Itunes library from laptop to desktop

I want to take my itunes library that is on my backup drive from my laptop and put it on my desktop. Is it as simple as just dragging the library off my external drive and dropping it in the itunes library on my desktop?
Thanks

Place it in the location of the current library after moving or renaming the item which already exists. You cannot add items to or merge iTunes libraries in the Finder.
(30292)

Similar Messages

HT1727 How do I 'authorize' my PC (laptop) so that I can transfer/copy my iTunes library from my PC (desktop).

How do I 'authorize' my PC (laptop) so that I can transfer/copy my iTunes library from my PC (desktop).?
Thanks

here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1420

Transferring itunes library from laptop to a PC which has itunes library

I have had a search for the answer to my question. A little while ago I transferred my itunes library from my old desktop to my laptop as I was moving house. I now have the desktop set up again, and basically want to copy the itunes library from the laptop to the PC.
Do I simply copy it to my external hard drive and then to my PC, or will this result in some of my library items being deleted from my PC? I have read a few threads and I'm a bit (or a lot) confused!

I am having a problem. My husband has a new laptop and wants to transfer his library from his pc (running xp) to his new laptop. I have followed the apple guide to step by step but when i get to the step where you drag the music icon to the ipod e: drive location in my computers there is no sign of the ipod as any lettered drive all that i can see are the usual c:, printers/scanners and iphone as a camera? How do i get the pc to recognise the ipod as a drive to allow me to drag and drop the library.
thanks in advance.

Combining iTunes Libraries from laptop and desktop--duplicates?

I have been through an iTunes search, but can't seem to find an answer to this question. I want to combine all of the music on my laptop, with my mac-mini iTunes music file (on an external drive). I know I can hook the two together and do an "add to library," but I am running 30 gigs or so on the laptop, and more than 70 on the main computer. Will doing this add two copies of duplicates (which would create a "clean-up" nightmare), or will iTunes recognize and skip the duplicates? There is simply too much time involved not to know in advance. Any help appreciated.
Also, I wrote a year or so ago that I have ITunes start up immediately every tme I reboot and want to know how to turn it off. Other folks said they had the same problem, but no solution was ever offered. Anything new on this?
Thanks--

