Moving music to an external.

Ok. so i've decided to move my entire entertainment drive to an external 500GB. i've transferred all the stuff over so right now i have 2 copies. I renamed my drives so the external is now my "vault" and when i reloaded iTunes, all of my movies and TV shows auto recognized the new drive name and the source is now the external.... however, my music didn't go so smoothly. its still linked to my internal.
whats the best options? i can delete my entire music folder in itunes and just re-drag the new source in, only problem is that i would have to go through and un-check everything i don't need again, AND the biggest thing is that all of my non-smart playlists would have to be re done.
is there a way to export multiple playlists to import them back? i don't want to do right click, export, save X40.
what if i deleted the internal drive music and then tried to play a file, it asks to find the source and if i link it to the new external will iTunes be smart enough to link ALL of my other music? I did that lastnight as a test and it worked for the 10 songs i tested in one folder, but will it do that for the other 10,000+ songs i've got?

i've transferred all the stuff over so right now i have 2 copies
Two copies of what?
If you copied the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder, hold Option and launch iTunes.
Select *Choose library* and select the iTunes folder on the external.
That is all you need to do.

Similar Messages

  • Moved music folder to external drive, how do I get Match/ITunes to recognise it?

    Hi guys,
    I've been rather stupid in restoring my computer. I moved all the music to an external harddrive before I restored my PC but forgot to bring the Itunes library file with it. I've got ITunes Match so I can stream all my songs, but is there anyway to get it to recognise the songs on my external drive? I've tried re-importing them into ITunes but it adds each song as a duplicate, so I have the Match version and then my harddrive version, I really don't want duplicates of all 7000 odd songs! Likewise I'd like to try to avoid having to download everything from Match as this will take ages and be a bit of a pain! The only reason I care is so I can use my Sonos system with my laptop, otherwise I'd just leave them all on Match. Any ideas?
    Thanks, Luke

    You will need the iTunes Library.itl file which generally lives in ~/Music/iTunes/. You can recover this from the backups you were making before the HDD died. Otherwise, you cannot recreate the library.

  • Moving music files via external hard drive-- Can you keep ratings/playlists

    I keep all my music on an external hard drive in order to prevent it getting lost. Anyways... what I'm wondering is if I go to move my music from one computer (comp. A) to another computer (comp. B), is it possible to keep all the ratings and my playlists? I've seen the stuff for transfering with your ipod, but the problem is my 30Gb doesn't hold all my music, and I would reeeeeaaally hate to go through and redo all the ratings. If anyone knows maybe a file involved with itunes that might contain the ratings or playlists that I could store with the files themselves to transfer that would be excellent. Thanks to anyone who can help out. If you need clarification on any of the details just lemme know.

    It looks like it should, thanks. One other bit that I'm wondering about is how do I load that Library list once I've installed itunes on comp B? Is it just a matter of going file>import or file>add new file to library? Thanks again

  • Moving music files to external hard drive

    I bought an external hard drive and want to free up my main C drive by moving my music, pictures and videos to it. One of the folders in My Music is "iTunes" which has the folder "iTunes Music" which holds all of the music that iTunes communicates with. The new external drive is the "H" drive. How do I tell iTunes that all of my music is now located elsewhere, without actually having to go down the list song by song, which would be impossible, time wise. Some sort of single bulk change from one drive to another. Thank you

    Well, you never said that's what you wanted to do, so why don't you calm down and stop yelling at the people who are trying desperately to help you.
    "How do I tell iTunes that all of my music is now located elsewhere, without actually having to go down the list song by song, which would be impossible, time wise. Some sort of single bulk change from one drive to another. Thank you."
    All you asked for was assistance with moving your iTunes music. We provided instructions, which you chose to ignore.
    Moving your entire My Documents folder is a completely different procedure and you could have saved everyone a lot of frustration if you just made it clear that you wanted to do that in the first place.
    At the risk of complicating this thread any further, I am going to remove myself from it. Moving your My Documents folder is not something I feel comfortable helping with, as I am not a Windows user and I don't want to provide the wrong info for you and end up screwing up your entire machine.

  • Need help moving music collection from external hard drive to Macbook Pro

         I just bought a Macbook Pro today after my Windows desktop was bricked a few weeks ago. Luckily, I didn't lose the most important files on my pc, my music, because it was all on my Zune, as well. So, I borrowed an external hard drive, copied all of the music from my zune onto a friend's pc, and then copied it again from their pc to the external. Finally, I just plugged the external into my new mac, copied the folder within it holding my music, and hit "paste item" in the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder. Initially, everything seemed to work perfectly, however, after transferring a little over 7 of my 54gb of music, an error message appeared saying that the operation was ending because it could not transfer all files.
         I then tried playing a file off of the hard drive, a wma, and received a prompt that the file was incompatible with Quicktime player, the default for no apparent reason. I tried then opening it with iTunes, and nothing happened, as far as I could see. Naturally, my next step was to google how one would transfer wma files to a mac, and, to make matters even more confusing, all of the results seemed to tell me that iTunes should automatically convert wma files to mp3, which does not seem to be happening in my case.
         I'm still not sure why this isn't working, as I'm sure more than 7gb of my music collection is non-wma, so that doesn't even seem to be the sole issue. Any help with importing my collection would be hugely appreciated, as I'm enjoying my mac so far, but will have to return it if I can't get music on here.
         Thanks.

