Manually Copied iTunes Library to new Mac -- Will iPhone sync be messed up?

Hi. Apologies in advance if this has been addressed elsewhere in the forums. I have found no clear answers though in my relatively thorough search.
I just bought a new Mac to replace my old one. I decided to start as cleanly as I can by only migrating documents.
After reading a thousand different ways to copy my library from my old Mac to the new one (and maintaining playlists, ratings, etc.) I ended up copying the full contents of my music folder from old to new via Firewire and then I option-clicked to tell iTunes to use the Library I just copied over.
A few questions for all of you:
1. Is this a decent method for recreating my prior iTunes experience on my new computer? Any pitfalls of which I should be aware? I'm going from 8.2 to 8.2 by the way.
2. What will happen when I try to sync my iPhone with the new computer? I want to make sure I'm not about to wipe it clean or otherwise mess it up. Again, I copied the full contents of the Music folder in my user account, so assuming my iPhone settings, backups, etc are in there, they hopefully will still work?
iTunes looks like it did before, but I'm nervous I might be deluding myself.
Thanks for the help and suggestions!

You got most of it, but you missed your backups which are in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup. If you don't copy them, iTunes will make a new backup.
Also the software update files are elsewhere, but iTunes will download them again if needed for a restore. If you really want to move them, they are in ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Carrier Support and iPhone Software Updates (but you don't need them unless your internet connection is dial-up and you don't want to wait for iTunes to redownload them).
BTW, the ~ symbol indicates your home account.

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Switching library from PC itunes library to new MAC itunes library via ipod

I have a pc and itunes and a nano with an extensive library and many playlists. I just decided to switch to mac and got a new imac and plugged my nano in. I can't transfer my music and or my playlists. It gives me a dialogue box saying the nano can only have a music library on one machine and that it can sync the nano to the new machine but will only sync purchased music and will erase the rest!!!! ACCHHH - How do you transfer your music and hopefully the playlists to the new imac itunes library?
Help.

1). Connect your iPod to your computer. When you get the message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod.
2). When your iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual, that will let you continue to use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default: Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
3). Once you are connected and your iPod is safely in manual mode there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. iTunes will only let you copy your iTunes Store purchases directly from an iPod to the computer, you'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
For everything else (music from CDs, other downloads and including iTunes purchased songs and in some cases, videos and games) there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. I use Senuti but have a look at the web pages and documentation for the others too. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here (you'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos and games as well):
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
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A selection of iPod to iTunes utilities:
Senuti Mac Only (iPod Touch & iPhone compatible)
expod Mac Only (iPod Touch & iPhone compatible)
PodView Mac Only
PodWorks Mac Only
TuneAid Mac only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
YamiPod Mac & Windows
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPodRip Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
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Floola Mac & Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide
4). Keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync.
5). I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive

Computer Hard Drive Failure - How can I copy itunes library to new pc/ipod?

Hi
My old desktop pc hard drive recently crashed due to a critical error so I have invested in a new pc and am considering purchasing a more up to date ipod to replace my old ipod mini. Is there are way I can access, retrieve or transfer my existing itunes library of imported cd / downloaded (purchased) music from my old pc (e.g. from the ipod mini itself or by loading my original software disc on the new pc?) to my new pc / ipod or do I have to start again from scratch and lose purchased tunes etc? If so, Apple may lose a customer, which would be a shame.
Many thanks for your help.
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1). Connect your iPod to your new computer. If it is set to update automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from your iPod.
2). When your iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual, that will let you use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default: Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
3). Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. There are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
SharePod Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod2PC Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
iPodRip Mac & Windows
YamiPod Mac and Windows
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows
Floola Mac & Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
If you have any iTunes Music Store purchases the transfer of purchased content only from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. You'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide
4). Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync.
5). I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up, relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive

