Let's summarize . . . iTunes + library on external hard drive?

OK,
So thanks to those who answered my question about the external drive library and the corrupt directory.
Now, my question is this. What's the most painless way to start using my iTunes library (on an external HD) with a new Mac? I just bought a mini to serve as a music server. It should arrive tomorrow. My library is too big for the mini's HD.
I am thinking that if I just "Add folder . . ." to iTunes, I can get all the songs on the external HD into the mini's iTunes. And, if I uncheck "Copy all iTunes files into . . . blah blah," it will leave them where they are. But what about new tunes? They'll go into wherever the mini's default location for iTunes music is, right?
I guess this question could be, is it possible to set up two computers to use the same iTunes library? If not, maybe I should just allow the mini to re-import the whole library . . .
Stuart

What's the most painless way to start using my iTunes library (on an external HD) with a new Mac?
Fire up iTunes the first time and allow it to create an empty library and then quit. Move the entire iTunes folder to the external drive. Because you're moving to a different physical drive, it will actually be a "copy" so it's also necessary for you to delete the iTunes folder from it's original location.
Fire up iTunes again. I can't remember if it will tell you it can't find the library. If you do get that message, simply direct it to the one on the external drive. If you don't get that message, let iTunes open and go to
iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > General
Click the "Change" button and enter the correct info.
If it was necessary to use Preferences, iTunes will have created a 2nd library on the internal drive. You're better off deleting it to avoid confusion in the future.
After all the above, you can forget about it. iTunes will routinely access the library on your external drive.
maybe I should just allow the mini to re-import the whole library . . .
That's a slightly different wrinkle. Do that first and then follow the above instructions.

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Backup and restoring itunes library from external hard drive?

is there a way to backup and restore my itunes library to external hard drive and not through the internal itunes backup utility cos i have over 20gbs of music and i want to keep my album art and renamed songs etc. because i will be reformating my pc and dont want to go through painful task of manually adding stuff again.

Try this...
*Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
Grab SyncToy 2.0, a free tool from MS. Use it to create a backup copy of your iTunes library & any other media folders onto another hard drive or network share. After making the initial backup copy use SyncToy to periodically synchronise the backup copy with your library and only the changed files will be copied saving lots of time.
When the time comes to reformat your PC, do a final sync, then open iTunes & deauthorise the PC, reformat & rebuild Windows, copy the backup folders back to the same location as they were previously, install iTunes and it should all work perfectly.
tt2

ITunes Library to External Hard Drive...and iTunes Match???

So, my iTunes library is getting too large for my computer's storage capacity. I'm thinking of moving some of my library to an external, USB hard drive. However, I've never done iTunes through an external hard drive before and I have some questions.
Can I copy new discs (import) straight onto the external hard drive? Or do they need to go onto my computer first then get transferred to the hard drive?
Can I still use iTunes Match and pull songs from the library on my hard drive and from the main computer?
To partition a library between a computer and an external hard drive, do I need to activate sharing or anything special? Or will the computer/main iTunes library just consider the external drive to be a different location for some of the tracks?
How would I backup the external hard drive? Would Time Machine (running off a separate hard drive) back up another external hard drive if they were both plugged in?
Can you burn the entire library to data discs anymore? Or do you need to make a playlist of your entire library? If the latter, is there a way to turn off the message about iTunes in the Cloud playlists only accepting songs matched or uploaded? I have some songs that erroneously did not get matched or uploaded. If I try to put them in a playlist and burn it to a data disc for backup, iTunes won't do it.
Please help!

I recommend you keep everything inside the iTunes folder.
Quit iTunes.
Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder from internal to external.
Hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
This is all you need to do. Everything will work normally.
You can delete now /Music/iTunes/ folder on the internal.

Why won't iTunes let me consolidate my library to external hard drive more than once?

I am trying to transfer my iTunes library to an external hard drive. The first time I tried it was successful, but I didn't like how it was setup so I erased it to start over. Then I established a new folder on the external hard drive labeled iTunes Music. When I tried to consolidate my library a second time it didn't do anything. Should I just manually transfer over the audio files? My long term goal is to get my iTunes library transferred to the hard drive, burn my CD library using XLD to external hard drive, and clear the audio files from my internal iMac hard drive. I figured I would just use an alias to connect the location of the files. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Derek

ddcrosier wrote:
I am trying to transfer my iTunes library to an external hard drive.
Consolidating is not the same as transferring the iTunes library.
Do this.
Quit iTunes.
Copy the entire /MusiciTunes/ folder to the external.
Hold Option, launch iTunes.
Select Choose library...
Select the iTunes folder on the external.
This is all you need to do.
After you verify iTunes works, you can then delete /Music/iTunes folder.

