Problem running Itunes from external hard drive- Please Help!

So, last night I transferred my entire music folder over to an external hard drive. It copied all the files and I then proceeded to tell itunes where my new music folder was located. The problem I ran into was when I actually deleted the music files from my internal hard drive my library won't automatically find the files. When I click on a song it comes up with an error message saying, "original file cannot be found, would you like to locate file?". If I tell it yes, I can then manually tell it where the file is, and it will play. I'm really hoping there is an easier way around this issue because going in and doing this for every song in my library would take years. Should I clear out the library and then drag it from the external hard drive? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.
Sean

I am experiencing a similar problem. I already had all my files on an external drive, where I had transfered them a few months back, and everything was working fine. I have now moved them, again, to a larger external drive, did everything the same, but now receive the message "original file cannot be found, would you like to locate file?" I was advised to use the "add to library" button under "FILE" in the menu bar and all the music was finally imported into iTunes, but the problem now is that the new data on the music files is missing all the metadata, and I am still stuck with all the original files with the "!" in front of each file that is going to have to be manually deleted one file at a time, all 30,000 of them. I would like a way to start over and get it right the first time. Anyone have any solutions? I have found a program, "Super Remove Dead Tracks" which should solve the problem of eliminating the "!" tracks, but so too all the metadata. Ideally I'd like to be able to locate the original files with all the attached metadata and get back to where I was 24 hours ago.

Similar Messages

HT1660 How do I run itunes from external Hard drive?

How do I run itunes from external hard drive. I only have ssd on PC and media is too large to fit

You do not.
iTunes, like all programs is installed on the C drive.
You can store the media on another drive.
Assuming you are moving an existing library from another computer:
Move or Copy the ENTIRE iTunes folder from the old computer to the new computer and put it where you want it.
Install iTunes using the default options.
Hold <SHIFT> while launching iTunes. It will prompt to create a new library or locate an existing library.
Select the option to locate an existing library.
Point iTunes to the iTunesLibrary.itl file in the iTunes folder that was moved from the old computer.

Running iTunes from external hard drive, new computer, where to start?

I've seen several threads relating to this, but I'm a bit confused. For some time we have been running iTunes from an external hard drive with no issues. We now have a new laptop with windows 8, and I'm not sure where to start to set up iTunes (we replaced the computer with a laptop). Do I need to do a new install of iTunes on the laptop? Do I install it to the hard drive (C) or to the external drive (G)? My biggest source of concern is losing the library. I also want to be sure that we can continue to run iTunes from the external drive, I don't want it taking up space on the laptop hard drive.

With more & more people looking towards external drives as a storage solution, it's important to warn them, that although using one within iTunes is a great idea, it comes with its issues & can be a step towards a disastrous sequence. In such a scenario, each time iTunes is launched it'll look for the library that resides on the external drive, & if that drive's not connected, iTunes will open with an empty library. You know what's comming next, rite ? An empty iDevice. This happens because 'by default' iTunes is set to Auto-Sync & if you're using an external drive, the potential for a messy problem goes way up. So in short, remember these points. when using an external drive(library).
. Always connect your external drive prior to lauching iTunes.
. Always ensure iTunes sees your external library prior to connecting your iDevice.
. Disable the 'Auto-Sync' feature from within iTunes prior to connecting your iDevice.
. Always wait to connect your iDevice until thee aforementioned points are confirmed.
As stated earlier, using an external drive with iTunes isn't a problem in & by itself. But if the external drive's disconnected & the 'Auto-Sync' feature's left at its default setting(enabled), a family member could loose all their data simply by connecting their iDevice to the PC/Mac. Or be in for a time consuming lesson.
PS: At the very least one should research the topic themselves. http://ipod.about.com/od/advanceditunesuse/a/Itunes-External-Hard-Drive.htm

Running Itunes from external hard drive

I have transferred my itunes to an external hard drive. I have changed the save to loaction in the preferences, advanced window. When I connect my IPod to the computer, it tells me that it is synced to another and asks if I want to erase and resync. When I tell it yes, it says that the lib. is empty and all songs will be erased off of the IPOD, do I wnat to continue. Can any one help.