I found your post because im doing the exact same thing..sort of. I had a mac pro that was ahem taken from me about a year ago. Since then ive been using my macbook laptop for my itunes and my iphone syncing. Now that I have my Mac Pro back, im in the process of merging both to my mac pro and using the mac pro as my "primary" itunes library.
Here is my solution..
1) Make sure both versions of itunes are the same on each computer! Start Itunes, click Itunes>Check for Updates.
2) In Itunes, click File>Display duplicates. Clean up anything that needs it.
3) In Itunes, click File>Library>Organize Library then check the box that says "Upgrade to Itunes media organization." If you have already done this previously, you will only see a grayed out box and a message stating that your media is already organized as a itunes media folder. DO NOT CHECK THE BOX THAT SAYS CONSOLIDATE FILES.
(step 4 is optional, I've been using Itunes for many years and it seems every version they change their folder structure (eg, Audiobooks is now books, etc. also, in the past, the folder was Itunes Music, now with version 9 its Itunes Media) I decided I would start clean with the latest Itunes 9 folder structure so I did exactly that!)
4) In Itunes, click Itunes>Preferences>Advanced. Under Itunes Media Folder Location, change to your new path. for example, mine originally said /users/Geoff/Music/Itunes/Itunes Music. I created a new folder called Itunes Media in the Itunes folder so now mine says: /users/Geoff/Music/Itunes/Itunes Media. Like I mentioned before , the main advantage to this is to have the latest folder structure in itunes 9 and not have a bunch of old folders from previous itunes versions.
5) In Itunes do a File>Library>Organize Library then click the checkbox next to "Consolidate Files". When you hit ok what this does is copies all your music, etc to your new folder that you made in step 4. If you didnt make a new folder in step 4, it will simply just reorganize to the latest itunes 9 folder structure and leave the older itunes folders on your computer. (Im a neat freak so thats why I went with step 4 and made a whole new folder for my Itunes Music) If you did create a new folder called Itunes Media (or whatever you chose to call it) make sure you DELETE the old folder (itunes music or whatever you had originally) or you will have 2 folders with the same things in them, wasting alot of hard drive space.
6) Now you have to make a decision which library you would like to keep. yes, we will be merging, but we need to use ONE of the libraries in itunes. In my case, 75% of my stuff was on my laptop, so I decided to keep its library and use it on my Mac Pro (also, my Iphone is synced to my laptop as well so that was another reason I used that one. If one of the itunes libraries your merging is also used to sync your iphone I recommend using that library. ((just how I did it, YMMV)) For simplicity, lets call the library your going to KEEP the source, and the other copy the destination. Once you have decided which library is going to be the source, create a folder on the OTHER computer's desktop (the destination) and call it "itunes backup".
7) Start up Itunes one last time on the Destination computer and export any playlists you want with the new library. To do this, click the playlist, then File>Library>Export Playlist. When you export, it will ask you what format you would like. I just picked Plain Text. I exported my playlists to my desktop, but you can export them wherever you like.
Also, you need to check the movies, tv shows, podcasts, books and ringtones on each computer and write down a list of things you will need to merge from the destination computer to the new library. (eg, i had a few audiobooks on my destination machine that I didnt have on my laptop. I also had a few tv shows and podcasts on my destination machine I didnt have on my laptop. Since i will be using the library from my laptop on the destination machine, I wrote them down so that I could import them later and not worry about duplicates. (If you dont care about duplicates then I guess you dont need to write anything down and you can sort the dupes later in itunes when your done.)
8) on the destination computer (the one we created the folder on the desktop in the previous step), make sure itunes is NOT running, then open finder and go to the music folder, and then go to the folder Itunes. In this folder you will see a file called iTunes Library. Drag it to the folder you created on the desktop called Itunes backup. Next you will see a file called iTunes Music Library.xml
Drag this file as well to the folder on the desktop called iTunes Backup.
9) Now while still looking in the iTunes folder, you will see either a folder called iTunes Music or a folder called iTunes Media. (depending if you did step 4 or not above). Whichever folder you have, drag it as well to the folder on the desktop called iTunes Backup.
10) now, on the SOURCE machine (the one your going to use the iTunes library from) open finder and go to the Music folder, and then to the iTunes folder. Copy the iTunes folder and everything in it to the destination computer. In my case, since both my computers are on a network, I just copied it to the public folder on the destination computer. You can do this, or use a external harddrive, etc. Just make sure when you copy it to the destination computer, you DONT copy it to the Music folder.
11) After the copy is done, You should now go to the destination computer and go to the iTunes folder you just copied from the Source computer. We now need to copy 2 things (one file and one folder). Inside the iTunes folder drag the file "iTunes Library" to the /music/iTunes folder on the destination machine.
12) Lastly, now drag the folder "iTunes Media" (or iTunes Music) to the /music/iTunes folder on the destination computer.
13) start up itunes and go to iTunes>Preferences>Advanced and make sure the proper path is displayed in the iTunes Folder Media Location (it should be the path we copied the 2 files to, (eg, /music/iTunes.)
At this point, you should have a working copy of iTunes from your SOURCE machine running on the destination machine. next we need to merge the last few things to finish.
14) In iTunes, click File>Add to Library and browse to the folder on your desktop called "iTunes Backup". Inside the iTunes Music folder (or iTunes Media folder) click the music folder and then click choose to import the music.
15) next, if needed, in Itunes, click File>Add to Library and pick any Movies, Tv Shows, Books, etc that you didnt have and import them into your itunes library. If everything was the same on both machines, you dont have to do anything and you can skip this step. But if your like me, and had some things in your destination iTunes library you didnt have in your source, you will need to import them. This is where the list in step 7 comes in handy.
16) lastly, in iTunes, click File>Library>Import Playlist and import any playlists you exported in step 7
17) re download your album art and then the last thing you have to do is delete your music dupes and then your finished. To see a list of dupes, in iTunes, click File>Display Duplicates. You can either manually delete the duplicates (make sure you pick KEEP FILES when it asks if you would like to keep the file or delete it from the hard drive.) or use a 3rd party program like tidy songs or something.
Hope this tutorial was helpful, I spent way too long making it..lol..
And the answer to your second question... to stop auto start of itunes. Try clicking the apple logo in the top left corner, then click System Preferences, then click Accounts, then you will see a "Login Items" tab that shows whats starting up at login. Hope this helps.
If you have any questions or comments let me know, ill follow this thread for awhile to help if you need it.
Message was edited by: What2be1
Message was edited by: What2be1
Message was edited by: What2be1

