Moved itunes library folder

i moved my itunes library by mistake. i've learned that if the folder gets moved, itunes will create a new and EMPTY library the next time it is opened. well, this has happened to me. is there any way to restore the old library back into itunes? email me [email protected] thanks..
Windows XP

These steps may work for you (you have a Mac and you are in the Windows forum...)
If you want to make another drive (direct or portable) on your PC the main music location for iTunes, move all song files there, as well as any future imported music from CDs, here is one method (see the links below):
You will maintain your playlists, ratings, comments, etc. This will only move your music folders location, NOT your iTunes program files or the Library database files. It is my opinion that programs (i.e. – iTunes) work better when installed on your main hard drive. At the very least, it makes it easier to manage all your programs if they are centrally located on one hard drive (the Windows default standard).
See these links for some step-by-step info:
iLounge: Moving your iTunes Library to a New Hard Drive
MacMuse: iTfW: Move iTunes music/Library to new drive
iTunes: Moving your iTunes Music folder
If you are moving the music to an external hard drive or network drive, after the transfer (and to work correctly), the drive must be running prior to your opening iTunes. If not, iTunes will reset the location of your music folder location to the default location (usually: ‘C:\...My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music’). If this happens, you need to manually change the path back to your external location, or future CD ‘Imports’ will be deposited on your internal HD.
Also make sure that the new drive always loads as the same Drive Letter, otherwise you will lose the references within iTunes.

Similar Messages

Moving iTunes Library folder to External Hard Drive?

My iTunes Library folder is currently on my (internal) hard drive, which is very low on space. A great deal of my music is on my external hard drive, which iTunes accesses just fine (I've not, of course, chosen to copy the music into the iTunes Library folder). My question is, is there an easy way to change the iTunes Library folder to a directory on my external hard drive and ensure that new things I download such as purchased music or apps will download to that directory? I changed the folder as shown in the Advanced tab of Preferences to my external drive, tried downloading an app, and it still downloaded to the internal hard drive.
I'm starting to get a bit claustrophobic about space left on my main drive, and I'd like to relieve it if possible. Thanks!
EazyCheeze

In Windows, you go through File >> Library >> Organize Library. here you can choose to consolidate your library. this should do the job.. alternatively you could take a look at this blog..
http://www.tuaw.com/2006/09/19/how-to-keep-your-itunes-library-on-an-external-ha rd-drive/
Even though its step by step on mac you should be able to figure it out from there.
Message was edited by: MuldVarp3N

ITunes moving songs to wrong iTunes Library Folder

Hi All,
Just upgraded to 10.1. I have my iTunes library on an external drive. Upon upgrade to 10.1 iTunes created a new iTunes Library Folder on my internal drive (/iTunes Library/Music) and moved 103 of my 8000 songs into that new folder. I've never had or needed that folder before. I have iTunes set to both manage my library and copy songs to my iTunes music folder (correctly points to the external drive in iTunes). So every time I try to add these 103 songs to iTunes, they do not get copied to my external drive library folder, they get re-copied into the internal disk folder that iTunes creates and iTunes will not play them (get the exclamation point). Even if I try to trash the internal iTunes Library folder, iTunes just automatically recreates it and adds those same 103 songs back in. If I copy/paste the songs into the external library and add them to iTunes - iTunes moves them back to the internal drive and will not play them! Some of the songs are purchased from iTunes, some are not. Only 1 song is DRM protected and some but not all songs are iTunes plus upgraded songs.
Anyone have any idea why iTunes might be behaving this way only with those 103 songs?
Thanks!

Hi I am having similar problems.
I recently bought an external hard drive that i wish to run my music and itunes library off of, i have an ipod and iphone 3gs. I am having problems with it not updating the apps in the folder i have a designated and sending all updates to a newly created folder (which i have deleted) in the c drive being music in an itunes folder, But i want it to go to the external hard drive. My itunes importing and all files have been moved to this external hard drive. itunes is being completely run off the external being installed on there as i thought that might be why its creating this folder on the c drive, with itunes library.itl, itunes extras and genius.itdb, and itunes music library.xml
Can anyone help me would be greatly appreciated thanks
also what is sentinel?

Moved iTunes library to Vista PC but iTunes 'can't find music files'. Help!

