Libraries in iTunes

Hello from Paris by night!
My name is Laurent, I'm French and I have three question to which I have so far not found any answer, even in an Apple Store...
I'll be grateful to the person who will be able to answer it, and help me progress in the understanding of iTunes :-)
My situation:
- I'm on a PC, using Vista as the OS and iTunes to listen to my music
- My hard drive is partitioned between C and D. C for most programs and D for data
- The iTunes program is stored on the C-drive
- My music files are stored under D-drive (I went to Preferences/Advanced and indicated, as the target for the iTunes Media folder: D:\Music\iTunes)
- I can find in my computer library files in 2 places... under C:\Users\Laurent\Music\iTunes but also, for some reason, under D:\Music\iTunes
My questions:
- The question #1 is: where are the correct libraries?
> As I read everywhere, C:\Users\Laurent\Music\iTunes seems to be the default location for libraries, so it would seem that files there libraries are the correct ones (and to confirm this impression, the last updates seem very recent)
> On the contrary, the libraires stored under D:\Music\iTunes seem to not be updated (the last updates date back to 2009 while I of course made changes to my playlists since then)
=> Am I safe in deleting the library files under D?
(I suspect these files are actually old back-up files that have been put there but never used... but don't know/don't remember/am not sure)
- The question #2 is: is it normal, then, that the iTunes Media Folder only contains the music files, not the libraries?
Indeed, as a matter of fact, if the libraries are stored under C:\Users\Laurent\Music\iTunes (as asked in question 1), this would mean that
> libraries are stored in one place (C:\Users\Laurent\Music\iTunes)
> and music files are stored in another place (D:\Music\iTunes)
=> I find it a bit confusing (but maybe I'm the only one? ;-)) Why would not libraries be also stored with the music files?
- The question 3 is slightly unrelated, but still about iTunes and the libraries... Therefore I have this question... ;-)
The question #3 is: is it normal that while my library file is not even 2MB big, the genius library is >40MB???
I stop here and thank you all for your help and support on this. I look forward to reading your answers.
Kindest regards
Laurent

1) Very likely safe getting rid of the old ones. If you want to be sure, start iTunes while holding down the shift key and guide it to the .itl library file you want it to use. If it looks like it's the same one then that's the one you're using.
2) Yes, because that is what you told iTunes to do. Changing preference settings to put your media (as it says) in a different location does just that. It starts storing media and only that in a different location. A library is more than just media so your media files end up in one place and your library files in another.
Your location is the default location but you can have a library file located anywhere you wish. Many people put entire libraries on a different drive and in fact it is usually recommended you keep your library files with your media.
3) The .itl library files is basically a text listing of where your media files are located, plus other data such as your playlists, ratings, etc. It isn't media. 2MB is possible if you don't have a very large collection. Even with a few thousand tracks your library file may only be 15-20MB
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.

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I loaded iTunes on a new laptop. I copied and pasted my albums to a 4G stick and down loaded them to the new laptop. Placing them in, Libraries – Music – iTunes and than in Itunes used File – add file to library. So far so good. For what ever reason one o

I loaded iTunes on a new laptop. I copied and pasted my albums to a 4G stick and down loaded them to the new laptop. Placing them in, Libraries – Music – iTunes and than in Itunes used File – add file to library. So far so good. For what ever reason one of the CDs would not load onto the stick. I got the orginal CD and loaded directly to Itunes. Now when I look in Libraries – Music – iTunes it’s not there but it is in and plays in iTunes. What should I have done or should I be doing? Thanks.