I moved my library from laptop to desktop and now it's all messed up...help

So I moved my itunes library from my laptop to my desktop and when i synced the my 4GB ipod for the first time (formerly held about 700+ songs), it will now only hold around 400. Any ideas why it's doing this?
Thanks!!
Windows XP

Did you use the iPod to move the music from one computer to another?
If so, you may still have some files on there.
Restore the iPod to reclaim the storage space.
See: How to restore the iPod to factory settings.

How do I transfer my itunes library from my Mac desktop to my MacBook

I need help exporting itunes library from Mac desktop to Mac laptop

iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
do not confuse moving your whole folder and library with:
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

How do I transfer my iTunes Library from my Hp Desktop to my MacBook Pro?

I have a flash drive that I exported my iTunes library on to. But I cannot seem to get the Itunes Library to import onto my Macbook Pro. I neep help I really dont want to have to use two computers.

See Here for
Moving iTunes Library from PC to Mac
http://www.macworld.com/article/146958/2010/03/move_itunes_windows_mac.html

HT4623 My iphone wont import itunes library from laptop

My iphone won't import the itunes library from my mac. How do I fix this?

Please read this article on syncing data from itunes to your mobile device.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1386
Good luck friend.

Cannot access Desktop Itunes Library from Laptop

I have my Itunes library on my desktop pc which I access from my laptop with my ipod classic with no problems. My wife now has a 4th gen Ipod touch and i am trying to set up her laptop so she can access the same library and manage =her music via a playlist. From what I've read this should be pretty straight forward but I can't get it to work.
The laptops are running vista and the desktop XP, all with the latest version of Itunes.
The library was in my account on a user disk on the desktop. The system disk does not have enough room for the library (about 100 GB) so I moved it to a top level directory on the user disk. The user disl is shareable and I have ade the itunes library sharable. When I point itunes on my laptop to the new location I can access the new library. When I point my wife's itunes to the new library, itunes seens to accept it (no error message) but itunes stays on the local laptop library. On both laptops a drive is mapped to the user disk.
Any ideas what may be going on and how to fix it. I'm assuming itunes can be open on several systems at once? I also have home sharing on.
Thank,
George

Welcome to the Apple community.
What are you doing when you get this message, are you trying to set up homesharing or trying to access your library.

Moving iTunes library from laptop to new desktop

I'm thinking about getting an iMac desktop, and would like to move all my music and video files from my iBook to the new setup. What is the correct procedure for doing this? I'm reading on these boards that there's a way to just plug the computers into each other, but will that copy everything onto the new hard drive? I'm thinking about doing this because my 60 GB laptop's capacity is maxed out from my iTunes library (33 GB and growing); once I move it to the desktop can I trim down my laptop's iTunes library and still play from there? Can I then only update my iPod to the desktop (if I want the full library)?
Should I run it all through an external HD as a sort of middle man/back-up? Is this all much easier than I'm thinking it is?
I know...so many questions.
Thanks.
Lindsay

get the two, system prefs, click sharing, make sure personal file sharing is checked on both
second in finder click go in the menu bar and click connect to server, click browse
enter your login name and pass for the user account you want music from from the old computer . .
that computer will appear on your desktop, double click it, find your music folder, open itunes on the new computer and go to user/music/itunes/itunes music and drag itunes music into the library source on your new itunes . . . it will do the rest and this is also the best for the new computer, to create new files while coping not moving and taking all the old bagage with it.
then just clear your ipod and set it for the new iMac and back everything up from there and clear off the ibook. keep it authorized and when they are on network if iTunes is open on the desktop you will be able to play music from it, worked great i use it on 4 computers in my house . .
then as far as travel goes . . no music on the old laptop . . who cares, you have an ipod . . enjoy!
hope i understood your question, please feel free to ask if you have any more!

