Itunes music on external drive help

WHY? When I set the Adv prefs in iTunes and point it to my music which resides on an external drive (Time Capsule) ~ that (upon launch) if it can't see the drive on the network it decides to create the default "mac hd/users/itunes" folder!!!
Of course it remembers the "keep folders organized" and create mayhem .... MAYHEM!
If I put the HD alias in Startup Items, will it at least TRY to mount the disc, and then subsequently be connected at the time of iTunes launch???
This is a nuisance. It has caused my wife to import CDs multiple times. Redundantcy?! Bah!!!
iTunes: OH NO!!!
Me: Interrupted? A quick network ping or search brings it right back into use!
iTunes: "Oh no! I've lost the song (that is currently PLAYING)!!! What do I do??? I know! Make the DEFAULT User folder!!!
Me: Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!

Thanks for your post! I used my wife's iMac to post the above rant...
Basically you've re-explained exactly what is happening. I have always pointed to external media, so I set up the iMac the same way.
Media and Library to me are the same things, but iTunes "Library" (.itl) file includes the prefs. (Which point to the external media collection of that .itl "user"... or they should, yes??)
When the drive sleeps, or isnt mounted, an iTunes launch is just being silly be jettisoning the prefs and going back to the ol' user/music/itunes folder nonsense, etc. It should pop up a dialog letting you know that the library is residing on a drive which cannot be found. (hundreds of in iTunes??? great!!!)
It also happens upon waking from a sleep, etc.
I'm just wishing it were a bit more robust and not so easily fussed up. Having someone remember to hold OPT key before launch each time ain't gonna be hapnin'...
Friends dont let friends post drumnk...
Now everything will be in "The Cloud" so... I'm not quite sure when the Cloud rains or if it's a sunny blue-sky day (ew... too Microsofty) that what the app will decide to do to your new CD that you bought at the concert last night and you're flying it into your library or media or cloud or whatever...

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Moving iTunes Music to external drive

If I move my iTunes music folder to an external hard-drive because I'm running out of space on my PC's internal drive, can I then just go to preferences in iTunes and change the folder location and carry on as normal or do I have to act like I'm moving my music to a completely new computer and copy my music to a folder on my Ipod then copy it back to the external drive? Hope this makes sense...
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If I move my iTunes music folder to an external hard-drive because I'm running out of space on my PC's internal drive, can I then just go to preferences in iTunes and change the folder location and carry on as normal
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Itunes music on external drive - how to get it back onto mac.

hi - some time ago I transferred my growing itunes library to an external hard drive. The database remained on the mac. My mac was an old powerpc imac. So far no problem. Things moved on and I have just bought a new imac i3 etc. I would now like to transfer my itunes content to the new mac as it has loads of space. Alternatively I would be happy to keep the music on the external drive. I transferred the contents of the old mac to the new mac without any difficulty. The database on itunes arrived seemlessly on the new mac. I plugged in the external hard drive and nothing worked. I had forgotten that the old mac was power pc and the new mac was of course intel.
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mdockrell wrote:
will make sure both machine are running the same version and try again
again, the version shouldn't matter - the worst that could happen is that the newer version would need to update the library (which may take a while).
if you still have access the the PPC, try copying its iTunes folder once more to the intel. you can use a thumb drive or connect the two Macs with a firewire cable, boot the source Mac in _*Target Disk Mode*_, and copy the entire iTunes folder from <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on the source to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on the target (overwriting the iTunes folder in place there).
connect the external to the intel and wait for it to mount, then launch iTunes.
what happens ?

Move iTunes music to external drive to make space on MacBook Q

I want to move all my music to an external drive as I am running out of space. Is there a manual that says how or does anyone have instructions to do it. read all the posts on here but they all say different things!.
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Copy your iTunes folder from yourusername/Music to wherever you want it on the external drive, then point iTunes to the new location.
Adapt my instructions here: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=7778427#7778427
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ITunes music on external drive how to get iTunes to see them

Hi
I am using iTunes 9 and I have had to archive and install, but the problem now is that iTunes on my hard drive can't see the tunes on an external drive.
Ta

Open iTunes with the Option key held down, click on Choose Library, and point it there, or drag the songs or a folder containing them into the open iTunes window.
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Alias for iTunes music on external drive?

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Can you say all of this again and word it differently?
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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
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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.

Moving iTunes Music to external hard drive

I am trying to move my iTunes music library to an external hard drive to free up space on my HD, but I'm having trouble. Tried the following, suggested by MacMuse:
iTunes Preferences -> Advanced tab; Keep Music Folder organized ... should be enabled.
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1 - in version 5, this file is now known as iTunes Music Library.itl
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I think you mistakenly looked in the preferences for 'Consolidate Library..'.
It's in the Advanced menu in the menubar.
You will find more info in this article:
iTunes: Moving your iTunes Music folder
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.3.9) Several ext. HD (backup and data)

Moved iTunes to an external drive, library files can't be located - help?!?

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.
Now I can see all my songs/movies/videos in folders on the external, but can't get my iTunes to associate with it when I open it.
Is there any way to fix this? I'm tearing my hair out, here. I have a full backup on DVDs - will that help?
Thanks!

got to the part about moving the old iTunes folder to the recycle bin.
There is no part about moving the _iTunes folder_ to the recycle bin.
There is a part about moving th _iTunes music folder_ to the recycle bin.
Did you move them to the external by using iTunes menu File -> Library -> Consolidate?
Or did you move them to the external yourself?
Which folders exactly did you move?

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 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.

How do l play music from external drive using itune.

Does anyone know how to use itune to play music from external drive without upload sounds to the itune libray.

You don't. Use the QuickTime Player instead.
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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

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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…?
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Itunes music on external drive help

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