Migrating music files

My hard drive was going out, and we replaced it. The old one's been slowly chugging along (within an enclosure), while I attempt to recover all my data from it. I'm down to iTunes. I thought I had transferred everything over, but apparently, I haven't.
I've got all my playlists, and library -- or, so it seems. When I try to play some songs, I get a message that the music file can't be found. And, indeed, it's not on this hard drive.
Shortly before the old hard drive started having problems, we got my husband his own computer (yay!). He now has all of our iTunes files, and I cut mine down a bunch, since he's the music-phile in the family. However, it seems that the music files all stayed on the old hard drive. When I finally found where they were, I realized that there's a whole lot more than I have in my library.
With the old hard drive barely able to transfer a few files in 20 minutes, transferring all that music is just out of the question. Is there a way I can have iTunes transfer the music files JUST of the songs I've got listed in my current library (from my husband's computer, via ethernet). From what I can so far, I can only do it a song at a time. I've got hundreds of songs that need to be relocated and imported.
I hope I've been clear with my question so someone can offer assistance.
Thanks!
yogamama

I just realized my computer info was incorrect in the first post. I've got an iMac Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.66 GHz, and my husband's got a newer iMac, that's only a couple of months old. I hope this helps.

Similar Messages

HT2518 why does my internet crash every time I try to migrate my files from mac to pc

I am trying to migrate music,files,etc. from my pc to mac. Everytime I set up the migrate software and start the process my internet crashes. Can anyone help me?

While running Windows then on your Mac?
Over the network or some other interface?
Can you make that clearer to us?

Relocating music files after using migration assistant and time machine

Hello
I recently purchased an i7 MBP because my previous 15 in was stolen. Luckily I had a time machine backup of the old machine - my previous MBP was the Intel 2 Core Duo model just before the refresh to the i5/i7s
So far what I did is ran migration assistant to bring my files over
Everything seems to be fine, except when I got to iTunes much of my music is listed but I get the exclamation mark symbol next to most of the music and movies and apps
I am trying to figure out how to fix this and relocate my files
I know I could access my time machine backup by browsing other time machine disks, but I can't browse the music folder in a previous backup because I don't have the permisson to access it
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Victor:
If you correctly transferred your music files the problem is with your iTunes Library file.
Open iTunes and quickly press the option key. A window will show to ask you to select the library file. Browse for it and it should fix the problem.

Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows & Mac

Hey folks
I recently migrated my collection of music to an external hard drive by:
1) changing the iTunes music folder location from the default (Music/iTunes/iTunes Music) to my external hard drive through iTunes Preferences.
2) Selecting "Consolidate library" from the Advanced drop-down menu.
Afterwards, I moved my library file to the same parent directory I put my iTunes music folder in on the external (in fact, I moved my entire iTunes folder excl the music folder which was obviously already on the hard drive). When I restarted iTunes I held down OPTION and then chose the library file on my external as the iTunes library file to be used. This was all done on a Mac.
No problems - all swell. But... I moved the library file to the external because I want to be able to use the external with multiple computers from which I can import music that will automatically be copied to the same folder (the music folder on my external) and managed accordingly. When I tried to open the library from my Windows laptop at home nothing happened. The library file I copied from my Mac had no extension, so I renamed it .itl so the Windows version of iTunes would pick it up, but selecting it as the new library did nothing.
Q1: Are iTunes library files (I assume always .itl's?) interchangeable between Mac and Windows? If not this might explain why the library didn't load up.
Q2: Is my method wrong? Is there a different procedure for getting multiple copies of iTunes on different computers and operating systems to all use the same library, saved on an external hard drive, which itself references music from the same external hard drive? Is this goal even possible?
Q3: Is it possible to have 2 or more libraries for a given installation of iTunes?
Bonus Q4: How is the album artwork saved? When I consolidated my music on the external, did this move the artwork across with it (integrated with each music file?) or was it still sitting on my Mac hard drive in the Album Artwork directory? I have since moved this folder to my external as well, when I moved the entire directory including library file across, and album artwork is visible when the library is open on my Mac, but I don't know whether its getting the images from the hard drive or the external hard drive.
Okay last one - I swear! Q5: When I couldn't get the laptop version of Itunes to open my Mac library file, I imported all my music into the default laptop library which references the music files still all located on the external. Considering the 130GB of music I'm dealing with, this took a while, but what took even longer was "Processing album artwork", which dragged on for ages. What is actually happening during this procedure - is iTunes accessing an online database to find the artwork, or is it working with the artwork already processed and saved in the album on the external?
Thanks very much in advance! Sorry for all the questions but I'd like to crack this thing once and for all.