Want to access desktop pc Itunes library from laptop pc

Hi,
I have my Itunes library on my desktop pc, on a dedicated user disk. I have mapped the disk to my laptop and can see all user disk folders and files on my laptop (wireless). I want to be able to manage the desktop Itunes it from my laptop but can't seem to do it. When I go to advanced in my laptop Itunes and enter the desktop Itunes as the default file, it accepts the location but the Itunes library does not chamge. Any ideas? I do not want to do Home Sharing, I want to access the desktop library just as if it was on my laptop. I was able to do this befor but had to reinstall Itunes on my laptop and now accessing the desktop library no longer works.
Thanks,
George

There are a few things you could do, from networking the two computers to using an external hard drive. Have a look at this User Tip: Migrating iTunes for Windows to a new PC
If you can network the computers there is also this one: Copying songs over a network to use with iTunes for Windows
There are also a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists directly from your iPod, this is just a selection. Have a look at the web pages and documentation for these, they are generally quite straightforward.
iGadget Windows Only
iPodCopy Mac and Windows Versions
iPod Access Mac and Windows Versions
YamiPod Mac and Windows Versions
PodUtil Mac and Windows Versions
iPodCopy Mac and Windows Versions
PodPlayer Windows Only

Lost Itune library from laptop

We have our song libraby (mostly purchased music) intact on the desktop computer. When we recently got a new laptop, I was able to duplicate the same library on there too. I don't remember now exactly how I did that, but I know I had to "authorize" that computer.
Due to letting the laptop battery run too low, I lost the Itunes library there and would like to restore it. I don't want to move the desktop library, I just want to copy it back to the laptop.
Thanks,
Lenny

Probably the most straightforward way to copy iTunes from one computer to another computer is to network the two devices and copy over your iTunes folder. This works fine if you have been using iTunes to completely manage your music and all your songs are in iTunes Music not in different folders.
Copying the whole folder brings with it the iTunes Music folder and also the iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows) database file which holds all the information about your songs (Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, Last Played, Date Added, etc). You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?
On the PC you'll find the iTunes folder in: \Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\My Music\. When you copy the iTunes folder make sure you put it into the same location on the new computer. When you open iTunes on the second computer it will be the same as on the original one Songs, Playlists, Play Counts, Ratings etc. When I moved iTunes a while ago for my daughter I was also using the same version of iTunes, not sure how important that is but it's probably worth keeping them the same.

HT1386 i have followed your instructions and still i cannot add my itunes library from laptop to iphone

I have gone over these instructions numerous times and I still cannot add music from itunes library on my laptop to my iphone. What am I doing wrong?

Is it on a NTFS drive?
Mac can read but not write to NTFS, and it does not see all NTFS drives equally well.
To write to NTFS I use and recommend Paragon Software $20 NTFS for Mac OS X.
Ideally move iTunes to a Mac HFSX format drive though.

Deleted iTunes library from laptop - help!

I have just (stupidly) deleted my iTunes library instead of transferring to my new external hard drive... the recycle bin was already full so there is nothing in there. I followed the instructions on recreating a library but nothing happened ... is there anything I can do?? I have all the songs/downloads on my iPod - is there anyway of restoring the files from there or will iTunes just delete them if I plug it in?? I also purchased some new music today just before deleting - can I still get them back?
I'm not massively tech-minded so if anyone can help me using simple words (!!) I'd be really really really grateful!!!
Nicky

You should find this post from Zevoneer helpful if you want to recover music from your iPod.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9990366#9990366

Can I transfer my iTunes library from my dying desktop to my laptop?

My desktop is on it's last legs and I have ALL my itunes songs, videos, etc. on this computer (Windows XP). I want to pull all the songs off this desktop and put them all on my laptop (Windows Vista). My desktop does not have a cd/dvd burner but I do have a large external hard drive which I can use to transfer the songs, etc. Is there a document that will tell me how to do this or could someone help me out and tell me how to do this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Lindseybp

Could you just move them to the external HD and use them from there? See this link which is titled "iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Music folder"
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305451
I moved all my music off my PC to an external HD and repointed iTunes to this. All worked great. Only one issue - somehow I have everything noted as installed when I moved them rather than original load date. Maybe I did something wrong and could have avoided that, but it is not a biggie.
Message was edited by: gdcfc1

Itunes library from laptop to desktop

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for