Moving Itunes library back to desktop from external drive-problems

I had moved my itunes library to an external HD becuase I did not have enough space on my desktop. I recently upgraded my desktop and tried moving my itunes library back. I did not go too well. After several tries I set itunes to keep the library on the external drive since I did not delete it. Now when I open itunes it can't find the location for 90% of my music. I hope the application did not delete the library on the external drive. I don't think it did since the file size has not changed. How can I set this up so my songs are on my desktop and can be accessed by itunes? Any help would be appreciated.

I had used that article and followed it exactly but I am still having problems. I moved my library back to the external drive, all of my songs are there but itunes has to be directed to the songs to find them.

Similar Messages

Just purchased 27" iMac had my iTunes library on PC on an external drive I've been trying to copy from pc external drive to mac external drive. at a certain point while copying i get error system 8260 unable to continue any suggestions

trying to copy my Itunes music library from external drive(previously had PC) to new hard drive. at a certain point system error 8260 warning appears unable to continue coppying

What formats are the two drives? NTSF on the PC side is usually not readable by Macs unless they have changed something recently or you are using some third party support.
Since this is a file copying issue and not really iTunes, you might wish to have this moved to the Lion forums since people there might recognize it. I couldn't find that error anywhere on the web for Mac.

How to reinstall iTunes and not lose everything from external drive.

I had to reformat my hard drive. All my iTunes files were (and still are) on an external drive.
When I download the latest version of iTunes, I installed and set up my preferences to change the location of iTunes Media File to External Drive J:\iTunes\iTunes Music.
When iTunes installs, it creates files and folders in C:\Users\Userxyz\Music\itunes
So....Because iTunes didn't show any of my music, playlists, apps, etc. and because I had changed where to keep media files,
I selected the "Add Folder to Library" option
iTunes successfully displays all the music from this external drive and left the music files where they were.
But....it also copied all of this music to a folder on my desktop called "Copy of Itunes". Now, I have 3 *itl and "xlm files. One on External Drive J, another in Music\iTunes on Drive C, and a 2nd in Copy of iTunes on the desktop.
Missing from iTunes are my purchases. All apps, purchased and free. Playlists.
I have a folder "Mobile Applications" on the external drive and in Copy of iTunes, but both are empty.
I wonder if I already lost my purchases.
I would also like to keep my files on an external drive because I don't have enough space to keep iTunes on my main drive.
I also use Vista.....
I hope someone can help. This is all very confusing
Jeri

When you say all of your iTunes files were on the external drive, do you mean all, or only the stuff that's inside the red outline below. The most important part of your library is the database file iTunes Library.itl which holds the records of your playlists, ratings and all other data that doesn't get stored in tags.
Typical layout of iTunes folders:
When the media folder is inside the main iTunes folder as shown above then the library is portable, and if the library is relocated to an external drive it will survive a wipe of the internal drive. However most users typically split their library when they find they are running out of room on the internal drive by choosing a new locaton for the media folder and then consolidating.
If this is what you have done, and you don't have a backup of the library files, the iTunes Library.itl file in particicular, then your old library is lost forever. If you do have the files then it may be possible to get the right library file reconnected to the media provided you haven't been moving things around randomly.
You can check each of the .itl files that you have on your computer in turn using the hold-down-shift-when-starting-iTunes method. If one of these has the correct playlists, and the drive letter of the external drive is the same as before, then it should all work.
tt2

Moving iTunes library on to a portable hard drive and then my new laptop?

I am getting a new PC laptop and I want to move my entire iTunes library from my old PC to a portable hard drive and then eventually put it on my new laptop.
How do I do this without loosing all my play counts, play lists etc.?

Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
Additional info...
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
Cheers,
Patrick

How To "Start From Scratch" and Build a Clean iTunes Library on a Portable USB External Drive?