The procedure for sharing a library between a Mac and Wintel PC on an external drive is quite simple. I did this myself so that I would have my music available to me when I worked in my lab.
First before you transfer anything to your external hard drive, the music library on your Mac should already be consolidated. Once that is done, transfer the iTunes folder (./Music/iTunes) to the external drive. Unless your music files are in a folder outside the iTunes folder—for instance, my music files are on a separate, larger volume on my Mac from the iTunes folder that is on the boot volume—copying your iTunes folder will put everything that iTunes needs onto the external drive.
Now you have two options for using your library on two machines. The first, which I prefer, is to leave your Mac’s iTunes library in place and use the external strictly for the Wintel PC. In this instance, you would need to add the .itl extension to the iTunes Library database file. When you attach your external to the Wintel PC at work and choose the library, your should be taken into iTunes with your music library intact.
In this instance, your external drive can also serve as a backup of your iTunes library because it is highly improbable that both your external drive and Mac Pro’s iTunes folders will go bad simultaneously. For backup purposes, you will need to place another copy of your iTunes Library database file on the external drive, without the extension, for your Mac; I have had issues with Macs recognizing .itl files. Of note, the content of your library on the external drive will be the same if you need to recover from the external drive, but as the Wintel PC will not update the database file without the .itl extension, any settings you change or playlists you add in Windows will not be transferred to the Mac unless you recover the Mac’s library from the iTunes Music Library.xml file that the PC would have kept current.
In the second instance, if you wish to run your library off of the external drive for both your Mac and Wintel PC, you would follow the same procedure described above, but you would need to have both an iTunes Library (Mac) and iTunes Library.itl (Windows) database files. Effectively, this would mean that once a change is made on either system, it will not be reflected on the other. As you are most likely to add new songs via your home computer, you will need to replace the .itl file with a copy of the Mac database file whenever you add music, playlists, etc.
Given the storage capacity of my Power Mac G5 and the logistics involved in managing a library stored solely on an external volume going between a Mac and PC, I find the second option to be more trouble than it is worth. For me, it is easier to maintain my Mac’s iTunes library then copy the iTunes folder over to the external drive overnight when I wish to make any updates (e.g., new content, playlists, etc.) available to my work computer. In the morning, I just add the .itl extension to database file before disconnecting the external drive and taking it to work.
Now that your first two questions are answered, yes you can have more than one library, but doing so is poor database management. You should have all of your content in a single database and use iTunes to separate content. iTunes already separates music, movies, podcasts, audiobooks, etc., but further division of content is up to the user. iTunes has had playlists and folders for a few versions now, so it is quite easy to organize your library’s content in as simple or complex a folder/playlist structure as you please.
How album artwork is saved depends on how you acquired your music. Music you purchase from the iTunes Store has its artwork placed into a separate artwork database built in the Album Artwork folder in your iTunes folder. I believe that the same occurs if you allow iTunes to find and import album covers. If you rip CDs or acquire music from other sources, you manually add the artwork, in which case the images are stored in the music files.
Lastly, when iTunes has to build a library it can take a while. Your library is twice as large as mine and on a slow(er) laptop drive the time to built a library will be excessive. Unless iTunes is crashing or freezing, let it runs its course until the library build is completed. Also, if you have copied your music files to your laptop’s internal hard drive, you should not leave iTunes referencing the external drive. In the worst case, you would want to copy your iTunes folder from the external to the laptop’s internal drive’s default iTunes folder location. Remove the iTunes Library file and allow iTunes on your laptop to rebuild the library from the XML file.