I have a similar situation.
I had over 6000 songs on an original 20" iMac, and I had the entire library backed up on an external HD. The iMac is currently in the repair shop, from which it may never emerge in working condition.
I removed the entire iTunes library from my MacBook Pro (which contained no music because the computer has only a 120 GB HD) and I can get to the backup on the external HD (press Shift while starting iTunes) and see all the music. However, when I try to play any song for the first time I first have to migrate to the specific file in the Finder. Thus, it is totally impractical to attempt to manage a 6000 plus song collection in this way.
Is there an automatic way to locate each of the songs or is this manual process the only solution?
Thanks for your help.
Barrie

Missing Files in Finder from External Hard Drive - PLEASE HELP

Hi everyone, found myself with a bit of a problem and feeling a little stressed out.
I have an external, Thunderbolt hard drive which seems to be working ok. Suddenly, after a reboot I am unable to see any files on the drive and the finder says 0 files. The disk size however remains the same, indicating the files are still somewhere on the drive. I am running 10.10.1 (14B25).
Before the reboot I was writing to the drive using Compressor, I cancelled the export and then rebooted. Since then I have attempted the following with no luck:
1. Rebooted the computer / PRAM and SMC reset.
2. Tried accessing the drive on another computer and account. No luck.
3. Verified the drive with Disk Utility
4. Repaired system permissions
5. The external TB drive is a raid, I have checked the raid with the software for error and no errors are present and the Raid looks in good shape. No red lights, flashing, warning sounds etc.
6. I re-indexed spotlight.
7. I made all hidden files visible, and couldn't see the files but i found the following hidden files in the attached picture.
Could someone please give me some advice which could lead to the recovery of the data?
Many, many thanks in advanced, I look forward to hearing form you.
Best, Jim.

A small update:
I have tried using DiskWarrior - it sees the files and folders are there, confirms there is no physical disk problem but after a rebuild of the directory there are still no files present.
Is there a preference file or hidden file I could try and remove?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Jim.

I have macbook pro 13" I want to know how to copy files from my mac to the external Toshiba Hard Drive. I can't even delete files from my external hard drive. please help me my macbook HD is almost full and I have to copy my images to the Toshiba HD

I have macbook pro 13" I want to know how to copy files from my mac to the external Toshiba Hard Drive. I can't even delete files from my external hard drive. please help me my macbook HD is almost full and I have to copy my images to the Toshiba HD

To delete files from your external HDD, attach it to your MBP and drag the unwanted files to trash and then empty trash.
Then you select the files that you want to transfer by 'drag and drop' to the external HDD and trash the files on your MBP.
Ciao.

How do I copy iTunes from external hard drive to iMac?

How do I copy iTunes from external
Hard drive to iMac?

if your main library is on your external, then when not connected, you wont have access to it.
so first decide, where do you want to keep the files.
E.g. In my case, I keep my files on "C:\iTunes Music".
I have a backup on external "Z:\iTunes Backup". If I format my laptop, this is how I restore everything.
Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced.
The iTunes music folder in selects as "C:\iTunes Music"
I have checked Keep iTunes Music Folder Organized, and also Copy Files to iTunes Music folder when adding to ibrary". Click OK to save and close preferences.
My iTunes list is now empty. I go to file, and select "Add Folder to Library". From that window, I select "Z:\iTunes Backup". iTunes then copies everything from the backup to "C:\iTunes Music". For me, backup is backup, I dont need it to play music.
Now decide this. If you do not want to keep music on C:, but want to only connect the external to update music on your ipod, do this:
In preferences, set iTunes Music folder as "Z:\iTunes Backup", and uncheck Copy files to iTunes Music folder, since they are already there. Then in files, select Add folder to library again to build and update the list.

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

How do I get my itunes from external hard drive onto new laptop?, how do I get my itunes from external hard drive onto new laptop?

A few years ago I was running out of room on my Windows laptop so I followed instructions on how to move all of the music to an external hard drive and then had all music added to the always connected external hard drive instead of the laptop. That old laptop has now died and I have a new one and need to get the music added to the new one. Is it as simple as just plugging the external hard drive into the new computer and importing or is there more I need to do? I'm just really not sure what to do and nervous about doing the wrong thing. The old computer was running Windows XP and the new one has Windows 8. I have downloaded iTunes to the new laptop. Please note that I am not super savvy so if anyone could provide easy to follow steps that would be great. Thank you!! Please let me know if you need more information. Thanks again!

See Here > Restoring your iTunes Library backup
From here > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

Run itunes off external hard drive and keep settings

I have an imac which has my consolidated music library on it. I also have a macbook which i use while traveling. My itunes is about 130 gigs, which is fine on my imac, but too big for my macbook. in the past what i have done is just put everything on my 80 gig ipod, and then do the manual setting in itunes so that, if i get new music while traveling, i can put it on the ipod. anyway, that ipod was stolen and now i have a nano. So what i want to do is somehow copy my itunes from my imac onto an external hard drive, and then run itunes off that from my macbook. the point being to have my whole music collection there. The problem is that i cant seem to keep all my ratings, play counts and settings and stuff, the macbook doesnt recognize the setting file when its on the hard drive. Is there a way to do this? I tried changing the iTunes music folder location to the folder on the hard drive, but that did not make the songs appear in itunes on the macbook.
In addition, what id like to be able to do is, when i come back, copy the itunes from the external back onto my imac with all the new ratings, play counts, and music.
Message was edited by: poil66

See this article, iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Music folder, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
"If you just want to move all those music and media files to another hard drive on your system, here's a way to make the move while retaining all your playlists, ratings, and play history."

