Moving my iTunes Library
I am rapidly running out of room on my primary hard drive. The main concern with this is my iTunes, which takes up a large block of space, and which I would like to move. I have a backup hard drive on my system that has plenty of space, but I am unsure how I can store and retrieve my music here. Is there a way to do this that I can understand? I have Mac OS 10.4.11 and iTunes 9.2.1. Thank you
Billy
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
do not confuse moving your whole folder and library with moving just media files as in
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music: Copy the whole iTunes folder and all its subfolders and files intact to the other drive. Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.
Note, if you put your iTunes collection on your backup drive you no longer have a backup for the collection. A backup is when you have more than one copy, preferably on a different drive in a different physical location. If somebody walks in and steals your computer setup which always has the external plugged into it so you can listen to your music -- well, it is all gone. If When your external hard drive dies, you will have no backup for your collection. Buy a second external drive.
Similar Messages
-
I redirected iTunes to an external drive and moved my iTunes library and folder, but my hard drive is still low on space. How can I be sure that my music is all on the external HD ONLY, especially with the new iCloud technology? It doesn't look like I created any more space by doing this, AND I totally lost all my iTunes playlists. I'm not sure if because I added old library materials manually if this messed up my playlists, or if the new location is just not reading my moved library. In any case, I followed step by step instructions and found a few holes and thought I'd just "figure it out" but I guess I'm not as smart as I thought since I'm still scratching my head many hours later.
Thanks for any support ;-)
EaglerockerQuick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Open iTunes and immediately hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) so you get a prompt to select a library, then guide it to the 'iTunes Library.itl' file in the moved iTunes folder.
If this is to a new computer and you put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there. (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music [library] to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527 - a somewhat bewildering and not always easily understandable set of options. -
Help! I just moved my itunes library from a Win 7 computer to a new Win 8.1 computer following the instructions on the itunes website. Everything is good except I'm getting an error message on the Win 8 computer if I try to play a CD or get an audio file off of the internet. I get an error message that says "iTunes has detected a problem with your audio configuration. Audio/Video playback may not operate properly. I don't know where to look for or fix the audio configuration on the win 8 computer. As far as I can tell the iTunes configuration looks the same as on the other computers in the house. At this point I don't dare plug my ipod touch into the Win 8 computer for fear it will get messed up.
I have the same problem and I know that it is due to my PCI Audio driver not being compatible with WIndows 8.1.
iTunes isn't the only program that can't direct sound to the built-in speakers anymore. The obvious solution would be to update the drivers, but unfortunately Dell does not provide an updated driver for my model, so I am stuck with that.
However, saying that, only my laptop speakers are affected by this. I can use sound fine on applications where I can choose the output device and direct sound to the head phones, but for some reason iTunes does not let you choose the audio device manually.
To listen to music I imported the iTunes Library in Windows Media Player and changed the audio output using the following instructions: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/c00d11ba
However, I would also like to rent movie's from iTunes,
Would be great if iTunes would let you choose the output device, too, like most other applications using sound from Skype to Windows Media Player,... -
I use windows vista. I moved my itunes library fromvista to data hard drive. Very little available memory on vista. I cannot sync my ipod to library anymore.
how can I fix this problem. Willy.Go to Settings>Preferences>Advanced and make sure that the location of your media library is correct.
-
I have moved my iTunes library to a new Windows 7 PC and cannot transfer music from the new iTunes PC to my iPhone 4S. The iPhone will only accept music transfers from the original iTunes PC. I have come to understand that an iPhone can have only one "daddy" iTunes PC, but have not been able to find out how to change the "daddy". I have done a backup of the iPhone, and a "Restore to Original Settings". Then I restored the content using the new iTunes PC. My Apps and contacts, etc. are back on the iPhone, but it still won't accept music from the new iTunes PC.
What happens when you try to sync the iphone to the new computer?
-
I moved my iTunes library to an external hard drive due to lack of space on the PC. I uninstalled it from the PC at the time to increase space. My wife is a user on the computer and shares the same apple account. I discovered that iTunes was back on the PC hard drive when I tried to sync my iphone and it would not for lack of space on the PC. If I uninstall I tunes from the PC where I am the user will it affect my wife's itune account which is still on the PC?
Close iTunes. Click the icon to start it, then press and hold down the left shift key. Keep holding until asked to choose or create a library. Choose the iTunes folder on your external drive. That should bring back all your playlists, ratings, play counts etc. You may have to settle for removing and reloading the media onto the device again. That's not too bad, but what you don't want to have happen is your apps being removed and reloaded as then you can lose settings and data. If that looks likely backup and then restore the device rather than sync it.
If for some reason rebuilding the library the way you did has moved files around then the restored library may have trouble finding things. If so post back and I'll explain what to do...
tt2 -
My Wife and I have separate accounts on the same Macbook Pro. I have moved the iTunes library to a shared area and we can both access it, however, my Wife (secondary user)can't import cd's. Is there something we are missing and is there a way to do this?
You are more likely to get relavant and useful suggestions posting to the Mac forums instead of the iTunes for Windows forum where you've posted.