How do I get my music files to imported to itunes

I recently bought the latest iMac and used the Migration Assistant to import all my music from my old computer. I can see on the iMac where my music files are but iTunes won't import them. No clue what's going on right now.

How did you Migrate? On original Startup, or after starting up and creating a user.
If the latter, then you migrated data is in the migrated user's account.
If that is the case, log into the other account and move the music into the /Users/Shared folder. Then, log into the account you want to use and import the music into iTunes.
If that is not the case, please explain where your music is located.

Can I change the file path that itunes reads my music files from? 65000 files trying to be transferrd from external to internal HD. I dont want itunes to manage my collection, just read it. thanks

Can I change the file path that itunes reads my music files from?
I have about 65000 music files that i have transferrd from my external to a new laptop internal HD.
I have organised the folders myself as I use a PC and do not want itunes to organise the folders because when I'm searching through music on windows it is sorted out by artists/albums with 'the...(eg The Beatles)' under 'T' instead of 'B'.
Long story short.... Is there any way that I can keep my itunes library as it is on the external HD and copy it to the new laptops C drive, keep all the info (playlists etc) and still have the same folder structure as on the external HD?
Or, is there any way of making windows sort things in alphabetical order like it is in itunes (eliminating the 'the' issue)?

The files that weren't inside the media folder on the original machine need to be copied over to exactly the same paths as they had on the source machine. See this thread for an ongoing discussion of a similar problem. See also this post on migrating the iTunes library.
tt2

How to transfer music files from sonic stage to a hard drive

Hi all
I need your help, I am pulling my hair out here for the past 3 weeks. I purchased a hard drive from Apple and I want to transfer all my music files from Sonic stage which in on my old Fitjitsu laptop.
I then want to transfer the music from the hard drive to iTunes to my new mac airbook
Any help is appreciated at this present time I am hating Apple product big time. Maybe it will restore once I am guided at present Apple customer services who sold me the product initially couldn't help me.
Cheers

I am guessing this Fitjutsu laptop is running Windows which uses NTFS format drives. If you bought a hard drive from Apple it is probably formatted for Mac use. Anyway, I don't know why you are blaming Apple. Hard drives come in one of the other format and you need one that works with both. Sales people at many kinds of stores rarely know much about things they sell outside of immediate application. They are trained in the things they sell but are not technically minded. If you had bought the drive anywhere else you would be like the 2 questions I answered yesterday where people got the music onto the NTFS drive but didn't know why it wouldn't work with the Mac.
You haven't told us much about the Fitjutsu laptop. You may be able to use Migration Assistant to transfer the entire contents to the Mac. This will set up a separate user account with the content.
About Windows Migration Assistant - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4796 - Learn about how to use Windows Migration Assistant to migrate your files from a Windows PC to a Mac.
If you need/want to use a drive to get the music off the other computer you will need a drive with either NTFS format or FAT32 (MS-DOS) format. With NTFS format the Mac can read but not write to the drive. You can use it for transferring the files but it will have to be re-formatted back to Mac format for use with the Mac. Alternatively you can reformat your Mac drive to FAT32 (MS-DOS) format using Disk Utility. Macs can both read and write to this format but is isn't really a a Mac format (Macs can't repair a FAT drive) so eventually you may wish to reformat it too back to Mac format. Formatting a drive erases all content so once you get the content onto your Mac you will have to store it there temporarily when you format the drive back to Mac format.
I know this is sounding complicated but Apple's answer to transferring PC content is Migration Assistant. If you don't want to do that then yes, you are entering the realm where there is fiddly hands-on things to do.
If this is a brand new Mac you may still be in the 90 day period where you can get free help at an Apple Store from the "Genius" bar. I'm guessing, however, this won't extend to their formatting and reformatting a drive and transferring select content.

How Do I Quickly Find Music Files Not Used By iTunes So I Can Delete Them?

