How do my move my itunes music library to a different computer?

my itunes music library is housed in an external drive, and i want to move it to a new computer. what is the least painful way to do this? any help will be greatly appreciated.
ps: i can no longer access the computer where my orignal itunes was installed.
Message was edited by: highonpod

zebedy1 wrote:
want to transfer the whole thing to an external hard drive so i don't have it on my laptop memory anymore and free up laptop memory for other things. How do i do this?
Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
Additional info...
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
Cheers,
Patrick

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How do I move my itunes music library to a new computer?

I bought a new PC--Dell inspiron 530, running Windows Vista.
I need to transfer my itunes library (itunes 7) from my old computer which runs Windows XP.
I have a CD/DVD burning capability on the old computer.
I understand that there is a way to transfer that entire music library using CD/DVD, but I get conflicting information--one thing I've read tells me that I can only transfer music I've purchased fro the itunes Store; another article tells me I can transfer the entire library.
Does anybody have a step-by-step procedure to effect this type of transfer (moving the entire itunes library)?
Thanks very much for any assistance you can provide.
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Probably the most straightforward way to get iTunes onto your second computer is to network it with the first one and copy your iTunes folder across. Start by consolidating your library. When you consolidate, any songs in the iTunes Library that are not in the iTunes Music Folder are copied to the Music Folder and the Library is updated to point to those new files. Files already in the iTunes Music Folder have no changes made to them: Copying all your iTunes files to one location - Windows
Copying the whole folder brings with it the iTunes Music folder and also the iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows) database file which holds all the information about your songs (Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, Last Played, Date Added, etc). You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?
When you copy the iTunes folder make sure you put it into the same location on the new computer. On a PC the default location is \Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\My Music\ (or C:\Username\Music\ in Vista). You should also use the same version of iTunes on both computers.
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If you have and iPod, some iPods can be used as an external drive and you can use them to move your iTunes (this option isn't available with the iPod Touch): How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer
If you have any iTunes purchases in your library don't forget that you'll need to authorise your new computer to play them. Also if you are disposing of the old one remember to deauthorise it so you don't use up one of your allowances: About iTunes Music Store Authorisation and Deauthorisation

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How do my move my itunes music library to a different computer?

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