-
I moved my itunes library to an external hard drive and then I tried to sync my ipad. I got a message that says my ipad is synced to another library and it will erase my ipad, which I don't want to do. I'm not sure how to fix this problem, any ideas?
Ok. progress...
So is your media folder called iTunes Music or iTunes Media? And does it have a folder called Music inside it?
Before going any further you should first attempt to use File > Library > Organize Library > Rearrange files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (ignore if grayed out). This will make sure that any iPod Games or Mobile Applications get placed inside the iTunes Media folder which is needed for portability.
If your iTunes Media folder is called iTunes Music, close iTunes, rename the folder as iTunes Media and start iTunes again. iTunes will automatically adjust. Close iTunes again.
On your external drive rearrange the folders that you have already copied there so that they match the layout in your active library. You should end up with a folder called X:\iTunes where X: is the external drive letter, and the media folder is X:\iTunes\iTunes Media. If the library layout was upgraded then you will need to create a Music folder inside this and move all the artist folders and Compilations into Music. You will also need to copy iPod Games and Mobile Applications from your internal drive into the new media folder. Next copy the files iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, sentinel and the folder Album Artwork from the internal drive into X:\iTunes. The preceding manipulations should make the internal and external copies of your library match without you having to copy all of the media over again.
Now hold shift as you start iTunes. Click choose, browse to and open X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.
Finally use File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate files. This will ensure that any stray files that might have been added from outside your original media folder will be copied into the new one.
You can now reclaim the space used by your library on the internal drive, however before you do so I would advise you to obtain another external drive and make use of this backup tip.
tt2 -
Moving the iTunes library to an external drive
I followed the Apple article and successfully moved my iTunes library to an external drive. BUT, is the Album Artwork supposed to stay in the original location (internal drive)? Mine did, and I had to redownload album artwork again. HOWEVER, I don't have all my artwork since the transfer and since the redownloading of it.
Is it safe to drag the album artwork folder to the external? I don't want to mess anything up.
Thanks.I followed the Apple article and successfully moved my iTunes library to an external drive.
which article (post a link) did you follow and what exactly did you move to the external ? -
I moved my iTunes Library and now the first track of most CDs is missing. Why? What can I do?
I have moved my iTunes library several times. Sometimes to free up space on the main drive, I have moved the library to an external drive. I have also moved the library when changing drives and changing computers. I find that most of the CDs I have imported into iTunes in the past are now missing the first track. It shows the sign, but I haven't been able to locate them. In many cases, I have given the CDs themselves away and so I have no easy way of re-importing the tracks. Why does iTunes do this? Is there something I can do in the future to prevent this from happening? It gets rather tedious to go through hundreds of CD and locate a single track for each one after upgrading a drive or the computer. HELP?
What process did you use for moving the library?
I have noticed iTunes on rare occasions loses files. Don't know why. Keep back ups. Before updating a backup run a script such as Dougscript List MIAs so you can make sure you aren't deleting your only copy should one get lost from your main drive.
You might want to note that it is a mistake giving away the CDs. When you no longer posess the CD you relinquish the right to keep a copy of the music. Also, as you are finding, you no longer have a backup source for the music. -
Moving my itunes library to a removable hard drive.
I have moved my itunes library to a removable hard drive. Every time I try to trash my old itunes file and access the removable HD, I cant find it from iTunes. the only thing I can get it to do is to reload (duplicate) the entire 30gb library on the HD I want it off of. Now I have 2 duplicate versions of my library, but still can't get it to keep the files on the HD. Can someone help?
MarkHey Mark -
I think it's helpful to understand how this whole process works, and along the way, maybe we'll find where things went wrong for your situation.
iTunes can take as much or as little control of your library as you like, and different settings may be turned on or off for you as it's not always standardized.
If you'd like your entire iTunes Library to be transferred to one centralized, organized location (wherever - a local directory or an external drive, whatever you like), here's what you need to do (and if it's not too late, here's what you need to go "back" and do to make this transition smoother).
- Open iTunes with the default library (where you had it).
- Select iTunes, Preferences, Advanced, and ensure that "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" are both checked. This ensures that your music files are actually going TO the iTunes folder (and not, for example, just being referenced in a downloads folder which you'll probably move or delete later, breaking all those links) and that iTunes will sort your media by Artist\Album\Track Number Song.xxx instead of just moving the file as-is to a different spot.
- Select File, Library, Organize Library and check "Consolidate files" and "Reorganize files in the folder 'iTunes Media'". These two marks take anything up-to-this-point and consolidates them into the one location, then uses its sorting structure to file it all away.
Then, Mark, I think it's appropriate to exit iTunes, take that entire library folder (YourUsername\Music\iTunes\) and put it wherever you'd like it to go. To tell iTunes where your new library is, hold the Option key and click on the iTunes application, then "Choose Library" and reference your new location.
I think it's important to follow the preliminary steps first. I've run into instances with customers where they've moved their Library file, referenced it by Choosing the new Library, and then thought everything was fine, only to find two weeks later when they try to play an audio file that the file isn't found - and this happens because the user moved the library FILE but didn't have a consolidated library TO move - the files were spread out all over the computer.
