PLaying music in iTunes from external drive

I have all my music on an external drive. I want to be able to play this music in iTunes without copying the music to my internal HD. In Windows it doesn't copy to internal, but in OSX it does. Also, when I have music on my computer (internal) and the first time I click it to play it copied to my iTunes Music folder, thus creating 2 copies on my computer.

To prevent iTunes to copy the files, uncheck 'Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library' in Preferences>Advanced>General.
M

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How to play music in itunes from external drive without copying files

Everytime I go to play a song in itunes, it imports it first. I am a DJ and don't want 200 gigs of music on my HD. There has to be some way to just play all of my songs off of my external HD w/o itunes importing the songs.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your help. This is my first Mac and I am getting use to how it operates. SInce I have gotten It, I usually just click on the song from my external then itunes imports it then plays it.
I use Serato when DJing which allows me to just access my external and play from there, which is what you suggested doing by creating a itunes library on my external.
I will create a library on my external and do like you suggested. That seems like it would solve all of my problems. I am using the instructions from here: http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/ to do it. Seems like it should be pretty straight forward.
Again, thank you for your help.

How do you play music in itunes from an external drive?

if the library and itunes folder are on the external drive, how do you play the songs from there through a laptop? I have gotten that dreaded "original file not found" message over and over again. Thanks.

Hold down the Shift key while launching iTunes. You'll be given a dialog box where you can select the iTunes library you want to use. Navigate to and select the iTunes folder in it's new location.

Playing music in iTunes from an external HD

I moved 600gbs of music to an external HD to save HD space and run iTunes from the external. After the transfer, I told or pointed to iTunes where the 'new' music is on the external HD but iTunes will not read the music - it is asking me to find each and every song one at a time? Thats a LOT of clicking if I really need to do that.
Please help

I recently did the same thing (move my library to an external drive). What you want to do is have iTunes move the songs itself. iTunes keeps track of where each song is located. If you move the songs yourself, iTunes won't know and you end up in your situation. Just setting the media folder to the external drive won't be enough as that is only telling iTunes where to store NEW tracks.
What you want to do is bascially set the new media folder location and then have iTunes move all the tracks to that location. I followed the procedure here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

Recently got a new computer and installed itunes from external drive - all music shows up in the library, however when i click on a song i receive this message "the song could not be used because the original file could not be found". What do i do?

I recently got a new computer and installed itunes from which had been saved onto an external drive - all music shows up in the library, however when I click on a song I receive this message "the song "abc" could not be used because the original file could not be found". What can I do?

I was given the option to locate the file where the song is held. If so select "locate" and direct it to the folder / file where the song is and open it. itunes then will give you the option to use this process to update all of your library. OK that as this will do it automatically instead of doing them one by one. I hope this helps.
Martin

Adding Music when away from external Drive where Itunes Library is stored

I have a macbook and an Ipod 60gb. I have come across a slight frustration in Itunes. I have limited space on my internal drive and as such have my iTunes music stored on an external hard drive. I frequently am away from this drive when I import a cd into itunes. The problem, itunes switches where my library is stored from the external drive to the internal drive. Is there an option that someone knows about that would keep this from happening?
I have a suggestion for itunes, why not make an option to add music to a briefcase folder, and when connected to the external drive add it to the main library. This would allow for music to be imported to the computer and then be added to the main storage source when available.
If anyone knows a way I send a product suggestions to apple please let me know, as I have a few that would like to suggest.

mattbeardall wrote:
Is there an option that someone knows about that would keep this from happening?
no, if iTunes can't find its drive/folder, it defaults to creating one within your Home directory's Music folder.
If anyone knows a way I send a product suggestions to apple please let me know, as I have a few that would like to suggest.
under the iTunes menu choose the Feedback menuItem.

Moving iTunes from external drive to new computer

I have my itunes stored on an external drive lettered "E". How can I move them to my new computer. The external drive letter "E" is not available on the new computer but the hard drive is plenty large enough to hold my whole collection and I would like to install them on it. I have already copied my itunes music folder and libraries to the new computer.
Thanks for any input.

This did not work. I signed into the iTunes store as the same user and I can still not play the music I purchased or the music I am authorized to play that others purchased. Can anyone help out with this question?

Playing music in iTunes from iPod

Hi there,
I have two Macs (dual 2,7 G5 & 17" Powerbook). I have my i Tunes library on my G5 and my 60GB video iPod updates off of that library. To save drive space on my Powerbook, I used to use my iPod to store my music and would connect it to my Powerbook essentially using the iPod as an external drive. This worked great but lately my entire library is greyed out and I can't play anything off of the iPod through iTunes and I am not sure why. Any ideas anybody?

I think the iPod has to be set to manual mode (in preferences)
In auto-update mode, it won't do it.
The other way you could do it is to use your iPod as a disk only, and store your library there. You can then point your library on both Macs to the iPod.
It can be relocated in: preferences/advanced/general. You can point to the library on the iPod on both Macs.
Scott