Trouble uploading my iTunes library to external hard drive.

I have a iMac OS X Version 10.6.8 and am trying to upload my iTunes library to an Seagate GoFlex Home 2TB external hard drive. I can only upload one song at a time. Very frustrating. When I try to "drag and drop" multiple songs/albums, it tells me I need Java plugin version 1.5 or higher. But I've got that and it still won't let me "drag and drop." Advice?

Presumably you have formatted the Seagate as HFS Extended (Journaled)?
Our iTunes guru Terence Devlin advises the following:
1. Quit iTunes
2. Drag the iTunes folder from your internal hd - located in ~/Music folder - to your external hd. DO NOT delete the original one from your internal hd... yet!
3. When the transfer is complete, press and hold the Option(alt) key and fire up iTunes.
4. A "Choose iTunes Library" window will come up. Click on the "Choose Library" button.
5. Navigate to where the iTunes folder is located in the external hd.
6. Within the iTunes folder, select the iTunes Library file and click Choose...
That's it. iTunes will now display all your playlists, songs, movies, podcasts etc. At this point, should you wish, you can delete the iTunes folder from the internal hd to free up space.
More info:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
Or if you prefer a more complicated explanation:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive

Moving iTunes Library to external hard drive when iTunes can't consolidate.

Hi guys, hope you can help.
I want to move my whole iTunes library to an external hard drive and then delete it all from my laptop, and from reading around I realise I have to consolidate the library into the iTunes music folder. However, as my internal hard drive on my laptop is completely full, iTunes won't let me do this, saying I don't have enough space. Is getting the libary into the iTunes music folder the only way of getting it onto the external hard drive?
I can't really free up much space on the laptop as most of it (45 out of 60Gb) is the music I want to transfer!
Thanks very much!

Over half of my stuff isn't there.
Isn't where? In iTunes or not in the iTunes folder?\>Is it possible to copy the iTunes music folder from my laptop to the external, and consolidate from iTunes directly onto there?
Why not do as I posted above? Point iTunes prefs Advanced to the external then consolidate. Everything will be consolidated to the external.
You can then delete \Music\iTunes\Media\ folder and hunt around the internal and delete all the other songs that were not in the iTunes folder.

Can't restore itunes library from external hard drive

Prior to my hard drive crashing, I dragged my entire itunes folder (with all sub folders) to a firelite external hard drive. I replaced the power book HD, and I want to put my backed up library on the new HD. I dragged the folder from the firelite to the music folder (in place of the itunes folder that was already there). Unfortunately, the itunes library is still empty. Am I missing something?

Yes, the relative location is the same, the user account has the same short and long lame as before.
I did try to use the preferences to point to the backed up itunes folder. Once when it was on the eHD and once when I put it in the music folder. Unfortunatley no luck.
I will try your idea about using "Consolidate Library"
One other interesting thing I tried a few days ago was to follow the procedure outlined in the apple support section about restoring the library. It has you move the libray xml file to the desk top, trashing one of the other files (I forgot which) and then choosing the xml file placed on the desk top upon starting itunes. I thought it was kind of odd to select the very xml file I was having trouble with so I chose the backed up xml file. It put all of the playlist folders back in duplicate, but the library was still empty (probably becuase the xml file is just a reference file and I hadn't loaded any actual music files) If the consolidate doesn't work, mabye I'll try that again, but also put the folder with the actual files on the computer as well
I'll let you know how "Consolidate" works, thanks for your suggestions!