Hello, I have deleted many songs from my Windows iTunes library; but, the music files remain on my hard drive and are taking up space. I need to quickly and efficiently find these music files to delete them. I would prefer to not have to download another utility to accomplish this.
While I now have iTunes setup so that any future deletions will prompt me to move the music file to the recycle bin, I want to clean-up my hard drive.
Thanks in advance for your help!

How did you Migrate? On original Startup, or after starting up and creating a user.
If the latter, then you migrated data is in the migrated user's account.
If that is the case, log into the other account and move the music into the /Users/Shared folder. Then, log into the account you want to use and import the music into iTunes.
If that is not the case, please explain where your music is located.

Music files don't transfer to iPad

I desperately need help!
I've upgraded my iPad from the first retina version (running iOS 6) to the last retina before iPad Air. The "new" iPad is running iOS 8.1.2.
I'm running iTunes 11.4 on an iMac 27" running OSX 10.9.5.
After the switch/upgrade I cannot get my music library to synch with the iPad. Since I have about 60gigs of music in iTunes I've created a (smart) playlist with the music I want to have on my iPad.
If I goto "On this iPad" in iTunes, and chose "Music" I can see the songs I want to synch, but they are greyed out with a circle before the song name. Now, this is, I guess, what music in the cloud would look like but I don't use, and never have used, Music Match.
I've searched forums for solutions and have tried the following:
- Restoring the iPad from the last backup. Doesn't help.
- Deleting my iCloud account from the iPad, making a backup of the iPad, restoring it from the last saved backup without an iCloud account. Doesn't help.
- "Unsynch" the music from the iPad (that really isn't synched anyway). Making a backup of the ipad. Restoring it. Set the iPad to synch the playlist. Doesn't work. I end up with greyed out music.
- Restoring the iPad from the last backup of my old iPad (that ran iOS 6). Doesn't help.
During all these attempts the only music files I've ever got to transfer to my iPad have been music purchased in iTunes (and since I'm old fashioned and prefer to own music in physical formats that isn't much).
The only thing I haven't tried is to restore my iPad as a new one. I haven't done this since I will lose quite a bit of data and I refuse to accept that Apple have created new software that prevents me from doing what Ive always done when purchasing a new iPhone or iPad; pluggin it into the computer and restore from the last backup of my old device and then continue using it as before, without any hassle. Since I've, until now, refused to upgrade my devices to iOS 7/8 I'm pretty sure my problem is caused by iOS 8. I'm also in the process of upgrading from an iPhone 5 (running iOS 6) to an iPhone 5S (running iOS 8) but since I'm having this problem with my iPad I'm pretty sure I will end up in the same problem on the iPhone. So at the moment I'm stuck!
Is there anything else I need to try?

OK, so I have now tried migrating from iPhone 5 (iOS6) to iPhone 5S with the latest iOS8. And as I expected I'm having the exact same problems with my music files that won't transfer to my iPhone, just as they won't transfer to my iPad.
Any suggestions?

Music file organization issue.

Here's the thing. I'm a little bit OCD with the location and organization of the music files that are on my computer. Everything I have, music, movies, tv shows, apps are all sorted properly under the large folder of "iTunes Media". If I view the properties of the music folder, it overstates the number of files that are in that folder. So lets say I have 5000 items listed in the iTunes library. I know that all of these are files are located in this one music folder. If I view the properties of the music folder of where these 5000 should be located, it gives me what seems like a random number higher than the 5000 files. When I dig deeper into the music folder, (folders of all the artists) a folder with 10 files (songs), the property of that specific folder states that there are 16 files. In other words, the properties states there are 16 files, but once I get to the individual files of that folder, there really are just 10 files.
This has happened on many occations, with mulitple artists. What I have been doing to fix this is just deleting those folders (the artist) and copying them back from my external. When I copy them back, a folder with 10 files stated in the properties actually have 10 files. It's only later (and randomly) when the number of files balloon under the properties. Why is this happening?
I love to hear if the number of items in your iTunes library match the number of files that is stated in the properties of where ever your music files are organized. If you don't keep everything stored in one folder then they probably won't match up.
Maybe I should just get over it, but I'm just thowing this out there.
Thanks in advance.

