ITunes Lib On MacBook To External Back To MacBook

How do I accomplish this?
I just bought Leopard and I wish to retain my iTunes library and my ratings and playlists and I wish to delete everything on this computer and do a fresh install of this new OS.
How may I transfer my current iTunes library to the external and back onto the MacBook?
Thank you in advance,
Mike!

On a Windows machine all you would have to do is transfer the entire iTunes folder to other drive. Have no idea how to do this on a Mac. Finder maybe? This is posted in iTunes for Windows forum so most here will not be able to help.

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Since the new Mevericks update my Air can no longer connect to a shared Itunes lib on Macbook Pro

Hi,
I have two mac laptops at home. My pro and my air. I have it setup so that I stream all my media from my pro to my air.
I updated my pro to the newest Mavericks version. Since that update I can no longer connect to my library on my pro via my air.
Please note that this problem here is with the mac book pro! I updated my air last night and i could still stream.
All I get is the usual "loading library" (on my air's itunes) but it never connects.
Other than restarting the application (on both computers) and restarting (both computers) what else can I do?
Are other people having the same problem??

Hi Bryan,
Thanks for your input.
Unfortunately I cannot get any of the OS X browsers I have tried to get beyond the accepting the site's certificate. All just stall waiting on the Outlook Web Access site. Safari 3.1, Camino, Flock, Firefox (2.0.0.12 and 3 beta 4), Netscape (7.1 and 9), Microsoft's Internet Explorer (thinking that might be more integrated with its Outlook Web Access package).
I have even deleted the certificates from my Keychain (for Safari) or within the other browsers' preferences.
Last night I even re-applied the 10.4.11 combo updater and then checked for software updates to confirm my system was up to date, but again without success when attempting to reach the Outlook Web Access site.
Thanks anyway.
Ted

How to move iTunes lib from external HD (used to be internal HD)?

I hit an internal HD failure and didn't have iTunes or iPhoto backed up. Not fun, but no one to blame but me.
I've had Apple replace the HD (320GB for Intel iMac), but I'm back at square one. I put the old HD in an external USB enclosure and can see the file system. Glimmer of hope!! For starters, I've copied as much as possible to a NAS box, but I get errors with some files.
Here's the question(s).
What's the best way to migrate the iTunes content from the external HD to the new internal drive?
Here some details that may help:
- I can see the "Music" folder on the old HD (4.5G, 2000 items)
- I can also see "Library/iTunes" (450 MB, 19 items)
- all music/content was setup for 1 user account
- content is:
imported CD's
about a hundred or so songs purchased from iTunes store
misc podcasts (no need to recover)
playlists, etc.
I would think the best thing would be to:
1) fireup iTunes somehow to open the music on the external HD
2) save/export all the music
3) close iTunes, then re-open iTunes on the internal HD (currently with empty iTunes lib)
4) import the library from step #2
5) verify everything is ok
6) reformat external drive & recycle it
Even if it is possible, the steps above may fail if I hit a drive error. In that case, I'm guessing some sort of file based restoration may be needed.
Any clues on what to do and in what order are appreciated.
No need for extensive details on the instructions (but it is certainly appreciated). Once I know what to do (and in what order), I can search the support site for detailed instructions on the individual tasks.
I'll probably use better protection once I've got this back together. Time machine is a leading candidate.
Thank for any clues.
-Dave

hi dave and welcome to the discussion area !
click here and here for instructions/information.
however, in your situation, none of the above may work.
good luck in any case !
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

