Moving music from external HD to new iMac

made the jump from PC to Mac, so far so good would be 100% happy if could get music over too. I just bought a new iMac. when i connect the external drive to the Mac it reads it just fine. (have transfered pictures and documents already.) When i go to transfer the music i get an error message that says i can not write to the Mac HD. This is very frustrating. Can anyone help?

Can someone be kind enough to list the steps needed to transfer my iTunes 8 library from the external HD to the iMac's iTunes 9 while maintaining playlists, album cover art, etc.?
My iTunes music is still on an external HD back-up.
If you only backed up your iTunes music and not the entire \Music\iTunes\ folder, you have no playlists, album cover art, etc.

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Transferring iTunes music from external HD to new iMac

I've searched and read and still am a little confused, so apologies ahead of time for asking yet another transfer music question.
I had to do an erase and install of Leopard onto my iMac Intel; I've since performed a software update and now am running iTunes 9. My iTunes music is still on an external HD back-up.
Can someone be kind enough to list the steps needed to transfer my iTunes 8 library from the external HD to the iMac's iTunes 9 while maintaining playlists, album cover art, etc.? I also have some other music (mp3s) in a separate folder (user/Music/allofmp3) that I need to transfer over as well.
Much thanks ahead of time!

Can someone be kind enough to list the steps needed to transfer my iTunes 8 library from the external HD to the iMac's iTunes 9 while maintaining playlists, album cover art, etc.?
My iTunes music is still on an external HD back-up.
If you only backed up your iTunes music and not the entire \Music\iTunes\ folder, you have no playlists, album cover art, etc.

Moving music from external drive to new computer, not showing music

Hello,
I was running iTunes 7 or 8 on Windows XP on a laptop. I ran out of room on the laptop and followed Apple's doc to move library to external drive and point iTunes to the new location. It's been working that way for over a year.
Old laptop crashed and I purchased a new laptop running Windows 7. The external drive is fine, and I was able to restore info and pics backed up to that drive on my new laptop. I installed iTunes 9 on the new laptop and tried several things to get it to see the music folder on the external drive, but it doesn't see the music at all. I even copied everything to the iTunes Media folder on the new laptop, but nothing shows up at all. I assume it has to do with what library files are available and where they're located. There are no library files on external drive, only a My New Music Folder. The old laptop can be on for about 10 minutes before it crashes, so I could try to retrieve the old library files if I knew what I needed and where to find them, but I hope I can do it without having to turn on old laptop. Any help is much appreciated. Are my playlists gone? Help!

If everything on the external drive is in WMA format then that method would work, otherwise you are likely to get duplicates, which is why I suggested you work with the Not Added folder.
Different audio formats have different ways of compressing and storing the information from the original source. Most software and hardware will only work with a limited range of formats. iTunes cannot play WMA directly, but can convert it to one of the formats it will play. Given this is a clean install of iTunes that format is likely to be AAC if you haven't changed it. MP3 may be a better choice if you might want to put the media on some non-Apple device in future, otherwise ACC is supposedly slight more efficient, i.e. a smaller file for the same quality.
The main factor affecting file size is bit rate. The more original data that is kept, the larger the file and the more closely the reproduced music will match the original source. WMA is a lossy format typical bit rates are 128kbs and 256kbs. Conveting a 128kbs file to, for example, a 256k AAC file results in a file larger than the original, but no better quality.
If you put Windows Explorer in details view you should be able to enable a bitrate column and scan through to see what the current values are. You can adjust your import settings as given. You may want to import in more than one batch if there is a mix of bitrates.
tt2

Moving Itunes from External HD to new imac HELP!

HELP!! Kept my iTunes on an external Hard Drive as eMac had little space! Need to move all my iTunes from the External drive to iMac - but it ain't working - any suggestions or solutions easy to follow instructions would be great
Any help appreciated!

1 - if you are upgrading form iPhoto 6 then you can not go ofrward until you complete the upgrade - and with all versions of iPhtoo when you upgrade you can not go back - do always upgrade on the new system keeping the original in case of peoblems
2 - I have no idea how you transferred the iPhoto library - but the best way is to drag the iPhoto library from the old system to the pictures folder of the new system, run the iPhoto library upgrader and launch iPhoto
LN

How do I transfer music from my iphone to new imac

I've just bought an imac and which is empty of itunes and would like to transfer the music from my iphone to the imac. Can anyone help please?