It's not a unique situation - happens all the time, smaller hard drives getting filled up.
It's also easy to fix. I just moved my itunes content to a bigger hard drive.
First I made a backup of the itunes database file - iTunes Library.itl. Just in case anything went wrong.
Nothing did go wrong, but I'd have it in case anything DID go wrong. That file holds ratings, playcounts, Date Added, and other metadata.
Second, in itunes change the preferences > advanced tab to tell itunes to put everything on G:
Set the itunes folder location to something like G:Media or G:iTunes
This will affect all FUTURE additions to itunes and not do anything to the existing locations.
Make sure the checkbox for "Keep itunes organized" is NOT checked. I also left the "Copy files when adding" unchecked.
Third, to move all the files to G: without itunes losing the paths, run the File > Library > Organize > Consolidate command. This will need to run a while, so be patient as it copies all the files to the new G: location. This does NOT delete the originals. You will have to do that.
Fourth, make sure everything in itunes is OK and you can play stuff in your library. If you're really cautious you can run a script to check for missing/dead tracks.

Can I have two different libraries for iTunes?

I would like to have two different libraries for iTunes. How can I do it?
Regards.

To create or access a second (or more) library, hold down the Option key (or Shift key in Windows) when launching iTunes 7. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to the other Library: Using multiple iTunes libraries -Mac
Note: You can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one.

Multiple Libraries in iTunes 7 (Windows)

Another whinge about iTunes 7!
The multiple libraries feature in the Windows version (I don't know about the Mac version) is very poorly implemented and, quite frankly, useless.
When changing libraries in iTunes 7, the preferences for the new library are not copied across; in effect, iTunes 7 retains the preferences for the previous library. This becomes very annoying if the user has libraries with different preference settings, as I do. I have two libraries, one of which is located on the hard drive of my PC and the other on a network drive. The two libraries have different preferences, ie music location and the encoder used when importing files (one lossless and the other AAC).
Whenever I switch libraries in iTunes 7, the preferences for the previous library are retained. Consequently, when I select a new library I have to change the preferences to match those required for that library. Otherwise, iTunes 7 updates the new library according to the preferences for the old library. Very frustrating, I can tell you!
I have now removed iTunes 7 and restored iTunes 6, along with a third party library manager until such time as Apple comes up with a decent way of managing multiple libraries.
Windows XP

No, it's the same Windows XP user account, but I have two separate music libraries - the music files in library are in a lossless format, while those in the other are in AAC. For convenience, I wish to keep the two libraries separate.
In iTunes 7 it is possible to have separate libraries - start iTunes and hold down the SHIFT key (Windows) while the program starts. A dialogue box then appears where the required library can be selected. However, as far as I can tell, it's not possible to have a different set of preferences for each library.
Say the preferences are set up for my lossless library, which is located on a separate network drive. If I then make the AAC library active and open iTunes, iTunes reindexes the library according to the settings for the lossless library and I end up with the AAC library full of lossless files. I've tried unchecking various things in the preferences box, but I've had no luck fixing the problem. Thanks for your suggestion - I have already reported the problem.
The whole thing is a rather inelegant way of managing multiple libraries in iTunes. Surely the Apple developers can come up with a way of doing it from within iTunes??

Multiple Libraries in iTunes.

Can someone explain me how to create multiple libraries in iTunes.
I've a huge load of 5000 songs of which 2000 is what I hear often.
I don't have album art on the other 3000 songs and don't want to clutter it with my main library.
Moreover, these 2000 songs are automatically synced with my iPhone. However, I sometimes need to move a couple of songs from the main list which I find it too tedious without a library.
Can someone teach me how to create a second library in iTunes without affecting my main library and switch seamlessly (and copy files) between the two?
Thanks,
Mugunth

One more thing, if you want a more efficient way to switch iTunes libraries without having to keep restarting iTunes, considering downloading free software http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/ipoditunes/multitunesdavidcaldwell.html

Multiple Libraries on iTunes

Is it possible to have multiple libraries on iTunes? How do I set them up.
I have a library with about 26,000 songs and want to add out holiday music.
I'd like to have a seperate library just for the holiday music and be able to switch between them.

