Playing iTunes only from back-up hard drive, not on Mac/ How to?

I have a lot of CD's and I don't want to fill up my computer. How can I transfer all iTunes to back-up, so I can only operate iTunes from it. Then can I delete iTunes from my computer without losing iTunes on my back-up?

New drives may come formatted for Windows use with limited functionality on Macs. Format for Mac for best use.
Kappy's brief drive formatting instructions (12/2012) - https://discussions.apple.com/message/20571091#20571091
Pondini: Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks... - http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html, specifically http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html

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How do I migrate my itunes library from an external hard drive to my mac mini's internal hard drive?

I have my iTunes library on an external hard drive because my macbook pro's internal hard drive didn't have enough room. I would like to migrate or transfer the itunes files while continuing to keep my playlists. Is there a way to do that with the migration software?

Thank you for your help. My biggest concern is losing all of my sorted music into playlists. I have 124GB of music and resorting it will very difficult. When I moved the itunes library with the help of a supervisor at apple tech to the external HD I had to resort it.
Will it move the entire library and setting as they are now?

Use iPhone 4 to play iTunes library from an external hard drive without computer

Hello all-
I use iTunes for playback of my music library. My library is too large to be stored locally on my MBP so I use an external hard drive. I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to use / setup an iPhone 4 to be able to read the iTunes library files and access the music stored on the external hard disc for playback WITHOUT the use of my MBP or any other computer. I may be asking too much but essentially it is just code that is written into iTunes that allows this to happen, between computer and external hard drive as well as iPod and it's hard disk. Of course I would need to be able to connect my iPhone to the external hard drive. I figure the dock to usb cable would suffice.
Any help is appreciated!
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thanks for the quick reply! I was hoping to not only access the individual files, but use an actual user interface that could read the iTunes library files that I already have created via iTunes on my MBP, and provide me with an iTunes like playback experience, similar to how the Remote app works or the iPod app. Thanks though, I might use NetPortal for other applications though.
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I moved my itunes media from one external hard drive to another. How do I change the shortcut on my desktop to open to the new external hard drive?

Ok, so i originally installed itunes on an external hard drive (G drive) and not my PC. So my itunes runs completely from my external and that how I like it. Well over time it got full so I bought and moved all my media over to a bigger 2TB external hard drive (D drive). I verified that all the media (music, movies, tv show etc) are all on the new drive and everything points to it. However the itunes shortcut on my desktop still points to the G drive external. If I unplug it and try to open itunes it gives me an error. So I have to keep the G external drive plugged in just to launch itunes and then use my new D external to get the media. How the heck do I change that? I tried moving the itunes.exe file over to the new drive but that didnt work. I want it to run exclusively off the new D external. Please Help Me!!! I am using Win 7 if that helps.

My DeDuper script is designed to help clean up. See this thread for background.
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I need to move a file from an external hard drive to my mac how do i do this?

I have to copy a file from my Seagate External Hard Drive to my macbook Air and cannot figure out how to do it

Choose Computer from the Finder's Go menu, double-click the external drive, and drag the file to the desired location.
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I've transfered my backup files from an external hard drive to my Mac; how do I get combine the two "users" on my Mac so I only have one?

I've had to re-install my backup files from to my MacBookPro after a software repair wiped out all my data. Now I have two Users identities on my laptop. Is there a way to combine them or get rid of one?

Drag one account's home folder to the other account's desktop, open the Users & Groups pane of System Preferences, and delete that account.
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How do I move my iTunes library from my external hard drive back to my computer?

Just wondering how do I move my entire iTunes library from my external hard drive back to my computer? It was moved to an external hard drive a few years ago, and now I'm wondering how to move it back to my iMac to increase performance.
Where does it belong in the computer?
Any suggestions?

The library itself is the /Home/Music/iTunes/ folder in its entirety. Did you also change where preference files were stored? Normally, they would be in the /Home/Library/Preferences/ folder.

