ITunes Slow Writing ID3 Tags From External Drive

When adding files (music) located on my WD External Hardrive, and upon trying to add the album art, the process slows down... a lot. As opposed to when I add filed on my internal hardrive (from my laptop directly), which is a lot faster (seconds whereas from the External takes about 2-3 minutes per album of 12-16 songs)
It takes FOREVER to write these ID3 tags. Is there a way to speed this up? What gives?

Sorry, where is the file iTunes Library.itl? If you're not certain and don't know how to find out use this script: iTunesXMLPath
External drives take longer to process file operations than internal drives. Every operation in iTunes causes the database to be updated so if this is on a sluggish drive you will notice.
May help to exclude the library & media folders from any anti-virus scans. iTunes also slows up as you increase the number of playlists and the size of the library.
Are you certain your computer is running USB 2.0? What happens if you power down the computer and remove all USB devices except keyboard, mouse and external drive? (Of course this might be your usual config.) Is iTunes any faster? Are you connected to the front USB ports or the rear? The drive should not be connected through an external USB hub.
tt2

Similar Messages

  • ITunes re-writing id3 tags with deleted / edited information

    Help I think I'm going insane. I keep my iTunes music folder on a LaCie 160 gig Rugged drive. iTunes keeps on re-writing id3 tags on certain files with information I have previously deleted or changed. This info auto fills as soon as I play the file again. I'm not using any other application to change tags.
    Also if I reset the music library location and then put it back to the external drive it finds loads of new files without me adding.
    Any idea what is going on here? Totally confused. Ghost in the system! Is it cofusing 2 databases? There's only 1 iTunes library file in the folder.

    There is a setting in iTunes.
    'Automatically download missing album artwork'. In the past that interfered with anything not being complete. Is it switched on?
    The second reason is when you get MP3 files from a PC and the details were added through XP itself, updating it in Winamp would give all kinds of problems, perhaps a similar thing is happening here.
    There is no real solution. The only solution that worked in my past was to clean out the details and enter them again, but NOT through the file manager of XP.

  • How to reinstall iTunes and not lose everything from external drive.

    I had to reformat my hard drive.  All my iTunes files were (and still are) on an external drive.
    When I download the latest version of iTunes, I installed and set up my preferences to change the location of iTunes Media File to External Drive J:\iTunes\iTunes Music.
    When iTunes installs, it creates files and folders in C:\Users\Userxyz\Music\itunes
    So....Because iTunes didn't show any of my music, playlists, apps, etc. and because I had changed where to keep media files,
    I selected the "Add Folder to Library" option
    iTunes successfully displays all the music from this external drive and left the music files where they were.
    But....it also copied all of this music to a folder on my desktop called "Copy of Itunes".  Now, I have 3 *itl and "xlm files.  One on External Drive J, another in Music\iTunes on Drive C, and a 2nd in Copy of iTunes on the desktop.
    Missing from iTunes are my purchases.  All apps, purchased and free.  Playlists.
    I have a folder "Mobile Applications"  on the external drive and in Copy of iTunes, but both are empty.
    I wonder if I already lost my purchases.
    I would also like to keep my files on an external drive because I don't have enough space to keep iTunes on my main drive.
    I also use Vista.....
    I hope someone can help.  This is all very confusing
    Jeri

    When you say all of your iTunes files were on the external drive, do you mean all, or only the stuff that's inside the red outline below. The most important part of your library is the database file iTunes Library.itl which holds the records of your playlists, ratings and all other data that doesn't get stored in tags.
    Typical layout of iTunes folders:
    When the media folder is inside the main iTunes folder as shown above then the library is portable, and if the library is relocated to an external drive it will survive a wipe of the internal drive. However most users typically split their library when they find they are running out of room on the internal drive by choosing a new locaton for the media folder and then consolidating.
    If this is what you have done, and you don't have a backup of the library files, the iTunes Library.itl file in particicular, then your old library is lost forever. If you do have the files then it may be possible to get the right library file reconnected to the media provided you haven't been moving things around randomly.
    You can check each of the .itl files that you have on your computer in turn using the hold-down-shift-when-starting-iTunes method. If one of these has the correct playlists, and the drive letter of the external drive is the same as before, then it should all work.
    tt2

  • HT1364 How to install iTunes, but access music library from external drive?

