How do I move my library from Mac to Windows?

I moved my iTunes library to a Windows XP machine and put the library where it's supposed to be. Then I exported the library xml file on my Mac and imported it in Windows. When I open iTunes the library is empty. I tried importing the files into iTunes but iTunes crashes half way through.

First of Justinc4 is an idiot, don't listen to him.
You should be able to move your iTunes Music directory and the two library files to the proper location on the new computer (reguardless if it is Windows or Mac) and when you launch iTunes it should show up.
the other option is to simply open iTunes on the new computer and drag the music folder from the old computer to the Library in iTunes.
It is try that an iPod will have to be reformated, but that is because windows uses a FAT32 format and Mac uses a different drive format.

Similar Messages

How do I move iPhoto Library from Mac OS 10.5.8 to iPhone 6

Hi,
I have an older macbook (2008) that is running OS X 10.5.8. A year or so ago, I backed up the entire machine using Time Machine and reformatted / re-installed the original software that came with my Mac when I first bought it in effort to see if I could get my machine running smoothly again (afterall it was 5+ years old, and was just FINALLY starting to slow down after that long!!).   Afterwards, I realized that because the computer was so old I really couldn't download anything newer on it because the hardware was so out-dated.. So unfortunately it has just sat idle. Within the backup was my iPhoto / Library collection (~20GB of data) that was created over numerous years. I have recently purchased I new 60GB iphone 6 and would like to bring over that photo collection currently sitting on an external hard drive / Time Machine backup. Does anyone have suggestions on how I can go about this? Because my Mac Book's hardware/software is so old at this point (and it will not let me update the software / operating system on that computer) I do not believe I can plug in my iphone and sync to that computer, even if I were to restore the Time Machine backup and/or that computer to its pre-formatted state.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!! Thank you much!!
-Dave

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.

How do I switch iTunes Library from Mac to Windows?

Well, my Macbook died today. Fortunately I have all my media on an external drive. Also, I have a Windows machine. How do I point my Windows iTunes to access my external drive/media? Also, I have an iPhone - will that be messed up; will all my data be erased. Oh lord, what a nightmare! (At least my Mac is backed up, so someday I'll be able to restore that to a new Mac.) Is it as simple as Preferences > Advanced > "iTunes Media folder location" and changing that location? Also, will Windows even be able to read the disk? I'm freakin'.
Jon

Jon Freed wrote:
Well, my Macbook died today. Fortunately I have all my media on an external drive. Also, I have a Windows machine. How do I point my Windows iTunes to access my external drive/media?
this read may be helpful
Also, I have an iPhone - will that be messed up; will all my data be erased.
click here and here for information.
Also, will Windows even be able to read the disk? I'm freakin'.
if the external HD is formatted for Mac, you may need to install MacDrive on the windoze machine.
good luck !

Switching library from mac to windows

I was wondering if anybody knew how to correctly switch the library from mac to windows. my problem is i have been using the ipod on my wifes mac laptop, now i have a new pc with windows xp. when i plug in my ipod i see my songs but i cannot edit them or play them. any ideas,,thank you in advance and have a great day.

i figured it out,,,i had the lock set on the ipod. typical male in me..

How do I move my library from a mac to a PC using an external drive?