    One problem is that iTunes for Mac can't handle WMA files, iTunes for Windows will convert them, but not iTunes for Mac. When you add unprotected WMA files to your iTunes library (Windows only), iTunes converts them to new files that iTunes can play, based on your import settings. See if you can use your friend's PC to do this.  If the borrowed PC has iTunes, create an alternate iTunes library so you don't mess up your friend's library.  This explains how:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
    This support document might be helpful:  iTunes: About the Add to Library, Import, and Convert functions, http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1347

  • Moved music folders to external hard drive - now library is empty ?

    I moved 27gb of music to my xternal hard drive as was getting too big for my laptop. i followed the instructions here at support, and consolidated. I clicked on the itunes icon and the itunes front page(library is empty). What did I do wrong ? and how can I restore it. Any help, much appreciated. Thanks.

    Thanks so much for taking the time to help me. I followed the instructions in the post, and was able to recover a substantial part of my library in iTunes. But now I'm worried that when I synch my iPod to iTunes, it will reduce the content on the iPod to match iTunes. I searched more in the discussions, and see that I might be able to use 3rd party software to copy from iPod to iTunes. any advice if I go that route? Thanks again!

  • After moving Music folder to external disk, iTunes and iPhone Apps gone :-(

    My 70GB PowerBook G4 needed disk space, hence I copied the Music folder to an external backup drive, and from there to a tiny portable drive, and then deleted it on the Mac (gained 14GB of space).
    When I ran iTunes, and changed the location of the iTunes library to the portable drive, none of the music files are visible; worse yet, none of the iPhone Apps shows up. So I don't dare to synchronize, because I am afraid that I may even loose the iPhone Apps on the iPhone.
    Your hints/solutions/suggestions are most welcome.
    Thanks and cheers,
    Veit

    Thanks. John, for your excellent problem-solvers.
    Since I had already deleted the itunes files on my Mac, I went the "TimeMachine restore way" and it works. Thanks! Good also to know that the iPhone Apps are always available.
    Perhaps you know the answer to another iTunes/iPhone question:
    On the iPhone I have some iPod music, but I hardly use it. When I sync the iPhone with the Mac, I'd rather just leave the music on the iPhone "alone" and only sync the iPhone Apps. But when I un-check the Sync Music box (in iTunes>Devices>iPhone>Music tab) I am getting a message that if I do not sync the music, the tunes on the iPhone will be deleted. How do I leave the music on the iPhone, WITHOUT syncing it with iTunes on the Mac (while syncing Apps, and perhaps photos)? Any suggestions there?
    Cheers, Veit

  • 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.

  • I have followed Apple support Article HT4527 for moving itunes but have insufficient space on my new PC for the complete library of.  How can I leave music on the external HDD but associate the content on my external HDD with my pc itunes when it is open?

    I have followed the Apple Support Section Article HT 4527 and have moved itunes media onto an external Hard Drive.  The complete file is 103GB in size.
    I have downloaded the latest itunes onto my new PC.
    When I follow the article and try moving the itunes file onto the new PC, I am informed that there is insufficient space on my new PC.
    In any case, like my old system, I want to leave my music on the external HDD and just have the music library displayed in itunes when I click on the "Music" folder.
    How can I get itunes on the new computer to interogate my external HDD to just list the library and leave the music on the external HDD?

    you can do this by keeping the external hard drive connected and doing the following
    -hold shift key down on computer while opening iTunes and a prompt will appear to choose a library
    -select choose library, iTunes should bring up your explorer windows where you can search for the external HD
    -after you find the external HD find the iTunes folder you just copied to it
    -after opening the iTunes folder look for the file that says iTunes library.itl or if you can't see that extenstion just look for a document looking thing in the iTunes folder that shows up as a database file
    -double click the database file and boom iTunes should load your library without having to copy it to the computer
    PS: do make sure that if you are going to do it this way, make sure that the external HD is connected at all times, because if you don't then you will get exclamation marks next to your iTunes songs
    double PS: if you are unsure how to find out if the iTunes library file is a database file just right click it and choose properties and under the type it should say database file
    hope this helps:)

  • I have a macbook air.  I was unable to fit all my music onto it so i moved iTunes onto an external hard drive.  How do I transfer my music (80GB) onto my iPod classic?

    I recently bought a Macbook air.  I had 80gb so I moved iTunes onto an external hard drive.   How do i move that music onto my iPod classic?

    You can only sysc with one iTunes library. The new computer is a new library. You have to restore your iPod on the new conputer and then sync.