It is possible that at some point perhaps when migrating your library from one machine to another, or backing it up, that you've ended up connecting to the wrong set of library files. Since your media folder appears to be in the correct location for a Mac I wonder if it is the library file that is wrong.
If you start up the iTunes with the external drive disconnected will the library load? If not, what happens to the location of the media path after you cancel the missing library dialog, connect the drive and restart iTunes?
Ideally you want both the library folder and the media folder to be in the same place, with the media folder being a subfolder of the library folder. If your library isn't currently in this layout then let me know where the two folders are and I will suggest some remedial action.
tt2

Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows

Existing discussion thread link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1715002?start=0&tstart=0
Hi,
I have a large (~212GB) iTunes music library that was created using iTunes on Windows. All music files, etc are held on an external drive. Now I want to be able to access my existing music library from my MacBook Pro running iTunes on OS X. When I launch iTunes I hit the key so I can select which library file it should use. I'm not currently able to select my iTunes library on the external hard disk.
I've tried following the steps covered in an existing discussion thread that I have found, Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows & Mac, but that hasn't worked for me unfortunately. The linked post suggests renaming the library file (.itl) to remove its extension but the library is read-only. I've also tried doing the same when the external hard disk is connnected to my windows laptop and then switching back over to my MacBook Pro. But this has also not worked yet.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

Existing discussion thread link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1715002?start=0&tstart=0
Hi,
I have a large (~212GB) iTunes music library that was created using iTunes on Windows. All music files, etc are held on an external drive. Now I want to be able to access my existing music library from my MacBook Pro running iTunes on OS X. When I launch iTunes I hit the key so I can select which library file it should use. I'm not currently able to select my iTunes library on the external hard disk.
I've tried following the steps covered in an existing discussion thread that I have found, Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows & Mac, but that hasn't worked for me unfortunately. The linked post suggests renaming the library file (.itl) to remove its extension but the library is read-only. I've also tried doing the same when the external hard disk is connnected to my windows laptop and then switching back over to my MacBook Pro. But this has also not worked yet.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

Re Linking Music Files

I had my whole tunes library on a usb hardrive that crashed however i have recovered my itunes music folder and have it saved to a new hardrive, how can i link the music files in itunes to their new home without having to import everything again ?

hi. i've just been posting about this issue in quite a number of threads and i see choosing a new library seems to work for most people, but it's not doing it for me.
this is the situation, hope someone can give me a hand here and helps if somebody else has been having this problem:
since i ran out of disk space on my computer i decided to migrate my whole iTunes Music folder over to my external drive. i created a folder on my usb drive (same name, iTunes Music), copied all my music to it, then set the "iTunes Music folder location" to be the new one. then i deleted the original folder on my computer, and restarted iTunes. it played a track properly.
today i started up the computer with the usb drive already connected, tried to play a track and iTunes couldnt find the file. i checked the iTunes Music folder on the usb drive, and all the music is there; then checked the "iTunes Music folder location" in Preferences > Advanced > General, and it was the one in the external drive. so i hit reset (that changed the location back to user:Music:iTunes:iTunes Music), and then set it back to the external drive. still the same thing: cant find the files, so i manually locate one, but it doesent automatically locate not even the other tracks in the same album...
anyways, i tried this, changing the playlist. when i chose the folder i had created on the usb drive and copied my music into, it said there was *no playlist file there*. so i copied the original playlist file into it and it would still not find mp3 files +(i'd guess cos the playlist file has the mp3s located in the computer and not the usb drive, right?)+. so i tried again, but this time i created a new playlist. and itunes came up totally empty. right...
so i opened itunes holding option again, and went back to choosing the original playlist file on my computer (i wiped the mp3 files from the computer, but not the iTunes Music folder nor the playlist file). came up as usual, with all my playlists... and, obviously, it once again couldnt find the mp3 files +(i'd guess, again, because the playlist file has the mp3s located in the computer and not the usb drive)+
basically, i have the original iTunes folder (Album Artwork, iTunes Music, Previous iTunes Libraries, and playlist file in it) on my computer, but with no music there. i also have a folder in my external drive called iTunes Music with all the music in it, and no playlist file.
so i want iTunes to realize that all the music is now located in a different drive, without having to start over from scratch with a clean playlist file and create playlists and drag files into them again.
is this possible?
thanks in advance
(and sorry about the huuuuuge explanation)