I hope that's helpful to you. I know it may be too late to "undo" yourself back to the beginning and do those organizational steps, but it's at least useful to know the process and how it might help you in the future.
Best of luck. -
I moved my itunes library to external drive and now itunes wont work.
I moved my itunes library to an external drive and now itunes cannot find the library. I followed a youtube video and all seemed to work fine until i deleted the old library and emptied the trash. Prior to deleting and emptying the trash I checked preferences to verify the path of Itunes was to the external drive. It seemed to work even when I moved the original library to the trash.
Now when I launch itunes the song listings show but the songs cant be found. I checked the volume of my itunes that I moved to the external and it was about 4 GB that i moved. I have approx 2000 songs.
Any suggestions?Hold down the alt/option Key when you start iTunes a dialog box will open
Select Choose Library and select the itunes library on your external drive -
Problems after moving my iTunes library to an external hard drive.
Hello everyone. I recently followed the instructions in the Apple support article to move my iTunes library to an external drive. After completing all the steps in the article I consolidated my library on the new drive and verified that all of my files made it over to the new location. Then I deleted my music files from the old location and made sure, one more time, that my music and videos would still play through iTunes. Everything worked fine. The files in iTunes all referenced the new location. Then there was a problem...
The next morning I opened my iTunes and every song and video showed an exclamation point. None of them could find their files! I went into my iTunes preferences to confirm my setting were still good and found that my iTunes music folder had been changed back to its default location on my Mac hard drive! All the files are still located on my external drive where I consolidated them, but iTunes is trying to pull them from the default location.
Why has this preference changed?
How can I fix what's happened?
And, how can I make sure this doesn't happen again?!
Thanks to anyone who wants to offer me some advice!
MikeI may have found an answer here:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive
They only thing I can assume is that my external hard drive was slow to start and iTunes defaulted to its old directory (see the last paragraph at the link above). However, once my external was recognized shouldn't everything have fixed itself?
Message was edited by: williamson42
Message was edited by: williamson42 -
After moving my itunes library from my old WinXP computer to my new Win7 computer, itunes gives a warning that my content on my phone must be removed and re-synced. I want to merge changes/updates on my phone with my itunes library as normal, not erase it & replace it. My updates/changes will be lost.
How do I merge content on my iPhone & content in iTunes together?Hopefully you still have the original library and can redo the migration...
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.
Note if you have iOS devices and haven't moved your contacts and calendar items across then you should create one dummy entry of each in your new profile and iTunes should merge the existing data from the device.
If your media folder has been split out from the main iTunes folder you may need to do some preparatory work to make it easier to move. See make a split library portable.
Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library or a backup then then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device for advice on how to set up your devices with a new library with the maximum preservation of data.
tt2 -
I have moved my iTunes library from an old PC to my new one running on Windows 8. All play normally apart from two albums: Songwriter by Justin Hayward and The Roaring Silence by Manfred Man''s Earth Band. The FAQ suggestions don't resolve the problem.
Honestly, all the people in all the world that look at this forum, no-one can tell me why my itunes is causing my machine to fall over?
I wiped the machine and started again. Fresh XP install, fresh iTune download, fired it up imported one album and bang. Over it went. I've PC Checked the hard ware, mad onioned the system to see if it's a resource thing but it's rock solid until i open iTunes. Then after every re-boot, the message is back in the event log.
This:
Source iPod Service Event ID 0
The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( iPod Service ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: Service started.
Can someone at least reply to let me know I've not typed this in dutch!! :o)
Cheers
David -
I keep getting ! in front of track names after moving my itunes library
II've moved my music library to an external HDD, including the .itl/xml files, and keep getting an ! in front of various album track names, is tehre a way to update this for itunes, or is it track by track?
I may have found an answer here:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive
They only thing I can assume is that my external hard drive was slow to start and iTunes defaulted to its old directory (see the last paragraph at the link above). However, once my external was recognized shouldn't everything have fixed itself?
Message was edited by: williamson42
Message was edited by: williamson42
Maybe you are looking for
-
Sharpness of Photos in Lightroom 5.3
Can anyone please provide an explanation as to why my pictures when edited in Lightroom 5.3 appear soft and seem to require too much sharpening for an acceptable screen view. When pictures are subsequently made ready for printing from Lightoom 5.3
-
Whats the difference between MobileMe Mail forums 960 and 961?
There are two MobileMe Mail forums. One is under "MobileMe on www.me.com" and the other is under "MobileMe on my Mac". There isn't really a new desktop mail application is there? Or am I living in a cave, and just didn't notice the update/announcemen
-
Spanish keyboard won't switch to english
Hi All, My friend asked me if there was a way to get the keyboard on his Motorola Driod to go back into English mode. From what I understand, the rest of the phone still understands English, it's just his keyboard that is in Spanish. He has had the p
-
Adapter Engine handling for CDATA in XML
Gurus: I had a question on the Dapter Engines behavious, specifically the SOAP Sender. The Source is sending something like: <Data><![CDATA[<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?><response><forms><form ObjectId="4070" Form_Name="P40 A
-
Is iPhone 3.0 coming out any soon? I'm considering an iPhone 3G and I'm not sure whether i have to wait for the next version!