Having macbook find my itunes folder/music on my external hard drive

short story/question:
my itunes library with all my music (1000+ songs, and iphotos) is on one of those external harddrive firelite things. how do i set up my macbook to search for the itunes library on my external harddrive, rather defaulting to an itunes library mistakenly loaded on my computer?
long story: (bare with me, because i'm in a panic stress mode without my music)-
my kids both have macbooks. my daugther made a video that was on a flashdrive. she couldn't get the flashdrive to open the video on her macbook. unbeknownst (?word) to me, she inserted her flashdrive into my macbook. my external harddrive, with all my music on it was NOT hooked into my macbook at the time.
when she inserted the the flashdrive, the macbook said something like "can't find itunes, would you like to choose an itunes folder?" i still didn't realize she was using my macbook, so i clicked on "choose a folder". now i get a little confused, but two folders came up, the first was labled "itunes", i believe that was an old folder we (apple geniuses) had labled as the orginial music in my library for my external harddrive. there was also a second folder i remember creating labled, itunes1 (or something), which i believe was an updated copy of the most recent music on my external harddrive. i had to give the folder a different name otherwise it wouldn't accept the music again. i thought i deleted the original folder though, after i made a copy of the most recent music. i'm digressing though, sorry.
anyway, i chose the first itunes folder, and her flashdrive video didn't open, so i clicked on the second folder. her video opened up. she was happy. she removed the flashdrive (the wrong way, by just pulling it out. then inserted it again, and removed it correctly.
as she went to shut down the computer, i realized she was using MINE rather than hers or her brother's. i flipped, because know i realized i somehow download some form of origin itunes setup directly onto my macbook.
i inserted my external harddrive with my music, and needless to say, it couldn't find my music. i double clicked on the external harddrive to try to find or open the music... nothing. i find it hard to believe that i lost my music off my external harddrive, considering it was never connected in the first place.
other issue- i recently downloaded some music (from a grateful dead website) not off itunes (which i rarely if ever do). when i clicked on "a button" in itunes, it seemed to download just that music into, i believe the itunes on my macbook. (that music was also in my external harddrive).
bottom line:
how do i get my macbook to search for my intues folder/music that was on my external harddrive, rather than on the macbook itself? i think the macbook needs to know to search the external hardrive, rather than the macbook itself.
i have an appointment with the apple genius bar on saturday, but if someone thinks there's a simple solution that i can do (that will ALWAYS work to have my computer search my external harddrive, rather than the itunes folder on the macbook itselft). i'm willing to try.
my biggest fear... losing, or having lost ALL of my music and photos from the external harddrive.
btw: i hopefully have most of that music backed up to a SECOND external harddrive. which i bought just in case the first one crashed.
help. please. and thanks for listening.
not sure which macosx i have. i think it's 10.6.8, but it may be 10.6.7. i'm typing from work now.
thanks,
anthony

You need to close itunes (right click the icon in the dock and close that way), plug in the external harddrive, wait until the computer recognizes the external harddrive, then click on itunes WHILE HOLDING DOWN THE OPTION KEY. This will bring you to the dialog box that allows you to choose the library you want. Select the external harddrive then select the folder where itunes library is housed. Problem solved.

TS3297 Is it possible for itunes on my MacBook Pro to play songs off my networked WD external hard drive and sync to my iPhone? I prefer to not keep all my music on my laptop and I don't want to pay $25 a year to access my songs if I don't have to.

Is it possible for itunes on my MacBook Pro to play songs off my networked Western Drive external hard drive so I can sync to my Mac to my iPhone? I do not want to keep any music on my laptop and I don't want to pay $25 to itunes match a year to access my songs if I don't have to.

Hi turingtest2,
Thank you for replying. I've been looking at your posts about setting up iTunes using an external drive. A bit of background info. My old computer broke down, so I got a new one from work. I've always kept my music files on my external drive (I have around 170GB of music). I didn't follow the suggestions in the "migrate iTunes library" post because my old computer died on me. However, I've looked at your posts about lay out of the iTunes folders. Before connecting to iTunes on the new computer, I had reorganized my iTunes folder on my E: external drive, and created an iTunes folder which contains an iTunes Media subfolder. The music files are in a Music folder, which is in the iTunes Media folder. I've also put the following files in my iTunes folder: iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, iTunes Music Library.xml, as well as sentinel. I then followed the advice you gave bmw99 on 2 Nov 2013 at 9.58 (sorry, can't copy the exact answer).
Just to clarify: I'd like to keep all my music media on the E: external hard drive (the computer hard drive is too small), and I'm aware i might never have my playlists back, and that all the songs in my library might be ticked. However, I don't want my library to be duplicated.
I'm at work at the moment, but will be back home in about 10 hours, so I can be more specific about folders / files names.
I'm glad you picked up my message and greatly appreciate your help.
Patrice