Steve:
I must echo Matthew's recommendation of iTunes Library Manager. I am currently in the process of reencoding all of my CDs. I had ripped a substantial portion of them when iTunes first came out, and I did so without knowing what I was doing - some are ripped in low bitrate MP3, others were transcoded from AAC to MP3 and vice-versa. In some cases, there were problems with the rip and songs were truncated. I decided that rather than try to weed out the bad tracks, I'd just re-rip the entire physical library as Apple Lossless.
By doing so in a separate library - I don't worry about duplicate tracks or the Lossless files getting mixed up with the MP3 data files, and then whenever I need a "clean" copy for my main library - I can just browse, import and convert to the desired codec. I also don't want the Lossless in my main library because that is the Library I use to sync with my iPod, and I don't have enough space to keep all my music in Lossless format on the iPod.
The utility is very easy to use - when you first open it, you should save your current library under two different names, and then load the version you are going to edit. iTunes Library Manager will ask you if you want to quit and load, and then it will prompt you for relaunch. You can have as many libraries as you need. The current version doesn't have a way of creating an empty library - if you want to start from scratch for any reason, but all you'll need to do is delete the songs from the Library, but NOT - REPEAT NOT - FROM YOUR HARD DRIVE.
Definitely worth the $5 shareware fee.
Lita

Repair itunes library (damaged) file. Multiple iTunes libraries on an external harddrive. All libraries have been working fine. Do some "housecleaning" on a one of the large libraries 296GB. iTunes quit and now has damaged file. 296 GB still on HD.

How to repair itunes library (damaged) file. Multiple iTunes libraries on an external harddrive. All libraries have been working fine. Do some "housecleaning" on a one of the large libraries 296GB. iTunes quits and now has damaged file. 296 GB still on HD.

The duplication is unnecessary. Exporting creates a duplicate of the file. So now you'll have a duplicate of a duplicate. Exporting is not "working on" a file.
No it's not merging, it's exporting from one to the Finder and into another. No matter what lose something. If you export the Original you leave behind all the work you've done in iPhoto. If you export anything else, you lose the non-destructive editing and the ability to revert to the original. With merging you preserve that work. Yes, you can trash the old Library when you have completed the manoevre but no it's not the same thing as merging.
This User Tip
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
has details of the options in the Export dialogue. But in brief:
Current gets you the iPhoto Preview, used for sharing via media browsers. It's a jpg, medium quality missing metadata. Original gets the file you imported, unchanged and then you can export different version of the current version at different qualities. If you choose to export anything except the Original you do not get a Raw. There's no such thing as an "edited Raw", and you lose the connection between the original and the exported version. That means you've taken a non-destructive workflow and turned it into a destructive one.
The Tiff will certainly be higher qulaity and less likely to suffer generational loss in future editing but the file sizes are vast, often more than 10 times the size of the jpeg.
Put it this way, it would be cheaper to buy Library Manager than the disk you'll need to contain all the Tiffs. Unless you plan on a lot of editing, I'd go for a high quality jpeg as a reasonable compromise.
To be clear:
So, I guess my new question is, how can I edit the Raw image and keep it in a RAW format that IPhoto recognizes so that I can reprocess without any loss at a future time, or is it that once you edit a RAW image, then it is no longer a RAW image?
Once you edit a Raw it can no longer be a Raw. End of.

Supposed support for Multiple Libraries in iTunes 7

Come on Apple, your website says iTunes 7 supports multiple libraries in multiple locations, yet there is no way to enable a second library or create additional libraries through iTunes. Is this just hype about the tedious manual workaround of not having iTunes copy everything to one location? When will we get true multiple libraries? This is sorely missing functionality for anyone with a harddrive smaller than 250GB.
Quoted from http://www.apple.com/itunes/overview/
"Multiple Libraries
Build your collection over multiple libraries, and keep them on different hard drives to save space."

