media on this drive but when I redirect the itunes folder to this location it does not read the files.

Hey qmx,
It sounds like you want to move your iTunes Media folder. The following article outlines how to do so:
iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
If your hard drive is nearly full after loading all your music and other media into iTunes, or if you just want to move all those music and media files to another hard drive on your system, here's a way to make the move while retaining all your playlists, ratings, and play history.
Thanks,
Matt M.

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How do i import my library from an external hard drive. Exported it as had to wipe pc and reinstal windows but when i try to import nothing happens

How do i import my library from an external hard drive. Had to export it as had to reinstal windows due to a conflict between windows and i-tunes. Wen i try to import nothing happens despite selecting the file. Can you import from an i-phone to i-tunes?

What do you mean bye exported the library?
There is nothing to export or import.
The correct process to backup the iTunes library would be to copy the ENTIRE iTunes folder from the computer to the external drive.

How do I export itunes library onto an external hard drive so i can put the music on my new mac book?

How do I export itunes library onto an external hard drive so i can put the music on my new mac book?

iTunes: How to move 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.

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

How to use one music library from one external hard drive on two different computers

I have 57 gigs of music in my itunes library on my laptop (Windows Vista). I backed up the library onto an external hard drive. I would like to play the music on a second computer (Windows XP) without putting the music on the second computer, just keeping it on the external hard drive.
I have the latest version of iTunes and Quicktime installed. In iTunes on both computers, under Advanced Preferences I changed the iTunes media folder location to the folder on the external hard drive and checked the boxes for "Keep iTunes media folder organized" and "copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library". Also under the File tab, "Organize Library", I clicked on "Consolidate Files" and "Reorganize Files in the folder itunes music".
On the second computer I tried holding SHIFT while launching iTunes until the prompt appears asking to create a new library or point to an existing library. While attempting to point to the new location, I am only able to open the music folder, not set it as the location. In advanced preferences when I click "change" for the itunes media folder location, I can locate the folder but the only button I can click on is "open" or "cancel". "Open" will open the folder showing all my music. I tried typing in the location. It shows the correct location.
I was able to see the songs in the library in itunes on the second computer but it won't play the music. There are no exclamation points next to the songs. I am also able to see the playlists but there aren't any songs in the playlists.
There are no problems with itunes on the first computer. Everything works as it should.
Ideally I would like to use the same folder on the external hard drive for both computers if possible. But for now I want to at least get the music playing with the playlists on the second computer from the external hard drive.
Please help.

See this post on making a split library portable.
tt2

How to move mt itunes library from one external hard drive to another

I would like to move my itun4es library from my external hard drive H to external hard drive M; how do I go about this? without losing items

Short version: use the itunes consolidate command
Long version: read this
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/

I keep my library on an external hard drive 4TB. It's full. Can I use more than one hard drive to keep my library on?

I keep my iTunes library on an external hard drive 4TB. It's full. Can I use more than one hard drive to keep my library on? Like two 4TB next to each other.

Create a concatenated disk set
Increase storage space with a concatenated RAID set (also called “Just a Bunch of Disks” or JBOD). If you need one large disk, but you have only several smaller disks, you can create a concatenated disk set to use several small disks as one large disk.
Open Disk Utility, in the Utilities folder in Launchpad.
Select one of the disks that you want in the set, and then click RAID.
Click Add (+), and type a name for the RAID set.
Choose a format from the Format pop-up menu. Usually you’ll choose the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.
Choose Concatenated Disk Set from the RAID Type pop-up menu.
Drag the disks you want to add to the set to the list on the right.
Click Create.
Exerpt from:
Disk Utility 12.x: Create a RAID set - Apple - Support
Note that the biggest CON to concatenated RAID configurations is vulnerability to volume failure. If either disk fails, the whole volume fails. If you choose this option, I would highly recommend backing up your music to a cloud service. There are very cheap per GB/storage, and some of the most reputable actually offer unlimited storage:
Five Best Cloud Storage Providers - Lifehacker

How do I keep my media on an external hard drive but still access it in iTunes?

I just recently purchased a new Macbook Air and I had my itunes media library on an external hard drive. How do I access my itunes media on the macbook air from the external hard drive without transferring all the media onto my macbook air? I also want to be able to add and download media to my itunes and have it saved on my external hard drive. I have been trying to figure this out for weeks and need some assistance. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