Can I move Itunes from a pc based external hard drive on to a Time Capsule linked to Macbook Air? Is Timecapsule a good backup option for a 'silver surfer'?

I have a Macbook Air, iPod and old pc with external hard drive. My iTunes is on the pc which I sync with my iPod. I am thinking of buying a Timecapsule for backing up Macbook. At the sametime would it make sense/be easy to move iTunes library on to new Timecapsule and access it from Macbook? Or would I have to store the iTunes library on Macbook internal drive? (pc is getting old and will eventually be binned). Thanks in advance

speachmusic wrote:
if I ran an eithernet cable through my flat
you could do that - or you could employ a pair of *powerline adapters* _*such as these*_.
either way, as William pointed out, it will boost syncing speed and improve reliability.
Or can I attached an external hard drive to the time capsule, set it us as a network drive and then set that drive in the iTunes preferences as where to where its media folder is?
yes. my test iTunes library lives on an external HD hanging off my TC and, using a hardwired connection, data transfer speeds are more than sufficient for what you intend to do.
in fact, i would recommend the external drive connected to the TC over using the TC itself. one reason is that you will not be able to backup what is on the TC's drive using time machine. also, if the TC croaks and needs to be replaced, it will be difficult to retrieve the data from it.
an external HD, otoh, could be connected to you Mac periodically and backed up to another external HD using free apps such as _*Carbon Copy Cloner*_.
JGG

How do I get iTunes songs which were downloaded from external back-up drive to play on new computer and is there a way to get my play lists back?

When I try to play a song from my re-installed iTunes library, I get the error message: "Song xxx could not be played because original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" > "Locate" or "Cancel." When I click on "Locate" I can't figure out how to get the song to play from any of the places that were "located." The path is C:\users\Janet\libraries\music\iTunes
However, iTunes songs chosen from my library will play in iTunes (current version) when I have the external back-up drive plugged in! I recently copied my backed-up iTunes library from my external back-up drive to a new computer.
Most of the songs, but not all, magically appear in Windows Media Player and I can play those just fine.
I can see my iTunes library in the newest version of iTunes, recently downloaded to new computer, but can't play songs without connecting to the external back-up drive - so maybe there is something else on that external drive that needs to be on my C: drive?
I am using an HP Pavillion Notebook, Windows 7, 64-bit. My previous computer was Windows Vista. Before Vista, I had XP.
Back when I had XP, I wanted to purchase some songs to download to my computer. Because iTunes had the ability, I used it to create a massive library of songs, most of which were ripped from my CDs. I don't have an iPod and iTunes worked fine for creating playlists and then burning them to CDs.
Also, I'd like to know if there is a way to get back my playlists.
And another thing - in the older version of iTunes, there was a folder in the lists on the left-hand side of the screen where I could click to see all the songs I had purchased. I'd like to get that ability back if possible.
In hindsight, iTunes was probably not the best choice for me to build my music library in a Windows operating system, but it seemed to be the best choice at the time. I really wish I could convert all the songs to mp3 format.
I have been working with computers since the days of DOS, black and white screens, and no mice. The first computer I bought for my own use at home was a Mac and it had "Flying Toasters" as a screensaver. (I miss that screensaver.) It did not have a tower and I believe they called it a laptop, even though the thing was as big as a suitcase and probably weighed around 30 pounds. However, I am by no means a computer expert. In other words, pretend you're trying to tell your mother how to do what I am asking. =)
Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help me.

