Library on external drive...

I have iTunes running on the C drive of my old laptop with my library on an external hard drive. I am trying to move only Itunes to a new laptop while keeping the library on the external drive. I have a an empty Itunes library and a hard drive full of songs. Can I get my music back, with all my playlists if possible?

No, I'm running v6.0.1.3 using and external drive.
Do you have a folder named
C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\Previous iTunes Libraries
Allthe info on your music is probably stuck in that.
There is an article somehwere that tells how to deal with this. I don't know why I can't find it!

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Can't read iPhoto library from external drive

I suddenly can't can't read iPhoto library from external drive. I have talked to WD and nohing is wrong with the network drive. I can open images and files from it. But, I can't read in iPhoto Library.

Network Drive? a NAS?
iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, exporting, saving edits and sharing the photos.
Basically, you need to move the library to a correctly formatted disk.

Can't show User/Library in external drive

I can set my Mac to show Library in Users on the main drive (terminal or keystroke) but NOT on an external drive...
How can I access User/Library on external drives?

Check that you’re in the correct folder and entering the exact text posted.
If you’re using the Go to Folder command and providing Library, it’ll open the one in the current folder. If you provide ~/Library/, it’ll always open the one in your home folder.
If you’re using the chflags command, the path will look like /Volumes/volumename/Users/username/Library/ and not /Users/username/Library/.
(115061)

Linking I-tunes library to external drive

I have managed to successfully relocate my i-tunes library onto an external drive, having followed instructions in the i-tunes for Dummies book. (my laptop internal hard drive was full). However, i-tunes has not linked itself to the external i-tunes library file. I understood that this should happen automatically. How do I link them together?

Hey there,
One thing you should check is where your iTunes searches for your iTunes folder. Head to iTunes and then Preferences. When the window pops up, head over to the Advanced tab. Near the top of the tab, you will see where iTunes currently locates your Music folder. Click the Change button and then direct it to where the folder is located on your External drive. See if that helps.
B-rock

Trying to move my iPhoto library to external drive

I'm trying to clear up room on my internal drive and so trying to move my library to an external drive. I've copied the photo library to the external drive. How do i point the iPhoto application to this new location so that I can delete the library on my mac's drive. Follow up question, do i need to make any changes with time machine so that the new location continues to get backed up?

1 - Option - launch iPhot
2 - Yes - in the TM preferences under options be sure that drive is not excluded
3 - what format is the EHD? It MUST be Mac OS extended (journaled) to work for the iPhoto library
The general answer including those points is
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

I have my iTunes library on external drive and can access from any PC. However I cannot access from new MacBokk Air.

My iTunes library is on an external drive and been using it on two PCs with no problem.
Now that I got a new MacBook Air I want to access the same iTunes library from the external drive and keep all the library and media on that external drive.
When I try to change to another iTunes library by hitting "option" with iTunes and select the library on the external hard drive I get the following message:
"The iTunes library file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do noy have write permission for this file."
I have read many posts in which many suggest to go to the library or media file on the PC and right click to make sure the read only tab is not checked.
I uncheked the read only tab and gave full permission to all the iTunes files and folders.
The unusual part is that I can use this external drive on many PCs that I have tried with no problem at all.
I just select a different library, which is on my external hard drive and everything works, play lists and everything.
However, when I try it on a MAC i get the message stated above:
What can I do to be able to access my External iTunes library from new MacBook Air while keeping everything on the external drive like I can on PCs?
I am running latest version of iTunes and Mavericks.
Please advise.

Here are the official Apple Support instructions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Ciao.

Can't import library from External drive to new compueter.

