Organizing an iTunes folder without keeping 2 folders?

I already have 12GB of music in a folder but I want it to be organized with iTunes. Is there any way to do this without keeping an extra file AND the organized iTunes media folder? I want to be able to manage my music through iTunes and for the tags to be the same in my music folder without having to have 2 folders of replicas because I already don't have enough space even without my songs taking twice as much memory. I'm pretty sure I pulled this off a long time ago on my desktop but I'm not sure. Could someone please help me out if there's a way? Thanks in advance
Message was edited by: Illogic916

The easiest way to do what you want is to go to iTunes preferences and under the Advanced tab, check the "Keep iTunes Folder organized" checkbox. iTunes will then organize all of you files in folders by artist, sub-folders by album, music files in the album folders. Since it sounds like this is the way you are organizing things manually, you may as well let iTunes do it, unless you are downloading illegal songs which have no ID3 tags. If that is the case, shame on you!
There is a second way to get the songs into iTunes without using the import function, just open a finder/explorer windows over iTunes, find the folder that has the songs you want, or the top level folder that holds all the folders with all the songs you want, and drag and drop it into the iTunes window. Viola! iTunes will import all the songs/albums/artists you drop in. If you have no checked "Keep iTunes Folder organized" under the advanced tab of the preferences pane, then they will stay just where you have them in your folder hierarchy.
Another hint for those who have had to manually reorganize their libraries for any reason and now iTunes cannot find anything. With or without "Keep iTunes Folder organized" checked, just open the iTunes folder. With iTunes NOT running, find and delete the 2 through 4 files (not folders, just files) with the word Library in them. Now start up iTunes, it will come up empty, ask you to create a new library, etc. Check the create new library option. When iTunes finishes starting up and you are looking at an empty library, take and drag and drop the iTunes Music folder from your iTunes folder into the empty iTunes library window and POOF iTunes will import everything with all the folder information correct. If you have checked "Keep iTunes Folder organized," it will fix any organizational errors you may have, if not, it will keep the order of folders and sub-folders you created.

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Keep iTunes folder organized: only iTunes folder?

If I check the option "Keep iTunes folder organized" will it only organize the folder specified above this setting (the location of the iTunes Music folder), or will it also organize everything else? Such as the music I imported from other directories.
Windows XP

See my answer in this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8228727&#8228727
The check box has not effect on tracks purchased from the store or ripped from CD using iTunes. iTunes organises them anyway.
It really matters if you have a music folder which you have organised yourself and you want to make it your iTunes music folder and you want to keep that structure.
If you add a track to your library that is not in the iTunes Music folder with the "Copy to ..." box unchecked, iTunes will store a link to the file.
If the "Copy to..." box is checked, iTunes copies the file into the iTunes music folder, leaving the original intact.
Message was edited by: polydorus

Changing permissions on a top level public folder WITHOUT affecting the folders underneath it in Exchange 2007

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We have a pubilc folder we woudl like to lockdown to just the IT techs, but we want eveything below to function as it normally has been. We have several folders underneath this folder with various permissions for our end users that we dont want changed.
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My C Drive is getting bogged down. I would like to switch both the iTunes application including full library, and all my music folders from my C drive over to a new internal hard drive ("F").
So, 1. How do I move everything over to the new "F" drive?
And, 2. How will iTunes know that now all the songs are there? I mean, doesn't it look for their path as in the C drive? Will the path on all songs automatically change to list "F" instead of "C"? Do I have to manually change each song's path?
I'm not a computer wiz, but can follow simple directions!
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

Chris -
OK. I get it. That iTunes folder stays on C. I just have to get over it, right?
So, should I eliminate that same iTunes folder from my F drive? Obviously, the libraries should stay on F (or it that not obvious?).
So, now let me pick your brain on my second question....
My understanding is that all of my music is stored in folders ("My Music" for example). They are located both on my F drive (my songs) and the C drive (my kids' songs). I want all music folders on my F drive - both mine and my kids'.
I've moved individual songs from C to F, and when iTunes goes to play them, it'll say - "Hey, I can't find this song anymore", and I'll have to click Browse and click on the new location (in F) so that it sees the song is there.
So, if I move the entire folder of kids songs to my F drive, will the individual song location paths change from C to F? Or will iTunes totally freak out, trying to locate everyone one of their zillions of songs?
Thanks in advance.
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Using a shared iTunes folder across 2 macs..?

I've recently bought a MBP so I can also work while with the family downstairs instead of dissapearing up to my iMac in the study on the top floor.
I'd like to have full access to my master iTunes folder from both machines such that I can play, burn and edit from either and without having to do it do both.
Whats the best way to do this?
I have a Airport Extreme with plenty of HDD space attached. Can I point both iTunes to a folder there?
What about the other files and folders in the Music folder? such as Apps, databases, Cover art etc?
Many thanks for any help,
Dan.

it won't work like this.
if iTunes is launched on one of the client Macs, and the host Mac isn't available, iTunes will default back to the Mac's internal iTunes folder.
either keep the host Mac running 24/7 or attach the external to your router and let that run all the time.

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Hi,
My goal: get an accurate read of what muisc is playable in my iTunes library.
My actions: (1) Deleated unwanted music folders from my iTunes folder. (2) Reset the iTunes folder location in the Advanced Perferances of iTunes
The result: Though the files are out of the iTunes folder, they are still present (though not playable) in my library. How can I get my library to only list the files in the iTunes folder (without having copy everything that's in the iTunes folder and going through the library 1-by-1 and deleating each until they match)?

