ITunes media folder on external hard drive

I moved my iTunes librrary to my external TC and hook up to it wirelessly.  How do I get my iTunes library to stop changing to my local drive on my MBA?  It has changed now 3 times from my TC to MBA.
iTunes 11.1

Interesting . . . I run iTunes off an external. My computer does not sleep, but I don't have any issues when I restart, though I technically don't log off. Do you have other users on your computer? If so, do they use the same external drive for music?
Sharon

Similar Messages

  • Is it possible to keep all iTunes media on an external hard drive and not on my Mac Book and have ITunes still function?

    Let me begin by saying I'm new to the Mac world as well as to the realm of online forums so I apologize if this is a question that was already asked and/or if it is a very noobish question...
    But anyway, I just recently got the new Macbook Pro 15" with RD and I am curious if I can keep all of my Itunes media on an external hard drive without keeping any of it on the Macbook itself and have Itunes still function (when the HD is connected of course). I am trying to keep the computer memory clutter free and not fill it up with music and stuff so I want to keep all of my media on a 1T Buffalo external hard drive so the computer stays like brand new for a long time..Right now I have about 5G worth of music on my hard drive and I thought it was only on the hard drive and I just recently found out that it is also within the music folder on the computer itself. Any thoughts? Sorry if it is an odd question, I can try to rephrase the question if need be. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated, Thanks!

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    2011 ilounge article: Transferring your iTunes library - http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/  - An article with good background information (similar to the links above), particularly if you are not sure your media files are all grouped for quick answer above. Unfortunately under the single term "transferring library" it describes two very different moves; relocating just your media (not  really transferring your library and not recommended unless you really need this configuration), and relocating media+database (really your whole "library").  Make sure you understand the difference before electing to move only media.

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    This diagram shows how a typical iTunes library ought to be set out (click on it to enlarge)
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  • Moving a shared iTunes Media Folder to another hard drive

    For many years our family has been sharing our iTunes media on a single computer. Currently there are 3 of us. We each have our own iTunes Library in our ~/Music/iTunes folders, but all the shared media is in /Users/Shared/Music.
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    If your library files are on the current external drive, with the media folder inside the main library folder, then simply copy this folder to the new drive and use the hold option/shift when starting iTunes method to open the library in its new location.
    If your media folder is on the external but the library files are on the internal drive then start by copying the contents of your iTunes folder, *iTunes Library, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, sentinel, Album Artwork* folder etc. to the parent folder of the media folder on the external. (You can leave the .xml file behind, it will have a slightly different name in the new location and will be recreated automatically.) Use the option-launch-iTunes method above to open the library on the external drive. Make sure it all works properly then close it and proceed as outlined in the first paragraph.
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  • How to change iTunes Media Folder location after Hard Drive Died

    I have been trying to figure this out from other posts but can't seem to find what I am looking for. I store all my music files on an external hard drive. Recently, the external drive died on me. Fortunately, I had the external backed up on another drive using Time Machine. I bought a new drive for the music and transferred the files onto the new drive. My question is what do I do next? Currently iTunes still searches for the files on the dead drive and I get the exclamation marks next to each song which is obviously not a surprise. I want to change the Media Folder preferences to the new drive but will I then lose all my playlists? Basically what I want to do is direct iTunes to the new drive and keep everything else intact. Is that possible? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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    You might read what this has to say about consolidate and dupes.
    http://www.keyscorner.com/archives/2009/03/07/removing-duplicate-files-in-itunes /
    More info here on consolidation:
    http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive/
    Message was edited by: Diane Wordsmith

  • How do I access my iTunes media from an external hard drive?

