I moved my itunes library to an external hard drive and now when I try to sync my ipad it says it is already synced to another library.

I moved my itunes library to an external hard drive and then I tried to sync my ipad.  I got a message that says my ipad is synced to another library and it will erase my ipad, which I don't want to do.   I'm not sure how to fix this problem, any ideas?

Ok. progress...
So is your media folder called iTunes Music or iTunes Media? And does it have a folder called Music inside it?
Before going any further you should first attempt to use File > Library > Organize Library > Rearrange files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (ignore if grayed out). This will make sure that any iPod Games or Mobile Applications get placed inside the iTunes Media folder which is needed for portability.
If your iTunes Media folder is called iTunes Music, close iTunes, rename the folder as iTunes Media and start iTunes again. iTunes will automatically adjust. Close iTunes again.
On your external drive rearrange the folders that you have already copied there so that they match the layout in your active library. You should end up with a folder called X:\iTunes where X: is the external drive letter, and the media folder is X:\iTunes\iTunes Media. If the library layout was upgraded then you will need to create a Music folder inside this and move all the artist folders and Compilations into Music. You will also need to copy iPod Games and Mobile Applications from your internal drive into the new media folder. Next copy the files iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, sentinel and the folder Album Artwork from the internal drive into X:\iTunes. The preceding manipulations should make the internal and external copies of your library match without you having to copy all of the media over again.
Now hold shift as you start iTunes. Click choose, browse to and open X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.
Finally use File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate files. This will ensure that any stray files that might have been added from outside your original media folder will be copied into the new one.
You can now reclaim the space used by your library on the internal drive, however before you do so I would advise you to obtain another external drive and make use of this backup tip.
tt2

Similar Messages

  • I moved my iTunes to an external hard drive and now everytime I try to access it I get the error "folder iTunes is on a locked disc..."

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    davidfrombillings wrote:
    I thought I could just drag and drop my iTunes library to an external hard drive.
    it'll work ... if done properly ☞
    copy the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music or media folder) from <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on your Mac to the external, then launch iTunes while holding the option (⌥) key, click on choose library when prompted, and select the iTunes folder on the external.
    if I already have my iTunes going to the incorrect files how is it going to find the correct files again.
    you could try if this script helps:
    iTunes Track CPR v1.3 
    This script attempts to locate the files of so-called "dead tracks"--iTunes tracks designated with (!)--that you assume are not actually missing but are still located in the iTunes Music folder in their "iTunes File Order" (Music -> Artist -> Album -> file.xxx)."
    Eric Ross wrote:
    When you moved the file back did you go back into iTunes in your preferences and select the advance tab and then selected the location again or where your files are
    the iTunes media folder location in preferences > advanced tells iTunes where to put new additions to your library, not where your content currently is.

  • HT1229 Tried moving my library to an external hard drive and now when I open iPhoto, there are no pictures there!!!!

    I am using iPhoto '08 and moved my library to my external hard drive exactly as all the instructions online explained how to do.  I renamed the original "iPhoto Library.old" and ,y external hard drive shows a iPhoto library using the same amount of memory as what it shows on my internal hard drive.  Here is where is becomes a problem.  When I hold the option key and open iPhoto, the only box that comes up does not give me a list of libraries to choose from.  It give me the option to "Create new library" or "choose existing library". When I click "choose existing library" I can find the copied library on my external hard drive but when I open it, iPhoto shows No Photos.  When I have tried opening the original iPhoto Library (the exact same way using the option key and choosing library) that I have not done anything to, except rename it, it does the exact same thing: No Photos.  Both my internal and external hard drives show about 137 GB of space being taken up by photos but I can't access them.  My other big problem is that ,y internal hard drive is completely full, which is why I am trying to transfer them to an external, to free up space so I am very limited on what I can do because I have no free space.  Also, when I open iPhoto and try to go to the Preferences to change to path under advanced settings, it freezes and I have to force close it. 
    Ay advice would be greatly appreciated as I am getting stressed out that I can't open my thousands of photos!

    My guess is that the library has been corrupted from being run on an overfull HD.
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    Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one. 
    3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
    To create and populate a new *iPhoto 08* library:
    Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
    In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
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    Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
    Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
    When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
    In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption. 