Can I connect a NAS-based library and music files to an outboard DAC via ethernet

I am running iTunes via a Drobo Transporter NAS through an Airport Express using the analog output but would like to send the digital signal via ethernet to an outboard DAC. Is this possible? I haven't been able to get it to work. I am running a 2009 Macbook Pro 17", OS X 10.9.5, iTunes 11.4, Airport Extreme as router, ethernet connected to Airport Express. My network: internet from microwave tower to Airport Extreme via ethernet connection. Airport Extreme connected to 5-port switch which connects via ethernet to Transporter, outboard DAC, and Airport Express. My music files and iTunes library are on the Transporter.

Thanks, Niel! As it turned out, I had a LaCie rugged drive at my place which had both Firewire 400 and Firewire 800 connections and cables. So I hooked it up to the old iBook, pulled my sister's stuff onto it as instructed in the ppc to intel thread, and then hooked it up to the Macbook Pro. Problem solved! - almost. We did have two issues:
1. My sister has a lot of music - more than 12 gigs were on the iBook's hard drive, but only about 6 made it onto the Macbook Pro. Why is that? I also got a message, when I was trying to move the music folder from the old library onto the new one, that OS X needed this folder and it couldn't be modified. Again, why is that? How, then, do you move files from a PPC to a machine running Lion? Again, a lot of her music files did make it over, but not all of them.
2. All her photos did seem to come over - in duplicate, maybe even in triplicate. That is so annoying! The same thing happened to me when I was migrating between my old eMac G4 and my iMac G5. Why on earth does iPhoto do this, and how can we make it stop?!
But we did manage to get a lot of her stuff onto the new machine. When we get the adapter, she'll be able to add the files that are on the Verbatim drive. You've been very helpful!

Information stripped from music files; restore possible?

I recently bought a newer model iMac to replace my old 2008 model, and completed direct file transfer of all my stuff using Migration Assistant. However, I did notice a possible deficiency in my music files, of which I have many that are not already in my iTunes library. In all of these files, the information about track title, artist, running time and such have been deleted somehow, possibly as a side effect of the transfer. If that is what happened, is there anything I can do to restore the missing file info?

See this post.
tt2

Migrating Library files (playlists) from Windows to new mac?

Hi There;
I have New Mac Mini and WinXP SP2 laptop
both sharing a buffalo "network Drive"
with all the Media files - music and photos.
I want to migrate my iTunes library including
-- my rating, playlist, etc ... --to the new Mac Mini.
In the laptop, my iTunes Music folder is set to:
P:\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music
so when I check the "iTunes Music Library.xml" on my
laptop the location reference (path) point to any
song point to P:\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\... . . . .
I could import the music files on the mini, that is not
a problem, but I don't want to loose the playlist and other
info about the songs.
Moving/Coping the library file "*.xml" I don't think would work since the reference to the network drive on the
new Mini, start with "smb:/... ... " so iTunes
will not find any song.
Any ideas on how to do it?
Does a manual "search and replace" all the "P:\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\" referece work?
Thanks.
JCC

Hi There;
Thanks but when there is a problem, when you import you don't get the
rating for the songs.
IF I just move the whole iTunes folder,
When you check the iTunes Music Library.xml
you find that in the Mini box, the location key points to:
<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/Volumes/FAM-DIR-1/My%20Music/iTunes/iTunes%20Music/Armik/Rubia/ 01%20Rubia.mp3</string>
In the windows box:
<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/P:/My%20Music/iTunes/iTunes%20Music/Armik/Rubia/01%20Track%2001 .mp3/</string>
So it will not find the media file.
Any other ideas?
What is the function of the iTunes Library.itl file?
Thanks for any help.
JCC

Migrating music files

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for