  • 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

  • I recently moved my music to an external hd. I deleted the music from the internal. When i plug in the External,itunes doesnt pick it up. I have pointed itunes towards external but still not working,driving me nuts!

    I recently moved my music to an external hd. I deleted the music from the internal. When i plug in the External,itunes doesnt pick it up. I have pointed itunes towards external but still not working,driving me nuts!

    LeoGets wrote:
    I recently moved my music to an external hd.
    the best way would be to copy the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music or media folder) from <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on your Mac to the external, then launch iTunes while holding the option (⌥) key, click on choose library when prompted, and select the iTunes folder on the external.
    I have pointed itunes towards external but still not working,driving me nuts!
    that tells iTunes where to put new additions to your library, not where the content currently is.

  • HT203167 Moved huge music library to external drive...now iTunes cannot find it

    My massive music library was taking up all the room on my hard drive, so I moved everything to an external drive.  I then deleted the library from my hard drive.
    The music is located in a folder named "iTunes Music" on my external drive.  iTunes cannot locate the songs now.
    I've changed the media folder in preferences to: volumes/externalharddrive/iTunes Music and it still won't play the songs.
    I've also tried selecting "Get Info" by right-clicking on a song, then manually directing iTunes to song.  It will play that individual song, and asks me if I want to use the folder to find other songs.  I click "Yes", but it's still not working.
    Any ideas?  I've searched these forums and I'm stumped.
    Thanks!

    Our iTunes guru Terence Devlin advises the following:
    1. Quit iTunes
    2. Drag the iTunes folder from your internal hd - located in ~/Music folder - to your external hd. DO NOT delete the original one from your internal hd... yet!
    3. When the transfer is complete, press and hold the Option(alt) key and fire up iTunes.
    4. A "Choose iTunes Library" window will come up. Click on the "Choose Library" button.
    5. Navigate to where the iTunes folder is located in the external hd.
    6. Within the iTunes folder, select the iTunes Library file and click Choose...
    That's it. iTunes will now display all your playlists, songs, movies, podcasts etc. At this point, should you wish, you can delete the iTunes folder from the internal hd to free up space.
    More info:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
    Or if you prefer a more complicated explanation:
    http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive

  • Moving music files between iTunes on laptop and iTunes on external HD

    Hi - my music file became too big for my old macbook pro (120 GB HD space) so I followed Apple's instructions and moved it to an external hard drive. That worked fine, I just plug the HD in and there is all my music.
    But, is it possible to restore the connection to a small number of songs in my iTunes on the laptop, so I would just have a "mini music library" for traveling around with the laptop? The names of all the songs show up in iTunes when I open it without connecting the external HD, but they "cannot be found."
    Also, I just bought 5 songs and forgot to plug in the external HD, so those 5 songs are now the only songs that actively live in my music folder on my laptop. How do I move just those five files over to the external HD?
    I hope all this is clear!
    Thanks.
    Fran

    you don't need two libraries.
    iTunes can manage files which are stored in various locations. you can either use this script ...
    [_*Re-Locate Selected v1.1*_|http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=relocateselected]
    This script will re-locate the files of the selected iTunes tracks from their current location to a new user-chosen folder. iTunes will be updated with each track's new location and all of each track's meta-data will be preserved. Option to remove the files from their original location. (I don't advise using this on more than an album's worth of tracks or so at a time; re-locating dozens of tracks' files to a single folder doesn't seem to make much sense to me.)
    NOTE: If your "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" preference set, you will not be able to create new folders in or re-locate files within the iTunes Media folder; outside is OK.
    ... to move selected content from one to another location, or do this:
    (1) go iTunes > preferences > advanced and temporarily point +*iTunes media folder location+* to either your local iTunes folder or the external. on the same tab, ensure +*copy files to ... when adding to library+* is check marked.
    (2) select (highlight) the files to be moved in iTunes, right-click (or ctrl-click) and choose +consolidate files+ from the pop-up menu.
    (3) remember to point +*iTunes media folder location+* back to to the original spot.

  • Moving music from external hard drive to new cpu

    My hard drive failed, so I got a new one, backing up all iTunes music to an external drive. I got a new hard drive and had to reinstall iTunes. The reinstalled version does not recognize my iPod nor does it show my music collection, which I dragged from the external drive into the iTunes music folder. How can I get iTunes to show my music and playlists? iTunes asks to sync with the iPod, which would erase all music on the iPod.
    Also, I did not enable disc use on the iPod.
    Thanks.

    To make this happen (which i recently did the same type of thing) you need to open up iTunes and while youre waiting hold in the shift key. iTunes will ask you to locate your library which is basically the file which tells is where youre music is and will reload the music and playlists, etc.
    The only catch is that hopefull when you copied all your music to the Eternal HD you copied the iTunes music folder usually stored on the C: drive of any computer to the HDD as well. This .lib file which should be found in the my iTunes folder is what should laod all the music back on there for you. Everytime you close iTunes it updates this folder automatically.
    Hope this helps!

Maybe you are looking for