How to back up itunes to external drive

How do i back itunes from my PC to an external hard drive?

lets say i put music videos on my external hdd
How are you "putting" them onto the external?
If you move them yourself, iTunes will lose them.
You need to Consolidate library in iTunes to move it.
Also, the external needs to be on and mounted before opening iTunes.

Similar Messages

How to back up itunes to external hard drive?

I am trying to back-up my I-Tunes library from my PC to my external hard drive. There used to be an icon under file in the top left corner that offered the option to back up to disc or an external drive. I just looked through all the drop down down menus and could not locate these options. Has the procedure changed and what is the procedure. I have to replace my Ipod touch with a new model from an external speaker malfunction. I was told to back up my library again so that the newer ipod will load the entire library since my last back up was 5 months ago. If I do not back up my library again I will only get what was on the ipod from the back up done 5 months ago when the the new Ipod gets hooked up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

in iTunes, just hilight the "Music" playlist at the top of the sidebar and drag?
Or the entire folder from Applications
Don't do either of these.
In the Finder, double click on Macintosh HD.
Click on Music on the left sidebar.
Copy the entire _iTunes folder_ from /Music/ to the external

Backed up iTunes on external drive and lost my playlists

Hey Everyone,
So here is my issue. I use my macbook for DJing purposes and decided to backup my iTunes library to an external hard drive incase of a crash so I dont loose my precious music. So I went into my preferences, Advanced, and changed the iTunes folder location to my external, and consolidated the library which backed up my files to the drive but did not delete them from the internal drive, However whenever I would click a song to play it said it could not find the file. So I went back into preferences and changed the folder location back to iTunes music but that still didnt work. To make a long story short, I ended up Re importing the playlist (From internal Drive) back into itunes which worked fine. Here is my main issue.... All of my playlist folders are there but they are all empty. I have about 100 of them and are very very organized. I am wondering since I backed up the library to the external drive, Are the playlist folders on my external hard drive and how can I retrieve them if they are? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in Advance!

decided to backup my iTunes library to an external hard drive incase of a crash so I dont loose my precious music. So I went into my preferences, Advanced, and changed the iTunes folder location to my external, and consolidated the library which backed up my files to the drive
This is not a backup. This copies everything in iTunes to the new location and iTunes will use that location from now on.
The music located in /Music/iTunesiTunes music/ folder is no longer needed or used by iTunes.
However whenever I would click a song to play it said it could not find the file
iTunes was looking for it on the external (which you probably unplugged/umnounted).
I am wondering since I backed up the library to the external drive
You did not back up the library to the external.
You consolidated everything in iTunes to the external and iTunes will use that.
As Jim noted, if you want to to backup, copy the entire iTunes folder.
Jim'
If you somehow lost it, look for it in the "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder in your music folder.
The itl file gets copied into the *Previous iTunes Libraries* folder only when you update iTunes.

How do I use Itunes from external drive as main sync for Iphone 4

I apologize if this is obvious but I have searched for quite awhile without finding result.
I currently have my iTunes synced to my Macbook Pro. I purchased a Macbook Air for ease in travel. I would like to move sync of my material on iTunes to my Air as I carry it more with me.
I was told at an Apple Store to purchase a Time Machine and an external hard drive. Both I purchased. I then read for a few hours how to move my itunes to the external drive. The only way I could finally get it to work was to physically connect a USB between the MacBook Pro and the External Drive. Once my Pro recognized the External Drive I dragged my Itunes and watched it copy all the data.
Unfortunately, when I am on the Air I cannot locate within Finder the External Drive. I do see my time Machine but cannot figure out how to get my itunes data from the external drive through the time machine.
You still with me?
So, can someone help me understand how to go the next step. As I understand from reading this forum I would then go into my Advanced Properties in Itunes (on the Air) and choose to relocate where the iTunes sync occurs. Then I can use my Air for syncing as it wont be dependent on the limited space and once I've changed the properties location for where to find my iTunes data I wont be dependent on the Pro.
PS: Yes I've downloaded all of the newest product software updates (iTunes, iPhone OS, Macs) as of the date this is posed 3/20/2011

try this:
hold the option key and launch iTunes. at the prompt, click on +choose library+ and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
obviously, the external holding your library must be mounted on your desktop for iTunes to find it.
if the drive is connected but doesn't show up on the Air's desktop, go finder > preferences > general and check if +external disks+ is check marked under +show these items on the desktop+.