I guess this could be more of a Windows 8 issue but maybe someone knows what I can do. My old 2006 Macbook died and I just got a new Windows 8 laptop. I had my iTunes library on an external drive (formatted in NTFS) because the Macbook had a tiny hard drive. Anyway, this new laptop has big enough HD that I can copy my library directly to it. The problem is, I can't... I opened up two Windows Explorers, one with my old library, and another with the location of the new library. It should let me just copy the contents from one folder to the other but for some reason it just won't. I select all the files/folders, drag them over to the new location, and nothing happens. I tried to copy/paste, both with the right-click menu, as well as keyboard shortcuts, and again nothing. Not even an error message. Why won't Windows let me copy the files? Should I just open up iTunes and drag the files over that way or will that screw things up? Please help!
PS. I'm using Windows 8 64-bit and iTunes 11.1.1.11

Benhermies wrote:
I guess this could be more of a Windows 8 issue but maybe someone knows what I can do. My old 2006 Macbook died and I just got a new Windows 8 laptop. I had my iTunes library on an external drive (formatted in NTFS)\
If this was used with your MacBook, Macs cannot write to NTFS drives.
So what was on the external drive? WHat do you mean by "library"? Which folders?
Copy the entire /iTunes/ folder.
Why won't Windows let me copy the files?
Dunno.
It's not an iTunes issue.

Create shared library on external drive from scratch

I have seen many posts about creating shared iTunes libraries on external drives with many different configurations, but mostly with pre-existing libraries. My question is creating the library from scratch. The purpose is obviously to share songs among several computers AND only have one copy of a song as to not take up unnecessary disk space on several computers.
All of our songs are on an external USB hard-drive attached to Airport Xtreme. Every song is in album folder, and every album folder is in an artist folder (very organized). All the artist folders (with their album and then song contents) are in a root folder called "Songs" on the external hard-drive.
We have upgraded our three Macs (iMac, MBP and MacMini) to Leopard and deleted all iTunes folders on each local hard drive (there was nothing in them anyway). We now want to create ONE iTunes folder on the hard drive so that each computer can access it. What are the steps? Here is what I "think" I've learned here on the postings with my questions:
1) First I opened iTunes on my first, main computer (iMac) and went into "Preferences" to change the iTunes music folder to [Ext HD]:iTunes:iTunes Music. The option, "Copy to music folder..." is deselected. (This will also be done on the other computers).
2) Now what to do? I could just move all of my song artist folders with their album subfolders and music files inside them, into the "iTunes Music" folder. But then what do I click to get iTunes to see all the songs and put them in its database? The other option is click "Add to Library" - but then don't I have to select all the individual songs? (I actually tried the latter method and it kept crashing). Can I just move all the folders into [Ext HD}:iTunes:iTunes Music folder and click something to get it to create its database based on all the music files that are now in its subfolders?
3) Next step. I have seen many people write that they then create an "Alias" and put the Alias in their "Music" folder on their LOCAL, computer's hard drive. Could someone now explicitly, step-by-step, describe how this is done? I assume I go to the external hard drive. Am I creating an alias of the entire "iTunes" folder, or of the "iTunes Music" subfolder, or of the library file??? Please answer this specifically.
So now I have "XXX alias" that I copy to my local, computer's hard drive and put it on my desktop. I take out the "....alias" word, and drag it to my local "Music" folder. It asks me to replace the existing folder/file, and I say yes. Correct? And then I do this on all three computers, correct?
4) Finally, after I've done all of this, I still have the following functionality questions -
4a) When we now add to the library, either from a CD or online purchase, ONE copy of the music should go in the "iTunes Music" folder on the external drive, correct?
4b) This system means that all three computers MUST have the same iTunes library, playlists, etc, correct? The downside of this system is that you cannot personalize libraries for each computer and just share the actual music files, correct? (If so, is there another process [steps 1-4 above] that results in a more customizable system where *ONLY ONE COPY* of the actual song file is shared?)
Sorry for the length of the message, and the questions. Truly I have read all the postings but was unable to map out my plan before I go and creating, finally, this one set of music that we can share. In advance, thank you all for your help.