HT4796 Can you transfer files from a window based back up hard Drive to a mac ?, example word files , iTunes, picture files thanks

Can you transfer files from a window based back up hard Drive to a mac ?, example word files , iTunes, picture files thanks

Shermanbva,
Here's an article that details the various ways you can get Windows files onto a Mac:
Switch Basics: Migrate your Windows files or system to your Mac
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2518
Have a good one,
- Ari

Playing a library from an external hard drive

I recently got a new lap top. I have backed up my Itunes library from my desk top to my external hard drive. Is it possible to play my library from my external hard drive on my laptop without downloading all the songs directly on m laptop and taking up all of my free memory?

Yes it is possible. To prevent having iTunes make duplicate copies, go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced > General and make sure that "Keep..." and "Copy..." are *both not checked.*
Then, make sure the external is connected, and add the songs to the iTunes library. To start, add one or two to the library, and play them, and see for yourself that the files are not on the main hard drive. When you are comfortable, you can add the remaining 5000 (or whatever!) songs.

Any suggestions for running an iTunes library from an external hard drive on two computers?

I have two Mac computers: an iMac and a MacBook Air. My iMac has 1TB of storage space (plenty enough for my 200+gigs of music) but my MacBook Air only has 250gigs of storage space. I know I can access all of the music from my iMac on my MBA with HomeSharing. But that doesn't work when I take my MBA out of the house for work. I was going to switch over my iTunes library to an external HD but I don't know if I can access the library on the hard drive from my MBA, when the main library is on my iMac.
Any suggestions as to how to get two different computers to access an iTunes library from an external hard drive?
Thanks.

I am confused as to what you had or have where and when. The bottom line is, your library (for the standard user) is everything in the iTunes folder. As far as iTunes' organization and display is concerned, your library is a file called "iTunes Library.itl" which points to all the other host of files and folders normally in the iTunes folder which all work together.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.
If you kept everything together in one place then you need to put the whole iTunes folder on the drive where you want it, start iTunes while holding down the option key and guide it to that .itl file. If things were split up and you had media on the external and the rest of the library on the internal you need to get them back to exactly where they were before. If you can't find that iTunes folder holding the critical .itl file anywhere then you have a bunch of media tracks and no organization and will need to rebuild the organization from ground level.

HT1451 restore iphone data from back up hard drive

I lost my iphone 4 and leptop with itunes programm. All I had left is back up of my leptop hard drive. Now I have new leptop and new iPhone 5, can I import telephone contacts and music from back up hard drive, they should be there somewhare?

If you had a backup in the backup of the old computer you will want to restore the computer backup to the new computer and then make sure that the newest iTunes is installed. Then you should be able to use iTunes to restore your backup.
Hope this helps!

I transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another and added more music on the same day. How do I get rid of my duplicate files without going through them one by one which would take forever?

Please help. I have transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another plus added additional music now I have duplicates of the same music in many albums. How do I delete the duplicates without going through them one by one which would take forever? I understand how to get the "show exact duplicate" feature up on iTunes but, because they were added to the library on the exact day I can't seperate them I'm that manner. So each duplicate is right next to eachother in the exact duplicate screen.

My DeDuper script is designed to help clean up. See this thread for background.
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How do I transfer/copy my itunes library from 1 external hard drive to another one?

How can i transfer/copy my itunes library from 1 external hard drive to another one?

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449

HT1386 I have a new computer. I have copied Itunes library from an external hard drive. Itunes now tells me I cannot sync with my Ipod as it thinks the 20gb on the computer are different to the 20gb on my Ipod touch! What have I done wrong? How can I fix

I have a new computer. I have copied Itunes library from an external hard drive. Itunes now tells me I cannot sync with my Ipod as it thinks the 20gb on the computer are different to the 20gb on my Ipod touch! What have I done wrong? How can I fix it? Alan

See:
Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities
Sync Your iOS Device with a New Computer Without Losing Data - How-To Geek

If I've downloaded my music to an itunes library from an external hard drive and I have several duplicate songs, is there an easy way to delete the duplicate songs? Or, do I have to go through my entire library song by song to delete duplicates?

If I've downloaded my music to an itunes library from an external hard drive and I have several duplicate songs, is there an easy way to delete the duplicate songs? Or, do I have to go through my entire library song by song to delete duplicates?

In iTunes, File>Display Duplicates

Playing iTunes only from back-up hard drive, not on Mac/ How to?

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