How to keep music on external hard drive, but play on iMac?

So, I have nearly 500GB of music on an external hard drive. I don't want to move them into my iMac, because it'd obviously eat up all my free space. My question is, how can I keep them on the external hard drive, but still access and play them while I'm on my Mac?
How would I do so using itunes? Would it be simpler to use a different program? If so, which one? Cost?
Could some please tell me how to do this step-by-step? I am at a loss for how to do this! Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.
(Also, on a slightly unrelated topic, does anyone know a good software to create album cover? I like to make them for mix cds I make. Name cost, preferably something cheap).
Thanks again!

How would I do so using itunes?
Open the Advanced section of the iTunes preferences and set it not to copy content to the iTunes Music folder when it's added to the library. Alternatively, drag them onto the QuickTime Player in the Dock.
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How to access music on external hard drive?

Hi, I picked up my new iMac yesterday and am stuck! I have an external hard drive that has stacks of music, movies etc on it. I was hoping to be able to plug it into my iMac and iTunes would find it all, but that doesn't seem to work.
The music was ripped onto the hard drive using a Windows PC - is that the root of my problem and is there a simple way of getting around it? I don't want to copy all the files onto the hard drive of my iMac because it'll take up too much room, so keeping it on my external is the preferred option.
Thanks very much
Bill

You want to leave the music on the external? Simple enough to fix.
But first, is the drive formatted NTFS? Macs cannot write to NTFS without adding a driver, such as this -> NTFS-3G
Easiest way is this...
Hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select *New library* and select the external drive.
Now there should be a new iTunes folder on the external.
Go to the external /iTunes/iTunes media/Automatically add to iTunes.
Drag all the media to this folder and iTunes will move it to teh external /iTunes/iTunes media/ in the correct folder (Movies/Music/TV Shows, etc.)

How to keep music on an external hard drive, but still manage in itunes

Hello, so i just got a new pc. Have downloaded and authorized Itunes and have pointed my file media folder to the external hard drive. What I'd like to do is keep all my music on the external hard drive without saving any music onto my new pc. So is it possible to keep all my music on the external hard drive but still be able to manage the music library in itunes?

Hi,
I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're asking for, but I asked a similar question once before. I hope this helps.
Here is a tutorial from Apple: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364?viewlocale=en_US
and here is a link to the question I asked previously: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2110013&tstart=0

How do i use an external hard drive for all my itunes music?

how do i use an external hard drive for all my itunes music?

Hi valleydave,
Here are two good links for you to check out:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
The first one goes over, in-depth, what you're looking for in regards to "off site" iTunes.

How can I erase my external hard drive?

So I've been having this problem for a while now. Here's my setup: Macbook OS X 10.5.8 and a WD 10EAVS 1TB External Hard Drive. That's all. I was given this by a fellow student on campus who was graduating. So I want to use this to store my iTunes Library (my Macbook's hard drive ran out of space). Here's what I do:
- Macbook is turned on and running
- I plug the external hard drive into a working outlet --> Hard drive turns on
- I plug the external hard drive into the mac using a USB connection --> Disk Insertion Error message: the disk you insterted was not readable by this computer
- It is not readable so I open it in Disk Utility (the hard drive is listed/recognized)
- I attempt to erase and/or partition the hard drive in order to format it in Mac OS Extended OR Mac OS Extended (Journaled), but I get one of these two messages: "Disk Erase failed with the error: File system formatter failed." OR "Disk Erase failed with the error: The underlying task reported failure on exit."
I attempted to look up what these mean or how to fix the problem but nothing is really working. I was able to format the hardware line to MS-DOS (FAT) and the sub-line as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) but I don't even know if that's right or not.
Basically, I need my computer to recognize this hard drive whenever I plug it in and to run smoothly as "extra space" to store my music on.
I haven't had A LOT of experience with external hard drives but enough to get things done. But this problem is a killer.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Please don't hesitate to ask for more info in order to figure it out. I'll do my best with the knowledge/information I have
Thanks so much!

Read carefully to the end, it is not a long text.
Let us resume the required steps, after putting inside a new, virgin disk:
1. Start up machine and as soon as possible put CD/DVD, press key C to force boot from CD; if the sequence is not fast enough and machine passed over the initial phase, and ? was displayed, force shut down by pressing button key, then start again, with CD/DVD inside
2. Press key C after start, and wait until the Apple logo in displayed, wait
3. You will see a list of install language, choose one, and
4. Go to Apple bar and choose Disk Utility; on the left side, you will see the disk, select it, then, on the cenral-lower part of displayed windows go to Options and choose Apple Partition Map (APM), go back and choose, if not already chosen by default, Mac OS Extended Journaled (HFS+), 1 partition (or more, some prefer more than one), click to partiion/erase disk. Note that you MUST have both conditions achieved: APM and HFS+
5. Close Disk Utility and revert to installation proper, proceed.
If you do not see the disk on the left side of Disk Utility, then disk is damaged or badly connected.
P.S. The same procedures are applied to any disk, with the note that:
- for Intel Macs, partition map should be GUID, not APM
- for external disks or flash drives intended to smoothly work with Windows, format should be FAT 32 and Master Boot Record; NTFS may be done with an additional utility like NTFS-3G or NTFSmounter

How can I import my library that is saved on a external hard drive but it's not saved on the iTunes media folder?

