Itunes To External Drive

I am backing up my music on an external drive, WD My Book Premium Edition 320 GB. How do I transfer my playlist to the external drive so it is stored as a compilation, rather than as separate songs? I tried creating a 'Smart Playlist' and dragging it to the external drive icon, but it still stores it as separate songs? I would prefer the list to be stored like a CD would, in one file with all the songs under it. I am an intermediate computer user. Any help would be appreciated.

You don't.
Just copy the entire iTunes folder to the external.
Better yet, you should be backing up your entire HD.
SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner are 2 good apps to do this.
You can set them to do it automatically. I have it set to back up twice a week.

Similar Messages

If i move itune to external drive does time machine still have backup?

if i move itune to external drive does time machine still have backup?
I just moved my itunes off my macbook pro because it was taking up too much space and put it on an external hard drive. i have a second external hard drive that i use for time machine. when i update time machine next will my itunes files be removed from the backup since they are no longer on my internal hard drive (what time machine backs up?) basically, i want to make sure i have a second copy of my itunes besides the one on my first external hard drive and i was wondering if time machine will still have all of that data (on the second external hard drive).
i cant find this answer anywhere!!! thanks so much!!!

Check to see whether or not it's excluded in the Time Machine pane of System Preferences.
Items deleted from the hard drive won't be deleted from the backup until the backup location runs out of space.
(63157)

Problem with iTunes and external drive

I moved my files to an external hard drive months ago but apparently forgot to uncheck the auto synch button. It seems that I just managed to copy them all back to my computer hard drive where I now only have 6gb. Since I originally moved the files I have put some movies and a little music on the computer and have iPad files in the mix. How to I get it all synched so that I know I have everything and then delete it from my hard drive?
I then would like to add some new CDs to the IPod, but do not want them stored on my computer drive, just external drive.
Please feel free to treat me like I am clueless because I am. Once I burned my entire Cd collection and moved it I have not done anything else with iTunes except buy the occasional app.
Thanks in advance for the help.
I was trying to follow directions on another post which did not seem to fit so I began trying random things. Very bad idea!
Cyndi

Nevermind. I figured it out.

Itunes on external drive will not open - error message 13014

I have never posted a question here before - just kind of been stumbling my way around the forums looking for answers, which has usually worked for me - until today. About a year ago, I moved my itunes (music and movies) to an external drive to free up space on my imac - following instructions in one of these forums. It has been working with very few issues until today. Suddenly, I am unable to open itunes. I get the error message 13014. I have tried restarting (several times) and updating itunes with no luck. I am at a complete loss. I am afraid if someone asks how exactly I moved my itunes library, I won't be able to answer that. Until today, I've been opening up my itunes by holding down the option key while opening itunes, and it has worked just fine, but now I am faced with this error message and no itunes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Try this discussion...
https://discussions.apple.com/message/12059605#12059605
From the More Like This section on the right

How do I use Itunes from external drive as main sync for Iphone 4

I apologize if this is obvious but I have searched for quite awhile without finding result.
I currently have my iTunes synced to my Macbook Pro. I purchased a Macbook Air for ease in travel. I would like to move sync of my material on iTunes to my Air as I carry it more with me.
I was told at an Apple Store to purchase a Time Machine and an external hard drive. Both I purchased. I then read for a few hours how to move my itunes to the external drive. The only way I could finally get it to work was to physically connect a USB between the MacBook Pro and the External Drive. Once my Pro recognized the External Drive I dragged my Itunes and watched it copy all the data.
Unfortunately, when I am on the Air I cannot locate within Finder the External Drive. I do see my time Machine but cannot figure out how to get my itunes data from the external drive through the time machine.
You still with me?
So, can someone help me understand how to go the next step. As I understand from reading this forum I would then go into my Advanced Properties in Itunes (on the Air) and choose to relocate where the iTunes sync occurs. Then I can use my Air for syncing as it wont be dependent on the limited space and once I've changed the properties location for where to find my iTunes data I wont be dependent on the Pro.
PS: Yes I've downloaded all of the newest product software updates (iTunes, iPhone OS, Macs) as of the date this is posed 3/20/2011

try this:
hold the option key and launch iTunes. at the prompt, click on +choose library+ and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
obviously, the external holding your library must be mounted on your desktop for iTunes to find it.
if the drive is connected but doesn't show up on the Air's desktop, go finder > preferences > general and check if +external disks+ is check marked under +show these items on the desktop+.

