Re moving the iTunes Preference folder- what now?

iTunes was crashing on startup so I moved the folder from Roaming/Apple Computer/iTunes path (the one that comtains the cookies and 'iTunes Prefs') as suggested by iTunes troubleshootig.  It's all working now... do I just delete that folder?  Will moving it change anything?

Moving the folder as suggested forced iTunes to build a fresh set. As long as everything is working properly now there is no need to revert to the old preferences so you can throw the folder away safely.
tt2

Similar Messages

  • HT1364 when I moved the iTunes media folder from my PC to my external hard drive, upon iTunes start up with the harddrive connected beforehand, my music and all the files transferred to my harddrive but now all my playlists music& ratings are gone. what d

    I transferred my itunes library using all the guided steps promepted on this topic,  when I restarted iTunes in its new location on my xternal hard drive, iTunes did not have any of my ratings or playlists. I did have the hard drive running before i started up itunes as well. what can I do?

    I got it to work!!!!!!!
    what I did was after doing this( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364) moving my library and iTunes folders using that link, I held shift while double cicking and opening iTunes, It promted me to select a library, I went to my external hard drive and opened iTunes library.itl folder and selected the iTunes library.itl file.  In the picture below I just selected the highlighted file and it opened itunes, THIS time with all my music and with all my music ratings and playlists, all still intact thank you so much!!!!

  • HT1364 I have moved my library to an external hard drive and changed the location of the iTunes media folder in Preferences, but every time I close and re-open iTunes, I have to do it all over again.  How can I make the iTunes media folder change permanen

    I have moved my library to an external hard drive and changed the location of the iTunes media folder in Preferences, but every time I close and re-open iTunes, I have to do it all over again.  How can I make the iTunes media folder change permanent?  I have an older machine with Windows XP.

    I don't believe mounting the hard drive should be necessary, unless you have several external drives and want your computer to recognise them as folders, rather than drives. I've never had to mount a hard drive, ever. If you don't know how to do it, then it shouldn't be necessary now.
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    Make a note of which drive-letter the external drive has been allocated. (Look in Windows Exploer)
    Look at the file location for a song. Make sure it plays (and therefore that iTunes has found it). Highlight it and select File/Get Info/Summary>Where: and make a note of the drive letter for that song.
    Close and shut down the computer.
    The next time you turn the computer on again, connect the external drive
    Before you start iTunes - check the external drive in Windows Explorer. Is it ready, does it have the same drive-letter that it had last time? Can you go into the drive and see the files on it?
    Once you can, start iTunes. (If the drive lettter has changed, you need to work out why before going any further.)
    If iTunes fails to find your external drive, you need to check where iTunes is looking for your Library.
    Select the same song you checked before (presumably iTunes can no longer find it). Follow the procedure for locating it. You should be able to see where iTunes thinks the file is. It's the drive that counts. Which drive letter is iTunes looking at? Is it the same one that it was previously (which should also be the same one that the drive has now).
    What happens, which step do you have problems with?
    Message was edited by: the fiend

  • Whilst moving location of iTunes to external hard drive, I lost my iTunes Media folder and now it can't find my media files

    Whist moving my iTunes folder to an external hard drive, (I was following this post: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364) I seem to have accidentally deleted the itunes Media folder - I misread the last action point!
    All the files transferred to the external hard drive as I can see them and I am able to copy them into itunes, but only links, and they're still organised.
    Can anyone help me restore the folder structure so itunes can see the music?
    I added a new cd to itunes so I could see where it is now saving music and it created a new folder where the music now resides (I guess as a deleted the file structure from previous it needed to create a new one). I thought I would be able to copy and paste the old music into this newly created fold but it doesn't seem to have worked.
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    (I'm using windows vista)

    Stop with the whining.
    Download past purchases from iTunes

  • I have moved my Itunes media folder to an external drive and Itunes does not find the items in the folder

