Is it possible to run iTunes from a flash drive?

Hi Everyone,
I just would like to know if you could run iTunes off a flash drive? It takes up alot of space on my hard drive and was hoping to free some up. I have an 8GB iPod and currently it's filled with 6.08GB of music. I purchased a 16GB flash drive and was thinking I could run it off there. See I don't access iTunes all that often and hopefully won't kill the drive. I guess the next part would be how should I go about it if it's posible?
Thanks so much in advance!

You can certainly put your library on a flash drive, though I'd strongly, strongly recommend that you have another copy of your library elsewhere, as flash drives are easily lost, broken or corrupted. You cannot count on tracks always being available for redownload from the iTunes Store, if you have any such.
The easiest way to move your library is to just drag the entire iTunes folder (the _entire_ folder, _not_ just the iTunes Music folder) to your desired location. Then hold down the Shift key while launching iTunes. You'll be given a dialog box where you can select the iTunes library you want to use. Navigate to and select the iTunes folder in it's new location.
Note that this procedure assumes that all of your tracks are contained in the iTunes folder. If they're scattered around your volumes, moving them becomes much more complex. And don't launch iTunes with the flash drive not mounted or iTunes will default back to the internal drive. If it does, though, just mount the external drive and launch iTunes with the Shift key again.
Don't delete the tracks from the old location until you've confirmed that they're working correctly from the flash drive.
Regards.

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Want to run iTunes from an external drive, how?

I want to run iTunes from my external drive, I have already made back ups of my library and media files but I can't figure out how to save iTunes to the external drive? When you download itunes it just automatically downloads to the computer. Can you even do this? If not, how can I use the saved info on my external drive (library and media files) with my itunes on the computer. The problem we are trying to solve is a lack of space on our computer and we want to free as much space as possible. Thanks!

I want to run iTunes from my external drive, I have already made back ups of my library and media files but I can't figure out how to save iTunes to the external drive?
Drag the iTunes library to the external drive, launch iTunes with the Shift key held down, and point it there.
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Running iTunes from external hard drive, new computer, where to start?

I've seen several threads relating to this, but I'm a bit confused. For some time we have been running iTunes from an external hard drive with no issues. We now have a new laptop with windows 8, and I'm not sure where to start to set up iTunes (we replaced the computer with a laptop). Do I need to do a new install of iTunes on the laptop? Do I install it to the hard drive (C) or to the external drive (G)? My biggest source of concern is losing the library. I also want to be sure that we can continue to run iTunes from the external drive, I don't want it taking up space on the laptop hard drive.

With more & more people looking towards external drives as a storage solution, it's important to warn them, that although using one within iTunes is a great idea, it comes with its issues & can be a step towards a disastrous sequence. In such a scenario, each time iTunes is launched it'll look for the library that resides on the external drive, & if that drive's not connected, iTunes will open with an empty library. You know what's comming next, rite ? An empty iDevice. This happens because 'by default' iTunes is set to Auto-Sync & if you're using an external drive, the potential for a messy problem goes way up. So in short, remember these points. when using an external drive(library).
. Always connect your external drive prior to lauching iTunes.
. Always ensure iTunes sees your external library prior to connecting your iDevice.
. Disable the 'Auto-Sync' feature from within iTunes prior to connecting your iDevice.
. Always wait to connect your iDevice until thee aforementioned points are confirmed.
As stated earlier, using an external drive with iTunes isn't a problem in & by itself. But if the external drive's disconnected & the 'Auto-Sync' feature's left at its default setting(enabled), a family member could loose all their data simply by connecting their iDevice to the PC/Mac. Or be in for a time consuming lesson.
PS: At the very least one should research the topic themselves. http://ipod.about.com/od/advanceditunesuse/a/Itunes-External-Hard-Drive.htm

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.

Is it possible to run iTunes from a NAS hard drive so that the content is available to 1st Gen Apple TV and I can turn off my MacBook and still see the content of the library?