    I tried to install iTunes (11) on a new computer with Windows 8.  I keep the iTunes library on an external drive.  I tried to move the media files over to the newly installed iTunes within the hard drive program files, but it doesn't seem to work.  The relevant threads in the forum are a bit over my head (I am brand new to Windows 8, having leaped over from XP).  Is there some simple way to straighten out the paths on iTunes so that it will properly play songs from the external drive, show my old songlists, etc?
    I've now uninstalled iTunes from computer.  Would like to reinstall without too much headache ...

    Hello there FunkyMuzak,
    iTunes can be set to use the library on the external drive, and save new content.
    To have iTunes open the alternate library on the drive use this option:
    Steps to create or choose a different iTunes Library file
    If iTunes is running, quit iTunes.
    If you are using Windows, hold down the Shift key and from the Start menu and choose All Programs > iTunes > iTunes.
    If you are using the Mac, open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option key.
    You should see one of the following screens:
    From: iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
              http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1589
    And to tell iTunes to save your new media when you buy songs or movies, etc., use this part of our article named Where are my iTunes files located? found here http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
    Discovering and changing the iTunes Media folder location
    Note: You would usually only change the iTunes Media folder location to share music between accounts on the same computer. See this article for specific steps on how to accomplish this. Also, see this article if you want to know how to move your music to a new computer.
    Mac OS X: Click the iTunes menu and choose Preferences.
    Windows: Click the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
    Click the Advanced pane. iTunes displays the location of your iTunes Media folder.
    You can then:
    Note where your media folder is, such as for backing up your media.
    Use the Reset button to reset it's location to the default (which is the iTunes folder).
    Click the Change button to select a folder for a new location. Once you change this location:
    If you make a new or alternate iTunes library, the new location will be used by that library.
    Existing files will not be moved unless you choose File > Library > Organize library and choose the option to "Consolidate files."
    Cheers,
    Sterling

  • Moving Itunes library back to desktop from external drive-problems

    I had moved my itunes library to an external HD becuase I did not have enough space on my desktop. I recently upgraded my desktop and tried moving my itunes library back. I did not go too well. After several tries I set itunes to keep the library on the external drive since I did not delete it. Now when I open itunes it can't find the location for 90% of my music. I hope the application did not delete the library on the external drive. I don't think it did since the file size has not changed. How can I set this up so my songs are on my desktop and can be accessed by itunes? Any help would be appreciated.

    I had used that article and followed it exactly but I am still having problems. I moved my library back to the external drive, all of my songs are there but itunes has to be directed to the songs to find them.

  • Itunes is slowing down my computer by writing ID3 tags

    What are ID3 tags? Itunes seems to be slowing down my computer and is becoming very slow to respond to commands because it says that it's "writing ID3 tags". This just started yesterday. I've been using Itunes for a couple of months.

    "hyjack".... a perfect word.... I can't operate any of my programs when it's writing these tags.
    Mysteriously it stopped yesterday. There might be a correlation between me shutting my computer down - figuring it needed to reset. Yesterday Itunes was working perfectly.
    So try the "old problem solver" ..shutting your computer down when you go to sleep.... a full rest....or shut it down for a full ten minutes. See if that works.
    evie

  • Just purchased 27" iMac had my iTunes library on PC on an external drive I've been trying to copy from pc external drive to mac external drive. at a certain point while copying i get error system 8260 unable to continue any suggestions

    trying to copy my Itunes music library from external drive(previously had PC) to new hard drive. at a certain point system error 8260 warning appears unable to continue coppying

    What formats are the two drives?  NTSF on the PC side is usually not readable by Macs unless they have changed something recently or you are using some third party support.
    Since this is a file copying issue and not really iTunes, you might wish to have this moved to the Lion forums since people there might recognize it.  I couldn't find that error anywhere on the web for Mac.