    Running Win7. I moved my entire Itunes library to an external drive to free up space on my laptop. Itunes recognized the change and all was well. That worked fine and I have synced several times from the laptop with the library on the external drive. Now the laptop is in the shop (sigh, not Itunes related a dead network card). I connected the external drive to my desktop, made sure my software was up to date. opened ITunes went to edit/preferences/advanced. Went to change Itunes media folder location and navigated to the proper folder on my external drive and clicked OK. None of the music, videos, etc, that are in that folder show up in iTunes on the desktop. Restarted ITunes, no help, reboot computer, no help. Have I done something wrong or left out a step. I could copy all the media onto the desktop individually and build new playlists but that seems like something that should not be needed? One of the reasons I moved my Itunes media folder to the external drive was so I could use the laptop for iTunes while travel and the desktop for iTunes while at home. Do I have to copy the entire folder to my desktop and take up space there? That would be counterproductive to using the external drive. I searched and saw a hint to hold down shift while starting ITunes but that did not change anything. Any help would be most appreciated!
    Jim in WV

    Thank you for your prompt response - I did as you said and did a drag and drop into the iTunes window - it imported and got my album art from the net. When I started Itunes with the shift key down I was prompted to choose a library but since I copied over the media folder and not the library folder I was unable to select that so I guess I will have to create a new library and add in all the music, videos, etc. unless I wait for my laptop and export the library or at least that seems to be the case? In short, all my data (iTunes media folder) is on my external drive and can be added to the blank iTunes screen but I can not choose a library folder. Is there anyway around completely making all those playlists again? I am not sure my laptop will survive the shop with data intact and really hate to start over on those.
    In an unrelated question - I collect old TV shows from the 1950's. Can I make playlists within the home video folder somehow?  In other words like one for Quiz shows, one for comedies, one for police and detective shows, etc. while I am remaking all my playlists for my music if I end up having to go that route?
    Once again thank you for helping me out. I am not too Itunes savvy and really appreciate you taking the time to answer.

  • What's the difference between the music in the iTunes Media folder and music folder

    I've noticed that the music in my iTunes folder has two copies -- one in the 'iTunes Media' directory and another copy in the 'iTUnes Music' directory.  Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the two, or what they're used for?  When I click on a music file in the Music folder, iTunes opens up and plays, but the same thing happens when I click on the file in the Media directory.  I have noticed that the file in the Media directory has the icon for the album cover next to the file name, while the icon for the file in the Music folder just has a couple of eight notes next to the file name. 
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    Here are typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
    If you have upgraded from version 8 (or earlier) to iTunes 9 (or later) at some point, then your media folder (everything inside the red outline) may still be called iTunes Music instead of iTunes Media. The extra Music folder inside the media folder is used if you have allowed iTunes to Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization (iTunes 9) or used File > Library > Organize Library > Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (iTunes 10). Depending on your choices for Keep iTunes Media folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library plus a little bug in which one build changed the name of the file storing the choice of layout it is quite easy for some of your files to be organized according to one layout and some the other.
    In your case it seems you also have both media folders structures sitting side by side with music in each. It is probable that everything in iTunes Music has a duplicate in iTunes Media, but if you are not sure then you could add it all in, then remove duplicates. (Steps 6-12 below)
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    1. First make sure under Edit > Preferences > Advanced that the current media folder is given as .../iTunes/iTunes Media. If not then in the following steps you need to swap the words iTunes Music for iTunes Media and vice-versa
    2. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Reorganize files in the folder "iTunes Media" and click OK. Ignore this step if the option is greyed out.
    3. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Consolidate files and click OK. This will bring any files currently organised outside the designated media folder into it.
    4. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, uncheck Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK.
    5. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, check Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK. This triggers iTunes into reorganizing everything.
    6. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, uncheck Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library and click OK.
    7. Use File > Add Folder to Library. Add iTunes Music. This may take some time.
    8. Hold down the option key and click File > Show Exact Duplicates.
    9. Sort the library on Date Added, select everything added today and delete it.
    10. Click Display All at the bottom of the screen to show all files again.
    11. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Consolidate files and click OK.
    12. You have now confirmed that everything inside iTunes Music must be a duplicate copy of something in the iTunes Media folder and made sure your library is connected to the copy in iTunes Media. Delete the iTunes Music folder...
    tt2

  • My itunes doesn't save new music files to the itunes media folder, even though I have ticked the box in the preferences telling it do so...???

