Need help - Moving my Itunes to an external hard drive

Help! Help! Help! Am tearing my hair out here!
I recently got my first Ipod so please excuse if I'm being thick here! Basically, I'm about two thirds of the way downloading my not insignificant CD collection onto my Ipod, which I'm doing via Itunes. The C drive on my laptop is now full to bursting and I don't even have enough space left for my anti virus (big problem!). Therefore, I am wanting to transfer my itunes to an external hard drive. First, I followed the instructions on this site for Backing up itunes library by copying to a external hard drive.........
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751?viewlocale=en_US
All that succeeding in doing was mirroring whatever I did on the C:/ drive on the E:/ drive i.e. if I deleted itunes from the C:/ drive it disappeared from the E:/ drive.
Next, I followed these instructions for Moving the itunes media folder to the external drive.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
This too didn't help as the media folder is not the problem, its the library as its 735kb! Am I right in thinking there's no way of moving the library to the external drive whilst wiping it from the C;/ drive? I need to get these darn files off my laptop and to use my external drive for my itunes. Alternatively, if I were to wipe the files to free up the space (as they are backed up on the hard drive) is there a way of syncing so that it simply adds new stuff to the existing music on my ipod not replacing it..
Hope I'm making sense and that someone can help.

First, I followed the instructions on this site for Backing up itunes library by copying to a external hard drive.........
That's what it does. It makes a backup copy of the iTunes folder. iTunes will not use that folder or do anything to that folder.
All that succeeding in doing was mirroring whatever I did on the C:/ drive on the E:/ drive i.e. if I deleted itunes from the C:/ drive it disappeared from the E:/ drive.
Do you mean after you followed the instructions and copied \Music\iTunes folder to the external drive and then deleted something from iTunes, it deleted it from the external drive also?
As above, iTunes will not use or do anything to that folder.
Next, I followed these instructions for Moving the itunes media folder to the external drive.
Why? You already copied the entire iTunes folder (including th emedia folder) to the external drive.
Hold Shift and launch iTunes.
Select *Choose library* and select the _iTunes library.itl_ file in the iTunes folder on the external.
This too didn't help as the media folder is not the problem, its the library as its 735kb!
What do you mean "the library"?
735kB is small for the iTunes library.itl file and a single file in iTunes is larger than that.
Am I right in thinking there's no way of moving the library to the external drive whilst wiping it from the C;/ drive?
Yes. Follow my intruction above (Choose library) and iTunes will use the iTunes folder on the external.
You can then delete \Music\iTunes on the C: drive.

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I moved my iTunes to an external hard drive and now everytime I try to access it I get the error "folder iTunes is on a locked disc..."

Help. I moved my iTunes account (set up on a computer running on a school network) to an external drive, because I was out of network drive space. I changed my iTunes shortcut to point to my external drive. I am upable to pull music from a CD and copy it to the iTunes folder on the external drive. But when I try to open iTunes or use a previosuly set up device I get the following error message... "The folder iTunes is on a locked disc or you do not have write permissions for this folder." I have gone in and unchecked the read only on the folder and given my self all rights in my iTunes properties. Still I can't get in, and iTunes will only open to the folder on the external, it won't even open the iTunes page so I can see what I have. Help I need to be able to access those old files.

davidfrombillings wrote:
I thought I could just drag and drop my iTunes library to an external hard drive.
it'll work ... if done properly ☞
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.
if I already have my iTunes going to the incorrect files how is it going to find the correct files again.
you could try if this script helps:
iTunes Track CPR v1.3
This script attempts to locate the files of so-called "dead tracks"--iTunes tracks designated with (!)--that you assume are not actually missing but are still located in the iTunes Music folder in their "iTunes File Order" (Music -> Artist -> Album -> file.xxx)."
Eric Ross wrote:
When you moved the file back did you go back into iTunes in your preferences and select the advance tab and then selected the location again or where your files are
the iTunes media folder location in preferences > advanced tells iTunes where to put new additions to your library, not where your content currently is.