    I have a new MacBook Air and want to access my media files from an external drive. I previously had a MacBook Pro and had to move all media to an external drive because I ran out of space. I've tried launching iTunes, going to Preferences, going to the Advanced Tab and then moving the location to the external drive and got this question: Would you like iTunes to move and rename the files in your new iTunes Media folder to match the “Keep iTunes Media folder organized” preference? Should I say yes? If I say yes, will iTunes be able to automatically find my files on the external drive?

    hey, basically i had the same problem as you. i had all of my itunes on an external hard drive and just bought a macbook pro, so here is what i was told to do....plug in the external hard drive to your MBA and then when you open itunes hold down the option button while you click and hold it down till you see a pop up window, it will ask you what library you want to use, click choose library and choose the itunes file that is on your external hard drive. and then all of your stuff will be in the itunes.
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    i hope i was able to answer your question sam and hopefully can have my question answered too.
    thanks!
    - sorry sam, don't mean to hijack your thread but hopefully it will help us both - i don't want to store any media )movies, music, podcasts, apps, any of that stuff on my macbook pro's hard drive, so say there is a way to get itunes to open without my external hooked up and i can still see my media, or not see my media and i want to download a song or a app that i see when i am not near my external....what is the easiest way to get that file onto the external and not have it taking up space on my macbook pro's hard drive? sorry for all the long questions
    Message was edited by: thenumbersarebad - thought of one more thing - sorry

  • Error message when moving iTunes music folder to External Hard Drive

    I have followed the instructions in Apple support to move my iTunes music folder to an external hard drive. During the consolidate library step, only half of my music is transferred before I get the error message "Copying music failed. The disk could not be read from or written to."
    Has anyone gotten the same message, and what was your experience correcting the issue?
    15" Powerbook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    In Windows, you go through File >> Library >> Organize Library. here you can choose to consolidate your library. this should do the job.. alternatively you could take a look at this blog..
    http://www.tuaw.com/2006/09/19/how-to-keep-your-itunes-library-on-an-external-ha rd-drive/
    Even though its step by step on mac you should be able to figure it out from there.
    Message was edited by: MuldVarp3N

  • I moved my itunes media from one external hard drive to another. How do I change the shortcut on my desktop to open to the new external hard drive?

    Ok, so i originally installed itunes on an external hard drive (G drive) and not my PC. So my itunes runs completely from my external and that how I like it. Well over time it got full so I bought and moved all my media over to a bigger 2TB external hard drive (D drive). I verified that all the media (music, movies, tv show etc) are all on the new drive and everything points to it. However the itunes shortcut on my desktop still points to the G drive external. If I unplug it and try to open itunes it gives me an error. So I have to keep the G external drive plugged in just to launch itunes and then use my new D external to get the media. How the heck do I change that? I tried moving the itunes.exe file over to the new drive but that didnt work. I want it to run exclusively off the new D external. Please Help Me!!! I am using Win 7 if that helps.

    My DeDuper script is designed to help clean up. See this thread for background.
    tt2

  • Moving iTunes Library folder to External Hard Drive?

    My iTunes Library folder is currently on my (internal) hard drive, which is very low on space. A great deal of my music is on my external hard drive, which iTunes accesses just fine (I've not, of course, chosen to copy the music into the iTunes Library folder). My question is, is there an easy way to change the iTunes Library folder to a directory on my external hard drive and ensure that new things I download such as purchased music or apps will download to that directory? I changed the folder as shown in the Advanced tab of Preferences to my external drive, tried downloading an app, and it still downloaded to the internal hard drive.
    I'm starting to get a bit claustrophobic about space left on my main drive, and I'd like to relieve it if possible. Thanks!
    EazyCheeze

    In Windows, you go through File >> Library >> Organize Library. here you can choose to consolidate your library. this should do the job.. alternatively you could take a look at this blog..
    http://www.tuaw.com/2006/09/19/how-to-keep-your-itunes-library-on-an-external-ha rd-drive/
    Even though its step by step on mac you should be able to figure it out from there.
    Message was edited by: MuldVarp3N

  • How do I get my iTunes to reference an external hard drive folder?

    I don't want to put all of my music on my laptop. I would like iTunes to reference my external hard drive iTunes folder for my music rather than the default folder on my computer. I have tried to change the iTunes Media folder to my "iTunes - External," but when I then re-open my iTunes, there is no music there. Help?