hey, basically i had the same problem as you. i had all of my itunes on an external hard drive and just bought a macbook pro, so here is what i was told to do....plug in the external hard drive to your MBA and then when you open itunes hold down the option button while you click and hold it down till you see a pop up window, it will ask you what library you want to use, click choose library and choose the itunes file that is on your external hard drive. and then all of your stuff will be in the itunes.
what i have seemed to run into though is, when the external hard drive isn't plugged in itunes won't open unless you choose another library or plug in the external hard drive. - my question is this, should i open another library on my macbook pro's internal hard drive so i can at least look at itunes when i don't have my external hard drive connected. my old macbook did this, it would point to another library on my macbook and i would still be able to see all of my media but couldn't play it without the external hooked up, is there a way to do this on lion?
i hope i was able to answer your question sam and hopefully can have my question answered too.
thanks!
- sorry sam, don't mean to hijack your thread but hopefully it will help us both - i don't want to store any media )movies, music, podcasts, apps, any of that stuff on my macbook pro's hard drive, so say there is a way to get itunes to open without my external hooked up and i can still see my media, or not see my media and i want to download a song or a app that i see when i am not near my external....what is the easiest way to get that file onto the external and not have it taking up space on my macbook pro's hard drive? sorry for all the long questions
Message was edited by: thenumbersarebad - thought of one more thing - sorry

How do I transfer iPhoto library to an external hard drive?

How do I transfer my iphoto library to an external hard drive. Dragging it does not seem to work.

Erasing the drive won't affect the content of the iPhoto library. If you don't want to reformat that drive, buy another.
Even if you do install software which enables the Mac to write to NTFS drives, the volume containing an iPhoto library needs to be formatted as Mac OS Extended.
(107500)

How do I keep a file on my external hard drive and delete it from my internal hard drive?

I have a iMac with 1 TB internal hard drive, connected to it is a 3 TB Seagate external hard drive using Time Machine to back up my computer.
I use this computer for making family movies with videos and pictures. My 1 TB internal hard drive is now almost full with only 200 GBs of storage left on it. My external drive has 1.62 TBs of space left on it. I would like to delete a lot of the videos on my internal hard drive and keep them only on the external hard drive. I've tried this and it tells me I cannot do it because it is part of the Time Machine back up. Why can't I manage my computer files as I would like??
Also once you import pictures into Aperture or videos into iMovie, good luck having access to the initial files you imported. It seems once these programs get hold of your files they aren't accessible to you any more. I don't understand that! Anyway can anyone help me get the files I want off my iMac and onto my external Seagate hard drive?
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How do I transfer my library to an External Hard-drive

I would like to free up space on my laptop and export my Itunes library to my external hard drive. I saw this same question and it was answered but I couldn't find it in the discussion topics again.
HP zd8000 Windows XP 30 GB Ipod

First move your itunes music folder by going to edit>preferences>Advanced tab>general sub tab hit the "Change" button and select the external drive then hit ok
Now goto Advanced>consolidate library.
When you consolidate the library, this COPIES all files listed in itunes to the "iTUnes Music" folder (Which should now be on your external drive) and points itunes to these copies. Once its done you have to manually go into your C drive on the laptop and delete the music thats still there

HOW TO MOVE YOUR ITUNES LIBRARY TO AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE

Read these directions before actually doing anything, just so you can do this right. I've messed things up before, it can get ugly...
That being said, here's what you've gotta do if you're running on a Mac:
Have all your music on the external hard drive. It should be organized in folders the way iTunes set it up
The folders should be organized something like this:iTunes Media (Top folder, everything is inside of this folder)
Audiobooks
Automatically Add To iTunes
Books
Downloads
iPod Games
iTunes U
Mobile Applications
Music
Podcasts
Ringtones
TV Shows
Voice Memos
Those folders are what I have in my 'iTunes Media' folder on my external hard drive. You don't necessarily need to have all of these folders. (I happen to just have a lot of things in my iTunes.)
Finding your iTunes Library Files
The way iTunes works is there are two parts to make what you see in iTunes work right. There's your media (songs, video, iPod games and Apps, etc) and there are your library files. They tell iTunes what your playlists are, where your 'iTunes Media' folder is located, and a lot of other important things. Here is how to find the iTunes Library files (there will probably be more than one!)
Look in (yourusername)/Music/iTunes
There will be a few things in here:
Album Artwork (It's a folder)
iTunes Library Extras.itdb
iTunes Library Genius.itdb
Itunes Library.itl
iTunes Media (a folder)
iTunes Music Library Backup.xml (this file might or might not be here. If there is no file with this name, it's okay.)
iTunes Music Library.xml
Some "temp" files (maybe, maybe not -- they are not important for this)
Anything in the list that is BOLDED needs to be placed in (yourusername)/Music/iTunesIf you copied these files to your external hard drive, you will need to copy them back onto your internal hard drive. These library files do not need to be in the same place as your iTunes Media folder.
Telling iTunes Where Your Music Is
Now that your iTunes Media folder is on your external drive, and your Library Files are in place in "(yourusername)/Music/iTunes", we need to open iTunes.
On the top bar of the screen, go to iTunes>Preferences.
In preferences, go to the farthest right tab, titled "Advanced" with a picture of a gear.
The top section says "iTunes Media Folder location" and underneath that you see a filepath ending in the 'iTunes Media" folder.
This path is probably wrong, not leading you through the external hard drive.
If it is incorrect:
Click "change" on the right and then locate the folder in the prompt that shows up. Once the "iTunes Media" folder on your external hard drive is highlighted blue, click "Open" in the bottom right corner of the window.
Give iTunes a moment or two (depending on the size of your library) to re-locate all of your songs. Voila!
If it is correct:Do nothing!
While you're in the advanced section, let's check to make sure you have a few important 'housekeeping' things checked off:
"Keep iTunes Media folder organized" (CHECK THIS BOX!)
"Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" (CHECK THIS BOX!)
At this point, iTunes should be all ready to go. Before I get into any troubleshooting, note a few things:
If you ever unplug/disconnect the external hard drive from the computer, you must first make sure that iTunes is NOT running.
Also, if the hard drive is unplugged and you open up iTunes, all of your songs will have little symbols next to them. Until you plug/reconnect the hard drive, the songs will stay like this and will be missing.
TROUBLESHOOTING:
Not having permission to access the external hard drive:
In Finder (or on your desktop), right-click the external hard drive (if you don't have right-click, control-click will also work).
Click on "Get Info"
A thin, tall window will appear on the screen.
Part One:In the "General" section, make sure that "Locked" is unchecked. If it IS checked, uncheck it.
Part Two:
We are now focusing on the very bottom of the window, where it says "Sharing & Permissions"/
In the bottom right corner of the window there is a small padlock icon. Click it. When asked for an administrator password, type it in, and click "Ok".
You will now notice that the bottom section of the 'get info' window is not greyed out anymore. Make sure your user name (it says in parentheses "(Me)" so there is no going wrong here) has "Read & Write" privileges.If not, click on whichever privilege you currently have, and a drop-down menu will appear. Click on "Read & Write".
If you have any other issues, I will add them to the troubleshooting list to help you out. Hope this was helpful!