Need help getting ALL iTunes from old comp hard drive

Old computer XP Home died after house was hit by lightning. Surge protector gave it's life but not enough to save the day. However both hard drives from old computer are fine and function via connection of USB external hard drive enclosure.
New computer is Vista Home Premium on AMD64duo w/4G RAM and 500GB hard drive.
Connected old hard drives to USB and can see everything. Did Import Folder and copied most files from old iTunes Music directory. (I say most files because iTunes continues to crash after approx 10 minutes of this copy process. On 17th try now.)
Can see and play the music that got copied but artwork is gone. Playlists are gone. Ratings gone. Basically all the preferences of how I had the old iTunes setup.
Needing help in understanding how to get Artwork and anything else I can from the old iTunes.
Have not tried to plug in iPod yet. Will wait atm.
First old drive had Program files and Second old drive had all Data files.
AMD64 AthlonX2 Other OS Vista Home Pre AMD64 duo 4G
AMD64 AthlonX2 Other OS Vista Home Pre AMD64 duo 4G

First, I followed the instructions on this site for Backing up itunes library by copying to a external hard drive.........
That's what it does. It makes a backup copy of the iTunes folder. iTunes will not use that folder or do anything to that folder.
All that succeeding in doing was mirroring whatever I did on the C:/ drive on the E:/ drive i.e. if I deleted itunes from the C:/ drive it disappeared from the E:/ drive.
Do you mean after you followed the instructions and copied \Music\iTunes folder to the external drive and then deleted something from iTunes, it deleted it from the external drive also?
As above, iTunes will not use or do anything to that folder.
Next, I followed these instructions for Moving the itunes media folder to the external drive.
Why? You already copied the entire iTunes folder (including th emedia folder) to the external drive.
Hold Shift and launch iTunes.
Select *Choose library* and select the _iTunes library.itl_ file in the iTunes folder on the external.
This too didn't help as the media folder is not the problem, its the library as its 735kb!
What do you mean "the library"?
735kB is small for the iTunes library.itl file and a single file in iTunes is larger than that.
Am I right in thinking there's no way of moving the library to the external drive whilst wiping it from the C;/ drive?
Yes. Follow my intruction above (Choose library) and iTunes will use the iTunes folder on the external.
You can then delete \Music\iTunes on the C: drive.

Need help with iphoto and dragging to external hard drive

Hello,
I have my iphoto very organized into Events and I recently just moved them to be in folders. I would like to have only certain Events (or folders/albums) on the external hard drive. The apple store rep said to go to Finder, Pictures, Iphoto, then right click to "Show Package Contents." Then go to either "original" or "modified." From there I can drag into the hard drive. However, I'm very confused because the "modified" or "original" are not organized at all by folders or events. There are dates only. What can I do to find, drag the events (each are named)? Please help!
Katie

1. Ignore the Apple store rep.
2. You need to clarify:
I have my iphoto very organized into Events and I recently just moved them to be in folders
Moved them to be where in folder? In iPhoto? In the FInder?
I would like to have only certain Events (or folders/albums) on the external hard drive.
In an iPhoto Library? Or in the Finder?
Do not access the Library via the Finder or any other app. You risk damaging your Library and you will lose data.
If you want to have some Events/Albums on an External Disk within iPhoto:
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager
If you want to have them in Folders in the Finder
Use the FIle > Export command to get photos out of iPhoto.
This User Tip
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
has details of the options in the Export dialogue.

Need help sorting /consolidating music. 3 external hard drives 25000+ songs

i have 3 external hard drives 1 terabite each. over 2000 complete albums. i may have 20 different folders or files of music spread over each drive. how do i clean up the music. example (folder a)has 700 albums and 1000 single songs by various artists, including 5 single copies of the song back in black by ac/dc. this folder includes 9 full ac/dc albums. (folder b) has 1500 albums and 2000 singles and has 14 ac/dc albums when i run (folder a) thru itunes and it completes and all music data shows. i then will run (folder b) thru i tunes, but i do not want 9 ac/dc back in black singles off the album back in black, nor do i want 2 complete back in black albums, 2 highway to **** albums and so forth, i want itunes to only install the 5 albums that are not in (folder a). please help.

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
You may want to consider posting this question in the iTunes discussion area at http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=149
It sounds like you don't currently back up your hard drive, and if your iTunes library is that important to you, you should figure out how to back it up now. Easiest way is to buy an external drive larger than your existing internal hard drive, get a program like SuperDuper, which is what I use, and copy your drive to the external backup. Then you can point iTunes to it to use the library there. SuperDuper can be found at http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
I prefer an external hard drive with a firewire connection, so I can boot from it if need be (a Powerbook can't boot from a USB device). If you do get an external hard drive with only a USB connection, then it would be good for it to have it's own power supply since some drives can't get enough power from the Powerbook USB to start or work properly.