    Ok so, my itunes version is up to date, and I've located my itunes media folder... However, newly purchsed songs are not being backed up to the media folder, despite all the right options being ticked in the preferences box. This is immensly frustrating as I cannot back up my itunes library to a separate hard drive. Why is this happening and how can I fix it?

    iTunes stores media in the location set in preferences.  If you have changed things then this won't necessarily be the same place it puts the library file and other files that also need to be backed up.
    If you are content to have everything in one location then I suggest you consolidate it all into one place.  Note this copies files, it doesn't move them, so you need ot make sure you have sufficient hard drive space wherever  you select.
    iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
    How to Consolidate Your iTunes Library and Keep It Organized - http://www.switched.com/2010/11/02/itunes-consolidate-library-keep-organized/
    Technically you don't have to have it all in one location to back up.  You just need to make sure you have gotten everything.  I used to have iTunes on two separate drives but I would just make sure each drive was backed up 100% and I would know it was all backed up.

  • I joined iTunes Match on my MBP and added our MBA to the same Match account. What should the iTunes Media Folder Location be for iTunes on the MBA?

    The iTunes libraries on both machines appear to be in sync, though I don't know if Home Sharing or iTunes Match is to thank for the consistency. But the iTunes Media Folder locations are different on the MBP and MBA, and I don't know if they should point to the same storage location (it's been on a drive connected to our Airport for years). I also don't know what options for Copying Files and Keeping iTunes Organized should be on the MBA. I certainly don't want the media files duplicated yet the devices sharing a cloud version.
    I hoped the MBA would act like an iOS device using iTunes Match in that music would stream unless downloaded. Then downloaded music would have to be managed (deleted from the MBA's iTunes) for space reasons at some regular intervals-- just like we now do on the iPhones and iPad. The library entry for the song would remain... just the locally stored file would be deleted and the iCloud download would change back to the download symbol.
    But if a purchase is made from the iTunes store on the MBA, the file is stored on the local MBA machine as well as the external drive because the MBP receives the song via Home Sharing and downloads the file.

    Each iTunes client will expect a discrete iTunes library location.  The iTunes Match service will allow the libraries to be automatically synchronised along with any IOS devices that are also registered for iTunes Match.
    Following making a secure backup for any given library it is possible, once Songs have been 'matched' or 'uploaded' to remove the local copies and play the Songs from the Cloud.  The behaviour on IOS devices is different, they will download each Song as it is played.
    Note:  Apple is very clear that the responsibility for maintaining music files remains with the user - so it remains essential to ensure that you have your own Songs secure backed up prior to relying on the Cloud.  Should there be an issue with the Cloud resulting in loss of Songs you will need your own secure backup.

  • HT1449 I'm new to the MAC. Before reading the above post on moving the iTunes folder, I ...

    ... I copied the iTunes folder from the original /Music folder onto the root directory of an external USB drive.  Afterward, I followed the above instructions pointing iTunes to the new iTunes folder, now on the USB drive.  Since the iTunes Advanced Preferences showed the correct path to my "/iTunes Media" folder, I thought that I was good to go.  Instead, when I opened iTunes it created a new iTunes folder structure under my original Music folder.
    In addition to this empty structure folder, I also have in my /Music folder a renamed, original iTunes folder I named, "iTunes-B4".  I also have a complete copy of my original iTunes folder on my USB drive, MYDATA/iTunes.
    Every time that I fire up iTunes 10 the Library has no music in it, even though I have over 3,000 tracks.  The iTunes Preference path reads "/Volume/MYDATA/iTunes/iTunes Media".
    Thanks in advance for your help.

    H iTom,
    tomout wrote:
    According to the intro paragraph of the original instructions, this is "a way to make the move while retaining all your playlists, ratings, and play history."
    Thoughts?
    I don't see that in the article linked to above.
    If you still have the original iTunes folder (as it seems you do), let's try again.
    Quit iTunes.
    Copy the entire /Music/Tunes-B4/ folder to the external. No need to rename it or do anything else.
    Hold Shift and launch iTunes.
    Select Choose library... and select the /Tunes-B4/ folder on the external.
    Everything should be there.
    If not, post back before you mess with anything.
    If iTunes is fine (all music and playlist), you can delete  MYDATA/iTunes/ folder on the external.