How to back up iTunes Library to external drive so it can be restored

I recently moved my iTunes Library from a firewire Lacie external hard drive to a Western Digital USd hard that is now having problems (It keeps unmounting itself and I don't think that's good). It was not easy to move my iTunes folder and make it work again. I do not want to send 3 weeks plus using my spare time relinking songs or recreating playlists. I had to re-link 6,000 songs one by one. I iTunes will make a backup on CDs or DVDs why not an external device? Why would I want to copy 80 plus gigs to CDs?
If I simply copy my iTunes folder to the LaCie drive like apple recommends and the WD fails, I will lose all my playlists, track info, art work. I just got it all back. There must be some type of back up program I'm not seeing.
Please, some one help me. I am very disappointed that this solution is not on here.
I'm going to copy the file for now but it's really a poor solution.
Message was edited by: CindyLoo

I want to back up every thing, but I can't find a way to do it. That is the problem. Apple recommends if you are backing up to an external drive to copy folder the music folder to the drive via drag and drop. But I know when you do this that if you try use the backup you will only have the songs as if they were first added to iTunes.
I was able this time to move my music folder successfully (Last time the problem wasn't immediately apparent as it didn't affect my iPod, so I hope I'm not jinxing it). For now, my music is back on the Lacie drive, but it's still not backed up. If the LaCie drive were to fail I'd be faced with reimporting all my music and re-purchasing the TV shows and movies. (I almost always make a CD of new iTunes Purchases. which is why I have no desire to have a second huge stack of CDs.) My computer will not burn DVDs.
I want to backup everything so that it could be restored and be like it is now, but I don't see a way to do it. And I am not backing up all 80 plus gigs to CDs. My computer would crash and burn.

, I-tunes can no longer 'locate' my library , after a botched cut & paste attempt to back-up onto an external drive. Still syncing with i-Pod but playlists lost , podcasts no longer syncing, Can't play music .. how to restore back to original state .

I-tunes can no longer 'locate' my library , after a botched cut & paste attempt to back-up onto an external drive.Cant play any music as it "can't find" the library Still syncing with i-Pod but playlists lost , podcasts no longer syncing. How to restore back to original state . I have tried re-installing - with no change

I do the same thing as you do...
My music is on an external drive as to not use up gigabytes of storage that need not be used for media.
There are a couple basic principles to iTunes that I believe you should know.
1. iTunes is not a media storage program. It does not store your media "in iTunes". It simply is an organization tool for your media already on a hard disk.
2. As iTunes is not a storage mechanism, it has no way to "know" whether or not the media that is listed is actually there. This is where the "design" of iTunes comes into play.
I like to think of iTunes as a bread-crumb trail. The "music" in iTunes, isn't actually there. The bread crumb is the location on the external hard drive.
If that bread crumb trail disappears (in this case the external drive you use). If said external drive is not plugged in, that bread crumb trail is not able to be followed. iTunes is "lost" and unable to find the media. The only way to remedy this is to place the media on your local drive.
To address your issue of the library. If you hold down shift, you can select your library on your external drive. It will be a file with an .itl extension. The folder name will be your external drive.
I go into edit > preferences > advanced and set my library to the correct location. Make sure you check the box "Copy to iTunes Folder when importing" (or whatever it says).
You can't fix the issue of iTunes not seeing the media if your drive is unplugged unless you physically move the content to your OS HDD...Or any other HDD you use.

How do I move a back up to another external drive and how does the Mac Book then find the new back up?

how do I move a back up to another external drive and how does the Mac Book then find the new back up?
I currently have the back up on a Time Capsule, I want to move it from the Time Capsule to another external hard drive.

Did you read the link to the Pondidni website? You will have to select the Time Machine HDD for the new MBP and the old one in System Preferences>Time Machine:
Ciao.

Had to wipe my drive so I could do a clean install of snow leopard Now I look every where on how to move bookmarks, address book and I cal settings. I have them back up on a external drive with Time machine but can not move, copy or restore my old sett d

Had to wipe my drive so I could do a clean install of snow leopard. Now I have look every where on how to move bookmarks, address book and I cal settings. I have them back up on a external drive with Time machine but can not move, copy or restore my old settings. The instructions I have found or no help or needs more clarafication on what to do.

Use migration assistant to move your files. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889

How to back up my mac hard drive to my external hardrive?

How to back up my mac hard drive to my external hard drive?