I have a first gen Apple TV with a 160 gig hard drive, it is nearly full with films and music, my iTunes library is well over 190 gig and climbing, the only way I can access all of my music and films is to have iTunes open on my Mac. I have now moved my library to a NAS device and I want to be able to run iTunes so that my entire library is available on the Apple TV without having to have my Mac switched on. So the first question I have, is this possible? Secondly, if it is possible how do you do it?
The ideal solution would be for iTunes to run from the NAS as I have already told iTunes my library is there.
Thank

You can certainly put your library on a flash drive, though I'd strongly, strongly recommend that you have another copy of your library elsewhere, as flash drives are easily lost, broken or corrupted. You cannot count on tracks always being available for redownload from the iTunes Store, if you have any such.
The easiest way to move your library is to just drag the entire iTunes folder (the _entire_ folder, _not_ just the iTunes Music folder) to your desired location. Then hold down the Shift key while launching iTunes. You'll be given a dialog box where you can select the iTunes library you want to use. Navigate to and select the iTunes folder in it's new location.
Note that this procedure assumes that all of your tracks are contained in the iTunes folder. If they're scattered around your volumes, moving them becomes much more complex. And don't launch iTunes with the flash drive not mounted or iTunes will default back to the internal drive. If it does, though, just mount the external drive and launch iTunes with the Shift key again.
Don't delete the tracks from the old location until you've confirmed that they're working correctly from the flash drive.
Regards.

Is it really possible to operate iTunes from external hard drive?

The internal hard drive on my Mac Book Pro is full and most of it is music for iTunes. I have been told that it is possible to operate iTunes from a library on an external drive but it hasn't worked for me. I have moved the iTunes folder on to my external hard drive. Then I did two things...First, I opened iTunes while pressing the "alt" key. Then I clicked on "choose library" and directed it to the iTunes folder on the external hard drive. Second, I opened Preferences>Advanced>iTunes Media Folder Location and then clicked on "Change" and directed that to the iTunes folder on my external hard drive. It should work right? Well, it worked the day that I did it but the next day I had "!" beside every song in my library of nearly 10,000 songs. It says that it can't find the location of the song file and asks if I would like to find it. When I show it where the file is it works but it will take me forever to do that with each individual song. Can this really be done successfully?

One question. What is NAS?
Here is a link http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751 . I did it exactly this way the first time I tried, including consolidating and the organize library part but it made a mess of my iTunes folder. Luckily I had it backed up on another partition of my hard drive using Time Machine. So, I deleted the iTunes folder and started over.
I dragged the iTunes folder over last night to the partition on my hard drive that I want to operate iTunes from. It took about an hour or so to copy the files over but the iTunes folder looks organized the way it should be again. Then I Alt>Clicked on iTunes in the dock and picked create library. Then I directed it to the new iTunes folder. Next I chose preferences>Advanced>Change media folder location and directed that to the new Itunes folder. Then it asked me if I would like iTunes to organize the folder(or something to that effect). I can't remember exactly but I chose "No" or "Cancel" this time, I didn't the first time. It has been working ever since but I am waiting for something to go wrong. Because, it worked last time for a day and then stopped.

Running iTunes from a separate drive

I bought a 300gig external hard drive for my laptop to keep all my tunes on so I would use up my laptop space. I am having trouble getting my itunes to find them. They are on my itunes but they don't play. I get a message saying that it could not find the original file and if I would like for it to find it. When I do say "yes" and follow the steps it doesn't help. How do I direct my itunes to get the tunes from my E drive?

This may have some helpful tips for you: Tips on Using An External Drive to Back Up Music

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I am experiencing a similar problem. I already had all my files on an external drive, where I had transfered them a few months back, and everything was working fine. I have now moved them, again, to a larger external drive, did everything the same, but now receive the message "original file cannot be found, would you like to locate file?" I was advised to use the "add to library" button under "FILE" in the menu bar and all the music was finally imported into iTunes, but the problem now is that the new data on the music files is missing all the metadata, and I am still stuck with all the original files with the "!" in front of each file that is going to have to be manually deleted one file at a time, all 30,000 of them. I would like a way to start over and get it right the first time. Anyone have any solutions? I have found a program, "Super Remove Dead Tracks" which should solve the problem of eliminating the "!" tracks, but so too all the metadata. Ideally I'd like to be able to locate the original files with all the attached metadata and get back to where I was 24 hours ago.