Help with iTunes library on external hard drive

Hi!
I have a new computer and I don't want to put anything in it but the programs I need. When it comes to movies, music, etc. I have an external hard drive.
Now, I want my iTunes to read the music from that hard drive, and, when I download something (more music, podcasts, apps, etc.) I'd like them to go straight to the folder "iTunes" that I created in that hard drive.
I had a look at a few pages and people where only talking about creating back-ups, but I don't need that, because I have a second HD that I'll use for that.
Someone told me to do this:
Go to the File Menu, then choose Add Folder to Library. Then navigate to your external drive and folder where your music is to add it. Then all you have to do is download your new stuff to that folder.
I did that and the podcasts I had in the external HD showed up there, but when I downloaded a new one, it downloaded onto my computer. What I want to do is have my iTunes library on an external HD and when I download from iTunes I want it to go straight to that external HD so I don't clog up my computer.
I have iTunes 10.6. something =)
Thank youuuuu very much!!!! =)

As long as you don't have an existing library that is synced with a device or holds oodles of carefully crafted playlists, ratings etc. then...
Hold down shift as you start iTunes. You should get an option to choose or create a library. Click create, browse to root of the external drive and click save so that your library is say X:\iTunes where X: is the letter of your external drive. All new content downloaded to the library will stay on the external drive.
See this user tip for a backup strategy.
tt2

Having trouble transferring iTunes library to external hard drive

I cant seem to be able to copy my iTunes 11.4 library (Macbook Pro) to my External Hard Drive ( Free Agent GoFlex Drive 500 GB). Could I get some help with this? I have tried what it has told me to do on the apple site. It just wont let me drag it to the hard drive.

iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Start iTunes with the option (shift on Windows) key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.
To see your iTunes folder click on the Music folder icon in your Finder sidebar.

Help managing iTunes library on external hard drive

I moved my iTunes library to a WD Mybook Live in order to free up disk space on my main computer. But in the process of transferring the library to the external hard drive, I accidentally made duplicates of each song. I want to delete the extra songs, but the "Show Duplicate Items" command isn't working when I try to use it on the library on my external hard drive. (That command works fine for songs stored on the local hard drive of the computer, but the command is "dimmed" and not clickable when I try to use it for the library on the external hard hard drive.) Also, I notice that I cannot use iTunes to delete songs on the external hard drive. (However, I *can* delete songs on the external hard drive manually by using Windows Explorer.) So I'm puzzled. How can I use the "Show Duplicate Items" command to help me delete thousands of duplicate songs on my external hard drive? Does iTunes disallow certain kinds of access to shared libraries? Why would iTunes not let me delete these songs when I can go into Windows Explorer and delete them. Help! Thanks. (I'm running iTunes 11.1)

As long as you don't have an existing library that is synced with a device or holds oodles of carefully crafted playlists, ratings etc. then...
Hold down shift as you start iTunes. You should get an option to choose or create a library. Click create, browse to root of the external drive and click save so that your library is say X:\iTunes where X: is the letter of your external drive. All new content downloaded to the library will stay on the external drive.
See this user tip for a backup strategy.
tt2

Can't import entire iTunes library from external hard drive

I recently had to reset my IBM ThinkPad T40 (Windows XP) to factory settings. Of course, I backuped up my iTunes library on an external hard drive, and there didn't seem to be any problems doing so. (I've had to do the same thing before) But I can't re-import the entire library now! It only imports about a thousand songs (I had about 5,000), and I get an error message saying "The file iTunes Library.itl~ cannot be imported becuase it does not appear to be a valid exported file.") I also tried to import a previous back-up (stored in a different folder, and it wouldn't import all of those files, either -- no more than in the more recent backup files) either. I've tried re-downloading the iTunes software several times. Help!!!!
Thanks!!!
PS: Is there a way to sync my iPod to import songs from that BACK into itunes?
IBM ThinkPad T40 Windows XP

This seems to have deleted ALL of my iTunes. The folder (and all iTunes files) is still there on my backup, but now the newly-installed iTunes won't import ANYTHING (It at least imported about 1,000 (out of 5,000) songs before. But now it says all files are invalid, regardless of where I attempt to import them from. (although the names of some playlists import -- but they're empty files) It appears that SOME of the music files are located on the backup copy, but simply won't import. Perhaps they're corrupted?

