Large iTunes library on pc-should we switch to Mac

I have an iTunes library of 500 gigs on an external drive attached to a pc with a 2.6 pentium dual core processor , 4 gigs of RAM and a 64-bit operating system. iTunes is sometimes very slow to react, sticks at times and even freezes up. I am wondering if we need to beef up the pc with more RAM to alleviate these issues or just switch to a Mac with the 2,5 ghz processor and 8 gigs of Ram to ensure we can move properly through the musc library. Any help is greatly appreciated. iTunes also takes 30 minutes to load each time we launch.
Please help

wow - I didn't know that about RAM.
right now am using a mirrored RAID array of 3 x 400 GB on a transintl RAID enclosure - although am on a single processor G5 PowerMac which, I have been told, does NOT make use of PCI-X, alas...
I have also come to the conclusion that (1) faster hard drives & RAID and (2) faster, more powerful processors can BOTH be a big help... but...
however the real problem is not the hardware, but the software - iTunes is a great program, but it was designed mainly for people to put music on their iPods & buy it from the iTunes story - it was NOT designed for people like me who are trying to manage a huge music archive with it - what is really needed is a new, improved version of iT - iTUNES PRO or SUPER iTUNES...
but for the time being, I think my best bet is to look into a Mac Pro - not that I can afford it - I have run out of ways to make my PowerMac G5 go any faster (it's RAMmed to the max!) -
so I am still curious - has anyone used a 500 GB library on a Mac Pro?
thanks for all the fast feedback!
w

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Trying to relocate a LARGE iTunes library to external HD - it's NOT working

I have a large iTunes library (160+ GB ... about 30,000 songs) that I store on an external USB 2.0 hard drive. I'm trying to move/copy/relocate the entire library to another USB 2.0 external hard drive. I have tried copying the entire iTunes library ... only to return hours later to find "not everything was copied to your folder" message - after a decent 24 GB had been transferred. I also tried making a playlist of my entire library and transferring it to another user on my computer - to no avail - that stopped, too.
What is THE BEST way to copy a huge iTunes library? One external hard drive is filling up and I need to transfer everything. So far, I have been hooking up both external hard drives to my MacBook Pro - should I invest in one of those USB-USB connectors to connect the hard drives to each other directly? Should I try it without allowing my computer sleep?
I want to transfer my HUGE library without running into snafus - everyone just says "copy the music folder" - but it's so big, the thing inevitably crashes!
Any advice?

Warren Willows wrote:
When you ask about the "entire" library what are you referring to?
Warren,
i asked about the entire iTunes folder
your iTunes library consists of your media files (music, movies, apps, etc.) and the, shall we call them, +support files+ (iTunes library file, iTunes library.xml file etc.)
a typical iTunes folder looks like this
if you keep your library files locally and just have the media files on the external, you should follow the steps provided by Chris.
if your entire iTunes folder is on the external, you can do what i suggested.
btw, a 160 gig library is not LARGE
mine weighs in @ 1.6 TB and lives on a 2 TB firewire 800 external. i recently cloned this drive to an identical 2 TB drive for backup purposes using CCC. it took in excess of 20 hours to finish the cloning process !
so, you need to approach the moving operation with patience ...
good luck !
JGG

HT1329 My large iTunes library is on an external hard drive. Can I set up iTunes on my new Macbook Pro and copy the library to it or are there any pitfalls?

I have my large iTunes library on an external hard drive. Can I set up ITunes on my new Macbook Pro and transfer/copy this library to the internal hard drive or are there any problems I should be aware of?

ITs an old Iomega 100gb external HD that has about 90gb of music on it. The Macbook has a 500gb HD. I would like to put the iTunes library on the internal HD so I have room to expand.
Phil0124 wrote:
You can copy it to the internal hard drive as long as it fits on it. How big is your library, and how big is your internal HD?
The only thing you do not want to do is over-stuff the internal hard drive. The OS needs some space to operate correctly, so if your iTunes library uses up more than say 80 to 85% of the internal HD's available space it may not be a good idea to transfer it over.
With that said, the internal HD will provide slightly faster access to the library than the external would, but other than that, you can point iTunes to the external drive just fine.