  • MOVING mp3-files from external drive into iTunes automatically

    Hi all,
    for historical reasons (mainly because I was coming from Windows years ago) I have stored all my mp3-Files (audiobooks, songs, etc) on an external harddrive. My iTunes library is stored on the external drive, too and all media content in my iTunes library is manually linked to the external drive.  Today the option iTunes >Setting >"Let iTunes manage your library" ias well as "Copy filed to iTunes Media folders" is UNchecked.
    In my iTunes library there is only a subset of all mp3-files included.
    Now, I would love to get my library moved to the mac as well as the audio and video-files, and let iTunes manage the storage of the library!
    As far as I know once I move the library (manul or automatic) to the Mac and check the option to let iTunes manage the and copy content, then iTunes will COPY the medial files to the Mac.
    Given that I have only included a subset of my entire repository in iTunes I will then end up with a mess of mediafiles on my external drive where some are doublicated while others aren't. I will be impossible to figure out afterwards what is included in iTunes and what isn't.
    Hence the perfect process would be if iTunes could, while executing the import following the automation-Option (see above) and MOVE the files from the whereever and bring it to the place it want's it to be.
    Is there any way to get this automated and get iTunes MOVE the files instad of copying?
    That would be a tremendous help!
    Many Thanks for your thoughts!
    Mattthias

    Hi mradvanyi,
    For help with adding music files to iTunes I would suggest looking over the steps in this article -
    iTunes: About the Add to Library, Import, and Convert functions
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1347
    If this does not help, please respond and we will see what else can be done.
    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
    Best,
    Brett L

  • Why is my iTunes so slow when used on an external drive

    I have an late 2006 iMac Intel 2.0GHz w/ 512mb ram, Model MA200LL. It has a 250GB HD. 13.4GB of used space on the internal HD. The problem has occurred when it had Tiger and has persisted through Leopard 10.5.2.
    I have 125GB of music on a Seagate Free Agent 250GB external hard drive. When I try to delete a song it takes 87 seconds to delete. When I scroll through the 22,222 songs I get a spinning wheel for 10 - 15 seconds. Switching songs works very good.
    I used the same external drive on my Mac Pro (2.66GHz - 1GB Ram) and when I try the same actions it works instantly.
    The same issues arises when I used a 500GB WD World Book external hard drive.
    I have run Onyx which reported no problems with the internal hard drive.
    Should I expect to delete files quicker on the iMac in iTunes? If there is a problem, what can I do so that I get iTunes to perform better using an external drive?
    Thank you.

    One thing that you can do in general to help overall performance is upgrade your RAM. The late 2006 iMacs should be able to take up to 3GB of RAM(some people install 4GB anyway) but even going up to 2GB should help your system a lot. Besides RAM is cheap these days: http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=288&type=Memory&TI=3454&shoup grds=Show+Upgrades
    The Free Agent drives are USB only so for one thing USB will be slower than your internal drive by at least half, however it still shouldn't take 10-15 seconds to access unless something else is going on. What version of iTunes do you have? Did you try Repairing the Disk Permissions and Verifying your internal drive? Try resetting the SMC and see if that helps: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303446
    Should I expect to delete files quicker on the iMac in iTunes? If there is a
    problem, what can I do so that I get iTunes to perform better using an external
    drive?
    Yes. The internal drive inside your iMac has read/write speeds somewhere between 55-65MB/sec while your USB will max out at about 30MB/sec. This may not fix your problem but just as recommendation, next time purchase an external drive that has a Firewire connection. Firewire 400 maxes out at about 40MB/sec but overall performance is usually better than USB 2.0.
    George

  • 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.
    (61573)

  • Move Itunes media from external drive

    Itunes media file located on failing external drive. Need to move time machine backup copy (on a different external drive) back to mac hd. Advice on this procedure please

    Open Time Machine, find the iTunes folder you want to restore, select it, right click and select Restore to...  and select /Music/ on the internal drive.

  • "Writing ID3 tags..." every 10 seconds!  AAARRRGH!