Migrating iTunes library from external hard drive to new laptop

Hi there, I am wondering if anyone can help me please? I am a complete newbie to this forum thing, I am just getting into this cosmic sharing world but find myself utterly frustrated with iTunes and my new laptop - with little help on the Support pages, so i am venturing into the unkown and seeking help from anyone out there.........slightly scary for me, this really is my first post on a forum - so be gentle with me :0)
On my old steam driven laptop I had to move my iTunes library to an external hard drive, my 250MB hard drive just wasn't enough (I know pathetic wasn't it). All ok there and I have been using it no problem. I have now upgraded (finally!!) to a new wonderful laptop (with webcam and all sorts!)but I am at the end of my tether trying to get my iTunes library from my external hard drive to appear in the Library on the laptop. boo hoo.
I have tried changing the file location in the Advance section of preferences, i have tried choosing the library after holding down the shift key on start up (you see not a complete numpty). They all appear to work as i don't get any error messages, but the songs just don't appear in the library. Am i being a complete numb nuts here? what am i missing?
If anyone can help i would be really grateful as this is spoiling the euphoric feeling i have of my lovely new laptop!
cheers Latte

tonybassplayer wrote:
Thank Chris I have just done that. How do I now get them in to Itunes ?
If you simply copy the iTUnes folder to /Music/ and launch iTUnes, everythign will be there. No need to import anything.
This will work the same with iPhoto.
Simply copy the Photo library to /Pictures/ folder and launch iPhoto.

Question for users of large iTunes library on external hard drive

I currently have about 350GB of iTunes music files from over 900 CDs on a Western Digital external hard drive. All is ripped in Apple Lossless. I operate the system with a Dell Inspiron 600m with 2GB of RAM and running Windows XP. So far, so good. The library loads quickly and there is little lag in accessing the files through iTunes.
The price of hard drives have dropped to the point that I can now rip all of my remaining 1,000 plus CDs with Apple Lossless. I anticipate the entire collection with take up about 1TB of storage space. Will iTunes and my system be able to handle this without lenghty lags in loading and access time?

My library (music, video, podcast) is hovering at about 850 gigs on an external 1 TB drive. iTunes does take a minute or so to load (but I'm old and it still seems pretty fast to me). iTunes itself runs fine. My experience is that processor power makes a huge difference as the library gets larger. I had a large library on an external and a Powerbook G4. Lots of spinning beach ball. Same library on an Intel Macbook worked just fine.

Moved iTunes Library to External Hard Drive - having trouble - HELP!

I have had quite the ordeal...upgraded my Mac iBook G4 from os 9 to os x 10 Tiger.
Bought an external hard drive to back up my 30 GB of music
Now...my computer won't function because it's out of hard disk space.
I moved my iTunes library to the external hard drive. Everything seems to be jim dandy...except that when I go to play a music file...the computer does not recognize the file.
I have to locate, and re-direct the path for each song to the new file location. SONG BY SONG!
Is there any way to do this globally for the entire library???
What else should I do to ensure I free up hard drive space, without jeopordizing my precious music files?
Thank you!!!

With iTunes 7.x you can transfer iTS purchases from the ipod back into iTunes.
To prevent your iPod from syncing - hold down the 'option' and  keys at the same time when plugging in your iPod. Keep the keys held down until the iPod show up in iTunes.
MJ

Move PC iTunes library to external hard drive and consolidate with iMac

Hi, I have a PC that I'm not using much. I have a ton of iTunes music files on it so I went through the process of copying these files to my networked external hard drive. I have my iMac connected wirelessly to this same hard drive. I went into the System Preferences on the iMac to tell it where it could find the new library and I pointed it to the iTunes folder but there is not an iTunes Media folder like many of the articles state, like this one: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Do I need to create an iTunes Media folder? Note this is an iTunes Library that was on a PC, moved to a networked external hard drive and will be used on my new iMac.
Thanks.

kneedragger101 wrote:
Note this is an iTunes Library that was on a PC
you might want to read these articles: one and two.
why not move your media files using _*Home Sharing*_ ?

HT1449 move itunes library to external hard drive : fails with error -50

Following the steps to move my iTunes library to an external drive, everything is strating well, the copy beginns and after 2 hours of copy, I had this message failure with error -50.
My external hard drive is a timecapsule with enough free space.
Please could you tell me what's hapenning ?
Thank you!

I suggest you keep the entire iTunes folder to gether rather than moving only the media.
Quit iTunes.
Copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ foldder to teh external drive.
Launch iTunes and hold Option.
Select Choose library... and select the iTunes folder on the external.
This is all you need to do.

Let's summarize . . . iTunes + library on external hard drive?

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