I think there are a large number of us who are in the "for some reason" category: we want to have our libraries split across multiple HD's.
Here's my exact scenario:
I have a small portion of my library stored locally on my PowerBook for when I am on the road (~30GB). I have the bulk of my music collection stored on an external drive at home (~160GB). I have another set of tracks that are works in progress that my band is in the process of writing/recording, stored on a 2nd external drive at our studio (~10GB). I want to be able to plug in any of the external drives, and have access to that content whenever I am at home or at the studio, without having to change the local library stored on my PowerBook.
Consolidating the library does not help at all in this scenario - not only does the complete library not fit on my PB's hard drive, but I also don't want the reverse, which is to consolidate to one external drive which I'd then have to carry around everywhere. iTunes should be smart enough to recognize different library files concurrently, and store the import/organize settings per library. I guess that's too much to ask...

Creating 2 libraries on Itunes

Hi,
I would like to know if it is possibile to create 2 Libraries on iTunes so I can use 2 ipods but with different music.
Cheers

To create or access a second library, hold down the option key when launching iTunes 7. In the dialogue box that appears you will get the option to create or navigate to the another Library. An alternative to this is use a single library and choose the update option "automatically update selected playlists only" (called Sync Music - Selected playlists in iTunes 7) for your iPods. This would allow you to create a playlist specifically for each one and drag the tracks you want into it. If you tire of the list and want to change it, you just add or remove the songs you don't want. The ones you take out out remain in the library to be used by the other iPod. Make your playlist a Smart playlist and limit the size to just below the advertised capacity of your iPod Mini or Nano (around 3700MB for a 4GB or 1800MB for a 2GB). You can read more about playlists at these links:
iTunes: Creating playlists of your favorite songs
How to create a Smart Playlist with iTunes
How To Use Multiple iPods with One Computer

Help with Creating 2 Libraries with iTunes

Hi - I'm looking to create and use 2 separate libraries with iTunes on the same computer. Background: I have a large collection now of lossless files (AIFF), both CD rips (16bit/44.1kHz) and higher resolution audio (24bit/96kHz), which are very large files I use for streaming to an audiophile system (via a Logitech Transporter to DAC/processor, etc.). I also have several iPods and an AppleTV I use that have music, applications, video, etc. I want to primarily use what I'll call the "high resolution" library that only needs the music files, but from time to time switch over to a 2nd library I'll call "other" (which would contain smaller compressed music files more suitable for ipod, as well as ipod app's, video content for AppleTV). I would periodically load up the "Other" library to sync up ipods and AppleTV, but the vast majority of the time have the "high res" library open (as the Logitech Squeezecenter music server requires iTunes to be open at the same time with the appropriate library).
So that's the background. Effectively just want to make a copy of the current library (to be "other"), downconvert all the music from the high res versions, make sure I keep all the apps and video, and clean up the original library. Couple questions - when running iTunes on the same computer with 2 different libraries (both can be on my iMac as I have a 1TB drive with adequate space for now), can I delete all the app's, AppleTV link, etc. from the "high res" library once copied? Also, what's the best method for copying the library (i.e., just create a new one and copy everything in with the appropriate preferences checked - "copy files to library"/"keep itunes folder organized"?)
Thanks for any thoughts

don't worry glad to help
this could help you actually http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20051119134344700
but its very complicated and as i'm no expert in computer code i would wait to try it out before and expert in computer code has a look and see if its oky to use (you have to be VERY careful). By the way it comes from a trustworthy site so i'm sure its fine
just be careful though (look at the comments below
or this http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050215130254540
this is different but might help http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/7689
Alex

How can i remove shared libraries and itunes

how can i remove shared libraries and itunes account from my iphone to my little brothers itouch if we both share the same itunes?
he keeps on getting all the apps that i download as well as pictures i was wondering if anyone knows how to fix this problem

You could either remove the iCloud account altogether and have him create his own or go into settings->store-> and switch automatically download Apps off. And go into icloud and turn off photostream. Depends on what you prefer.

How can I have separate Libraries in iTunes for my Children?