How can I transfer Itunes from external hard drive to a new computer?

Hello,
I had a Dell laptop with Windows XP on it recently crash, but I have everything saved to a Seamagine external 1 terabyte hard drive. I have about 250 gigabytes of media on it, mostly CD's and audiobooks. The setup I had on the XP computer was my Itunes folder saved on the C drive, but I kept all the actual music and audiobooks on the external hard drive, which was labeled the F drive.
After the crash, a relative sold me their three year old Compaq laptop, with Windows 7 instead of XP as the OS. My relative already had Itunes downloaded on it, but when I opened the Itunes on the new (new to me) laptop, Itunes only recognized their (my relative's) account. So, I uninstalled their Itunes and then I re-downloaded Itunes for 64-bit Windows 7. I then opened the Windows Explorer folder so to drag and drop my backed up Itunes folder and library information from the old C drive to the new Itunes folder in the new C drive. But, it wouldn't do anything. It still wanted the password info from my relative's account. It wouldn't recognize my account, even though I had uninstalled and then reinstalled a newer version of Itunes. Dragging and dropping my backed-up Itunes folder from my external hard drive to the new C drive didn't work because it said it didn't have certain permissions or something like that. I think I might have downloaded a newer version of Itunes, different from what I had saved a couple of days ago, which might be one of the problems here, not to mention that I switched OS's from XP to Windows 7.
When I plugged the external hard drive USB into the new laptop no Seamagine manager came up for user-friendly accessibility. I didn't know what to do, so I installed Seagate Dashboard onto the new computer. It didn't do anything for me either. No problem, I thought, I'll just use Windows Explorer to move the Itunes library, and then once I transfer (i.e., drag and drop) the old Itunes folder to the one, all will be as it was. I could then direct my Itunes account to use my external hard drive as the media source folder. I was wrong. It won't let me do that either. It says I don't have permission to do it.
How c an I get my old Itunes library info onto the C drive of this new computer, but keep the 250GB of media files on the external hard drive, just like the setup I had on the old laptop before it crashed? If you can help me, then you will be my hero. I'm scared to death that I've lost my library info and afraid to mess with it too much more for fear of erasing it or, worse, losing the 250 GB of media that is on the external hard drive, which has taken me a tremendous amount of time and money to compile. It is, in effect, irreplaceable. I'm very worried and frustrated. I've been working on this for days, to no avail. You're my last hope. Thank you.

Hmm, I think we should start over...
Here are the typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
In the image above the red outline denotes the "media folder", that is the folder listed under Edit > Preferences > Advanced. In the standard layout where the "media folder" is inside the "library folder" the iTunes library has the advantage of being self-contained and portable. Since you've lost the "library folder" from your old computer you're going to have to start over so you might as well get organized properly.
If the folder curently holding your media files is called G:\iTunes then rename it as G:\Media.
The support doc How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one explains how to create a new iTunes library where you want it. In short click the icon to start iTunes and immediately press and hold down the shift key. Keep holding until asked to choose or create a library, click Create and browse to G:\, make sure the folder is going to be called iTunes and click save.
Move the folder that actually holds the media inside the folder G:\iTunes\iTunes Media. We're going to let iTunes reorganize everything (unless you have a collection of .wav files in which case stop and tell me because they require a different approach).
Use File > Add folder to library and select the folder G:\iTunes\iTunes Media. iTunes will search through the whole series of subfolders adding all media files into the library and reorganizing them into the correct artist & album folders.
Again, for data security, you really ought to obtain a second external drive at some point and backup your library to it. Only having one copy, as you have found, leaves you vulnerable to failure. External drives are no less prone to it.
A) Windows uses \ as a folder separator in path descriptions, Mac uses /.
B) Do you have a backup of the iTunes folder that was on drive C:\ or are you simply referring to the location of your media as a "backup" when it really the only copy? If you have a backup copy of your "original" iTunes library you could move/copy that to G:\iTunes shift-start-iTunes to open it, and then I can offer tools or techniques for fixing the links that will be broken becuase the drive letter has changed.
C) Use Store > Sign out and then Store > Sign in to sign into your iTunes account. You will also need to use Store > Authorize the computer to allow playback and transfer of any protected content. If your new library contains protected content from any other accounts then you will have to authorize the computer for those too.
tt2

