HT1660 move iTunes library from external drive to internal drive

I had to move my iTunes library from my internal hard disk to an external one so that they could replace the recalled hard drive on my iMac. Is moving the library back to the internal drive as easy as dragging it into the Music/iTunes folder?

iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music [library] to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527 - a somewhat bewildering and not always easily understandable set of options.
Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.itl file in the moved iTunes folder.

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Move iTunes library from external disk to internal disk

Hello,
I am currently using a Mac Mini with an external disk to store my iTunes library as well as all the media files, apps, etc. The library is managed (consolidated) by iTunes and is also organized by iTunes.
I am about to buy the new Macbook Pro and with a 1 TB drive, I wanted to move the iTunes stuff (library, media, playlists, play counts, ratings, everything) to the internal drive of the new MBP.
My questions are:
Can I do this migration (from external disk to internal disk of new Mac) as part of the Migration Assistant?
In case I can't do the above, what is the best way to do this after the new Mac has been set up?
How do I ensure that play counts, playlists, ratings, album art are preserved as I have spent considerable time setting those up?
I have 3-4 IOS devices syncing to this library. How do I ensure that when I sync them to the new computer/library, they will continue to work?
Thanks in advance.

Hi,
1. See if this support answers your query http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4889 and http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
3. Make sure complete intune folder is copied over. The Itunes Library.itl file contains all meta data.
4. Maybe someone else can make a definitive comment on this. I used migration assistant and was able to sync my ipad and ipod classic without doing anything special. I presume that it worked because both were syncing to the same library albeit on a different computer.
Jim

Need to move iTunes library from external hard drive to Mac desktop.

I moved my iTunes library from my Mac desktop to an external hard drive. I needed to do this so the Apple Store could do maintenance work on my computer and I didn't want to lose my files. How do I move the iTunes library back to my Mac desktop?

Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) so you get a prompt to select a library, then guide it to the 'iTunes Library.itl' file in the moved iTunes folder.
If you put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there. (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)

HT1364 Move itunes library from a windows computer and import this library to itunes on a macbook air

Is it possible to move itunes library from a windows computer to an external drive (time capsule) while, keeping all the playlist, ratings, plays etc. And importing this library to itunes on a macbook air? And how is it done? The media files should stay on the external drive since there is not enough space on the macbook air.
Regards
Søren

Hey man. Thanks a lot for the reply (hold the options instead of command key while launching). My old itunes library is now on my new computer in itunes, but the mp3 files are not in the same itunes folder. Where do I place these or what do I do to play them in my new itunes library?
All the songs in the library have exclamation marks in front of them because itunes can't find them.
Thanks again
Søren

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.

Migrating iTunes library from external hard drive to new laptop

Hi there, I am wondering if anyone can help me please? I am a complete newbie to this forum thing, I am just getting into this cosmic sharing world but find myself utterly frustrated with iTunes and my new laptop - with little help on the Support pages, so i am venturing into the unkown and seeking help from anyone out there.........slightly scary for me, this really is my first post on a forum - so be gentle with me :0)
On my old steam driven laptop I had to move my iTunes library to an external hard drive, my 250MB hard drive just wasn't enough (I know pathetic wasn't it). All ok there and I have been using it no problem. I have now upgraded (finally!!) to a new wonderful laptop (with webcam and all sorts!)but I am at the end of my tether trying to get my iTunes library from my external hard drive to appear in the Library on the laptop. boo hoo.
I have tried changing the file location in the Advance section of preferences, i have tried choosing the library after holding down the shift key on start up (you see not a complete numpty). They all appear to work as i don't get any error messages, but the songs just don't appear in the library. Am i being a complete numb nuts here? what am i missing?
If anyone can help i would be really grateful as this is spoiling the euphoric feeling i have of my lovely new laptop!
cheers Latte

tonybassplayer wrote:
Thank Chris I have just done that. How do I now get them in to Itunes ?
If you simply copy the iTUnes folder to /Music/ and launch iTUnes, everythign will be there. No need to import anything.
This will work the same with iPhoto.
Simply copy the Photo library to /Pictures/ folder and launch iPhoto.

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.

Import iTunes Library from External Drive to New Computer with Vista

I can't seem to "import" my entire iTunes library from my external hard drive to my new computer. However, I can import songs one-by-one. There must be a way to transfer the whole file at once but it is beyond me. Anyone have a solution?

Hi I am new and have found a way to import Files & Folders over my home network and or other drives.
Start in File, click "Add File to Library", or "Add Folder to Library". In the “look in” dropdown window, locate the File or folder and double click on it. It should begin to transfer. I have never transferred an enter library though.
On a personal note,
I have come to realize that I can only transfer iTunes music. I can not transfer or even find the music that I have installed from a CD into my iTunes library. iTunes dose recognize even the folder that such music is in. If any of you have an answer to this problem let me know.
Thanks

Transfert Itunes Library from External Drive (PC) to Mac

Hi!
I've just received a new mac so I want to move my library from my PC to my new Mac. Actually my whole library is on an external drive but the Library.xml file is on the computer. I was wondering, how can I move the entire library on my new mac???
Thanks in advance

Choose Add to Library in the File menu, and select the Library you wish to import.

How to move itunes library from winXP to NAS drive

Can someone point me to a location that has intructions on how to offload
my Itunes library from my XP PC to my IOMEGA media center NAS drive? I've
searched quite a bit and haven't been able to find a comlete set of intructions
yet. Just trying to free up disk space on my desktop. It gets a bit confusing sometimes when they mention music files and library files. To me, they are one in the same, but I think they are not. Would be nice if there was a flow chart of
how Itunes works and what each file component does. You know, like the difference between an .itl file and a .xml file?