I'm running iTunes 7.1.1 on a new Vista PC and I followed the instructions on this support site for transferring the library using an iPod.
All songs (with artwork) are showing in the new PC's iTunes library, BUT all have a '!' symbol to the left and refuse to play. It offers to let me find them, but this would take hours for the thousands of tracks. I've tried consolidating but to no effect. All the music files are in the iTunes library folder, so why can't iTunes access them?
Can anyone help?

I'm running iTunes 7.1.1 on a new Vista PC and I
followed the instructions on this support site for
transferring the library using an iPod.
All songs (with artwork) are showing in the new PC's
iTunes library, BUT all have a '!' symbol to the left
and refuse to play. It offers to let me find them,
but this would take hours for the thousands of
tracks. I've tried consolidating but to no effect.
All the music files are in the iTunes library folder,
so why can't iTunes access them?
Can anyone help?
hi i to have a similar problem, i moved my music file for another problem i had and now it has removed all my files from itunes, albums and playlists as well, they are still on the pc and i have moved them back but i seem to have to start again, this will take weeks to do, i hope someone can help us.

HT1364 If I already moved Itunes media folder to external drive and now music is not matching up in iTunes?

Dear Itunes Community~
This is my first time using glad you are here, but all the passwords!!
Question/Quandry:
If I already moved Itunes media folder to my external drive and now my music is not matching up in iTunes, what should I do? I have tried my solution !?, and now I have 17,000 songs, instead of 9,000!
Should I just uninstall Itunes, and then reinstall Itunes, and let it do it's thing, and then figure out how to move to the external hard drive later?
Help, I screwed it up all on my own!
Any/all help and Itunes educated suggestions appreciated!
Thank you very much,
Doris =:o
PS ~~ Is there anyway to easily delete duplicates?? Seems not?

I have a very similar problem. Hope I don't confuse people trying to help us since the solutions may be different.
I had my iTunes path directed to a 2nd internal hard drive. Everything was working fine - except I found that purchased Apps were still being downloaded to the Mobile Applications folder on my main hard drive instead of the 2nd internal drive. I decided to retry directing the iTunes path to my 2nd internal drive, hoping that might get iTunes to save my Apps there. Big Mistake. Suddenly, there were no Apps showing in my iTunes Library Apps window at all. I verified the downloaded apps are still in my main hard drive's Mobile Applications folder, but I cannot get iTunes to display them in my Apps Library window anymore.
I decided to try downloading a new app and, sure enough, iTunes once again downloaded it into the very same Mobile Applications folder on my main hard drive, where all my (now orphaned) original apps are, but the only one iTunes will only display in my Apps window is the new one. I read you can redownload purchased apps, but my apps are not missing. iTunes just won't display them in the Apps window anymore.

HT204318 moving itunes library to a new computer with different partition letters

Want to move my itunes library to a different computer (actually my older computer, which will be a dedicated itunes box). I know how to do it, except for one thing - am not sure how it affects things that in its new home it will be on partition 'D' rather than 'E' where it is now. Can I still just copy everything over (via external drive) or will everything be left with the wrong drive letter?

As long as you've moved the complete library (database, media folders, artwork, ...), and its in the "standard" layout where:
the iTunes Media folder is in the same folder that contains the database file (iTunes Library.itl), and
all your media files are contained within the hierarchy of folders under iTunes Media
you're fine. First time you run after the change of drive letters, or moving the drive containing to another computer, hold down SHIFT while you start iTunes; when you get this prompt:
click on Choose Library..., navigate to the iTunes library folder on the drive holding the library, select the iTunes Library.itl file and click Open.

Moved iTunes library to an ext hard drive to make space on my int drive... Followed steps from apple. Now I cannot access my music... It says: "File could not be used because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?"

Moved iTunes library to an ext hard drive to make space on my int drive... Followed steps from apple. Now I cannot access my music... It says: "File could not be used because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?"
I moved my iTunes library to my external hard drive some time ago and I followed the directions listed here on the apple support page. It did copy my library and now is on my hard drive... I can open iTunes and use it to sync all of my devices but I would like to play my music... I can see all of my music files but can not play them if I click on an album or song it says the following: "(file name) could not be used because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?" I click locate but do not know where to go from there? I need a way to access all files and not to hunt down one at a time on my hard drive... I am pretty sure I deleted the original library to make space on my internal drive which was the reason for moving it. I have tried and tried to fix it and do not have a lot of time to do so with a one and two year old at my house who do not like it whenI sit down at my computer. What to do??? Any help is much appreciated!!!