Installing & Running Itunes on external hard drive

I have just got rid of my personal computer and now only have a work laptop.
I have copied all of my Itunes music onto an external hard drive and have downloaded itunes and quicktime to the external hard drive.
However the programme will not run from the external drive. Is there any way of running itunes without having to install the programme onto a host machine?
Cheers

The answer is you can't. The iTunes program itself has to live on the host machine. You can store you library anywhere you want. You also can move the itunes library files to the other places but itunes itself you can't.

Mp3 files wont import into itunes from external hard drive

I just switched from PC to Mac and have the new aluminium mac book.For my PC I had all my music stored on my external hard drive.I have begun transferring most of it to itunes,but some of the files since hooking my external hard drive to my Mac book have turned into 'Apple Files' which appear to be document files as opposed to music files.Is there a way that i can convert them into the itunes format?
Message was edited by: KatesM

WMA is not supported directly by iTunes. In iTunes for Windows, you can convert (but not play) these files, as long as they're not copy protected, to an iTunes-supported format.
Short of running Windows on your new Mac and handling this with iTunes for Windows, or using another (your old?) PC to convert the WMA files to another format (I would suggest using Apple Lossless, as otherwise you will lose some sound quality unnecessarily--unless the WMAs are WMA Lossless...), your only other option would be to play the files with software for OS X other than iTunes. In that case, you might consider VLC, which is handy for almost countless other audio and video files anyway.

Problems transfering music from external hard drive to ipod.

When I plug both ipod and external hard driver (WD 1600B014) into my Gateway laptop, only 1 device will work at a time with the other saying "usb device not recognised". This means I am unable to copy selected itunes songs onto my ipod.
This is driving me insane as I have 60gb of music on my hard drive which I want to chop and change frequently.
I have tried all manner of solutions including buying a powered usb hub (belkin) and starting a clean sheet with my laptop, installing all manner of new drivers for the usb ports.
I have the same problem with my 5G ipod 40gb.
I have tried the same problem on my dads desktop computer and the same problem arrises.
Does anyone have any answers as this has been driving me mad for ages and ages.
Is this a common thing or is it a problem with Western digital hard drives (although i thought they were a pretty big brand).
Any help would really be appreciated.

if I want to copy all those song files onto my iPod, they have to be copied into itunes first, and there's not nearly enough space on my desktop for that.
No, you don't have to copy the tracks to your internal hard drive. Just turn off the "copy music to iTunes Music Folder when adding" option in the iTunes Advanced preferences. Then use the "Add To Library" menu command and select the appropriate folder(s) on your external drive. iTunes will add the tracks to the Library but not move them to the internal drive.
Once that's done, use iTunes to transfer the music to the iPod. You can then, if iTunes is set for manual synchronization, remove the tracks from the Library if you want to remove the reference to the external drive.

Audio problems after transferring from external hard drive.

I've transferred an unfinished movie from an external hard drive back onto my mac but now when I play it the audio jolts and is crackly for lack of a better word. How can I fix this?
It's a birthday present for someone that I need to give today so help would be much appreciated!

Is your external drive formatted for Mac? Should be Mac OS extended or Mac OS extended (journaled). If it's not, you will need to reformat using the Utilities/Disk Utility app on your Mac -- but reformatting will erase all data on the drive.
The bad playback may just be an iMovie playback display problem that might not appear on your final project. Quickly share your project to iDVD and play it there to see if the sound acts up. If it doesn't, then it's just a playback display issue in iMovie. That can be caused by overlapping sound tracks or too many audio clips or effects, although you didn't mention whether you were talking about audio embedded in your video clips or separate audio clips in your audio track.
The most favored audio format is .aiff, so if you have separate audio clips check your format to see what you have got, and if not .aiff try converting it to .aiff. You can do that in iTunes or by exporting it under Expert Settings as an aiff file to your desktop and then dragging it back in to your movie.
You could try the old standby of closing iMovie and trashing the file com.apple.iMovie.plist found in User (your name)/Library/Preferences. Then do a permissions repair using the Utilities/Disk Utility app on your Mac. Make sure you have at least 15GB of free space for iMovie to work efficiently.
If you are using iTunes music, you might try first burning the music to a music CD, and then importing it from there into your iMovie project.
Hope this helps. Perhaps others will have more suggestions.

Problem running Itunes from external hard drive- Please Help!

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