    It seems that ever since I upgraded to iTunes 6, once iTunes loads, I keep getting the "Writing ID3 tags..." message every 10 seconds! Of course, everything freezes until the progress bar reaches the end, and then the message disappears. This gives me a whole... ten seconds to do anything I need to do with iTunes and then BAM! the whole thing happens again. And again. And again. I don't want to use iTunes ANYMORE!!! ...which is a shame because now I am screwed for updating my iPod. What should I do?!?!?!?
    Various   Windows XP  

    I have the same problem.
    In fact, even if I minimize iTunes and work in another application, iTunes will pop up that "writing ID3 tags" window on top of whatever I'm doing, every so often. It appears to do it twice per song it plays. In fact, if I minimize iTunes, and then this window comes up, then iTunes will retore its window again! It makes it impossible to use iTunes to play MP3 files. If I minimize iTunes to the tray icon, then the main iTunes application will not restore, but the window will still interrupt whatever I'm typing on.
    I have imported a 6000 legal mp3 song library from my Linux file server (it still stores the files on the file server). It may be that this behavior only happens the first time I play each song, but that's still pretty bad (it'll take months to play through all those songs).
    It'd be great if we could get some information on this problem from someone who actually knows what to do about it. And, even better, an actual fix -- iTunes doesn't exactly seem to be the best behaved Windows application there is right now, which is a shame.

  • How do I get my new pc to see my itunes library already residing on my external drive?

    I have a laptop pc connected to an external drive.  My iTunes libary was moved to an external drive because it took up so much memory. I have a new desktop pc now.  I downloaded iTunes onto it and I am trying to get it see the iTunes library on the external drive now, but it will not.  Any thoughts on how to make that happen?

    Hey KHpod,
    Thanks for the question, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.
    It sounds like you are attempting to open up the iTunes library from your external drive. The following article may provide the resolution to your issue:
    iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
    Thanks,
    Matt M.

  • ITunes changes my ID3 tags... more info please.

    Hello,
    I'm in the process of setting up a podcast on iTunes for my church. Here is the feed. http://www.christcommunity.org.au/feed/?post_type=sermons
    Now, when I subscribe to the feed in iTunes and download a file, I notice that two important ID3 tags have changed.
    1. Album changes. In 'The Authority of Jesus.mp3', it is 'The Life of Jesus' on my web server but it is 'Christ Community Church » Sermons' when downloaded from iTunes.
    2. Contributing Artists changes. In 'The Authority of Jesus.mp3', it is 'David Cunningham' on my web server bu it is 'Christ Community Church' when downloaded from iTunes.
    Why do these ID3 tags change? Thanks.

    Roger,
    Thanks for your reply to my post. I am not concerned about what appears in iTunes as such, and I understand how that relates to the <iTunes:> tags in the feed. The Apple documentation is pretty clear on this.
    However, in the feed, the file is specified by:
    <enclosure url="http://media.blubrry.com/christcommunitychurch/www.christcommunity.org.au/ wp-sermons/20110306-ChristCommunity-Mark1.mp3" length="8640981" type="audio/mpeg" />
    Now, when I download the file from that URL and look at the ID3 tags, the Album is set to 'The Life of Jesus' and the Contributing Artists is set to 'David Cunningham'. When I download the same podcast episode through iTunes, using the same feed, the ID3 tags change, as specified in my original post.
    The feed is created by Blubrry/PowerPress but this process does not alter the ID3 tags.
    So the question still remains, why is iTunes changing my ID3 tags? Thank you for your assistance.

  • Itunes Library and ID3 tags

    Hi,
    So here's my problem :
    I spent hours cleaning my MP3 collection and re-Writing ID3 tags in order to have a clean Itunes Library without "Blink 182" and "Blink-182" (for exemple) in the Explorer but just "Blink 182".
    And importing my tied up music in the library, I noticed that there still was "Blink-182".
    I checked my ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags : They're all the same : "Blink 182".
    I don't understand where iTunes takes these artists name since they aren't in the tags.
    Can you help me or these hours of cleaning where worthless ?
    Thanks

    If you open iTUnes, rightclick the song, hit "Get Info" and the artist field is "Blink 182" instead of "Blink-182" then all you need to do is play the song and iTunes should read the tag and correct the info.
    If it does not do this one of the 2 is most likly happening, theres multiple tags on the song that needs to be stripped off using the program "TidyMP3" or windows media player is "Sneaking around" in the background and changing them back based on the info its getting off the net, in which case you will have to open WMP, goto tools>oPtions>Library tab and UNCHECK "Retrieve info off the internet"

Maybe you are looking for