Copying iTunes library onto new MacBook Pro

I want to copy my existing iTunes library to my shiny new 13" unibody MacBook Pro. Since my 17" MacBook Pro remains my main home computer I want to leave the library intact on that machine - I just want to copy the library onto the new machine (album art and all).
Is Migration Assistant the way to go or should I drag and drop the existing library onto an external drive and then drop the library into the music folder on the new machine.
I'm normally quite good at this sort of thing. Honest.

drjbscott wrote:
should I drag and drop the existing library onto an external drive and then drop the library into the music folder on the new machine.
you could use an external. or, you could connect your Macs with a firewire cable, start up the 17" in _*Target Disk Mode*_, then copy the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music folder) to HD/music on the 13" (overwriting the folder in place there). just fire up iTunes on the 13" and everything will be as you are used to on the 17".
you can then use e.g. _*Home Sharing*_ (or a 3rd party software) to keep both libs in sync.
enjoy ...
JGG

Copying itunes tracks to new Mac

Hi all,
i should've asked this in my previous post but oh well. I just bought this MBP, so i copied my itunes onto a memory stick from my PC at work. So far so good. Then i saved into the music folder on my new Mac. Is there a faster way of adding them to the actual itunes library apart from going to each folder and then manually selecting all the tracks you want to add? It would be so much quicker if you could just select all the tracks (from all the different folders) at once and dump into the itunes library that way. Im i missing something??
Cheers!

Copy the entire iTunes folder from your to a external drive (via Drag and drop)
Located:
Users > username > Music > iTunes
There are normally two folders and two files.
If there are more, just copy them all!
iTunes Library
iTunes Music Library.xml
Album Artwork (folder)
iTunes Music (folder)
The OS won't move the files, but duplicate them.
Make sure your external dive has enough space.
If you like have tweaked the EQ settings and would like to keep them too, you'll need to copy the following files.
Users > username > Library > Preferences > com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist
Users > username > Library > Preferences > com.apple.iTunes.plist
Remember to put them in the same folders on your new machine. Oh.. there are two "Library" folders.. the one you need is under "USERS", the other one belongs to the System.

Permissions Issues after Transferring iTunes Library to new Mac.

My intention is to move the library off my old iMac, and keep the iTunes library on the new one, while still keeping the old iMac around. After the transfer i intend to delete the library off the old one, and use HomeSharing to utlize iTunes on both Macs. Also, the old iMac is where our family has synced ever iPod, iPhone, & iPad we've owned... I've been on the support community for almost two days now, and thought I had it figured out, but... i obviously don't. So i apologize if there is a thread that already answers this question, if so, please be kind
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Now I'm having trouble with permissions on the new iMac now. At first iTunes wouldn't even open. It said I didn't have permission, or the library was in a locked file. I thought I had it figured out by going into "get info" in the iTunes folder (on the new iMac) and adjusting the permissions. which worked as far as allowing iTunes to open now (Both computers are running iTunes 11.1 (126)).
Now that i've synced my iphone 5 with the iTunes (on the new iMac) i noticed that some of the songs wouldn't sync because I don't have permission...?
Beginning to think I've screwed this whole thing up...
Also, I noticed that there is another iTunes folder, that wasn't discussed in this article: VolumeA/Library/iTunes - Do i need to copy this one over as well?
I'm such a noob at this that i'm almost embarrased to ask for some help, but PLEASE HELP!! I haven't touched my old iMac's library, and won't until
Thanks in advance for anything you can do!

It helps to know which instructions you are following. Some people follow the wrong instructions and just move media, not the whole library which consists of many files and folders. You do not do it with changing preferences.
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 use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the Option (alt) key (shift on Windows), then guide it to the new location of the library.

Copy iTunes library to new MacBook Pro

Hi 1st timer here
I've just upgraded from a Power Mac (V10.5.8) to a Mac Book Pro. I'd like to transfer all the music I have in iTunes (V10.6.1) and don't want to have to buy Leopard just for this one-off. I've used the thunderbolt to copy everything else ok.
Is there any easy way to do this?
I'll probably push all my content to iCloud to share on my great new iPhone as well, but 1 brideg at at a time!!
Many thanks

iTunes: What are the iTunes library files?
iTunes: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder
iTunes for Mac: How to copy purchases between computers
Message was edited by: b j t

If i download itunes on a new mac ,will purchased albums appear when i sign in

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http://www.macworld.com/article/146958/2010/03/move_itunes_windows_mac.html
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer

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I have a new mac and I'm wanting to set up my current Itunes library on it. I went from a PC...that is now dead. I do use an Ipad and Iphone that has my music on it...any help as to how to do this?