First of all I still don't know how to post a question. There is nothing in here that asks me to do so. Therefore I can only reply to one already asked. My problem is that I followed the instructions in iTunes which tell me how to move the files from the C Drive to another location (which happens to be my D Drive). After doing that it then tells me to drag the old files into the recycle bin, however, it won't comply and tells me that the procedure can't be performed because of copywrite protections. Where do I go from here? Or at the very least, how do I post a question in this forum the normal way?

Backup and restoring itunes library from external hard drive?

is there a way to backup and restore my itunes library to external hard drive and not through the internal itunes backup utility cos i have over 20gbs of music and i want to keep my album art and renamed songs etc. because i will be reformating my pc and dont want to go through painful task of manually adding stuff again.

Try this...
*Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
Grab SyncToy 2.0, a free tool from MS. Use it to create a backup copy of your iTunes library & any other media folders onto another hard drive or network share. After making the initial backup copy use SyncToy to periodically synchronise the backup copy with your library and only the changed files will be copied saving lots of time.
When the time comes to reformat your PC, do a final sync, then open iTunes & deauthorise the PC, reformat & rebuild Windows, copy the backup folders back to the same location as they were previously, install iTunes and it should all work perfectly.
tt2

Transferring iTunes library from external drive

My computer recently died so I had to get a new computer. I was able to salvage my iTunes library from the old hard drive and put it on an external drive. My library is still on the external drive and I want to transfer it back to iTunes on my new computer. I also want to be able to sync up my iPhone with the hopefully updated iTunes. I haven't been able to back up my iPhone in two months since my computer died. When I plug in the iPhone to back it up, it only asks if I want to clear the whole phone and upload what is on the new computer, which isn't everything from the hard drive.
Hopefully you can point me in the right direction.

+I was able to salvage my iTunes library from the old hard drive and put it on an external drive.+
Were you able to get the entire itunes folder? Does it have a file named iTunes Library.itl in it?
The iphone sync info is in yet another folder. Which I don't know about, since I don't have an iphone, but I can help you get your content back into itunes.

Move iTunes library from Mac to PC

Hi!
Just because I'm her web developer, my client thinks I know about all things computer. =)
So I will post her question here in hopes that someone can help me out (and thus, help her).
What is the proper way to move an iTunes library from a Mac (OS 10.2.8) to a PC (don't know the model or OS) if you don't have an iPod?
Thanks!
eCat
Mac to PC Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Transfer all her iTunes files to an external drive.
Make sure you get all her account info for iTunes since you may have to recreate it.
Now, de-authorize the Mac.
Now download and install iTunes on the Windows Box, set it up with her account info.
Now transfer the iTunes files into the Windows My Music folder.
Play a song and authorize the computer.
Done.
AMD 2500+ Windows XP

Transferring my iTunes library from a pc compatible hard drive...?

I want to run my itunes library from my external hard drive because I don't want all my media and itunes stuff taking space in my SSD drive for my retina MBP...
However, the problem is that since this is my first mac, and I had been using itunes from my pc all this time, the drives are in different formats...
So how do i transfer my itunes libary from my pc's external hard drive...to a hard drive that I will use for my mac? I don't want the library taking up any space on my internal SSD ...
Problem is I can't seem to just drag and drop my library from my pc's external drive to my mac drive because they are a different format and thus incompatible :/
So what should I do? What is the easiest way to transfer my libraries and media to my mac's external hard drive between mac and pc?
If there is a way to store my media and itunes library on an cloud storage system like Copy or Google Drive so that I dont have to keep plugging in my external drive that would be ideal also..

First there's the drive problem. It shouldn't be much of a problem. PCs typically use drives formatted to NTFS. Macs can read but not write to NTFS, but all you want to do is read anyway, to copy the files to your Mac formatted drive. Plug both drives into your Mac and copy from the NTFS to the Mac formattted drive. If that isn't working there's a different issue. Check your Mac drive is formatted to Mac because new drives are often formatted for PC use.
Another thing to consider is FAT32 format is a PC format but Macs can read and write to it too. It has certain disadvantages for use with Macs but the main advantage that you could use one drive with both your PC and your Mac. The main disadvantage some find is if they store huge files (video editing files) since FAT 42 has a 4GB limit for any one file.
After this will come the question of what to copy and to where. Do you keep only media on the external drive, or do you keep the whole library there?
As for Cloud storage, I can't really help you. I get the impression it isn't the same as having a local drive since what you would want is streaming, not file transfer.
There are are a host of other issues. I see this 'have a Mac and PC and want to use the same library with both' question here once a week. You either end up with having two independent libraries that you try to keep synchronized with teach other, or you have one library that you have to carry back and forth, or at best on a networked drive but you can only have open by one computer at a time.

Move itunes library from desk computer to laptop?

Is it possible to move my itunes library from itunes on my desk computer to itunes on my laptop?
If so, how?

I am a Windows guy, and I think you responded in 'Apple'.
No, it was very much Windows.
If that is a file you created, I don't know how to pick it up.
I don't know what this means.
iTunes creates an iTunes folder in your /username/Music/ directory on your hard drive. This contains all iTunes info and media files.
Copy this /iTunes/ folder from one computer to the other.

HT1660 move iTunes library from external drive to internal drive

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