Importing iTunes library from external drive

Cannot play iTunes after importing library from PC into Mac.

Simply highlight and delete
But doing so it will also trash all playlists, data added, ratings, etc. Something the OP said about having to rename lots of files during a previous library rebuild suggests to me they may even be stored in WAV format. If the OP deletes them from the library all the labels will be lost, they will get added back with only file names as track information and they will have to be renamed again.
This will delete not only the reference to the file, but the library.itl file that Limnos refers to.
I don't think so. The file will still be there, it will just be stripped of any entries.
Now you should have an empty iTunes.
Now go to where the files are on your external drive. Two options. Choose the one you prefer:
In iTunes, go to >> Preferences >> Advanced -- Select the location of your files on the external drive. Tick OK and iTunes should re-add all the files. Depending on how many, it may take some time as it organises everything. But your files will remain on the ext drive. Any new songs you get will get added to your external drive by default now.
Changing this preference setting will not get iTunes to inventory the files in the media folder, nor add them. It simply tells iTunes to put any new media added in the location selected.
Or, select the files on your ext drive, hold down OPTION and drag the files into iTunes. It will add them to your library, but leave the files on your external drive. Note that any new files you add directly to iTunes (like from the store) will be added to your default iTunes folder, not the external drive.
Well, yes, it will do it, essentially creating a brand new library that the OP will have to organize again vs. using the existing organization. My reservations about the need to rebuild the library from scratch still exist.
If the OP desires to keep storing media on the external drive in the long run it is best simply changing the preferece to use the external drive for media storage.

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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

How to import ITunes library from external drive

Using Mac, Leopard, Time Machine, my hard drive crashed Had a recent backup on Time Machine. New computer doesn't recognize last backup of TM on external hard drive, but I can find my ITunes Library there, with thousands of songs.
when I go in ITunes to Import Library and navigate to the old ITunes Library, it won't let me import the whole thing, only lets me import one song at a time, which would take eons.
Any suggestions on how to do it in one fell swoop?

I'm sure that solution would work, but I guess something else I did is messing things up.
the first tip I got was to Consolidate Library. It forced me to consolidate on another partition of my external hard drive. Now that I tried Add Library, it's putting all the music on that external location, which filled up fast and can't take anymore.
Any thought on how to get my full library back on my internal drive?

Can't import a library from external drive

Hi,
I have always exported projects as new libraries to external drives and then import them when I need to work on or update. I am trying to import a library from my external drive and it says merging libraries but the library is not showing up as a project or importing. Nothing is happening. I don't want to work on it as a stand alone library because I have several projects I need to swap images between. Does anyone know why I can no longer import a library?
Thank you.

To check the format of your drive - just to be sure about it - select your drive in the Finder and use "File > Get Info" or press "⌘I". You'll see the formatting in the Info panel that opens, in the "General" tab of the panel.

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.

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.

How to switch my Itunes library from External Drive to Internal drive

I recently formated my hard drive and backed up all my tunes to an external drive. When the computer was back and running I imported my tunes from the external drive to my Itunes. However itunes still reads music from the external even though the music is also in a Itunes folder in my Music folder in documents. I tried deleting Itunes and reinstalling but it still looks at the external first. When I look at the advanced tab in itunes it says the music plays from my C drive but if I disconnnect my external drive the music won't play because it's still looking there. I would like the music to play from my internal drive and only use my external drive for backing up. What should I do? Thanks!

Choose Home from the Finder's Go menu, double-click the Music item, and drag it there.
(123001)

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 get itunes library from external drive to new computer

i recently purchased a new computer w/the windows vista platform. there were posts regarding how to transfer the library w/playlists on this board, which i followed to the point of hitting shift while opening itunes, and choosing a library. however, when selecting such from my external drive, which has the itl and xml on it as well as the itunes music folder, it gives me an error noting it is locked or that i dont have write permission to use it. my external drive on my old computer was the G drive, now it is the F drive on new one. can anyone please advise what to do other than copy all music over and have to completely recreate all playlists?

polydorus, this was the response/post that i found and it was posted by sweepea on 9/4/2007. and all my music is now from the external drive to the itunes music folder on my laptop and it let me keep all my playlists. thank you again for your help!
I had that problem too. I tried to remove iTunes from my computer and then download it again, but that did not make any difference. Then I tried polydorus' answer ("starting iTunes with the shift key held down, when asked to choose a library, navigate to your iTunes folder and choose iTunes Library.itl"), but that did not work either and that same message about the library being locked appeared again.
Then I had a brainwave. I deleted that iTunes library.itl file. (To find it, go to My documents, then My Music, then iTunes, and there is the itunes library file). I now tried to open iTunes by clicking on the iTunes icon on my desktop, nothing happened, as if I had not clicked on it at all. I restored the file from the recycling bin to where it was before. But that also returned me to where I had been before, i.e. I got that locked-library message again. So I deleted that file again. Then I tried right-clicking on the iTunes icon. On the little menu that appeared, I clicked 'Open' and hey presto, suddenly the iTunes set-up assistant appeared and everything went smooth from then on. When I checked, there was a file called iTunes library.itl again and this one worked OK.
By the way, I did not lose any of my music downloads or podcasts when I deleted that file, so it's definitely worth a try.
custom built Windows 2000

How to Recover Playlists when Transferring iTunes Library from External Drive to New Computer

iTunes library copied to external drive and then loaded to new computer. All songs are there but all of the playlists that I had set up do not appear. I cannot figure out how to retrieve/recover them. The back-up was not done by me so I'm not sure of the steps that were followed. Is there something special that needs to be done when backing up to external drive in terms of saving playlists? Help!