    The only work around I have ever figured out for this problem is to create a new library with a different name and then add the music folder on your external HD to iTunes, Depending on the size this may take a while but it has worked for me. Good luck!

  • I put all my itunes folder on external hard drive, now I want to put it back on the mac how do i do this

    put all my itunes folder on external hard drive, now I want to put it back on the mac how do i do this.

    Drag the entire iTunes folder back to /Music.

  • Bought a MBA and am trying to keep iTunes files on an external hard drive. Having problems.

    Hi, I bought a MBA 13" and want to keep my iTunes files on an external hard drive to save space.However, I keep running into problems. I can't get the iTunes Media folder to stay on the folder in my external hard drive. Whenever I unplug it, regardless if iTunes is open or not, it changes back to the media file on the MBA. I tried renaming the media folder and deleting it, but the computer just makes another if I do that and then ends up deleting my whole library, forcing me to load it all back from my hard drive. Can anyone help me out on this? Thanks.

    In iTunes 11 uncheck the preferences setting in in the iTunes Preferences panel "Advanced > Copy Files to iTunes Media folder when adding to Library"

  • How do I create an iTunes library on an external hard drive?

    I have a MacBook Pro running OS10.6.8 and iTunes 10.3.1.
    I have simply run out of hard drive space on my laptop.
    I want to create a secondary iTune library on an external hard drive.
    (I know how to create a new iTune Library - it ends up in my Music folder on my laptop hard drive).
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    a) create or move this folder to an external hard drive, and
    b) once done, how do I move my video files (television programs and movies) from my laptop iTune folder to the external hard drive?
    Thank you for any assistance.

    no need to create a secondary library - too troublesome, IMHO. you can spread your library over as many drives you can connect to your Mac (wired or wirelessly):
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    on the same tab, ensure the copy files ... when adding option is checkmarked
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    select consolidate files from the pop-up menu
    wait for the process to finish
    when done, you may delete the original files from your boot drive.
    alternatively, you could move the whole shabang to the external HD:
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    when done, be sure to point iTunes media folder location to the external so that new additions to your library will be put there. also, you need to make sure the external is mounted on your desktop before you fire up iTunes.

  • How do I combine an iTunes library on an external hard drive (laptop) with an iTunes library on an external hard drive on my PC?

    How can I combine the iTunes library on an external hard drive (hooked to laptop) with  the iTunes library on an external hard drive (hooked to PC) so that both external HD's and both laptop and PC have all the music on each one?

    no need to create a secondary library - too troublesome, IMHO. you can spread your library over as many drives you can connect to your Mac (wired or wirelessly):
    iTunes > preferences > advanced.
    point iTunes media folder location to the external
    on the same tab, ensure the copy files ... when adding option is checkmarked
    okay out of preferences
    highlight the content to be moved in iTunes and right-click
    select consolidate files from the pop-up menu
    wait for the process to finish
    when done, you may delete the original files from your boot drive.
    alternatively, you could move the whole shabang to the external HD:
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    when done, be sure to point iTunes media folder location to the external so that new additions to your library will be put there. also, you need to make sure the external is mounted on your desktop before you fire up iTunes.

  • How do you use home sharing if Itunes library is on external hard drive?

    How do you set up home sharing if IPhoto and Itunes libraries are on external hard drive?

    You might want to start with a new instandce of iTunes - instructions on how to do this is on the web depending on whether you're running Windows or Appls Software.  The below URL is one site you can use.
    http://ipod.about.com/od/advanceditunesuse/ss/Multiple-Itunes-Libraries-One-Comp uter.htm
    Set up your iTunes to utilize the music files on your external Hard Drive.
    On iTunes pull down menu select Preferences.
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    Click on the File pull down menu and import the folder containing your music into iTunes.
    Turn on Home Sharing on your computer  - Click on the File pull down menu and click on Home Sharing.
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