ITunes in an external drive?

I would like to save iTunes in an external drive, because I have almost 150G on it, but I can't install iTunes in an EHD... What can I do? I have copied the library to the external hard drive, but it's not pratical...
I have several EHDs, one for music, one for videos and one for music. The perfect situation would be iTunes on each of them...
Thanks
Maria

Hi eduarda,
Whilst you should leave the iTunes application in the default location, you can move the iTunes Media folder to an external hard drive. Please read the following support article:
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder
Regards,
Acros-Krik

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I redirected iTunes to an external drive and moved my iTunes library and folder, but my hard drive is still low on space. How can I be sure that my music is all on the external HD ONLY, especially with the new iCloud technology?

I redirected iTunes to an external drive and moved my iTunes library and folder, but my hard drive is still low on space. How can I be sure that my music is all on the external HD ONLY, especially with the new iCloud technology? It doesn't look like I created any more space by doing this, AND I totally lost all my iTunes playlists. I'm not sure if because I added old library materials manually if this messed up my playlists, or if the new location is just not reading my moved library. In any case, I followed step by step instructions and found a few holes and thought I'd just "figure it out" but I guess I'm not as smart as I thought since I'm still scratching my head many hours later.
Thanks for any support ;-)
Eaglerocker

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 this is to a new computer and 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.)
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.

Question about moving itunes to wd external drive?

i found the page where it says u can move itunes music to external drive but will that include my tv shows also and if so can i delete it from my laptop after i move it to other drive?

\Music\iTunes\ folder is the main iTunes library location. It contains the library files, music files and everything else.
I have all of my music files already stored on an external HD. But for some reason when i moved it all
What exactly does "moved it all" mean? What did you move?
in other words in the old drive I still have the following files:
itunes library genius
-itunes library extras
-itunes library
These three are all the same type of files. I don't know what type of files they are
The iTunes library.itl file is the iTunes database file. Without that, iTunes is empty.
Since i already have all of my music files on my ext. HD can I delete these files without messing anything up?
Only if you want iTunes to be completely empty and you want to start from scratch.
Moving the music file syourself is not the correct way to do it. iTunes will lose everything.
If you want to move everything, copy the entire \Music\iTunes\ folder to a new location.
Hold Shift and launch iTunes.
Select *Choose library* and select the iTunes library.itl file in the iTunes folder you moved.

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Try the following user tip:
Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates

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Back a few years ago I put my itunes music library lived in a NAS drive. If the drive was not mounted however when you launched iTunes the library would reset resulting in a blank iTunes.
This was such a deal breaker for me in the end I ditched the nas.
Now I have my itunes library on an external USB Harddrive. If for some reason the drive is not attached when launched, all that happens is you see your library of music but when you select anything a little alert icon goes next to it with a warning the music could not be found. When you attach the harddrive all is well again.
A friend has an extreme base station with his music folder on. And has just explined to me the self same issue as I used to have.
Can someone explain why iTunes will sometimes work fine, and sometimes reset depending on how it feels? Is there a way to predict this, and more importantly ensure that iTunes simply says it cannot find the tune, and not reset the whole library. Which is a most odd behaviour anyhow.

Your iTunes folder on your Startup Drive (in your USER>MUSIC>ITUNES folder) contains a file that is the roadmap to all of your songs, ratings, playlists, etc. Your iTunes application (in the applications folder on the startup drive) is, well, the application (like an engine) that runs iTunes.
By default, your iTunes Library (where all your actual MP3 files are stored) is in that iTunes folder (in your USER>MUSIC>ITUNES folder). However, when you store it on an external drive, you usually change it's location (in Preferences) so that iTunes knows where the Library is located.
So.....what's probably going on is that you have iTunes set up right for an external drive and it will run properly when that drive is plugged in. iTunes knows where everything is because all that info is contained in the file I mentioned. When you start iTunes and your external drive is not plugged in, iTunes will default to the iTunes Library in the folder on your Startup Drive (USER>MUSIC>ITUNES folder), which is probably empty. It knows where all your songs are on that external drive, but can't access them b/c the drive is off or disconnected.

I tried to transfer itunes onto an external drive, now have serious probs.

I tried to transfer itunes onto an external drive, then i deleted the itunes folder from the computer. This completely emptied itunes......oops... then i put back the music saved on the drive back onto itunes, but its only put on a small amount, all of my playlists are gone and most of the album artwork....aaaahhhh..... I havent synced my ipod yet, is there any way of replacing all of the lost data transferring it back onto itunes from the ipod itself?

Copying from iPod to Computer threads...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1300144
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=797432&#797432
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=809624&tstart=0
Also these somewhat dated but still useful internet articles...
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/copying-music-from-ipod-to-co mputer/
http://www.engadget.com/2004/11/02/how-to-get-music-off-your-ipod/
http://playlistmag.com/help/2005/01/2waystreet/
Good luck!
Patrick

Backing up iTunes located on external drive to another external drive

Greetings,
I'm on iTuens 11.3 and in preferences have chosen an external drive to keep all my music. I would like to back-up the contents of my iTunes to another external drive.
I have NOT chosen: iTunes - File - Library - Organize Library
Perhaps this is my problem…?
The external hard drive that has my iTunes library does not have a single iTunes folder. Instead, each artist has a folder within which are multiple albums, single albums or songs.
It seems there should be a single file folder somewhere that I can copy to another external hard rive in order to make a back up.
Any help will be much appreciated.

There will only be a single folder if you've told iTunes to organize your library. You need to either do this, or drag all of the individual folders to the second drive, or clone the first drive to the second.
If desired, you can move the iTunes folder to the first drive, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and choose it before organizing the library.
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So ok, I knew it couldn't be that easy...
I copied my iTunes to an external drive to free up space on my laptop - followed the instructions for moving files on a PC - and got to the part about moving the old iTunes folder to the recycle bin. Well, the recycle bin wasn't large enough for the folder, so it deleted everything straight out of MyComputer. Apparently the "library files" went with it.
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Thanks!

got to the part about moving the old iTunes folder to the recycle bin.
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There is a part about moving th _iTunes music folder_ to the recycle bin.
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iTunes uses the iTunes Library files - in particular the iTunes Library.itl file - to keep track of where your song files are located as well as playlist and related information.
Most likely in moving your folders around iTunes has been confused to such an extent that it created a new Library file. With a bit of luck you might still be able to find the old file which would restore your old Library.
So the first thing you want to do is look around your computer and make a note of any iTunes Library.itl files you can find. Generally speaking you'll find them in the iTunes folders on your system and depending on how you've been moving the folders - i.e. whether you "cut" them or "copied" them - you may still find at least one one on your F: drive and some on your C: drive.
Having noted where they are you know want to check each of them out as described in this article in the Apple Knowledge Base. In following those instructions you want to select the Choose Library option and use the pop-up window that appears to zero in on the various .itl files you've located.
Remember that each Library file will show a different Library in iTunes - perhaps slightly different, perhaps completely different - and if the first one isn't what you're looking for you'll have to close iTunes and repeat the procedure by selecting one of the other .itl's.
Post back for any clarification.

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Choose Home from the Finder's Go menu, double-click the Music item, and drag it there.
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Type "move itunes library" into the search bar at the top of this page or your favorite search engine and follow the instructions.

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ITunes in an external drive?

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