Select your "Library" in iTunes.
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Delete them - you will be asked if you want to delete them from Library, then in a 2nd step if you want to move those tracks to the Trash.

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Can anyone help me fix what I've messed up?
I moved my itunes folder from my loaded C: drive to D: drive (i'm partitioned with C: and D:) with a simple "move" command. Then I tried to use the ipod and itunes as normal ....wrong...it tells me that my ipod is linked to a different library and my option is to sync and lose my music on the ipod or not sync.
Well when I open itunes none of my music shows up in the itunes library that comes up, no custom play lists etc...it's like it's back to default.
So I moved it back to C: thinking that there was something there that was keeping C: as "the working itune drive" and it's still telling me the same thing.
In my itunes folder I have sub-folders that show
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I had no problems until I moved the itunes folder over to D: inorder to open space on my C:
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When you moved your iTunes folder to a new drive, you need to do a shift key start to tell iTunes to use the library in the new location.
If you don't it will create a blank library in the delfault loaction on the c: drive.
Hold down the shift key, start iTunes, keep holding down the shift key until you are prompted to choose a library. Navigate to you iTunes folder on the d: drive and choose iTunes Library.itl.
Did you do that?

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I'm trying to organize my music and I have a problem: If I open my main music folder and then open my iTunes folder, I see many folders of all my assorted artists. Among those is another folder called "iTunes Music" that seems to duplicate all the same artists. What's the safest way to delete these so that I don't have all the duplicates? Also, how did that get there? I seem to recall deleting these in the past, but somehow they have reappeared. Thanks....

Read my post, as I figured my issue out and it might fix yours too:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5606206#5606206

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You should sync \Music\iTunes\ folder and all contents.
but not anything peculiar to the running of iTunes on one of those computers (like remembered window size, display size etc).
None of that is in the folder above. It's just the music, playlists, artwork, etc.

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No idea what's going on here. If I attempt to copy my iTunes folder to an external HD it fails with the error message
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If that works, then my guess is that the iTunes folder and its sub-folders probably have some sort of a permissions limitation placed on them, probably an Access Control List. Try doing a "list really long with every option known to man" on the iTunes folder and various sub-folders. Start with the iTunes folder itself:
ls -alO@e ~/Music/iTunes
Hit return and let's see what it says. If your iTunes folder is in the default location inside your home Music folder you can just copy and paste the command. Since you have managed to copy the stuff using Rsyncx you may not want to bother, as tracking this stuff down can be tedious.
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Is this a single item (in which case it is a single file and not a folder)? You refer to it in the singular form ("it") so I assume it is a single item. A folder (= directory) should open to contain other folders and many files, and those folder will also contain many files. If you're only seeing one thing then something has gone wrong in the transfer. Generally your iTunes folder will contain various folders containing the media files, as well as files called "Library" with different extensions which are the files that tie it all together when you view it in iTunes.

Can I erase older versions of mobile apps in the mobile applications folder within iTunes folder

Can I erase older versions of mobile apps in the mobile applications folder within iTunes folder without distuebing their running in my iPhone and iPad? Thank you

should be okay.
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Will enabling the 'Keep iTunes Folder Organized' option alter my folders?

If I select "Keep iTunes Folder Organized" in iTunes, will it alter the way my folders are curretnly organied on that drive? I already have my music organized by artist and album in folders on my harddrive. Though, some of the track names are messed up in iTunes. If i select this option, what happens? will it fix the track names issue, or must i fix those manually? would it copy or reogranize my folders that are already there?

It shouldn't alter your folders unless they are in the place that iTunes wants to put its folders - It will rearrange the music into new folders so that iTunes can find them. They will be located in your Music folder > iTunes > iTunes Music > then usually folders by Artist.
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I am having problems with my music collection, after burning all of my music to the computer I organized it into folders and placed it in the iTunes Folder. Starting on a new computer now. I can get my music from old computer?

I am having problems with my music collection, after burning all of my music to the computer I organized it into folders and placed it in the iTunes Folder. As of now i realize this was a mistake. Starting on a new computer now. I cant get my music to transfer from the itunes folder on the old computer? I keep getting error "Can't Read from the source file or disk." Whenever I got to folder properties its always checked read only. But when i play the song it works just fine. Im sure this is just because I added music into itunes folder but is there anyway to fix it?

WMA files are 'window media audio' files, which is a Microsoft format. If you want to add them to your iTunes library on your Mac then you will need to convert them into a compatible format first. If you still have your windows machine then iTunes for Windows can convert them from WMA to MP3 format : https://discussions.apple.com/message/24158701#24158701
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"keep iTunes folder organized" option

for the past year i have been importing my music, then converting it to AAC format. after converting it, i have deleted the original foles from my computer, seeing that the AAC files are in my iTunes music folder. i have never had "Keep iTunes Folder Organized" selected. does iTunes automatically do this when you convert files?
sorry if u dont understand what i am trying to ask, i guess im just trying to figure out the difference between using it and not using that option.

for the past year i have been importing my music, then converting it to AAC format. after converting it, i have deleted the original foles from my computer, seeing that the AAC files are in my iTunes music folder. i have never had "Keep iTunes Folder Organized" selected. does iTunes automatically do this when you convert files?
sorry if u dont understand what i am trying to ask, i guess im just trying to figure out the difference between using it and not using that option.

Organizing an iTunes folder without keeping 2 folders?

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