Suggestions for large iTunes library?

I have a very large iTunes library (110G) on an external drive, which I use only occasionally. The rest of the time, I use a smaller on on my MacBook.
When I want to use the large one, which I usually do via Airport, it can take hours to update itself. The "Genius" for example, can take hours just by itself... Then it does something for "gapless playback" or something...
Why does it need to do all of this stuff, and why does it take so long? Is all of this updating done on the external drive so it won't have to be updated again from another computer? (so, for example, if my wife opens that library from her computer.)
Or does anyone have tips for managing a large iTunes library that is only used infrequently?
Thanks,
Mark

"One more question, if you do have a second library you option into, are the library documents on the external drive or in your music/iTunes folder?" So they have all been on the external drive. I called Apple Support about dead tracks issue, and the 1st guy told me I SHOULD split them up, but that caused issues and I called back and the 2nd guy told me NOT to do that, so I've left them all on the external drive. The 2nd guy seemed more knowledgeable than the 1st guy.
I was hoping you weren't going to say that. My thought was that the library needed to be on the machine with the music so that multiple libraries on different machines weren't trying to manage the same music. So much for that theory.
This being the case, it would be interesting to see how it behaves if the library lives on your macbook.
This experiment would be easy and risk free:
Option into "create a new library" and create this new library in your music folder on your macbook.
While in this blank library go to the advanced preference tab and deselect "Copy files to the itunes media folder.....)
Then, from the itunes file menu browse to the music folder on the external drive and select it.
This will build a library that lives on your machine while the music files continue to live on the external.
This experiment is only worthwhile if you are sure that the library database for the music on the external drive lives on that external drive.
The risk with having the library live on your machine is that another library on another machine might also try to manage this music (your wife's machine for example) potentially causing a mismatch between your library and the music folder.
I hope that makes sense.

HT1338 I am trying to upgrade my iPhone via my macbook but the messageThere are purchased items on the iPhone "Mark Price's iPhone" that have not been transferred to your iTunes library. You should transfer these items to your iTunes library before updati

Good morning
I am trying to upgrade my iPhone via my macbook but the following message keeps coming up and the download does not work
"There are purchased items on the iPhone “Mark Price’s iPhone” that have not been transferred to your iTunes library. You should transfer these items to your iTunes library before updating this"
Please advise how I can transfer these files, I am not sure what files are in question.
I've only had the MacBook a couple of days, I am PC savvy but this is all new to me so please keep it as simple as possible. I am a brit based in Bahrain.
Regards
Mark Price

okay I've done everything regarding the transfer process (via file>transfer purchases) and syncing, so everything on my iPhone device seems to have been transferred to my iMac... however, I still get that message ("There are purchased items on the iPhone..."), trying to upgrade the iOS Have tried several times the same process of hitting transfer purchases via file, but nothing seems to make that message go away! Would have been nice to know which files I actually do need to transfer, which I don't get any info on of course...
Starting to get really annoying this thing.. Any smart suggestions what's going on?

I have an older ipod with a large itunes library and a new ipa 2. the both have the same email but different passwords.Can i sink th old ipod's library ith the new ipad's library?

I have an older ipod with a large itunes library. I have a new ipad2. Both have the same email address but different passwords. Can I merge both itunes libraries?

Not sure if this helps:-
The music files, were they bought from your iTunes account or did someone gift them to you after buying from the iTunes account? If they are yours you can download them again if you clear or de-authorise the ipod, it has to be done by whoever gave you the ipod to do this (the registered owner). If they were bought for you on another itunes account I don't think Apple let you use them as they are copyrighted and they don't belong to you, they belong to the person who bought them. If the music files where ripped from music cd's then click and drag them to a new folder on your desktop and have the person who gave you the ipod to de-authorise and unregister it. Then you re register it and put your files back from your desktop folder in your iTunes folder and synch. Hopefully that would work. Any files which you did not buy, I would not know how get around this, best bet is to take it to you nearest Apple Store and explain that they were gifted to you and ask how you can use them. The best way to gift music files is to buy the gift tokens and give these. Hope above helps.

How to limit the music downloaded from a large iTunes library loading on iPad to minimize space usage?