I have a Mac and have a large library of music (+120GB) which is stored on an external hard drive. I have a windows PC in my basement and I have purchased a 2nd external drive (200GB drive) and copied my music library (music files and iTunes Library.itl file) onto it. I want to attach the 2nd drive to the windows PC and use it to run my music library on that machine.
I recognize that I could use the the sharing feature in iTunes to share the music over a network w/o the 2nd drive but for a number of reasons assume that this will not work for the sake of this question.
What is the best way to add this drive/library to the PC? (the PC has iTunes installed, but no music in the library)
Can I just hold the shift key down while launching iTunes and then select the library on the external drive? Will this be a problem given that the iTunes Library.itl file was created in OS X (file location format differences, etc)?
If the above is a problem, should I just add the music folder (and all sub folders) to the library on the windows machine using File-> Add Folder to Library ...butI do not want to make a duplicate copy of the music given that the library is so large (it is larger than the HD on the PC machine)..so I would have to make sure that the "Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" is unchecked, but then after the initial import I would want iTunes to keep any subsequent new additions to the library in the same place as the rest of the music and also keep the files/folders organized, etc. Can this be accomplished by changing the itunes music folder location? If I go the "add music folder" route, what are the steps and the right sequencing to add the music properly (w/o copying ) and then leaving iTunes set up to store/organize new music additions properly?
Way too many words I know...any help very much appreciated.

It sounds like you mostly have everything down on how to do it. The one thing I don't know about is how to transfer the database file from Mac to Windows (or the other way around). I have not tried it nor seen reports from anyone who has tried it, so I am not sure if it will work or not.
As to your last question, plug the external into the Windows machine, open iTunes. Change preferences to use the iTunes Music folder on the external drive. Now add your files. Since they are already in that location and in the order iTunes would put them in, they should be added and not moved or copied again. Since you changes the storage location preference to that location, future additions will go into the same folder on the external.
If you can, please let us know how the Mac to Windows database transfer worked out. Most people either are going from Mac to Mac or Windows to Windows or simply don't care about ratings, play counts, play lists, etc. so starting over with a new database file is no big deal. So I am curious about getting the database file to translate across systems. You might try the XML file first since that should be universal. The other one may be in a Mac specific format.
Patrick

How do I move my library from iPod to PC?

I keep my entire library on my iPod (not on my PC) but I want a new iPod. how do I move my library from iPod to PC?

Recover media from iPod
See this post from forum regular Zevoneer for options on moving your iPod data back to your computer.
tt2

How do I move itunes library from my ipad back to my itunes library in my windows computer ?

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.
You can also connect the iPad to the computer, launch iTunes, select the iPad on the left side, click on the Music Tab on the right, uncheck all of the music that you want to remove, click on Apply in the lower right corner of iTunes, and that will remove the songs from the iPad.

How do I move my library from my old Pc to the new Pc. I have already downloaded I tunes to the new computer and Homesharing

How do I move my library from my old computer to my new computer ? Windows 7 I have done the homesharing and thought the music would transfer and it did not

See Here for one way
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
Or...
Copy your ENTIRE iTunes FOLDER to an External Drive... and then from the External Drive to your New Computer..
Backup iTunes to an External Drive
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
An Added Bonus is that you will have a Backup of iTunes

How do I change my Ipod from mac to windows format??

How do I change my Ipod from mac to windows format?? My Imac is not working at the moment, but I want to use my Ipod on my PC. How do I get my Ipod(mac formated) to get work on my PC??

Use iTunes on the PC to restore the iPod, or install XPlay on the PC without changing the format. Restoring the iPod will erase everything on it.
(25085)

I have ipad 1 how do i move my library from my very old computer to my new laptop i dont know what the difference is in mac or pc either and i havent backed up my library on the old one because its so slow

i have an ipad 1 how do i move my library (for old ipod nano)( this a brand new ipad i hvaent synced yet) thats on a 2001 computer to my new laptop i got last christmas. i havent backed up anything cause the old computer is too slow. i tried home sharing but it just wont work. the help gave me an option of moving everything on my ipad and then moving it to the laptop. im just afraid that it will delete everyhting cause it doesnt mention ipad

I found this article some time ago when I was trying to help someone else in this same situation. This is a copy and paste from the website. The website is provided below for you to read before you try this.
Plug your phone into iTunes
Click setup as a new device
Immediately unplug your phone from the computer
Give it about 30 seconds and iTunes will give a message (I don’t remember the specific, but regarding you unplugging the device and it not completing)
Plug your phone back in
Viola! no restore occurred and you can access everything again
This computer has previously synced with an iPhone or another iOS device.