I copied the iTunes file from the external drive and it's in both places. I thought all I would need is the iTunes program (which I downloaded to new computer) and my iTunes library file. There must be something else that's missing. My iTunes library looks the same on the new computer as it does when I open it on the external drive. If I click on an iTunes library song from my new computer, it will only play if I have the external drive plugged in.
My back-up drive is a mess. I have multiple copies of music, video, photo, and document files and I don't know how that happened. ={ Obviously, I don't know how to back up stuff properly and there are back-up files extending over a 6- to 8-year period. I think all I did was just drag and drop the main folders from the back-up drive to the same main folders on the C: drive. Also (and I'm kind of fuzzy on this) Windows used to automatically save music files in a folder within my document files (which makes no sense to me). As my Jewish friends would say, "Oy Vey!"

I moved all my music from c: drive(because it was full) to an external harddrive and now itunes can't find any of my music. Is there a way to get Itunes to find music on external drive without having to place all the music back onto the c: drive? Thanks

I moved all my music from c: drive(because it was full) to an external harddrive and now itunes can't find any of my music. Is there a way to get Itunes to find music on external drive without having to place all the music back onto the c: drive? Thanks

Hopefully you moved the entire iTunes Media (or iTunes Music) folder to a new path on your external drive. Copy your iTunes library folder out to the root of the external drive, e.g. X:\iTunes (where X: is your external drive), then move the media folder inside it. Hold down shift as you start iTUnes and keep holding untila asked to choose or create a library. Choose the library at X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl. Should all be good.
Failing that, download and run my FindTracks script and point it at the new location of your media folder.
tt2

I have my itunes media stored on my external hard drive. On this external drive I have a folder called "TV shows". How do I incorporate this folder back into the itunes library?

I have my itunes media stored on my external hard drive. On this external drive I have a folder called "TV shows". I previously cut and pasted itunes TV shows to this folder to free up some space. How do I incorporate this folder (TV shows) back into the itunes library?

assuming the copy files ... when adding option is checkmarked in preferences > advanced, drag the folder into an open iTunes window while holding option (⌥).

My partner deleted my itunes (10) library. I use a WD external back-up and retrieved my itunes library, but when i try to play a song i get the message 'could not be used because the original file could not be found Would you like to locate it?'

My partner deleted, by accident my itunes library. I have an iMac 10.6.7, Itunes 10. I use an WD passport as an external back up and retrieved my itunes library but now get the message "could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" so itunes is not recognised the exclamation marked songs, how do i get the retrieved files recognised. At times I get fed-up with Apple blocking files being used, although I like the product its restrictions are so silly!

You not only have to retrieve the library file from the backup drive but the actual music files (usually stored within the "iTunes Media" folder) as well.

I changed my iTunes to run on my external hardrive and now it won't go back

I changed my iTunes to run on my external hard drive and then decided to switch it back to my PC...now it says it's reading from my PC in the preferences menu but it's still actually running off my external hard drive. Does anyone know what's causing this or how to change it?

VoiceOver changes the gestures used to control iPod. Once VoiceOver is turned on, you have to use VoiceOver gestures to operate iPod—even to turn VoiceOver off again to resume standard operation.
It's easier to use iTunes to turn it off. Connect to iTunes and go to the Summary Pane. Click the "Configure Universal Access..." button. In the "Seeing" section, select "Neither" and click "OK".

ITunes Music Folder Missing on external hard drive after changing iTunes Media Folder Location from MacBook Hard Drive. Not deleted...just missing?