See Make a split library portable. Move all of the bits of the library together in the the correct shape and it should work. Or undo exactly what you did and then start over.
If you're a former Windows user don't try merging two folders together that have the same name by dropping one into the same folders as the other, as that goes badly on a Mac.
tt2

HT203167 Moved iTunes library from one computer to another using external hard drive. Cannot play many files. Says they are missing but locates them in an archive file but still won't play them. Are the files themselves part of the .itl files?

Moved iTunes library from old computer (PC Windows 7) to new (PC Window 8) using external hard drive. Library listing shows all music but can only play a fraction of it. On the ones it cannot play it asks to locate, then refers to an archived version (an .itl file), and still cannot play them. Do I just need to copy the archived .itl over, or is that not where the actual media are (do the actual media files even exist on the new computer?)? Any advice or information on this would be helpful.

*Also...is there any way I can filter out all the tracks with the ! so I can delete the unplaying copies as they're taking up room in my iTunes? I know how to find duplicates, but then I have to go and delete each one individually...*
*Thank you!*

Moving iTunes Media folder to second internal drive fails

The whole story is:
I never really used the iTunes media folder system. All my music is on extrenal drive and I was only importing it into iTunes manually to keep my own folder system, for example once a week Ive created a folder with a date of creating and there I had all the releases from that week (some in their own folder or separately but all in this one folder named by a dat eof creation). So on my ext. drive I have lots of these folders by date. And the names of folder always correspond with the date added to iTunes as well
My ext. drive is full now. so Ive decided to take a next step and put out the dvd-rom and put another internal drive (1TB) into my macbook pro which will be used for music and movie data only (the system stays on the old one).
What I want to do now is somehow move all these music folder to my new internal drive, so they can be accessed from iTunes without reseting all its features.
Ive read that one solution can be creating the new iTunes Media folder on that new drive and Consolidate all music from iTunes to this location. Problem is I cant even try it, because when go to iTunes Preferences to change the location of Media folder a hit Create after selectin the new location (new internal drive) after fee seconds the progress freezes and Activity Monitor says that iTunes are not responding. Ive tried to leave it for about half an hour and no changes, even tho theres not much to copy/move cause the Media folder has no music in it, only playlists etc.
So question number one is - why its freezing?
Question number two - any other way to trasfer all my collection and keep its organiation as it is without loosing the iTunes list and be able to use it after transfer?
Thanks in advance for your help and tips

Not sure about question 1...
What I think you should do is try to copy the existing iTunes library folder from <User's Music>/iTunes to <1Tb Drive>/iTunes then hold down option as you start iTunes. You should be asked to choose or create a library. Click choose and browse to the library file at <1Tb Drive>/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl (BTW if the the .itl extension is missing you should probably add it match the current format, but it will work either way).
The new copy of the library should work just as before, but check a few random things first, you can always revert to the previous library with option-start-iTunes if it doesn't work.
Under iTunes > Library > Orgainze Library if the option is available tick Reorganize files in the folder <Media Folder>. This will make sure the new version of your library is as portable as possible. Next under preferences > Advanced make sure that the media folder is given as <1Tb Drive>/iTunes/iTunes Media. If needed you can change this value. If you change the folder at this point iTunes should offer to copy your existing media into this new location. That ought to work, thought it will take some time. Alternatively you decline the offer and then selectively consolidate the library in batches, e.g. by selecting the tracks of all Artists beginning with A, and consolidating just those tracks, then repeasting with, B, C etc. followed by other types of media. If iTunes didn't prompt, or the folder was already correct, you can decide whether to try in batches or use iTunes > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate files.
tt2

Since I moved ITunes media folder to an external bkp unit upload of my home shared videos on Apple TV is very slow. Is there anything I can do?

Since I moved ITunes media folder to an external bkp unit, Apple Tv uploads my shared videos very slowly. Is there anything I can do?

USB 3 should be more than enough for what you want.
I don't know anything about Pinnacle but iMovie (assuming you are going default) does produce movies with a datarate of around 10 Mbps, which is quite high in comparison to iTunes movies from the iTunes Store. I don't know if you might want to try custom exports.
Although saying that I have plenty of movies at around 10 Mbps on my eSATA external which doesn't have any problems.