Hello TNCGRCT,
It sounds like the library was successfully transferred to the new computer, but the songs were imported into a new iTunes library. If you still have access to the external drive, or better yet the previous computer, we will want to transfer the iTunesLibrary.itl file and open it with iTunes:
iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
More helpful information...
Where are my iTunes files located?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1391
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Thanks,
Matt M.

Access iTunes library from External drive after OS upgrade

Because of its size I have recently kept my iTunes library in the 'Media Library' on an external hard drive and accessed content from there without any problem. After upgrading to OS 10 Lion, iTunes has created a new library on my internal hard drive. Now I'm trying to re-access the old library on my external hard drive.
I have tried two things so far:
- Gone into the iTunes Advanced Preferences and changed the Media folder location to my external hard drive location. That didn't work.
- When I open iTunes holding the option key (as was suggested here) I am given the option of choosing a different library. But when I click on the iTunes folder in MediaLibrary I get the following message:
An iTunes library file could not be found in the folder "iTunes". Please choose a different folder.
All the content is there on the external drive but I'm assuming there are some .itl or /xml files missing. (I can see those as part of the new iTunes folder on the internal drive.) I have a floder named Previous iTunes Libraries on the external drive which contains some files with dates in them, two of which have the extension: .itl
Should I perhaps move those files somewhere...?
Any help is appreciated!!!
Hans

Hello there FunkyMuzak,
iTunes can be set to use the library on the external drive, and save new content.
To have iTunes open the alternate library on the drive use this option:
Steps to create or choose a different iTunes Library file
If iTunes is running, quit iTunes.
If you are using Windows, hold down the Shift key and from the Start menu and choose All Programs > iTunes > iTunes.
If you are using the Mac, open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option key.
You should see one of the following screens:
From: iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1589
And to tell iTunes to save your new media when you buy songs or movies, etc., use this part of our article named Where are my iTunes files located? found here http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
Discovering and changing the iTunes Media folder location
Note: You would usually only change the iTunes Media folder location to share music between accounts on the same computer. See this article for specific steps on how to accomplish this. Also, see this article if you want to know how to move your music to a new computer.
Mac OS X: Click the iTunes menu and choose Preferences.
Windows: Click the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
Click the Advanced pane. iTunes displays the location of your iTunes Media folder.
You can then:
Note where your media folder is, such as for backing up your media.
Use the Reset button to reset it's location to the default (which is the iTunes folder).
Click the Change button to select a folder for a new location. Once you change this location:
If you make a new or alternate iTunes library, the new location will be used by that library.
Existing files will not be moved unless you choose File > Library > Organize library and choose the option to "Consolidate files."
Cheers,
Sterling

Moved itunes library from external drive, now i have two of everything

Moved all my music from an old computer to an external HD and onto a new computer. I was able to make the move, but now all the songs have double. How do I correct this?
I am on a PC w Vista, crappy I know.

Thanks!

Can't read iPhoto library from external drive

I suddenly can't can't read iPhoto library from external drive. I have talked to WD and nohing is wrong with the network drive. I can open images and files from it. But, I can't read in iPhoto Library.

Network Drive? a NAS?
iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, exporting, saving edits and sharing the photos.
Basically, you need to move the library to a correctly formatted disk.

How do I restore iTunes library from flash drive backup?

How do I restore iTunes library from flash drive backup?

brigdool wrote:
How do I restore iTunes library from flash drive backup?
HI Brigdool,
It depends how you made the backup.
If you copied your entire iTunes folder onto the flash drive, just copy it back to the appropriate place on the computer.
If you copied individual folders or files, add them back to iTunes by inserting the flash drive in your computer, and then dragging the files into your "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder.
The first method recreates your library as it was, with all playcounts, playlists, etc. The second method builds a new library with the same content.

It is very difficult to import audio files from extern drives (NAS) into the new garageband

it is very difficult to import audio files from extern drives (NAS) into the new garageband.

Are you trying to open an audio file in GarageBand or a GarageBand project?
To open an audio file drag it from your NAS to a real-instrument track in GarageBand.
If you are trying to open a GarageBand project - can you open the same project, if you copy it to your system drive?
Trying Google translate -
Bent u probeert om een audiobestand in GarageBand of een GarageBand-project te openen?
Om een audiobestand slepen uit uw NAS naar een real-instrument track in GarageBand openen.
Als u probeert een GarageBand-project te openen - kunt u hetzelfde project opent, als u het kopiëren naar uw systeem schijf?

Importing iTunes library from external drive

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