My iTunes library is set up the way I said in the top post and works totally fine.
Yes, and that is the default structure to which I was referring. iTunes will organize it that way automatically unless people do start changing settings (in which case they should know what they are doing and how iTunes works with library files and media structure.)
Both ways work, the advantages of mine would be that should iTunes try looking fo a library, it will always be in the default location.
It makes people think they have to change media location in preferences. They do not unless they want to relocate media only and leave other things on their internal drive (in which case there is no point in copying library files to the external, and you certainly wouldn't want to then delete them from your internal).
Downside is that then should someone move their iTunes library to anther computer they need to remember to get those library files on the external hard drive.
Just copy the whole iTunes folder and it will get the library files to the other drive in one step, along with all the other files.
Your post has good stuff but it makes a move appear intimidating and look like people have to do a lot of organizing to move the collection. It also throws in extra steps (namely altering preference settings) that could cause confusion or even make a mess of things. If people leave iTunes to default preference settings (which most people do) the move summarizes into a short line: Copy a folder and hold an extra button the next time you start iTunes.
Note that the instructions in the link I provided earlier do also include many steps, but those are to ensure that everybody does have it all organized correctly before simply copying the iTunes folder. In the end it is just a simple action.

I recently had to back up itunes play lists to external hard drive, how do I restore the library from the external hard drive to the new computer

I recently had to back up itunes play lists to external hard drive whilst computer was fixed. reinstalled itunes but dont know how to reinstall my music from external hard drive. help?

The same way the library was copied/moved to the external drive.
Copy it from location A to location B.
Then point iTunes to the correct library.

How do I move iPhoto library to an external hard drive?

I'm Running iPhoto 08 under leopard, and because my old laptop hard drive is just too small, I've cloned it onto an external hard drive. I have relocated my iTunes library to the external drive and would now like to do the same to my iPhoto library so that I can free up much needed space on the iBooks drive.
How should I do this? I also have pictures from an earlier iphoto library on another computer. I would like to bring these into my main iphoto library and consolidate the two. Is this possible?

1. Drag it over, launch iPhoto with the Option key held down, and point it there.
2. Use the iPhoto Library Manager.
(58842)

Keeping iTunes library on an external hard drive

Hi,
I am about to order a 1 TB external hard drive to store my photos and iTunes library on.
It will have Firewire 800, so will my iTunes access files on the external drive as fast if they were the internal drive? ( and will iPhoto do the same? )
Cheers.

Hi, I am also having trouble moving my library. I've looked at a million threads related to this and it looks like other people have had similar issues, but I still can't seem to resolve it. I moved my iTunes music folder from one external hard drive to a larger one. then I went into iTunes-->Preferences-->Advanced, and selected the new location on the new hard drive. Then I clicked file-->Library-->Consolidate Library. Now when I click songs, I still get the message "The song "..." could not be used because the original file could not be found." I also tried quitting out of iTunes, and then opening it while holding option. Even after I selected the new location of the folder that way, I'm still running into the same problem. What am I missing?
Jon

How do I keep my library on an external hard drive?

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