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I have a similar situation.
I had over 6000 songs on an original 20" iMac, and I had the entire library backed up on an external HD. The iMac is currently in the repair shop, from which it may never emerge in working condition.
I removed the entire iTunes library from my MacBook Pro (which contained no music because the computer has only a 120 GB HD) and I can get to the backup on the external HD (press Shift while starting iTunes) and see all the music. However, when I try to play any song for the first time I first have to migrate to the specific file in the Finder. Thus, it is totally impractical to attempt to manage a 6000 plus song collection in this way.
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Why can't I move my iTunes library and run iTunes from an external hard drive?

I've been having issues with space on my Macbook pro, so I wish to move my music in order to free up more space. I have been following the instructions on how to run iTunes from an external drive, but each time I attempt it only the 'Automatically Add to iTunes' folder copies to my drive - which has nothing in it.
What is going on?

Which exact set of instructions? Just about all of them are wrong, even the ones that specifically say how to move your library.
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 iTunes Library.itl file in the moved iTunes folder.
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

HT1923 hi, my mac air is really low on disk space, can i remove iTunes (which is huge) to an external hard drive to free up space and then just run it from the hard drive. instead of taking space on the mac? even if the mac no longer has enough to accommo

Hi, my mac air is really low on disk space, can I remove itunes (which is huge) to an external hard drive to free up space?...and then run it from the hard drive instead of the mac,even if the mac no longer has space to accomodate the size of the library?

Yes.
Copy your music iTunes Library folder to the external drive and change the Advanced settings in iTunes to point to this new location.
Once you're happy with these changes you can delete the same Library from your User account to free up space on the internal drive.

Can i run itunes from an external harddrive and if so how?

LIke i'm not a complete pleb and i know full well that this should work in theory i am just worried about moving the "itunes" folder to my external harddrive because i feel itunes will then say 'can't find library' or something. I have a G4 emac you see with only 40GB internal harddrive, about 25GB is just my itunes songs and i can't get rid of any as i need them for djing.
can i just copy the itunes app and the itunes folder to my external harddrive and then create a itunes link in my dock? I feel that i'm missing something though.
Could someone tell me a surefire way to do it so i don't mess up. I'm not 100%
cheers
rhys

Yes you can run programs from a differnt drive. All you have to do is download that prgram to that drve same as you would to the c:drive by defualt we will have to reload everything as if you never had itunes.
1 make a folder on your drive called itunes.
2 go to the website and get the itune ( click on the download link and when it ask to run or save click save and tell it where to save.
3. After save is complete click on the install app. it will default to install to you c drive. Change this to your desired drive and folder. (this will install it on that drive and folder.) then you will have to make a shortcut to open Itunes.
4 If you more than one pc configure in the same order and # of drive you will be able to run this drve from any pc.
I do this with alot of programs at work from a 4gb penn drive to get around the firewall and admin rites. (I.T. department)

What are the pros and cons of running iTunes from an SD card with a Retina MBP?

Hello,
I'm thinking about getting a Retina MBP, but I think the default storage of 256GB is way to small to be used as a main computer and the upgrade to 512GB is very expensive. I was thinking of ways to reduce bulky files and was considering running iTunes from an SD card. Does anybody have any experience with doing this, what pros and cons did you discover?

I wouldn't even try storing multiple iTunes libraries on SD cards. Better idea - what I do - is store the majority of my music on an external hard drive and just my 'must have' tunes on my internal SSD. I have a 512GB SSD and use around 170GB for iTunes. On my external drive, I had about 440GB in tunes (last time I checked).
You can 'switch' libraries by holding down the option key when you launch iTunes. It's the best of both worlds - storage for on-the-go, must-haves, and an entire library of "all" of my music.
256GB should be plenty of space - I just store so much music on my internal SSD because I can!
Clinton

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Can i download and run itunes from an external hard drive

can i download and run itunes from an external hard drive?

The iTunes application should be on the boot drive but you can keep the iTunes library on an external.
hold Shift when launching iTune sand select Create library and select the external.
This will create an iTunes folder on the external with all the library files and all media will also go into this folder.

Is it possible to run iTunes from a flash drive?

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