I was afraid you'd say that, because I'm a long time Mac guy and I don't have the perfect answer. Have you ever messed with remote desktop? That'd seem to give her full access and control, something I personally wouldn't do, although it may work for you.
Another thought came to me that might work: copy over the complete library to her machine, and then when you do another major shoot, create a new catalog, edit, etc.and then import as catalog to you main one while sending her the new one.
I am sure there are more elegant solutions, but these are a couple of ways.

Saving Photos library on external drive?

I have been storing my iPhoto library on an external drive and opening iPhoto from that drive. How can I do the same thing for the new Photos app? I have so many pictures and I don't want to use up storage space on my computer or pay for tons of storage in iCloud.
Is there a way to import my iPhoto library into Photos on my computer (which already has some photos in it) and then move the entire new library to the external drive?

Is there a way to import my iPhoto library into Photos on my computer (which already has some photos in it) and then move the entire new library to the external drive?
You cannot merge Photos libraries. Importing an additional library into your current library is not supported in Photos. You can only migrate the iPhoto library as a second library and then switch between the libraries.
If you open an iPhoto Library in Photos, the Photos.app will create a migrated Photos library on the same drive where the original library is. So, before you open any iPhoto Library in Photos, make sure, it is on the drive, where you want the migrated library to be. To open any library in Photos you can drag the library onto the Photos icon.

ITunes Library on External Drive - NO .xml file

i recently had some serious hard drive corruption on my old computer, and figuring it was time for an upgrade anyway I decided to buy a new MacBook.
i had been storing all of my iTunes music on an external hard drive. i'm trying to figure out how to get my new MacBook to be able to access the music. I've changed the location of my library to the external drive in iTunes preferences, but no luck.
I know that iTunes has an .xml file where it stores things like song titles, data, etc etc -- unfortunately, that .xml file is on my old, ruined hard drive -- all i have is my external drive with my MP3s.
what do i do at this point? how can i access all of these songs using iTunes on my new MacBook without that .xml file?

There are 2 files that give iTunes and other apps the info the need to perform. The files are iTunes Library and iTunes Music Library.xml.
The default location of the 2 files is HD>Users>User Account>Music>iTunes - do not move regardless where your actual tunes are located. If the files are not present in the default location then iTunes will create new files with no info in them until you add the tunes back to the library.
This is from the iTunes Help Menu with a search for "files":
What are the iTunes library files?
The iTunes library is a database iTunes uses to organize your music. Two iTunes library files are created and maintained by iTunes for different purposes. They're both in the iTunes folder.
Mac OS X
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library
/Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml
Microsoft Windows
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl
\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music Library.xml
The two different iTunes library files serve different purposes.
iTunes Library (iTunes Library.itl in Windows)
This file is a database of the songs in your library and the playlists you've created. Some song-specific data is saved in this file. If you delete the file, iTunes creates a new, empty copy when you open the application, but any playlists, song ratings, comments, or other information you created is lost. The iTunes Library file is only used by iTunes.
Note: The library file name for versions of iTunes prior to 4.9 was "iTunes 4 Music Library" for Mac OS X and "iTunes 4 Music Library.itl" for Windows. After upgrading to iTunes 4.9 or later, the older library files are moved to a "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder.
Tip: New versions of iTunes sometimes include enhancements to the iTunes library. When you open the new version of iTunes, iTunes upgrades your existing library to the new format and places a copy of the old library in the Previous Libraries folder. If everything goes fine during your upgrade to the latest version of iTunes, you can delete the older iTunes Library files.
iTunes Music Library.xml
This file contains some (but not all) of the same information stored in the iTunes 4 Music Library file. The purpose of the iTunes Music Library.xml file is to make your music and playlists available to other applications on your computer. In Mac OS X other iLife applications (like iPhoto, iDVD, and iMovie) use this file to make it easier for you to add music from your iTunes library to your projects.
MJ

IPhoto No longer recognizes Library on External Drive

I am in (a little) trouble. I had my iPhoto library created and maintained on an external NAS drive, accessed through my Airport Extreme. For about 5 months, all worked fine. One recent day, my NAS was no longer recognized and I had to fiddle with some of the AE and network settings. Now, iPhoto doesn't recognize my library.
That is, the iPhoto library folder is still in my external HD, but when I try to open iPhoto, it says it can't find the library. When I point it to the iPhoto library on the external HD, I get nada.
I am only in a little trouble because all of the pictures are still in the iPhoto Library > Original folder, so I can create a new iPhoto Library with them. But if I do this on the external drive, it works only for that session: when I reboot the HD, I get the same problem as above.
This is weird given that it worked fine for 5 months. Any ideas?