Backup Software Recommendations
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
SuperDuper!
Synk Pro
Tri-Backup
Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
And, OS X includes Time Machine. See Pondini's Time Machine FAQ and Mac 101- Time Machine

How do I copy iTunes from external hard drive to iMac?

How do I copy iTunes from external
Hard drive to iMac?

if your main library is on your external, then when not connected, you wont have access to it.
so first decide, where do you want to keep the files.
E.g. In my case, I keep my files on "C:\iTunes Music".
I have a backup on external "Z:\iTunes Backup". If I format my laptop, this is how I restore everything.
Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced.
The iTunes music folder in selects as "C:\iTunes Music"
I have checked Keep iTunes Music Folder Organized, and also Copy Files to iTunes Music folder when adding to ibrary". Click OK to save and close preferences.
My iTunes list is now empty. I go to file, and select "Add Folder to Library". From that window, I select "Z:\iTunes Backup". iTunes then copies everything from the backup to "C:\iTunes Music". For me, backup is backup, I dont need it to play music.
Now decide this. If you do not want to keep music on C:, but want to only connect the external to update music on your ipod, do this:
In preferences, set iTunes Music folder as "Z:\iTunes Backup", and uncheck Copy files to iTunes Music folder, since they are already there. Then in files, select Add folder to library again to build and update the list.

HT1660 How do I run itunes from external Hard drive?

How do I run itunes from external hard drive. I only have ssd on PC and media is too large to fit

You do not.
iTunes, like all programs is installed on the C drive.
You can store the media on another drive.
Assuming you are moving an existing library from another computer:
Move or Copy the ENTIRE iTunes folder from the old computer to the new computer and put it where you want it.
Install iTunes using the default options.
Hold <SHIFT> while launching iTunes. It will prompt to create a new library or locate an existing library.
Select the option to locate an existing library.
Point iTunes to the iTunesLibrary.itl file in the iTunes folder that was moved from the old computer.

I am trying to move previous Time Machine back ups off an external drive to my new Time Capsule. How do I do that?

I have my previous time machine back ups on an external drive and I want to move those to my new 2tb Time Capsule. How can I make this happen?

You probably cannot do it..
The backup is very different from a local drive to a network drive.
Look through the Pondini KB.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
You can move the backup from a local to another local disk or network to another network.. but there are issues even doing that.
IMHO.. don't... just start a new backup and keep what you already have saved up.. if you don't need it in 6months time.. or a year.. then you can wipe it.

Can i delete the backup on my internal drive as i have it backed up on a external drive...if so how??

can i delete the backup on my internal drive as i have it backed up on a external drive...if so how??

When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.

C drive is full how do I move iTunes to d drive?

How do I move iTunes from one drive to another? My c drive is full I changed my preferences to d, yet I still can not back up my iPhone or iPad. I think I need to move iTunes I am just not sure if I should uninstall from c and reinstall to d? Any suggestions or help.
Thank you
Sue

Copy the entire iTunes folder from your music folder to D:\iTunes.
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 Choose and navigate to the file D:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl
Check the library is working properly.
Use the option File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate Files to import any stay files to the new library folder.
Delete the old iTunes folder on the C: drive.
Ideally you will also backup this library to another drive.
tt2

How do I boot from an external drive?

I've just Carbon Cloned my 60GB drive to a firewire external drive. I'm about to replace the 60GB with a 160GB drive and the CCC instructions say boot from the external drive I'd just created once the new disk is installed. Then CCC the cloned drive back to the new hard drive.
So, how do I boot from an external drive? Do I have load anything to the new drive? Will the macbook detect the external drive and boot from that? Or what??????
Thanks
Dick

Thanks DWB. Being the rash impetuous guy I am I didn't wait for replies and just switched on the macbook after installing the new disk (which was so easy it was unbelievable - had to go and buy a a little torx bit though) to see what would happen.
Blow me down with a feather if it didn't just boot off the external drive all by itself :-O It did come up with the disk was unverified and I could see it in FINDER and I was prseented with a screen to ERASE/RESTORE etc.
When I went to CCC the external drive back to the new hard drive it didn't give show me the new hard drive so I guessed I'd have to do something to format (?) the hard drive.
I don't know if I did the right thing but I went to disk utilities and chose ERASE in the vague hope it would maybe format the disk in some way.
Seems to work now and the CCC replaced the system perfectly as far as I can see.
Basically very impressive all round. Piece of proverbial to replace the disk and CCC made life so easy.
Thanks again.
Cheers
Dick

How to back up itunes to external drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for