Using iTunes on external drive with new computer

My mac died a few weeks ago but I had my iTunes library on an external drive.
Trying to point my new mac at this same external drive so that I can get iTunes running again but can't seem to make it work.
Is there any way around this without reimporting everything?

ldav wrote:
I had my iTunes library on an external drive.
what exactly do you have on the external ? the entire iTunes folder or just the iTunes music (or media) folder ?
Trying to point my new mac at this same external drive so that I can get iTunes running again but can't seem to make it work.
that tells iTunes where to put newly added content, not where the current content is.
JGG

Moving iTunes from external drive to new computer

I have my itunes stored on an external drive lettered "E". How can I move them to my new computer. The external drive letter "E" is not available on the new computer but the hard drive is plenty large enough to hold my whole collection and I would like to install them on it. I have already copied my itunes music folder and libraries to the new computer.
Thanks for any input.

This did not work. I signed into the iTunes store as the same user and I can still not play the music I purchased or the music I am authorized to play that others purchased. Can anyone help out with this question?

Itunes on external drive

I have screwed up my iTunes library. I have a ton of movies and music on a drive and I cannot figure out how to make it my iTunes destination. I have no problem accessing everything I have purchased - its all in the cloud. How can I fix this I will show you some screen shots of my drive and what my iTunes says now.
Theres nothing in the iTunes folder in second shot - that was just me trying to fix. When I open iTunes Folder 2015 -which I named- you see the last shot - all my movies and music and in the ones labeled as such and home videos - those are the ones I am concerned about and would like to be able to access say for example on my Apple TV. Hopefully someone can help me fix this mess.
Thanks
<Image Edited for Personal Information>

You do not use preferences to get iTunes to recognize the location of media. It is only used to tell iTunes that is where you desire it to store any media added to the library in the future. As it says "Media folder location", but a library is more than a media folder just as a city library is more than a bunch of boxes of books on a street corner.
The best way to get iTunes to put the library on an external drive is to first ensure (as norm123 suggests) you have it all together in one package inside your iTunes folder. You then copy the folder with all the media and all the support files to the external drive. Start iTunes while holding down the option/alt key so it asks you which library to use, and select the iTunes folder you just copied to the external drive.
If you do not have it all together in one place, perhaps because you do not have enough room on the internal drive, then we will need detailed listings of which library components you have where and we will have to re-assemble your library from the bits and pieces. This isn't a simple matter, particularly when using an external drive. iTunes will not keep track of things your move, you have to let iTunes itself do the moving.
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
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.

Backed up iTunes on external drive and lost my playlists

Hey Everyone,
So here is my issue. I use my macbook for DJing purposes and decided to backup my iTunes library to an external hard drive incase of a crash so I dont loose my precious music. So I went into my preferences, Advanced, and changed the iTunes folder location to my external, and consolidated the library which backed up my files to the drive but did not delete them from the internal drive, However whenever I would click a song to play it said it could not find the file. So I went back into preferences and changed the folder location back to iTunes music but that still didnt work. To make a long story short, I ended up Re importing the playlist (From internal Drive) back into itunes which worked fine. Here is my main issue.... All of my playlist folders are there but they are all empty. I have about 100 of them and are very very organized. I am wondering since I backed up the library to the external drive, Are the playlist folders on my external hard drive and how can I retrieve them if they are? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in Advance!

decided to backup my iTunes library to an external hard drive incase of a crash so I dont loose my precious music. So I went into my preferences, Advanced, and changed the iTunes folder location to my external, and consolidated the library which backed up my files to the drive
This is not a backup. This copies everything in iTunes to the new location and iTunes will use that location from now on.
The music located in /Music/iTunesiTunes music/ folder is no longer needed or used by iTunes.
However whenever I would click a song to play it said it could not find the file
iTunes was looking for it on the external (which you probably unplugged/umnounted).
I am wondering since I backed up the library to the external drive
You did not back up the library to the external.
You consolidated everything in iTunes to the external and iTunes will use that.
As Jim noted, if you want to to backup, copy the entire iTunes folder.
Jim'
If you somehow lost it, look for it in the "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder in your music folder.
The itl file gets copied into the *Previous iTunes Libraries* folder only when you update iTunes.