I need to restore my computer to it's factory settings but I don't want to loose my playlists and my library (windows). I can copy any file from the computer because it's in good working order. All my music it's on a external hard drive, but there's lots of media files that I don't want to sync but need to keep! Any way to do that!?
Best Regards

h.cordero wrote:
I think that I didn't explain my self correctly, My iTunes media it's not consolidated. May I consolidate the media on a external drive (X:\). ?
Yes. But consolidate to X:\iTunes\iTunes Media.
The why I'm asking is because the music library (176gb) is way more than the computer drive (C:\). Remember that all the media is on a external hard drive (J:\)
The steps I gave earlier will work to copy the whole library onto the new drive, in the correct layout for future ease of use.
tt2

How do I create an External Hard Drive iPhoto Library

How do I create an external Hard Drive iPhoto Library? Will it remember faces and places, and the camera settings? I have over 20k photos. Most pictures are already stored in files on my external hd, but everytime I need to edit, I need to import the pics back into iPhoto. Is there an option for "editing software" outside of iPhoto? I do not want to store pictures on my computer, but I do like the "faces" feature! Please help!

Sure it can be UnDone in the same way it was done. By Copying the iPhoto library back to the original location or any other location on your internal drive and then Repointing iPhoto to use that Library as you did when you moved it to the external.
Have no idea about the thumbnails being blurry as I only use iPhoto for testing and helping others. I find iPhoto lacking in many ways and I already own Adobe Lightroom so I use that on my Mac.
I wouldn't think the thumbnails wouldn't be any different. They are the same files and even if the external is slower the Thumbnails should display the same way not differently.
I also do not allow any of the "i" programs, Photo & Tunes, to Copy my image or music files into their folder structure. I have them set to Leave the Files where they are, as I copy them to my hard drive where I want them Not where Photo and Tunes want to put them, and then just create a Library Database of them. So if I wanted to I could have just the actual image files on an External drive and then have iPhoto just create a Library database reference to them.
One Note though.
If you move the Library, including the actual image files, to an external and then start iPhoto without that external connected iPhoto will then Create another Library in the normal Default location that is blank and then you will need to point it to your original that is on the external once you reconnect that external.
That is one reason I don't care for iPhoto. Apple has made it fairly easy for novice users, placing everything in their User folder but IMHO that is not always the best way to do things.
Also at any point in time, even with the external connected, iPhoto will lose that association to the external Library and create another in the original Default location. Which will look like all your images are missing.
colleen747 wrote:
Thank you for responding. I understand. After reading quite a bit about this procedure, can it be undone? So many out there have stated that everything slows way down and the thumbnails are blurry. What is your opinion?
Do I first create a New File on the EHD and name it "iPhoto Library"? Then paste?
Most pictures are in folders on my EHD, how do I move them to the new library?
Thanks!

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Hi rubenrodz;
May I welcome you to the Apple Discussion Forums.
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If you are only going to use the disk on the Mac if would be better to format it as HFS+, the native Mac format.
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Trying to move my iTunes Music and other media from the main drive on my pc to an external hard drive but iTunes is not recognizing the new file location? Ideas?

Hello there, Underwriter.
The following Knowledge Base article provides in-depth instructions on how to migrate your content to an external drive:
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4527
Particularly of note for your situation:
External drive
This option requires more work than Home Sharing, but it creates a backup of your iTunes library on the external drive in addition to moving your content.
Notes before you start:
You can use most iPods as an external drive.
Windows operating systems don't recognize Mac OS-formatted disks (HFS or HFS Plus formats). Because of this, you can't use a Mac-formatted iPod or external drive to move your music to a Windows PC. See iPod: How to determine iPod's hard disk format if you're not sure how your iPod is formatted.
Mac OS X can read Windows-formatted iPods and drives. This means there are many ways to migrate your information from your old Windows-based PC to your new Mac.
Mac OS X: To be sure external drives appear on your desktop, choose Preferences from the Finder menu. Be sure the options for "External disks" and "Hard disks" are enabled.
Part 1: Locating and consolidating the iTunes Media folder
Part 2: Copy iTunes folder from the old computer:
Part 3: Get iTunes ready on your new computer
Part 4: Back up any music that's already on your new computer
Part 5: Copy music to your new computer
Part 6: Add preexisting music that was on the new computer back into the library
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.

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As I said, I don't use Time Machine, so it'd be best to wait for an "expert" answer, but, with my very limited knowledge, I'd say: probably not - so, for now, I'd suggest you read up on Time Machine:
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Home.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=search&src=support_site.home.search&local e=en_US&q=time%20machine
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I have a new MAcBook Air and my photos don't fit on the internal hard drive. I want to store my photos on an external hard drive which I will connect to my Air when using Iphoto. How do I set an external hard drive as the default drive?

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Regards
TD

Can't play music from external hard drive through iTunes on Windows 8?

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if it's content purchased from the iTunes store we're talking about, the following script will help to tell the files apart:
Track Down Purchases
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How to keep music on external hard drive, but play on iMac?

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