Need help setting up Macbook Pro and external hard drive(s)

I apologize for the vague title but I was limited to so many characters.
Here's my situation (sorry for being verbose, I just want to be thorough)
Right now I have a Macbook Pro and a 500 GB external hard drive (Western Digital using USB 2.0 connection). I've outgrown the external hard drive and am ready to upgrade my external memory.
Here's my issues right now:
My iTunes library and music reside on the external hard drive. Using iTunes is painfully, I mean brutally, slow for some reason. For example: if I were to just change the genre of an average album, it takes upwards of 4 or 5 minutes to change the data. Compared to the POS Dell computer I used to run iTunes with (using the same external hard drive), the same task would take 5 seconds at the most. Likewise, if I try to watch a video that resides on that external hard drive right now, it skips and eventually stops because (presumably) the data is transferring extremely slowly. I have no idea, and haven't gotten any real answers, as to why this is happening with the Macbook and/or if using a Firewire connection would improve the speed.
Taking that into consideration, here's what I would like to do (and ask). I see myself having one 1T external hard drive for all my music and one 1T external hard drive for all my movies and videos. Ideally I would like to be able to access these two hard drives wirelessly with my Macbook and have it transfer the data very quickly - as it should IMO. Certainly a lot faster than it is now.
I would love to just be able to hook my Macbook up to my main stereo and run iTunes through it without having to lug around and messily connect the external hard drive which contains all the music. As well as being able to hook my Macbook up to the stereo and LCD monitor and be able to watch a video, again without the hassle of having to connect the external hard drive - which as I said prior, appears to transfer the data way too slowly anyway.
Any suggestions on what external hard drives I should get and any other hardware/software I need to run them wirelessly would be gratefully welcomed.
Thanks in advance (and I apologize for the long winded post)
MM

Obviously, FireWire is a fast connection, but for changing metadata, USB is plenty fast. Why it takes so long is anyones guess. Is it a USB 2.0 drive? Using external drives can be tricky. My father uses them for his gigantic library of almost 80,000 songs. When you have it setup properly, it works fine, but if you say forgot to have the external drive mounted when you launch iTunes, iTunes defaults the library back to your Music folder, then when you start importing, it puts in on the internal drive, then you have to go back and reset it, etc. Problem, with iTunes alone, you can only set one library, so if you want to use two drives, you will have to have one set at any given time.
So you could set the music one first, add to the library, then set it for movies, then add those to the library. Then keep the library set to the one you use most frequently, so you don't have to always switch. Once you import all media, and iTunes "knows" where to find the files, you can play them with no problems with two drives.
For wireless, you have a couple choices. If you have two Macs, you could keep one connected to the two drives, then with the other computer, just connect to the network and share the iTunes library so your other computer has access. If you want the music stored on a drive accessible wireless, you'll probably have to look to NAS, or some form of wireless storage. If you do that, their may even be a better third party software solution other than iTunes for managing multiple libraries.
This is something iTunes really needs. As libraries grow, one drive just isn't enough often.
Bryan

I need help with viewing files from the external hard drive on Mac

I own a 2010 mac pro 13' and using OS X 10.9.2(current version). The issue that I am in need of help is with my external hard drive.
I am a photographer so It's safe and convinent to store pictures in my external hard drive.
I have 1TB external hard drive and I've been using for about a year and never dropped it or didn't do any thing to harm the hardware.
Today as always I connected the ext-hard drive to my mac and click on the icon.
All of my pictures and files are gone accept one folder that has program.
So I pulled up the external hard drive's info it says the date is still there, but somehow i can not view them in the finder.
I really need help how to fix this issue!

you have a notebook, there is a different forum.
redundancy for files AND backups, and even cloud services
so a reboot with shift key and verify? Recovery mode
but two or more drives.
a backup, a new data drive, a drive for recovery using Data Rescue III
A drive can fail and usually not if, only when
and is it bus powered or not

Help! transfering itunes from my external hard drive to my new laptop

I don't have my old laptop anymore but I do have my itunes backed up on an external hard drive. Copy and pasting does not seem to be working, how do I transfer it over to the new itunes? Thanks!