A while ago I posted about my confused (and confusing) mess of an iTunes:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16183210#16183210
While dozens looked I guess eveyone agreed with me "what a mess" and moved on.
So ... someone at the Apple Store suggested that what I should do is start from scratch. But I'm not sure if I understand all the steps. He said I should:
* create a folder of all my songs and just the song files not all the other iTunes stuff -- copy all the mp3 and m4a files that I have in Music > iTunes > iTunes Music > Music to a temp folder let's call it "all my music"
* launch iTunes and tell it to move to / always look at / whatever the terms my new portable external USB drive
* click on file / add to library and tell iTunes I want to add that "all my music" folder to iTunes
At this point I don't care if we lose playlists, artwork, play counts and all that stuff.
Does this approach make sense?
Is there another way?
So how do I tell iTunes to only look to the external? How do I get rid of the old stuff I have on the internal that is offering duplicates and phantom entries? Do I need to delete iTunes and then download a new copy? Should I delete the iTunes foilder? ...?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Many thanks!

jayessemm wrote:
So how do I tell iTunes to only look to the external? How do I get rid of the old stuff I have on the internal that is offering duplicates and phantom entries? Do I need to delete iTunes and then download a new copy? Should I delete the iTunes foilder? ...?
the simplest and working way.
go to iTunes -> Preferences -> Advanced
On there change the iTunes Media Folder location to your external hard drive
Check that the rest of the preference pane looks similar to the following picture.
After doing so, on menu bar go to File -> Library -> Organize Library
This will force iTunes to copy all songs and playlist's to the new place and to build up a new database for the Library.
Empty or corrupted files will left behind on the old location.
After checking that all is on place and working at the new location, you may delete all files at the former location.
Done
Cheers - Lupunus

Moving itunes library in Mountain lion from hard disk

My iTunes library is on a external hard disk with the rest of my old computer's stuff , I want to transfer all my music in my new iMac , I want to make sure what I am about to do is correct...
iTunes is turned OFF on the new iMac , the external hard disk is plugged in the computer and the finder window is opened where I located the iTunes blue file,
In the new computer finder ,I located the blue file "iTunes media" in users/music/itunes/itunes media
Do I simply drag the first file in the other one ??

I just transferred my iTunes media to an external drive, but it sounds like you want to go the other direction. I would suggest you follow Apple's recommend procedure rather than just dragging the folder:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
or,
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Good luck!

How to have three Windows laptops share one iTunes library stored on a networked external drive?

We just replaced our one desktop PC with three laptops. Each laptop wants to access the same iTunes library, which now resides on an external drive connected to the network via our router. How can this be done, and if one laptop adds a file to the library, will the other two see it?

Tom DePrenda wrote:
I used the consolidate library feature and it moved all the music to the appropriate iTunes folder on the Share.
Good!
I have the Vista laptop pointing to the Share for the iTunes Media folder location.
Good!
The question is how do I add the files to her library?
Go to your File menu and use the command Add Folder to Library. When the dialog comes up, point it to the Music folder in the Share area. But read on first...
Also do I keep the boxes checked "Keep iTunes Media folder organized"
You must turn off the "Keep..." option. Otherwise, when one of you changes a tag, iTunes will re-"organize" and the other person's iTunes will lose the link.
The "Copy..." option should also be turned off. As you add new music, put it where you want it. Then you must "Add File to Library" from each iTunes.

How do I get my new pc to see my itunes library already residing on my external drive?

I have a laptop pc connected to an external drive. My iTunes libary was moved to an external drive because it took up so much memory. I have a new desktop pc now. I downloaded iTunes onto it and I am trying to get it see the iTunes library on the external drive now, but it will not. Any thoughts on how to make that happen?

Hey KHpod,
Thanks for the question, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.
It sounds like you are attempting to open up the iTunes library from your external drive. The following article may provide the resolution to your issue:
iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
Thanks,
Matt M.

ITunes Slow Writing ID3 Tags From External Drive

When adding files (music) located on my WD External Hardrive, and upon trying to add the album art, the process slows down... a lot. As opposed to when I add filed on my internal hardrive (from my laptop directly), which is a lot faster (seconds whereas from the External takes about 2-3 minutes per album of 12-16 songs)
It takes FOREVER to write these ID3 tags. Is there a way to speed this up? What gives?