  • Moving the iTunes Folder

    Hi All:
    iTunes stores its XML library in the following folder on my C:\ Drive:
    \Documents And Settings\Administrator\My Documents\My Music
    I have copied the iTunes folder and all its XML library documents to my E: drive. Does anyone know how to get iTunes to look at the folder on my E: drive rather than in the default location?

    1) See: What are the iTunes Library files?
    2) See my answer in your other post: Buegie, "Moving the iTunes Library / Databases" #1, 12:16pm Nov 9, 2005 CDT

  • I just installed iTunes on my computer, where I already have all my music. I went to Edit Preferences Advanced, and changed the iTunes Media Folder Location to where I have all my music, in the "Local Disk." But iTunes wont import all my music. Help?

    I just installed iTunes on my computer, where I already have all my music. I went to Edit > Preferences > Advanced, and changed the iTunes Media Folder Location to where I have all my music, in the "Local Disk." But iTunes wont import all my music. Help?

    Have you looked in the Music App on your iPhone? On the iPhone music is played by the Music App not iTunes.

  • We have 6 ipods and 1 iphone in our house. We have different itunes accounts. We use one computer. How can we share each others music? I moved everybodies itunes media folder to the public folder but when I open itunes I only see that accounts music.

    We have 6 ipods and 1 iphone in our house. We have different itunes accounts. We use one computer. How can we share each others music? I moved everybodies itunes media folder to the public music folder but when I open itunes I only see that accounts music. We need different itunes accounts. We share 1 computer but we have different user accounts on the computer.

    Adding media directly to the media folder does not make it appear in the library.  iTunes doesn't really 'look' at that folder except to go to specific files when you call upon them from a library. You have to drag new content to each user's library, that is assuming each user has their own library.

  • HT1203 I moved my Itunes media folder to my public folder in my home folder so that my wife can share my music when she logs on to my computer. Since then aperture has been unable to locate the music files and I cannot add any of my itunes files to a slid

    I moved my itunes media folder to my public folder in my home folder so that my wife can share my music when she logs on as a user. Since doing this Aperture cannot locate any itunes music files and so I cannot add any music to a slideshow. All of my existing slideshows no longer play music. Can anyone help?
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    Thank you for your prompt response - I did as you said and did a drag and drop into the iTunes window - it imported and got my album art from the net. When I started Itunes with the shift key down I was prompted to choose a library but since I copied over the media folder and not the library folder I was unable to select that so I guess I will have to create a new library and add in all the music, videos, etc. unless I wait for my laptop and export the library or at least that seems to be the case? In short, all my data (iTunes media folder) is on my external drive and can be added to the blank iTunes screen but I can not choose a library folder. Is there anyway around completely making all those playlists again? I am not sure my laptop will survive the shop with data intact and really hate to start over on those.
    In an unrelated question - I collect old TV shows from the 1950's. Can I make playlists within the home video folder somehow?  In other words like one for Quiz shows, one for comedies, one for police and detective shows, etc. while I am remaking all my playlists for my music if I end up having to go that route?
    Once again thank you for helping me out. I am not too Itunes savvy and really appreciate you taking the time to answer.

  • I am so confused.  I just downloaded Itunes.  I set up an Apple ID with a password.  Now I want to purchase a song.  I can't do it.  I keep getting the message: This Apple ID has not yet been used with the Itunes Store.  What am I doing wrong?

    I am so confused.  I just downloaded Itunes.  I set up an Apple ID with a password.  Now I want to buy a song.  I can't do it.  I keep getting the message: "This Apple ID has not yet been used with the Itunes Store.  What am I doing wrong?

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    I bought a used Ipod touch, was supposedly factory refurbished, and it worked when I first used it.  Then I noticed the previous owners User ID on the Apple log in and thought i should delete all info and start clean.  I hit the delete button, Now all I get on the screen is a picture of the usb cable and above it the itunes logo.  What do i do now?

    Connect it to your computer, launch iTunes.
    Right or control click the iPod under Devices left side of the iTunes window.
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