External hard drives, media folders and iTunes Library folder

Hello All,
I have an external hard drive with all of my iTunes media files and am wondering if I should also have the iTunes Library folder and related iTunes files on this same drive. Is this the preferred arrangement? It seems that backups would be greatly simplified.
If it is a preferred solution that all these files reside on one drive location, how do I set these files to the external drive?
Thanks in advance for any assistance?
Warren

Warren Willows wrote:
you specifically back up the "iTunes Library" to your thumb drive on an hourly basis
no, i back up my iTunes folder (which is devoid of media content as my music files etc. are on the external).
the +apple of my eye+ is the +*iTunes library file+*
which is the heart (database) of the iTunes library (which is the whole thing: media files, support files, artwork folder)
while your media files are on an external drive which you mirror to a second drive.
exactly.
Do you use Chronosync to mirror your externals?
yes.
Have you consider a NAS?
well, i have a test library on an external USB drive hanging off my TC. it's not a NAS exactly but pretty similar.
i found that a firewire 800 external HD @ 7200 rpm provides superior speed to any networked library which is important (to me) if you e.g. stream HD movies to an TV and don't want to experience a lot of buffering.
JGG

HT1660 My "itunes library" folder is empty. My libray music (prior to upgrading itunes) is now in an .xml file in my itunes location under my music. How do I extract/convert this .xml file to a Itunes database and restore my Itunes music library??? Than

My "itunes library" folder is empty. My libray music (prior to upgrading itunes) is now in an .xml file in my itunes location under my music. How do I extract/convert this .xml file to a Itunes database and restore my Itunes music library??? Thanks, Tom

Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

Moved Itunes library now imovie cannot find the audio in my project

I just moved itunes library from my external drive to an internal drive on my Mac laptop. Now iMovie cannot find the music tracks for my project. How do I tell iMovie where to look for the new location of iTunes library

I'm the same as you with this one.
I had to move my itunes library to a new hard drive because it was taking up too much space. Now my imovie projects can't find my itunes library. One sound track when I right clicked in imovie I had the option to find media so I just located the same file but in a new location. This, however, doesn't work for all audio in my many projects.
I'm feeling very disheartened with the whole thing.
Any help would be appreciated.
Poppet

Quick way to remove duplicate files in iTunes Library folder?

I "consolidated my iTunes Library", which caused iTunes to place duplicate mp3/mp4 files in my iTunes library folder (I assume it copied them all over from my backup drive) which has doubled the size of my iTunes Library folder.
Keep in mind, that iTunes actually shows only one copy of each song/video within the app. It's only that the actual files have been doubled on my hard drive. iTunes is only using half of those files.
Is there a way to quickly identify and delete the duplicated files on my hard drive that aren't being used by iTunes?

This information from Doug should help you decide what you can use.
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/duplicates.php

Moving iTunes library, with a twist

So I realize this issue has been tackled a number of times, but I'm finding that each time it is addressed for setups which are different from mine and are therefore less than helpful.
Basically I'm trying to conserve my itunes library, metatags and all, after reinstaling windows on my computer (yes windows ***** and I should probably just get a mac, but money's a bit tight). The problem is that all of my music files are not in the 'itunes library' folder in my documents but rather in a different folder simply titled 'music' elsewhere on the drive. Furthermore, the drive it is on is not my C: drive. The goal with the whole thing is to simplify: I'm going to repartition so that I only have the one C drive and I'm going to let iTunes organize the music itself.
I know I can just install itunes on the 'new' computer and import all the MP3's, but then I lose a good deal of information about them (play counts, ratings, etc) which I don't want to lose.
If I'm screwed, fine, but I thought I'd open the question up to the apple community.
Thanks

These are two possible approaches that will normally work to move an existing library to a new computer.
Method 1
Backup the library with this User Tip.
Deauthorize the old computer if you no longer want to access protected content on it.
Restore the backup to your new computer using the same tool used to back it up.
Keep your backup up-to-date in future.
Method 2
Connect the two computers to the same network. Share your <User's Music> folder from the old computer and copy the entire iTunes library folder into the <User's Music> folder on the new one. Again, deauthorize the old computer if no longer required.
Both methods should give the new computer a working clone of the library that was on the old one. As far as iTunes is concerned this is still the "home" library for your devices so you shouldn't have any issues with iTunes wanting to erase and reload.
I'd recommend method 1 since it establishes an ongoing backup for your library.
If you do it properly there is no need to "import" anything on the new computer, you connect iTunes to a copy of the original library and it just works.
If you backed up the entire iTunes folder onto your portable, simply copy it into <User's Music> on the new computer as <User's Music>\iTunes and start iTunes.
tt2

Moved itunes library folder

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