I store my iTunes media folder on my external hard drive and can no longer find it there. It seemed to becomd lost after I re-designated the default iTunes media location. I had downloaded some things from iTunes without my external hard drive plugged in and when they downloaded they downloaded to the default location on my Macbook Pro. In recognizing that, I wanted to move those files from the hard drive on my MacBook Pro to the external hard drive. When I re-selected the location as the external hard drive a copy process began. I cancelled the copy process fearing the small number of files from my Macbook Pro would over-write all of the files on my external hard drive so I quit the copy process. Now I do not see my "iTunes Music" folder on my external hard drive. I fear that I have somehow lost the path but I believe the content is still on my external hard drive although I no longer see the "iTunes Music" folder on my external hard drive. I know I didn't delete it, but it isn't there. Is there a way to make it re-appear? I would really appreciate any guideance anyone has.
Thank you.
Best,
Matt

When you change the location in preferences it tells iTunes to start, from this point on, storing new media files in the new location. It then presents you with the option to move any old files in their current locations to the new location. It doesn't move the library files which are not media files. Read the links below to understand how iTunes works because you are the one with the computer in front of you and are in the better position to understand how it stands as regards to iTunes files.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
Now, did you keep the whole library on the external drive, or did you keep just media? From your description of the situation it sounds as if you kept the whole library there and when the external was not attached it returned to default location on the internal drive. What you should have done then was plug in the external drive, hold down the option key, and guide iTunes to the library file on the external. At this stage you could have dealt with the mislocated new files on an individual basis.
I guess the key question is, did your trying to move the couple of new media files to the external drive overwrite the iTunes folder there, which because you then canceled may have also just resulted in it being deleted. I am not going to test the theory on my system.
How big was your library on the external? If it was 40GB do you now suddenly have 40 GB free?
Look for any iTunes folders on the external drive. In view options turn on "calculate all folders sizes" and see if there are any big ones.

ITunes Music Folder Missing on external hard drive after changing iTunes Media Folder Location from MacBook Hard Drive

The store my iTunes media folder on my external hard drive and can no longer find it there. It seemed to becomd lost after I re-designated the default iTunes media location. I had downloaded some things from iTunes without my external hard drive plugged in and when they downloaded they downloaded to the default location on my Macbook Pro. In recognizing that, I wanted to move those files from the hard drive on my MacBook Pro to the external hard drive. When I re-selected the location as the external hard drive a copy process began. I cancelled the copy process fearing the small number of files from my Macbook Pro would over-write all of the files on my external hard drive so I quit the copy process. Now I do not see my "iTunes Music" folder on my external hard drive. I fear that I have somehow lost the path but I believe the content is still on my external hard drive although I no longer see the "iTunes Music" folder on my external hard drive. I know I didn't delete it, but it isn't there. Is there a way to make it re-appear? I would really appreciate any guideance anyone has.
Thank you.
Best,
Matt

Any ideas? Anyone?

Macbook pro OS 10.7.5, what is the best external back up drive to use with it?

Hi
I have a Macbook pro OS 10.7.5 and am looking for an external back up drive. What external back up drives do people recommend?

T4444 wrote:
Hi
I have a Macbook pro OS 10.7.5 and am looking for an external back up drive. What external back up drives do people recommend?
We don't know which MBP you have so start by establishing what ports you have on the MBP that you can connect an external drive to. It'll have USB ports, but if they're USB 2.0, a full, bootable backup could take a very long time. If it's USB 3.0, backups can go a lot quicker. The USB external HD's are common and relatively inexpensive. If you have a Thunderbolt port, that's very fast but the externals compatible with it tend to be more expensive.
If it's just USB 2.0 and Firewire, Firewire is faster but is being phased out. USB 2.0 is backward compatible with USB 3.0 so when you upgrade to a newer MBP, a USB 3.0 external can plug right in.
Also, unless the external must be really portable, look for one that has a separate power source rather than drawing power from the connection to the Mac, since some externals need more power than the Mac is able or willing to supply.

How do i transfer music from an external hard drive to itunes on my macbook pro?

how do i transfer music from an external hard drive to itunes on my macbook pro?

easy just open iTunes and Finder together and drag the songs into iTunes
George Karakadas, hope this helped u. if it helped u PLZ RATE MY AANSWER AS: "CORRECT ANSWRER" thnx

ITunes Lib On MacBook To External Back To MacBook

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