If you don't still have your PC (copying content between computers) or your content on a backup that you can copy the music from then you will need to get a third-party program for your computer to copy it off your iPad - iTunes will only copy iTunes purchases.
Recovering content from a device : https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991 - it lists some programs which are capable of copying music from a device
Syncing with a new computer : https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141

Transfer iTunes files from external drive onto new iMac

I had all of my iTunes files on an external hard drive with an old eMac. I want to transfer the files to my brand-new iMac.
It's easy to copy the iTunes Library folder from the external drive onto the iMac hard drive, and change the preferences so that new songs are stored onto the iMac, but it doesn't change the settings for iTunes. Then, if I "Add to Library" I get two copies of everything: the file that's on the external drive PLUS the file that's on the new iMac. If I delete all of the "old" duplicates, it will mess up my playlists.
Isn't there an easy way to point iTunes to the new Library on the iMac and have it change the location setting for all of the songs?

okay, let me rephrase my question:
when you moved your files from the old Mac to the external, did you
(a) drag the entire iTunes folder from <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music to the external
or
(b) use the +consolidate files+ command to move the files to the external
if (a), connect the external to the new Mac and launch iTunes while pressing option on your keyboard. when prompted, click on +choose library+ and select the iTunes folder on the external.
if (b), copy the iTunes folder from <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on the old Mac to <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on the new one, overwriting the iTunes folder in place there. connect the external to your new Mac and fire up iTunes normally.
if you want to move the media files from the external to the internal disk of your new Mac, go iTunes > preferences > advanced and point +iTunes media folder location+ to the iTunes folder in <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music. also on the advanced tab, make sure there is a tick in the boxes next to +keep iTunes media folder organized+ and +copy files to ... when adding to library+.
then file > library > organize library > consolidate files. this will copy all your media files to the location you specified earlier in the advanced tab. when done, you can (if you want) erase the external and use it for other purposes. or keep the files there and use the external as your backup.
JGG

Moving music from old computer to new computer

I recently purchased my MacBook Pro and I am trying to move all of my music from my old computer to this one. You might think that simply copying the songs to an iPod (as files, not music that can be listened to) and trasferring them to the desired computer would solve my problem. However, this has proved unsucessful so far. I am trying to avoid importing all of my backup CDs because the album artwork would be lost. Is there a way to hook my two computers up via FireWire or something else? The computer I want to transfer music from is an iMac - one of the new flat panels but without the built in iSight so it has FireWire ports. Any help on this matter is greatly appreciated.

If your iPod is large enough, you can transfer the library without loosing anything (ratings, play counts etc.) using these instructions:
How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer.
Another method is to connect your computers by Ethernet or Firewire.
Using the latter method, put the source computer in Firewire target disk mode. The MacBook will see the iMac as an external HD.
You can then copy all your music to the MacBook.
If your MacBook has the same file structure (folder mapping and username) of the iMac, copy the entire iTunes folder (including iTunes Music folder and the library files) to the same location on your MacBook. iTunes will recognize the library and find all songs.
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7) Several ext. HD (backup and data)

Moving music from external to internal - what do I need to do?

Most of the discussions here regarding moving music seem to be from moving to an internal device to external. I have the opposite situation coming up and need some help.
I'm getting a new MacBook Pro (late 2011) next week with a 500 Gb internal HD. I have a 6-year-old "first generation" MBP that came with a 100 Gb drive and had no room for my 162 Gb iTunes library. Now that I have the space, I want to copy all my music from the external to the internal, and although I know that I should copy my "iTunes" folder on the external to the "Music" folder on the new computer, I'm unsure whether or not iTunes will "fix" the paths on it's own, or whether I'll have to drag all 2,000+ folders to the iTunes app to have it recognize the path changes.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance...

Hello Clinton,
Did you solve it! I have the same problem as I want to store my "central" library for all other macs in my family to use when they want to use Itunes, makes sense frome a storage efficiency to me. I stopped by at the mac store in Stockholm and they said it was only to move the music folder, and go in and change under settings and advanced in Itunes to redirect it to the external hard drive and the new music folder.... but no, doesnt work.
Thanks for any help!
Mikael

Trying to retrieve music from Time Machine to New iMac

I expect this is probably an easy question to answer but I am stumped at this point. I have an external HD which I used to back up my old iMac via Time Machine. I bought a new iMac but now want to transfer ONLY the files from my iPhoto and iTunes to my new computer. The HD shows up on the desktop but the backups from before do not appear in Time Machine. What am I doing wrong and how do I just transfer the pictures and music without erasing the music and photos I have already stored on the new computer? Thanks for any suggestions.
Geoff

I wanted to chime in. i have the same problem. I can access my folders, but they have a little red circle over them with a bar in the middle. When I click on the folder, it tells me - The folder “Movies” can’t be opened because you don’t have permission to see its contents.
I have my hardrive backed up on an external drive. I am trying to see if I can move over my photos and movies from iMovie, unto another Mac. Does anyone know how to get access to your own folders?

Having trouble transferring music from old PowerBook to new iMac

I'm having trouble transferring my iTunes music from my old PowerBook to my new iMac. Trying to follow the online instructions by using an external hard drive to transfer from one to another.

Hi Skingz,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
Is the external hard drive that you are working with formatted for Mac OS Extended Journaled?   Is there enough space on it?
The process is the same regardless of the operating system you are using:
OS X Mountain Lion: View information about your disk
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11086
Formatting erases the contents of the external drive so be cautious. Also this process is for any application, not just Aperture:
Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3509
Try the steps in the article again.
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4527
If you are still not able to copy the library to your new computer this way, then the alternative approach would be to copy the music folder from your old computer to the external drive, and then add the music folder to your new, empty iTunes library on the iMac.   You'll have to recreate your playlists, etc, but at least you will have the music.
Adding music and other content to iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1473
I hope this information helps ....
Have a great day!
- Judy

Moved music from PC to my new Mac, duplicated al the songs?