  • I moved my music to external hard drive and now iphone 4S won't sync

    I recently moved ALL of my media (music, movies, etc) to my external Seagate 1TB hard drive to free up 200+ gig on my Macbook pro. I followed all of the steps, everything works perfectly, iphone is recognized and syncs all playlists, apps, etc EXCEPT it won't add any new music since the transfer.
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    I've scoured every message board and blog I can find and can't seem to find the answer.
    Anyone??

    dividedbyzach wrote:
    How is that possible? The itunes music folder is now called itunes media folder and that's what was dragged to the trash and deleted:
    I can only go by what you wrote.
    "I deleted everything in my music folder"
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    there is no longer any itunes music or media folder on my mac, only the external hard drive
    I quoted from the article. That is not what I am telling you to do now.
    . If I had dragged the wrong file to the trash previously, it would have given me a warning, no?
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  • HT1473 Help I just moved my music files to a external hard drive and am using the new crappy version ( i know my opinion) of itunes and cant add the files to my libray it gives me the add file to library option but not the add folder to library option wha

    Help I just moved my music files to a external hard drive and am using the new crappy version ( i know my opinion) of itunes and cant add the files to my libray it gives me the add file to library option but not the add folder to library option what am i doing wrong?

    In iTunes 11 uncheck the preferences setting in in the iTunes Preferences panel "Advanced > Copy Files to iTunes Media folder when adding to Library"

  • I moved my itunes library to an external hard drive and now I can not update my phone and my apps aren't showing in the sidebar of my library. How can I fix this?

    I moved my whole library onto an external hard drive but now when I plug my phone in, it can't back up, it can't update and my apps stopped showing up on the side. It still charges and syncs but I can't update the software. I use a PC. Does anyone know how to fix this?

    Ok. progress...
    So is your media folder called iTunes Music or iTunes Media? And does it have a folder called Music inside it?
    Before going any further you should first attempt to use File > Library > Organize Library > Rearrange files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (ignore if grayed out). This will make sure that any iPod Games or Mobile Applications get placed inside the iTunes Media folder which is needed for portability.
    If your iTunes Media folder is called iTunes Music, close iTunes, rename the folder as iTunes Media and start iTunes again. iTunes will automatically adjust. Close iTunes again.
    On your external drive rearrange the folders that you have already copied there so that they match the layout in your active library. You should end up with a folder called X:\iTunes where X: is the external drive letter, and the media folder is X:\iTunes\iTunes Media. If the library layout was upgraded then you will need to create a Music folder inside this and move all the artist folders and Compilations into Music. You will also need to copy iPod Games and Mobile Applications from your internal drive into the new media folder. Next copy the files iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, sentinel and the folder Album Artwork from the internal drive into X:\iTunes. The preceding manipulations should make the internal and external copies of your library match without you having to copy all of the media over again.
    Now hold shift as you start iTunes. Click choose, browse to and open X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.
    Finally use File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate files. This will ensure that any stray files that might have been added from outside your original media folder will be copied into the new one.
    You can now reclaim the space used by your library on the internal drive, however before you do so I would advise you to obtain another external drive and make use of this backup tip.
    tt2

  • Itunes is too big for my laptop, i moved it to an external hard drive and now it's lost

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    iPods don't look for the library. iTunes does.
    I recently moved my itunes music folder
    Don't move your music folder.
    Let iTunes do it.
    Point iTunes prefs to the location where you wan tit.
    Then go to menu Advanced -> *Consolidate library*.
    This will copy the iTunes music folder to the location in iTunes prefs.

  • How do I have itunes use/detect my external hard drive and place music on the external drive from the itunes store? There are no music files on my pc yet.  I will like to do this after installing itunes 11 on my pc for the first time. I am using windows 7

    How do I have itunes use/detect my external hard drive and place music on the external drive from the itunes store? There are no music files on my pc yet.  I will like to do this after installing itunes 11 on my pc for the first time. I am using windows 7.  HP computer intel Dual Core.  Thanks for any help!

    Hey idw3,
    Welcome to Apple Support Communities, and thanks for the question. Follow the instructions on this article to move your iTunes Media folder to an external hard drive:
    iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
    Regards,
    David

  • I have itunes directory on an external hard drive and want to direct a new installation of itunes on windows 8 to use it. I tried holding down ctrl and clicking itunes and after many tries got it to work one time. When I went back in later it had reverted

    I have itunes directory on an external hard drive and want to direct a new installation of itunes on windows 8 to use it. I tried holding down ctrl and clicking itunes and after many tries got it to work one time. When I went back in later it had reverted back to a blank version of itunes and I cant get ctrl to work again. Any other ideas?

    This is sometimes caused by a problem with the iTunesPrefs.xml file, normally found at C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunesPrefs.xml. Try dragging this to the desktop and trying again.
    Alternatively the problem may be that you have McAfee AV and it is preventing iTunes from updating the same file and thus causing the problem. See Why does iTunes delete my itunesprefs.xml? for details.
    tt2

  • I moved my FCP events and projects folder onto my external hard drive and now everything is gone on FCP.  When I tried to reload those folders onto FCP nothing happened.  I still get the missing files image.

    I moved my FCP events and projects folder onto my external hard drive and now everything is gone on FCP.  When I tried to reload those folders onto FCP nothing happened.  I still get the missing files image.  When I try to import the folders manually something pops up that says it is incompatable.  It is possible to retrieve everything that was lost?