Hi all,
I have bought my children iPod Touch devices for Christmas this year and would like to set up accounts and libraries for each of them (3 in total, one for the Mrs!) so I can sync them and put some games and apps on ready for use.
Is it possible to have multiple Libraries on one computer? I know I can open iTunes accounts for each of them but they're not at that stage yet but will - at some point - require different games, apps and whatnot.
I'm sure a friend of mine has a different iTunes library for him and his wife on the same computer and they don't have any sync'ing problems at all...
I hope someone can help!
Dave.

You can likely set up different user accounts on the computer and have a library in each account. I use a Mac so I can't be more specific on user accounts on Windows.
Alternatively you can set up different libraries inside a single user account. I'ts a bit cumbersome switching between them though. You can create and switch betwween libraries by holding down the shift key while starting iTunes, then guide it to the library you wish to use.
Another possibility would be to sync just playlists, not everything. While there are ways to share items between libraries using other methods, this one has the advantage that all the things are in one library and each person makes their selection.
iOS: Syncing with iTunes - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1386
As for AppleID and accounts, you might consider setting up sooner rather than later. The main problem with Apple purchases is you cannot transfer them between accounts. If you give a child a song for a birthday and purchase it on your account, it is forever tied to your account. If in 10 years your child wants to take with them to college you'll have to give them access to your whole account or always be authorizing their devices which you may not wish to do.

Can I ask, if my wife and I have seperate profiles set up on a windows laptop and are currently using different libraries on iTunes, can we use the same library? It seems a terrible waste of space if there are artists we both want to listen too.

Is this purely a copyright issue? For instance, I gifted her an iTunes album at christmas, so if we were to link to one library, I shouldn't be able to listen to this should I? I have about 160 albums in my library, and she has about 300 individual tracks in hers. Our tastes overlap, and music takes up space on my hard drive, so surely she should be able to link to my library too... or is this just a can of worms in waiting...

You can share your libraries within the same household:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH1455?viewlocale=en_US
And here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH1453?viewlocale=en_US

How can two users have separate libraries in iTunes?

I have a library in iTunes for my 20 GB iPod, and now someone else in the house has an iPod shuffle. How is the shuffle installed into iTunes without overriding my library? Will it become obvious when the shuffle software is downloaded? Will I be forced to upgrade to the current version of iTunes (I've been avoiding that because when I previously upgraded I had endless problems with iTunes until the next version came out)? Thanks for any help!!
spurvis

Two iPods can update from the same library if you choose. The shuffle has two fill options, autofill which adds a random selection of songs or manual and you drag what you want to it. You can continue to manage your other iPod whatever way you want to. You can also create a separate User account for each person on your PC. Different accounts by definition would give you completely separate libraries. Each account has it's own iTunes folder, Library and iTunes Music folder and you load it with CDs etc just as you did with your original one. The iPod can be set to update however the owner chooses. The iPod shuffle 2nd generation requires iTunes 7 so if you are still on 6 you'll need to update.

Multiple Libraries for iTunes

I am wondering if there is any way to create multiple libraries for my music? I use my iTunes for both work and personal music and would like to be able to move my work music into a separate library. I've seen this concept in accounting programs, where you create new companys in order to store and track separate information. Any suggestions? I am currently using iTunes 5.0

Cherrie:
Try iTunes Library Manager. It's not free, but it does work.
Lita

I use multiple libraries with itunes - should I create a new library for a 2nd iphone

I use multiple iTunes libraries to manage multiple devices from the same PC. I'm purchasing an iPhone 6 and currently have a library for my iPhone 4. Would I create a new library for this new device? Also, to restore all content to my new phone, Will this restore be done from the existing iPhone 4 library? Is this process documented?

I can't address specific issues regarding iPhones, but in general you can manage multiple iDevices from a single iTunes library. The test approach is to maintain one or more playlists for each iDevice you use, and configure the latter to sync only from the relevant playlists:
This article: Transfer content from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to a new device - Apple Support documents Apple's guidance regarding transferring content from one iOS device to another.

Libraries in iTunes

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