How do i move book marks from Winxp to Windows 7 Firefox V5.0 ?

I'm trying to move my bookmarks from my old Windows XP system with Firefox 5.0 to my new Windows 7 system with Firefox 5.0. How do I move my book marks ? I have quite a few of them.
Thanks,
Joe

You need to export the Camino bookmarks to an HTML file, and then import that file into Firefox.
# In Camino, on the '''File '''menu select '''Export Bookmarks'''
# In the '''Format''' dropdown menu select '''HTML''' then click on the '''Export''' button
# Import the HTML file into Firefox using the procedure in the [[importing Bookmarks from an HTML File]] article

How do l move iTunes library from old laptop to Mac without losing content?

How do I move my downloaded iTunes form my old laptop to my new Mac?

MacWorld - Move an iTunes library from a Windows PC to a Mac
iTunes- How to move the library to an EHD
iTunes- How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists

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 do I move event library from thumb drive back to Events Library?

I am in desperate need of immediate help. In trying to be smart and help the finace move his projects to my newer version of imovie I completely screwed everything up!!
I was trying to move an imovie project from one mac to another with a properly formatted thumb drive. I moved (not copied) the event library onto a thumb drive, this is not what I wanted and now the originals are gone. How do I move the event library back to imovie back off the thumb drive? Everything is fine when the thumb drive in plugged in but I need it back in imovie. When the thumb drive is unplugged I get the yellow triangles with exclamation points on several of teh project library clips.
I tried copying from the thumb drive and pasted to the desktop but I can't figure out how to get them back in imovie.
THANK YOU for any and all help you can give.

I figured this out. How simple that I just have to reimport them into imovie. Here is the next problem, now that the Event Library is restored there are a bunch of yellow triangles with exclamations points in them in the Project Library. What does this mean? How do I get rid of them?
Thank you

How do I move my library from Windows Vista hard drive that is now in an external box to a Windows 8 PC?

My old PC operating with Windows Vista failed to reboot, ironically but only coincidentally right after I installed the latest Itunes update a few weeks ago. It would not get past the DOS screen but getting that far I was at least able to conduct a diagnostics. The result was Hard Drive failure "BIOS-HD." I have a new PC with Windows 8 and have installed Itunes there as well. I removed the Hard Drive from the old computer and placed it in an external drive box. Fortunately, I can access everything on that drive including Itunes. How do I move my Itunes Library from my old hard drive in the external box and connected to my new PC, to the hard drive in the new PC? I see all sorts of instructions on line but none for the specific circumstance of the old hard drive in an external box and moving to a new PC with newer operating system (Windows 8). Thanks

Aside from checking here, I also Googled for an answer. Then I faced the problem on the Internet where stuff stays there forever and so I see solutions for previous and maybe obsolete versions of Itunes. I have no way of knowing if the seemingly sound advice was solved in later versions of Itunes. In one case there is a great YouTube video with a guy from Circuit City (now out of business). I found an extensive explanation that made my head explode with all the detail but I did understand enough to see that the solution they precribed has you go onto your new computer and make sure you rename your new hard drive to match the name of the hard drive from your old computer. That way Itunes on the new computer will be able to find it okay. These instructions also tell you to downlaod Itunes software on the new computer first and then move two different folders (I think one has the extension of .itl); one folder with the library and the other has the metadata--to the new computer. Then to confuse things I have seen instructions that also say to just move the files and they don't address the issue with the file names like turringtest said. Most discouraging is that all of the instructions I have talked about, explain what to do without ever addressing my specific situation where the old hard rive used to reside in an old computer and has an Vistas Operating System that apparently failed and caused me to get a new computer in the first place (I guess I could have loaded a new operating system but not sure if that would have wiped out my extensive files...also irrelevant to the discussion }:) Sorry). Thanks for your attempt to help. I appreciate it much.

How do I move my library from Mac to Windows?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for