Yes. Are you importing an entire library folder into an new library? That would give that message for any non image file in the library, including the database file, Library.iPhoto. If you want to create a new library and import the files form an old one, just import the Originals folder. That way you won't get the thumbnail files imported as regular photo files.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

After connecting my itunes library (on external drive) to another laptop iphone no longer recognized

I'm hoping to get some help on a matter of 'portability' of my itunes library.
My itunes library resides at work attached to my MacBook Pro 17" running 10.7.5 but on an external USB drive.
Using iTunes 10.7 on Macbook Air and 11.1 on MacbookPro (to which the iTunes library is normally attached from the USB drive).
I bought a Macbook Air to travel with also running 10.7.5.
I connected the external drive (where the itunes library resides) now that I'm away from from the office to the Macbook Air, changed the itunes media location to the external USB drive itunes library, with "Keep iTunes Media Folder Organised" and "Copy files to iTunes Media Folder when adding to my library" then did the File/Library/Organise Library/Consodilate Files function.
Alas, my iphone when connected to the MacBook Air is still not recognised on sync. I want to be able to back-up my iphone when not at the office (but not to the iCloud, to a local drive). Is this possible?
Thanks very much!
Dan
Message was edited by: DZReinstein

You might want to post this over in the iTunes Match forum.

Reinstall of OS: iTunes Library on external drive not recognized

I've always had my iTunes library on my external drive. Now that I reinstalled my OS iTunes will not open the library. I've navigated to the correct library using the advanced preferences but that's not doing it. I've tried discarding the existing library in the music folder. Can't seem to find the answer.
Thanks

JS,
I had some trouble following macmenno's instructions, but have had almost complete success. If you DO have your original itunes library file, this should work for you too.
Background, my situation:
My harddisk was failing but warned me, so i copied the ENTIRE itunes folder to an external drive. The iTunes folder includes the "itunes library" file, the music folder, and the xml file. This was suggested in a book i have on iLife as the best way to backup itunes to an external HD to preserve playlists, et al. But the book failed to say how to copy the folder back if needed.
So the first time i naively just copied the entire folder back to the imac (new HD) but itunes failed to "find" it, even though it was exactly where i had deleted the equivalent default (empty) files/folder. Playing around i managed to get itunes to find the music but not the playlists and ratings...i.e., it was not finding the library file.
Macmenno's instructions:
I started all over: With Itunes closed, I deleted all three items from the itunes folder: the library file, music folder, xml file. to be safe, i also emptied the trash since itunes seemed to be following the files. But i left the itunes folder in place, albiet empty. Per macmenno's instructions, i then copied ONLY the itunes library file and the xml file from my external HD to the imac itunes folder. I then opened itunes, checked the preferences to be sure it was pointing in the right direction. I then dragged the Music Folder from the ext-HD and dropped it on the library icon in the itunes program window.
That worked. i have my playlists, ratings, comments, et all.
Only problem is i now have duplicate listings of all music songs -- one with an exclamation point that doesn't play (apparently came from my itunes library file before i dropped in the songs), one that does play.
So macmenna, if you are still with us, how can i delete the 3,000 song titles with exclamation points? I tried to click on the column head to sort them all together, then block-mark and delete... but apparently we can not sort on that column head.
Or did i miss something in your instructions?
Thanks. and good luck to you JS.
SB
imac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) itunes 6.0.5