I'm having trouble with my iPad 2 iTunes Match loading all of the music from my very large iTunes library off my Pc to my iPad. I really only want a few playlists. Do I have to delete all of the music off my iPad that I don't want? Will it remove those songs from my main library if I'm connected to iCloud and music match? Help!

Move the itunes Library.itl file to your exHD.
Then to get itunes to start using it from that new location, press *and hold* the shift key while starting itunes. Choose "use existing library" and browse out to the ITL file that is now on the exHD.
Future app downloads will go to the Mobile Applications folder created there. It will also start downloading the itunes store artwork to the exHD.
You can try downloading a free app to test it.

There are purchased items on the iPhone "asingh's iPhone" that have not been transferred to your iTunes library. You should transfer these items to your iTunes library before updating this iPhone. Are you sure you want to continue?

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I appreciate the answer, but what you describe is not entirely accurate. First, to even see view, you have to enable the menu by clicking on the icon in the upper left. View allows you to show the sidebar.
Second, you will NOT see your devise listed in sidebar or anywhere else. Instead, you have to click on "devise" from the sidebar menu, wait a minute, and then it will finally show up under "devise." Or maybe it just takes a minute to show up whatever you do.
Third, right clicking on your devise will take you to a menu with "transfer my files" on it, but then iTunes will refuse to make the transfer. Instead, it will tell you that <your apps> on your <devise> could not be transferred to iTunes "because you are not authorized for it on your computer." Apple unhelpfully suggests going to store> authorize this computer. There is a "store" menu item on the sidebar, but it has no "authorize this computer" sub-menu. Instead, go to the horizontal menu at the upper left, and THERE you will find "store" and the "authorize this computer" sub-menu. Now you can transfer your files, to who knows where.
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Large Itunes Library Crashes Apple TV

So, loading up my large itunes library (~150 MB) as a source causes the Apple TV to crash. It just sits at the "Loading so-and-so's Library" screen for a few minutes with the spinning wheel and then reboots itself. It goes all the way back to where you have to choose the language and resolution. The host computer's itunes continues to work fine. I've tried every fix under the sun, including restarting to factory settings. Apple, get this fixed please!

actually, no it hasn't been solved. It worked for about a day, but now it's back to the same issue. I suppose if i recreated the library it might work again, but with the size of my library, that's an overnight process. I ended up just creating a separate library for the movies, and that works fine. I don't have any definite proof, but I'm almost positive it's a library size issue. There isn't any reason other macs can read the shared library but not the Apple TV.
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When I try to open my iTunes an error message appears saying "New iTunes Library". What should I do?

When I try to open my iTunes an error message appears saying "New iTunes Library". What should I do?

Hi!
Thanks for contacting us today! I understand you are having issues with updating, and using the device.
I believe that we are aware of the update issue however, it is ultimately the carrier/ manufacturer to provide updates. Please contact the respective company for assistance.
As for device using, and things not working. Please provide us with more details. (Note: the bug may have already been fixed, but is available in a later update).
Thanks!

HT1473 I have a large external collection and would like to import a select folder to itunes to create a playlist. Is there a way to import the folder without mixing the contents with my large itunes library?

I have a large external collection and would like to import a select folder to itunes to create a playlist. Is there a way to import the folder without mixing the contents with my large itunes library?
I'm trying to avoid having to fish through the thousands of songs already in my itunes library to create a playlist from the songs in the windows file that I've already selected.

You're welcome.
tt2

Looking to publish my VERY LARGE iTunes library on the web

Can someone recommend a way of publishing a large iTunes library (currently 62,373 tracks and growing quickly) to the web? There doesn't seem to be an easy way to do this. I have printed my library to .PDF, but I can't convert the .PDF to MS Excel as the file contains more than the 65K line limit in Excel. Exporting my list to .XML won't open in Excel for the same reason, too many lines.
My ultimate goal is to make my iTunes library searchable on the web for people to browse and select tracks for their events. I don't need them linked to iTunes for purchase, nor do I want the music on the web. I only want to create a database for web searching the Albums, Artists, Song Title, Genre, and Song length. I would also like the iTunes artwork to be included.
Thanks,
Al

Copy the entire _iTunes folder_ , not just the iTunes music folder.
When you have everything ready on teh new internal, you can do 2 things.
1 - Copy the entire iTunes folder back to the internal.
2 - Leave it on the external, start iTunes holding the Option key and select *Choose existing library*. Select the *iTune library* file in the iTunes folder on the external.
iTunes will simply now use this for everything.