Copy everything from your backup copy of your old computer to the new computer.
The iphone/ipad is not a backup device. The sync is one way - computer to iphone/ipad. The exception is itunes purchases:File>Transfer Purchases

Copying iPhoto Library to new Mac

My entire iPhoto library with over 4000 pictures and 30 albums is on my iMac G5. I would like to know what is the best way to "mirror" my iPhoto library to my MacBook without having to manually create each album and drag the pictures into it (which would take forever!). I have an external hard drive I can use.
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If you want to mirror it up to the time you make the copy: Just copy the entire iPhoto library folder to your new Mac and point iPhoto to it there (option-launch and navigate to the iPhoto library folder)
Since that was too easy, I'm assuming you want to have both Macs to use the same set of images - i.e. when you add photos to one Mac, they should show up on the other's iPhoto as well?
You'd have to use something like iSync but I'm usually afraid to trust the application's view of what is "newer". Things could get messy.
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Import iTunes Library to new Mac

My old Mac died. I have a new iMac running Mac OS 10.8.6 with iTunes 10.
I copied my iTunes library from the boot drive of my old Mac to the secondary drive in my iMac.
I then went into iTunes preference to designate the iTunes folder I copied as the "iTunes Media folder location."
Two questions,,,
1. A dialoge box popped up asking me "Would you like iTunes to move and rename the existing files in your iTunes music folder to match the "keep iTunes Music folder organized" preference?". I assume that should be a yes, correct?
2. I thought when I told iTunes where my existing iTunes library is located the library would show up in iTunes. How do I get it to show up?

You should not have needed to change any preferences. Because you did the steps in the second link (I think) it only moved where your media are stored but not everything iTunes uses to produce the window you see when you start iTunes. It left some critical files on your main drive which is why the two folder structures are not identical. You should have just copied via Finder's drag and drop the whole iTunes folder from the first drive to the second, making (as you suggest) an identical copy on the second drive with the same structure. Then start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new library location.
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I recently used Migration assistant to transfer just my iTunes library file from an iMac to my MacBook Pro (both running snow leopard with latest versions etc). However after completing the process I cannot find the files on my new Mac anywhere. I know they are there because my available hard disk space is about 125GB lower but ITunes does not have any music content and I cannot find any files on the system that large. Please help!

Migration Assistant copies the files into the same accounts on the new computer.
If your username is not the same, it will create the old username account on the new computer.
Likely you are logged into a different user account on your MacBook.
Go to System prefs -> Accounts and see if there's another account.
If so, log into that account (should be same username and password as on the iMac) and drag the \Music\iTunes\ folder to the Shared directory.
You can leave iot there if you wish.
Log back into the account your are using now, hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select *Choose library* then select the iTunes library file in the \Shared\iTunes\ folder.
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Help please.

While roaminggnome is correct that you should have taken backups it may not be too late to save some of your media...
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Backup the device to the new installation
Transfer your purchases into a newly authorized library
Recover any other media using third party tools as suggested in this post from forum regular Zevoneer
Restore the device from the backup
This process should switch the association of the device to the new library, preserving the data and settings in your apps.
May also be prudent to attempt a backup to iCloud directly from the device before you start... Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > iCloud Backup > On. It won't save any media but it would preserve the general account settings and documents in case anything goes wrong while you are trying to extract your other data.
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Hey JPXMAC,
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OS X Mountain Lion: Restore items backed up with Time Machine
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11103
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Help!!!

Each device can be managed individually as you desire: manually, selected playlists, or auto-sync.
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Manually Copied iTunes Library to new Mac -- Will iPhone sync be messed up?

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