I just moved my music (I use iTunes) from my PC to my brand new iMac and all the songs show up twice in iTunes on my Mac. I copied the music folder (which contained three folders - downloads from Amazon, some general mp3's that I have, and, of course, iTunes music) and drag and dropped the file into iTunes on the Mac. These was following some general instructions on the Apple Help on how to do this. How do I get rid of the duplicates? Yes, I know how to get them to show, etc. inside of iTunes, but the create date is all the same. How do I tell if I have the files twice or they just show up listed twice? This is the one bad thing about iTunes - duplicates! I now have thousands of them...

Doug Adams, the writer of Dupin, has been providing AppleScripts and programs to the iTunes user community since Feb 2001. I have used and recommended several of his offerings, as have other members of this forum. I have purchased Dupin from his site and used it on two iMacs without problems. You can do your own research here: http://dougscripts.com/itunes/faq_cont.php

Moving music from old PC to new Macbook

Just got a new home PC, so all my music was deleted from it. I also just got a new MacBook. All my music is on my ipod, is there anyway I can transfer the music from my ipod to my mac, bearing in mind it is formatted for a PC?

Connect your iPod to your Mac. 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. Your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list from where you can change the update setting to manual and use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. 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. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button: Managing content manually on iPod
Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you have any iTunes Music Store purchases the transfer of purchased content 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 to a computer
The transfer of content from other sources such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve 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'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos and games as well. This is just a small selection of what's available, you can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
Senuti Mac Only
PodView Mac Only
PodWorks Mac Only
iPodDisk PPC Mac Only (experimental version available for Intel Macs)
TuneAid Mac only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPodRip Mac & Windows
YamiPod Mac & Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
iPodCopy Mac & Windows
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access 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
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. 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.

Moving music from external hard drive to i-tunes

Please I need some help with moving music on an external hard drive to my i-tunes library. I think that I have cut and pasted it to i-tunes from this hard drive but once the hard drive is disconnected...i-tunes can not find it. I would appreciate a step by step run down on how I might do this

Rosanne Maitland wrote:
Please I need some help with moving music on an external hard drive to my i-tunes library. I think that I have cut and pasted it to i-tunes from this hard drive but once the hard drive is disconnected...i-tunes can not find it. I would appreciate a step by step run down on how I might do this
I am having the same problem, only with music I import into iTunes from a CD. The tracks will import, and will synch to my Ipod, but will not play in iTunes unless the original, source CD is in the computer. It seems to me that once iTunes "accepts" imported tracks, it should play them, whether the source CD is present or not.
I suspect that iTunes will be able to "find" all of your songs, and play them, provided the original source (hard drive) is hooked back up to your computer.
But you shouldn't have to do that. iTunes will play most imported tracks without requiring the source to be present. Puzzling.

Migrating iTunes, iPhoto from external drives to new iMac

We've finally decided to upgrade from our trusty Power Mac G4 tower (10.4.11) we've had since 2002 to a new 21.5-inch iMac. It arrives tomorrow.
I'm already anticipating problems migrating to the new system, tho'. The 20Gb startup disk seemed science-fiction large in 2002, but obviously we quickly ran out of space. Currently, our iPhoto library lives on a second internal SATA HD, and iTunes on an external FireWire drive.
What's going to be the best way to migrate all that stuff to the new iMac's 2Tb (science fiction numbers, again!) drive? Will the migration assistant find the iPhoto and iTunes files on those other disks?

den.thed wrote:
Open iTunes on your new iMac and go to File > Add to Library then navigate to the iTunes library on the External HD and hit the Choose button.
Do the same for iPhoto File > Add to Library while your connected to the G4.
Just for clarity's sake, you're talking about selecting the iTunes/iPhoto media folders, right? Not selecting each file individually, I hope.
And from what you're saying, it doesn't sound like Migration Assistant is going to pull anything over from my old iTunes or iPhoto settings, much less media stored on external/expansion drives, is that correct? I'll have to drag those files over via Ethernet, I imagine.

From External HD to new iMac?

I got a new iMac (old one died). I have my entire home folder (old Mac) backed-up on an external HD. How do I get the files from the external HD to the new mac? What do I need to transfer? How? I'm unable to find instructions to do this?
Here are some of the things I need to transfer.
iCal, Mail, Documents, Safari Favorites, Firefox Favorites, iTunes library (+podcasts), Address Book. Am I missing anything else?

Connect the external drive to the computer and run the Migration Assistant. If your old iMac was an Intel based machine you can safely migrate everything. If it was a G4 or G5 iMac I'd recommend that you migrate only data.

Moving music from external HD to new iMac

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