PLaying music in iTunes from external drive

I have all my music on an external drive. I want to be able to play this music in iTunes without copying the music to my internal HD. In Windows it doesn't copy to internal, but in OSX it does. Also, when I have music on my computer (internal) and the first time I click it to play it copied to my iTunes Music folder, thus creating 2 copies on my computer.

To prevent iTunes to copy the files, uncheck 'Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library' in Preferences>Advanced>General.
M

Drag and Drop from inside iTunes to external drive won't work

Hello all, I have a huge library of nearly 6000 cds on my computer, all in itunes. I have lots backed up on DL dvds, but i bought a 1tb drive to back up the rest. So i am selectively dragging and dropping the songs in big chunks to a backup folder i have made on my external drive but it just does not work!
It works some of the time, but if it has a problem with even one of the songs it does not copy any of them, so i have to go thru and manually drag each cd until i find the one that it refuses to copy (which it refuses to copy for no descernable reason) and this will take forever with 5600 cds. any suggestions as to why it is doing this??
Thanks so much!
Tim

That is a good suggestion, and it would be simpler, but the problem is, I ahve over 1tb of music and movies combined, but i want them all backed up, so some of my music is backed up to data-dvd's and the rest needs to be selectively moved to the harddrive...is it because some of the song titles may be the same name? folders may not allow that?

Recently got a new computer and installed itunes from external drive - all music shows up in the library, however when i click on a song i receive this message "the song could not be used because the original file could not be found". What do i do?

I recently got a new computer and installed itunes from which had been saved onto an external drive - all music shows up in the library, however when I click on a song I receive this message "the song "abc" could not be used because the original file could not be found". What can I do?

I was given the option to locate the file where the song is held. If so select "locate" and direct it to the folder / file where the song is and open it. itunes then will give you the option to use this process to update all of your library. OK that as this will do it automatically instead of doing them one by one. I hope this helps.
Martin

HT201625 Error when trying to backup iTunes to external drive

I have tried to consolidate/move songs to external drive through itunes/library/organize/consolidate. At first it looks like everything is copying over but I get this "copying files failed. The file name was invalid or too long." How does one correct this error?

You cannot do it.. Even if you copy it right now, when you like to restore it later.. file format will not supported and you'll get error.

Help needed - half successful move of iTunes to external drive

I have just purchased a WD external drive and have attempted to move the contents of iTunes (but not the programme) to it from my Mac's hard drive. It seems that podcasts etc have been moved, but not the music files (they all appear in iTunes, but with ! in front of some of them and when you select a track to play you get an error message that says the track can't be found.
How can I resolve this?
Many thanks.

What format is the extrenal drive? How are you moving the iPhoto library?
Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
LN

ITunes to external drive issue...

iTunes won't recognize iTunes folder on my external drive. I hooked up a Firewire external drive to my Powerbook and moved my iTunes folder to it to free up disk space on my Powerbook. I then went to Advanced preference in iTunes and repointed iTunes to the external drive. All was well - when I got info on my iTunes music, the file info said that the file was coming from the external drive. With that done, I erased the iTunes folder on my Powerbook. However, when I reopened iTunes the Library was empty and playlists gone even though iTunes was still pointing to the external drive. So, the question is why won't iTunes recognize the iTunes folder on the external drive.
Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Did you perform all the steps in this document?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301748
Trashing your complete iTunes folder will also trash the 'iTunes Library' file, which holds all the data about your music files, ratings playlists etc.
That file must not be moved.
If you did not empty the trash yet, put it back in it's original location.
M

Can't move iTunes to External Drive

Hi there,
Weird one...
Using a MacBook Pro 2.5Ghz Intel Core i5, running 10.8.5 copying on to a brand new Lacie external drive connected via lightning. Whenever I try to copy the itunes folder it stalls at different points, sometimes with (error code -36).
The iTunes folder is <150GB and the external drive is 1TB. I have repaired permissions, re-formatted the external drive, but simply cannot get this function happening.
Any tips would be most welcome!

Error -36 is an I/O error. Does your LaCie have mutliple connections available? I used to have one that was USB, FW400 and FW800. I usually ran it on FW400 but occasionally I'd have to switch it to USB to move large groups of files, for this same reason. It wasn't the drive but the FW400 bus on my MacBook.

Itunes To External Drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for