Sorry, where is the file iTunes Library.itl? If you're not certain and don't know how to find out use this script: iTunesXMLPath
External drives take longer to process file operations than internal drives. Every operation in iTunes causes the database to be updated so if this is on a sluggish drive you will notice.
May help to exclude the library & media folders from any anti-virus scans. iTunes also slows up as you increase the number of playlists and the size of the library.
Are you certain your computer is running USB 2.0? What happens if you power down the computer and remove all USB devices except keyboard, mouse and external drive? (Of course this might be your usual config.) Is iTunes any faster? Are you connected to the front USB ports or the rear? The drive should not be connected through an external USB hub.
tt2

How do I save my iTunes library and iPhoto to an external drive and not to the iMac drive?

how do I save my iphoto library and itunes library to an external drive and not to the imac drive?

For iPhoto, see > iPhoto: How to move the Library folder to a new location
For iTunes, see > iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder

Moving iTunes music and playlists to and External Drive

Hi
I was running out of space on my PC, so I coppied all the music the .itl and .xml files onto an external hard drive (E:\). I then deleted the same files from the iTunes folder. I then went into iTunes under the Preferances / advanced tab and changed the directory location to point to my new E:\ drive but when I restarted iTunes nothing appears in the library or no play lists appears. Obviously I have done something wrong - what it the correct process to recover all the music and play lists that are now on the external E:\drive ?

I tried the same thing about 6 months ago. Unfortunately, the maestros at iTunes have created an annoying feature so that the iTunes library can ONLY be sited in your "My Music" folder on your internal hard drive.
From the iTunes help menu, "The iTunes Library file is a database of the songs and videos in your library and the playlists you've created. This file is located in the iTunes folder inside your My Music folder (in your My Documents folder). Do not move this file to another location. If you delete it, iTunes will create a new, empty copy the next time you open iTunes, but any playlists, song ratings, comments, or other information you created will be lost.
What a monumental bummer!!

MOVING mp3-files from external drive into iTunes automatically

Hi all,
for historical reasons (mainly because I was coming from Windows years ago) I have stored all my mp3-Files (audiobooks, songs, etc) on an external harddrive. My iTunes library is stored on the external drive, too and all media content in my iTunes library is manually linked to the external drive. Today the option iTunes >Setting >"Let iTunes manage your library" ias well as "Copy filed to iTunes Media folders" is UNchecked.
In my iTunes library there is only a subset of all mp3-files included.
Now, I would love to get my library moved to the mac as well as the audio and video-files, and let iTunes manage the storage of the library!
As far as I know once I move the library (manul or automatic) to the Mac and check the option to let iTunes manage the and copy content, then iTunes will COPY the medial files to the Mac.
Given that I have only included a subset of my entire repository in iTunes I will then end up with a mess of mediafiles on my external drive where some are doublicated while others aren't. I will be impossible to figure out afterwards what is included in iTunes and what isn't.
Hence the perfect process would be if iTunes could, while executing the import following the automation-Option (see above) and MOVE the files from the whereever and bring it to the place it want's it to be.
Is there any way to get this automated and get iTunes MOVE the files instad of copying?
That would be a tremendous help!
Many Thanks for your thoughts!
Mattthias

Hi mradvanyi,
For help with adding music files to iTunes I would suggest looking over the steps in this article -
iTunes: About the Add to Library, Import, and Convert functions
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1347
If this does not help, please respond and we will see what else can be done.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L

How To Put iTunes Library To Work On An External Disk?

I want iTunes library to live on an external drive. Apple article #301748 "Moving Your iTunes Music Folder," is of no use because step #10 and onward don't describe what appears on my screen. Further, when step #10 is attempted, a small "how the process is going" window takes about 30 seconds to get to 100%. I've no idea what process is being described because the target folder on the ext drive is still empty.
Milling about, looking for a solution and after talking to an Apple tech, I
1. copied the iTunes Music folder to the external,
2. selected the external folder as the library in iTunes > Preferences >
Advanced,
3. closed iTunes,
4. moved the laptop's iTunes folder to the desk top, and
5. opened iTunes.
No music was shown. Preferences > Advanced showed the folder on the ext drive to be the library's location. Bummer.
Putting the folder from the desktop back into the Music folder let iTunes work.
How do I get iTunes to function with the library on the external drive?