Are you trying to get just your music to appear in your new iTunes, or are you trying to maintain playlists, play counts, etc?

Need help opening my library with an external hard drive

I transferred my iTunes library to an external hard drive to open space on my computer, following directions for consolidating and backing up that were given on iTunes. . I am trying to open it on another laptop with iTunes installed to make sure the transferred library works before I delete the original library on my computer.
After connecting the EHD to the laptop, I hold down the shift key and press "choose library" and open the library from the EHD. This is where things get screwy.
Instead of the library opening in iTunes, I get more folders. One for album artwork, another for iTunes media, and another for previous iTunes libraries. When I open the iTunes media folder I get more folders: for audiobooks, books, games, movies, etc.
What did I do wrong?

You're looking to choose a file called iTunes Library.itl in the iTunes folder on the external drive.
tt2

Moving several itunes libaries to external hard drive?

I have recently purchased an external hard drive to free up some space on the family computer. There are several diffrant log-ins on my computer each with differant itunes libraries.
For starters, how do I move itunes over to the new drive? How do I keep the libraries seperated? And how do I sync the ipods using the external drive?
Thanks.

On a windows system, with iteuns closed, copy the entire itunes folder to the exHD. Not just the 'itunes music' subfolder, but the one above it.
Now press *and hold* the shift key while starting itunes. When prompted, choose an existing library and browse to the exHD itunes folder. Pick the itunesLibrary.itl file you just copied over.

Help - Moving Music Files to Larger External Hard Drive

Before I lose any files or otherwise ruin my iTunes installation, I need to know the best and safest way to move my iTunes music from my C: drive to my new external drive while still retaining full iTunes functionality while clearing space on my cramped internal drive.
Adding some slight complexity, I also have the Honda TTS (text to speech) software loaded which provides for the functionality of the music link for my iPod in my Honda Accord.
Do I have to reinstall iTunes on the new drive? If so, how do I preserve my music files in the process.
Thanks for reading.
Chris
Dell Dimension 2200 Windows XP

No, it's not necessary to re-install iTunes on the new drive. The following link from MacMuse should help. 2 tips, before doing anything in iTunes, you must boot-up the EHD prior to opening iTunes or iTunes will revert the iTunes music folder location back to the main drive. Next, there are 2 associated database files with iTunes, the .itl & .xml files . These 2 files CAN'T be moved off you system's drive, that is their "home" & they have to stay put. Welcome to discussions!
EDIT:
I guess I'm getting tired, forgot the link, so sorry!
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=607487
Message was edited by: StarDeb55

I've recently moved my iTunes to a external hard drive as I was running out of storage

iTunes keeps telling me randomly it cant find the library and then when I check preferences the location has disappeared. Help!

Yes plugged in library copied across fine, can go days with no issues, restarts etc.

Moving my iTunes movies to External Hard Drive.

I have my movies saved on an ExHD. Can I watch those movies, saved on the ExHD, on a different computer if I just set up another itunes that coresponds with my movies file on my ExHD? So like a portable DVD case I guess you could call it.

Have a look here...
http://macmost.com/videopodcast

Moving itunes folder to external hard drive

I moved my itunes to an external hard drive for Windows 7 using itunes 10. something. I lost all playlists and they are gone. Ive read somewhere you can get them back from your xml list in system but I'm a noobie on computers. CAN ANYONE HELP?

I moved my library from itunes folder i believe
What do you mean by "library"?
Which files/folders did you move?
Quit iTunes.
Copy the entire /Music/itunes/ folder to the external.
Hold Shift and launch iTunes.
Select Choose library and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
That is all you need to do.

I transferred my itunes to an external hard drive from my mac, now all of my music needs to be located. Help...

I moved my itunes library to an external hard drive, now all of the music says it needs to be located. Not sure, but I believe it is not directed properly.

if you do iTunes > Preferences> Advanced you can change the location of where your music is stored. Click on change location and direct it to your external hard drive. Of course, your external hard drive will need to be connected to your computer to play the music.
When you moved your music to an external hard drive, did you copy the folders or move the folder off your computer completely? I copied the folders, and left iTunes folder in my Music folder and all seems to work fine. one hitch can be is that your Library in iTunes will list all of your content, but if you have some albums on the hard drive of your computer and some on your external hard drive, iTunes will need to be told where to locate these files.

Need help - Moving my Itunes to an external hard drive

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