How do I use Itunes from external drive as main sync for Iphone 4

I apologize if this is obvious but I have searched for quite awhile without finding result.
I currently have my iTunes synced to my Macbook Pro. I purchased a Macbook Air for ease in travel. I would like to move sync of my material on iTunes to my Air as I carry it more with me.
I was told at an Apple Store to purchase a Time Machine and an external hard drive. Both I purchased. I then read for a few hours how to move my itunes to the external drive. The only way I could finally get it to work was to physically connect a USB between the MacBook Pro and the External Drive. Once my Pro recognized the External Drive I dragged my Itunes and watched it copy all the data.
Unfortunately, when I am on the Air I cannot locate within Finder the External Drive. I do see my time Machine but cannot figure out how to get my itunes data from the external drive through the time machine.
You still with me?
So, can someone help me understand how to go the next step. As I understand from reading this forum I would then go into my Advanced Properties in Itunes (on the Air) and choose to relocate where the iTunes sync occurs. Then I can use my Air for syncing as it wont be dependent on the limited space and once I've changed the properties location for where to find my iTunes data I wont be dependent on the Pro.
PS: Yes I've downloaded all of the newest product software updates (iTunes, iPhone OS, Macs) as of the date this is posed 3/20/2011

try this:
hold the option key and launch iTunes. at the prompt, click on +choose library+ and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
obviously, the external holding your library must be mounted on your desktop for iTunes to find it.
if the drive is connected but doesn't show up on the Air's desktop, go finder > preferences > general and check if +external disks+ is check marked under +show these items on the desktop+.

Moving music and photos from external drive

Bought a new 27inch iMac for Xmas this week. Today my G5 imac wouldn't boot and has a video RAM error code 2NYD/1/4:2103 and I can't boot in safe mode or from and external drive with carbon copy cloner backup. I am resigned to the G5 being toast. This of course removes transferring files using Migration Assistant.
My question is can I bring all my iphoto pictures and itunes songs/ library to the new iMac from the external drive and what is the best way to do this ?? Will there be issues with the backup being 10.5 and the new iMac being Snow Leopard ??
Thanks for any help.

Read the article I provided and it will give you all you need to run Setup Assistant successfuly. You will need a cable to connect the two machines, the G5 probably only has FW400 and the new machine only has FW800 so you will need a cable like this one. Your local computer store should have one or possibly your local Radio Shack. If you can't find one at either place just order it from Amazon.
NOTE: There will be no need to drag and drop any files from the external HD to the new machine, SA will take care of it all. SA is also smart enough to not overwrite newer applications on the new machine. For example if the Clone has iLife 08 on it and the new machine has iLife 11 on it the new machine will only have iLife 11 on it after running SA.

Newbie - loading music to itunes from Network drive

I just bought my first mac and I'm attempting to start using itunes with my Ipod touch and load music from a network drive that I have both of my PC's music backed up to.
In itunes, it sees some of the music from the network drive but not all of it. The folders/music are all available and I can see them in Finder but Itunes doesn't find all of the music.
Is there anyway to point itunes to the appropriate folder so I can add the music?

Welcome to the Forums, Scott!
You can add a folder of music to iTunes by pressing Command-O or going to iTunes-> Add To Library...
Hope this helps!
-Nate

Moving iTunes from external drive on PC to external drive on Mac

Hi can anyone help getting totally confused with all the different help topics!
My iTunes currently runs of an external hard drive (I://) via Windows 7.
I've changed to an iMac and want to move my iTunes to here using a new PC & Mac compatible external HD (J:// via the PC/Samsung via the Mac).
I've followed the instructions on here but iTunes doesn't seem to be picking up the library or playlists, and not sure where I've gone wrong.
Can anyone help at all please?

Those instructions tell you how to move media (as they say). A library is more than just media. For people using regular iTunes settings it is everything in the iTunes folder which includes the critical iTunes Library.itl file. This file generates the structure you see in the iTunes application. You need - Moving a library: Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its sub-folders and files) intact to the other drive. Hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) and open iTunes. At the prompt to create or choose a library choose the copied iTunes folder.
Note, I am leery about your "PC & Mac" compatible drive, whatever that is. While it is possible to use a FAT formatted drive with a Mac you have to realize that it has file size limitations and cannot be repaired with any Mac based tools.
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.

How do i restore my back itunes from external drive to pc, hos do i restore my back itunes from external drive to pc?

After backing up my itunes folder to an external hard drive, how do I restore it back to my pc?

See Restoring your iTunes Library Backup here...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

Restoring itunes from external hard drive

-I used WD backup program to store itunes on external hard drive
-hard drive on mac pro crashed, replaced hard drive
-trying to restore itunes songsa from external drive and when I copied songs from external hard drive to new internal hard drive which has itunes program, only song titles appear and track number for songs I ripped from CDs. All info is present for songs I purchased from itunes (why is there a difference in the way these two are restored???)
-Can I restore itunes from external drive so that artist and album are associated with each song title I ripped from CDs?
Much appreciate all assistance. Thanks.

I know MP3 and AAC save tag data, and I believe AIFF does as well (if you want to keep them in full-quality but space-greedy format). I don't think WAV supports tagging which is why they were lost. Read:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9558241&#9558241
This time make sure you have a complete backup of your itunes folder (which, in fact you may still have). That way you can recover your complete library and everything intact (as long as you keep your backups up to date).
Here is a related topic
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9267109&#9267109

Playing music in iTunes off my iPod Touch G1

Hey everyone,
I am fairly sure I could do this with my old 30GB Video iPod but can't seem to do it with my new Touch. Basically I want to be able to play music within iTunes from my iPod not my library. I have music uploaded to my iPod and can play it over the headphones but when I plug it into iTunes it seems that all the music is there but grayed out and can't be played directly off the iPod but using my computer (iTunes) as the external speakers (Does that make sense?). Any ideas or anything I can do to make this work?

I don't ever remember being able to do this with earlier versions of iTunes and my iPod classic 80GB. I believe that playing the music from your computer is your only option (and you can plug your headphones into your computer if you don't want to listen to it through your speakers).

PLaying music in iTunes from external drive

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