    "When I tried to reload those folders onto FCP nothing happened"
    Brownale6 how can  u reload folder in to FCP.
    As you said folders are moved to external disk but have you checked it should be like this
    For Event
    external disk>Final Cut Events>your event folder.  
    For project
    external disk>Final Cut Projects>your project folder.

  • I accidentally updated iPhoto on my (now) external hard drive and now it won't let me access any of my photos. What can I do?

    I accidentally updated iPhoto on my (now) external hard drive and now it won't let me access any of my photos. What can I do?

    So, you have two versions of iphoto? One from the old machine and one from the new?
    If so, forget about opening with the older version of iPhoto.
    For the newer version:
    Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
    Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.  

  • I have two apple ID's on my laptop, one is mine and one is my roomates, I recently restored my ipod and now when I try to sync to itunes it says sync will complete ones a song is available, what do I do?

    I have two apple ID's on my laptop, one is mine and one is my roommate, I recently restored my iPod and now when I try to sync to iTunes it says sync will complete ones a song is available, what do I do?

    Try syncing songs one at a time to see if there is a problem song(s).
    Do the songs play in iTunes on the computer?

  • I had a windows laptop, and I save files like photos, documents, videos and other things on an external hard drive, and now I want to move those files to the Mac book Pro, and then move those files again to another external hard drive 1T. My question is:

    I had a windows laptop, and I save files like photos,documents, videos and other things on an external hard drive, and now I want tomove those files to the Mac book Pro, and then move those files again toanother external hard drive 1T. My question is: Is it possible? Doing this willnot affect the files that I had in windows? No information is lost? or how cani do it?

    Connect the external drive to your Mac and drag the files from it to your Mac's internal drive. Then dismount and disconnect the external drive, connect the 1TB external drive, and drag the files from the internal drive onto the external. Nothing will have been deleted from any of the drives up to this point; the files will only have been copied. Verify that the files are readable. There's no reason they shouldn't be; this is just a precaution.
    Now if you wish to delete the files from any of the drives, drag them to the Trash, and Empty the Trash while the drive from which they came is still connected. If you disconnect the drive before emptying the Trash, the files you were trying to remove from it won't be deleted. They'll remain in the Trash and continue to take up space on the drive.
    Note that if your external drives are in NTFS format, you won't be able to write anything to them or delete anything from them, though you will be able to read and copy the files they contain. The NTFS disk format is read-only to the Mac OS, unless you have a third-party NTFS driver installed. To make your drives cross-platform readable and writable, you must reformat them in the FAT32 or ExFAT format.

  • Renamed my external hard drive and now cant find photos

    After renaming an external hard drive, what do i do to 'update my folders in lightroom' where to go to find my pics i edited and save to that drive. i originally had it named 'My Book' and renamed it "external 2". i even renamed it back to 'My Book' and lightroom still doesn't show them in the folder area.
    thanks for the help

    thanks for all the great info!!!!!
    Show me your passion and I'll immortalize it.
    Scott [email protected]om
    Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 16:04:43 -0700
    From: [email protected]
    To: [email protected]
    Subject: Renamed my external hard drive and now cant find photos

  • Is it possible to keep all iTunes media on an external hard drive and not on my Mac Book and have ITunes still function?

    Let me begin by saying I'm new to the Mac world as well as to the realm of online forums so I apologize if this is a question that was already asked and/or if it is a very noobish question...
    But anyway, I just recently got the new Macbook Pro 15" with RD and I am curious if I can keep all of my Itunes media on an external hard drive without keeping any of it on the Macbook itself and have Itunes still function (when the HD is connected of course). I am trying to keep the computer memory clutter free and not fill it up with music and stuff so I want to keep all of my media on a 1T Buffalo external hard drive so the computer stays like brand new for a long time..Right now I have about 5G worth of music on my hard drive and I thought it was only on the hard drive and I just recently found out that it is also within the music folder on the computer itself. Any thoughts? Sorry if it is an odd question, I can try to rephrase the question if need be. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated, Thanks!

    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 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.)
    Longer answers if for any reason you do not think all library files are inside your iTunes folder (changed preferences settings at some point):
    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.
    For the record there's this reference for iTunes 11 but it really doesn't strike me as having the specifics you need. iTunes 11 for Mac: Move your library to another computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12168
    2011 ilounge article: Transferring your iTunes library - http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/  - An article with good background information (similar to the links above), particularly if you are not sure your media files are all grouped for quick answer above. Unfortunately under the single term "transferring library" it describes two very different moves; relocating just your media (not  really transferring your library and not recommended unless you really need this configuration), and relocating media+database (really your whole "library").  Make sure you understand the difference before electing to move only media.

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