Dave,
You need to keep going and go to Advanced>Consolodate
Library. iTunes then copies your music to the new
location. During those 30 odd seconds iTunes is
creating a new directory. Look on the Moving your iTunes Music folder page and
you will see that it isn't until step 13 that the
music is copied to the new location.
L
I'm sorry; I guess I'm having a brain poofie.
On step 10, the message does not appear. So there is not step 11. On step 12, on the Advanced menu, there is no Consolidate Library. So there is not step 13.
I just don't get it.

Why can iTunes NOT FIND songs on an EXTERNAL DRIVE

I've read many posts regarding the use of external drives for iTunes data storage. Here's my situation:
I've just restored my computer to it's factory settings, then installed iTunes 9.2.1.5 My iTunes consists of songs only and they reside on an external drive following this path: E:\iTunes Music\(artist)\(album)\(song[s])
iTunes Music, artist name, and album name are all folders. The songs appear in numeric order (01, 02, etc.), and are individual MPEG files.
I have tried changing the iTunes Media Folder location to: E:\iTunes Music (by following: Edit-Preferences-Advanced) Indeed, I have attempted all possible folder paths...right down to individual songs...nothing works. iTunes simply does not see the folder(s)/songs. What's up?
The frustrating thing is that this very same external drive worked just fine before this whole affair! ??? What am I missing? Please provide a detailed answer. Many of us out here would like to know the secret.

You'd have had more luck if you'd moved your library files out to your external drive as well as the media. That way, when you'd reinstalled all you would have needed to do was use SHIFT-start iTunes and point it at the library on the external.
Next time you reinstall Windows backup the entire *Documents and Settings* or Users folders from the C:\ drive so that after the rebuild you can restore anything you discover you still want from your old profile.
Better yet do these backups before something goes wrong, say once a month. The following tool is great for general backups of any specifc set of folders, not just iTunes.
<hr>
*Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
Grab SyncToy 2.1, a free tool from MS. This can be used to copy your entire iTunes library (& other important data folders) onto another hard drive or network share. You can then use SyncToy periodically to synchronise or echo your library to the backup. A preview will show which files need to be updated giving you a chance to spot unexpected changes and during the run only the new or updated files will be copied saving lots of time. And if your media is all organised below the main iTunes folder then you should also be able to open the backup library on any system running the same version of iTunes.
<hr>
tt2

Moving iTunes library from laptop to new desktop

I'm thinking about getting an iMac desktop, and would like to move all my music and video files from my iBook to the new setup. What is the correct procedure for doing this? I'm reading on these boards that there's a way to just plug the computers into each other, but will that copy everything onto the new hard drive? I'm thinking about doing this because my 60 GB laptop's capacity is maxed out from my iTunes library (33 GB and growing); once I move it to the desktop can I trim down my laptop's iTunes library and still play from there? Can I then only update my iPod to the desktop (if I want the full library)?
Should I run it all through an external HD as a sort of middle man/back-up? Is this all much easier than I'm thinking it is?
I know...so many questions.
Thanks.
Lindsay

get the two, system prefs, click sharing, make sure personal file sharing is checked on both
second in finder click go in the menu bar and click connect to server, click browse
enter your login name and pass for the user account you want music from from the old computer . .
that computer will appear on your desktop, double click it, find your music folder, open itunes on the new computer and go to user/music/itunes/itunes music and drag itunes music into the library source on your new itunes . . . it will do the rest and this is also the best for the new computer, to create new files while coping not moving and taking all the old bagage with it.
then just clear your ipod and set it for the new iMac and back everything up from there and clear off the ibook. keep it authorized and when they are on network if iTunes is open on the desktop you will be able to play music from it, worked great i use it on 4 computers in my house . .
then as far as travel goes . . no music on the old laptop . . who cares, you have an ipod . . enjoy!
hope i understood your question, please feel free to ask if you have any more!

Moving Itunes library back to desktop from external drive-problems

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for