Moving large iTunes Library -Help

Hello, I have 18,000 songs and videos filling up by 200GB hard drive. So I purchased a 500GB time capsule and followed the steps Apple advised to move your music folder. After I press consolidate, it seems to be working (very slowly), however, it continued for about 24 hours and only moved 10% of my iTunes library. then I got an error, and had to start again. Surely, there are others out there who have had to move a large iTunes Library...this method seems like it is not designed for large libraries like mine? Any suggestions?

None of these suggestions are complete solutions to the problem, I'm afraid.
The latter is basically the same as the first one, as iTunes will still use the old location to look for music files that are already in the library. In my case, I'm moving from a USB HD to a NAS over WLAN...this way I can still reach my entire lib from anywhere in the house; without being hooked up to the USB HD.
So I have the same problem, and experience that the consolidation process crashes.
I have also tried re-importing the entire mp3 collection into iTunes from its new location, but this also lingers for several hours before finally freezing (I had to force-quit iTunes).
What we really need, is a way to regenerate the library file without moving tons of data.
The library is described in a plain-text XML file, and that stupid, stupid binary file, which is the actual database that iTunes uses (the XML is primarily for convenience of other apps)
I already copied my data using Finder, so if iTunes Music Library.xml wasthe only file that mattered here,
all we needed was a plaintext search and replace...
Example:
I moved all my mp3 files from
1) *My Book:mp3*
to
2) *Public:Shared Music:mp3*
Since the file structure of all my mp3 lib is intact;
substring 1) in the existing iTunes lib needs to be changed to substring 2); for all mp3 files and lib root paths, and voilá...
BUT this is not the case; the binary file is the actual database used by iTunes.
So until someone comes up with a way to regenerate the iTunes database file, for example from the XML file, we're stuck.
Just my $.02 worth of rambling.
Cheers;
Eivind

How do i share my itunes library with other users on the same mac

I'm trying to share my itunes library with other users on the same mac. I have tried moving my library to a public folder but when the other user logs in they can't see it in the public folder?

Presuming you moved the entire iTunes folder to the shared folder the other users need to start their iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and select the iTunes Library.itl file in the shared folder. Only once should be necessary. Note that any changes anybody makes will be seen by everybody, so you have to trust each other a lot.
If all you moved are media files each user will have to add those files to their iTunes library.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189 Chris CA's instructions on sharing one iTunes music library between multiple user accounts - https://discussions.apple.com/message/8974074 - Multiple users using a single library file - similar post at: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3753008 Suggestion by Turingtest for multiple users and one library - http://discussions.apple.com/message/9117622 - use smart playlists and tags to isolate groupings.

Sharing itunes library amonst 1 users on a single mac

I'm having problems sharing my itunes library amonst several users on a single mac. I've tried copying both the entire iTunes folder and just the iTunes Music folder to ~/users/shared with no luck. Help!

Here's a better statement of the problem -- i have two users on one mac, both have itunes tied to same library on an external drive.
I understand that is what you want to do as you've done it before. However, if it doesn't work anymore, there's not much you can do. It may not be something that can't be overcome, but I don't know what to do besides creating a new Library and rebuilding it with all your music on the external. There also may be alternatives other than what I can think of.
The external drive should be workable like the Shared folder, as long as the permissions on the folder are such that each user can read and write.
Did you tell iTunes to use that location as the Library? You can pick a new Library by holding down the option key when starting iTunes and it will ask where to find the Library.
I don't have a way to experiment with this on my system, but I seem to think a lot of people run their iTunes library that way, so I'm suprised that there aren't more posts about it. It may be something unique to your library, but I'm not sure what it might be.
Apple please fix this.
Since that is an unsupported configuration, I wouldn't put too much hope in seeing a fix.

Large iTunes library on pc-should we switch to Mac

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