Library on External Drive - Setting up on a New Computer

This is the second time I've done this and the first time was a disaster, despite reading and reading on this topic.
I had a desktop. I kept all my music on an external hard drive, including the library. The path my iTunes was setup to use was E:\iTunes\iTunes Music. No problem.
Now I have a new laptop. I installed iTunes, plugged in the external drive, and changed the directory in my preferences to the same one as the previous computer.
What do I do next to get my library, which already exists in E:\iTunes, to be recognized by iTunes? I don't want to copy any music to the computer, I just want it to find the library on the external drive and use it as it is. It's very well organized, including playlists and smart playlists, and I don't want to lose it.
Anybody have a suggestion on the best way to make this work smoothly? Last time I tried this I ended up with a duplicate of each song in the library, and a bunch of half-full playlists. Took me forever to correct this.\
Any help would be appreciated.

Steve,
This should be relatively easy as long as you duplicate the paths from the old PC with the new PC.
If the music folders (Artist & Album) on ExHD were in the 'E:\iTunes\iTunes Music' path, then make sure that the new Laptop sees the ExHD as the
i exact same
path to the music. Just
i 'E:\iTunes\Artist\Album'
will not work, it will need to be
i 'E:\iTunes\iTunes Music\Artist\Album'
Once that is set up, with iTunes closed, make a copy of the old Laptop's 'iTunes Library.itl' file and replace the file of the same name in the new Laptop (usually in the '\My Music\iTunes' folder). This ITL file keeps all the absolute locations for your song files, as well as all the music meta-data.
Once you open the new Laptop's iTunes, you should see the exact same Library as before - no need to 'Add', 'Import' or perform any other process.
Post back if you have questions.

Moving library to external drive

I am helping a client that has an iMac G4 with OS X 10.4. She has a LOT of photos in her iPhoto Library, around 25000 of them, and she is almost out of space on her internal hard drive. She has a new external drive that I would like to move her iPhoto library to.
I found instructions on the iPhoto information page. However, when I drag the iPhoto Library over to the external drive, it starts copying but then after a while I get an error about not being able to copy an alias file and it stops copying.
Also the copy procedure seems very slow, it was showing that it would take 9 hours to copy those photos. While I was watching the file transfer it was only moving about 100MB every minute. Does this model just have the older slow USB connection?

Hi, Techserv. Any iMac G4 built before September 2003 has USB 1.1, not USB 2.0 ports. With such a machine it makes no sense at all to use a USB-only external hard drive. Your client should have a FireWire-capable drive enclosure instead. It would be many times faster.

ITunes library on external drive erased after syncing.....

Here's the scoop....Been running itunes 7.0.2 on Windows XP w/ no problems at all. I ran out of space on my internal drive so I added a WD My Book usb external drive last night. I want to use it for my main drive for the library, so I changed my library directory and then consolidated it all to the external drive, according to the directions here. Everything seemingly went ok.
Everything works just fine, until I sync up my ipod. It does the typical "slow way down, and maybe occasionally lock up" that I've read about so much here. Sometimes it will "finish" syncing after about 2-3 hours. That's not the big problem though. The main issue is that the library in the ext drive disappears as soon as I plug in my ipod. After syncing, my ipod is still unchanged, no songs added or deleted, and the ext drive is empty. The songs appear to be in my itunes library, but if I try to play any of them w/ the itunes player, it says they can't be found. And when I search the ext drive w/ windows explorer, it shows up empty. I have to run system restore to get them back. After that, everything is back to normal until I plug my ipod in again, then the whole vicious cycle starts over.
So far I have tried 4 of the 5r's. I'm afraid to do a restore on the ipod quite yet, cause I don't wanna risk losing it all. I've searched the forums a bit, but can't really find anything addressing this issue. Not really sure where to go from here, so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!
Emachines Pile-O-***** w/ Celeron D Windows XP
Emachines Pile-O-***** Windows XP

It sounds like your itunes is getting confused in the drive letter of the ipod since the new external hard drive was added you might want to change the drive letter of the ipod.....
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93499

Library on external drive...

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