Send library to portable hard drive

I would like to send my music library, videos, photos, to a portable hard drive for storage, but can't find out how to do it. The drive (WD Passport)is installed on the computer, and that is as far as I can get. It shows up in my computer as drive G. Any help would be appreciated.
Dell Dimension Windows XP
Dell Dimension Windows XP
Dell Dimension Windows XP

Follow the instructions in this article.
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Problems Downloading iTunes Library From Portable Hard Drive

Why does it take so long to transfer iTunes songs from a portable hard drive?
Here are my stats:
Machine Name: iMac
Machine Model: PowerMac4,2
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 800 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.4.1f1
I'm downloading a 9,000 song library from the portable hard drive to an empty iTunes program. I highlighted all of the song files (Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, etc.) It took at least an hour for all of the songs to "process". Then my computer told me there is not enough room to store them all. I understand this because the list of songs I want to import is 34 gig. What I don't understand is why it has taken since midnight last night (it is now 14 1/2 hours later) and song no.6,450 of 6,800 is loading. Does it normally take this long for such a large amount of songs to transfer. Will there be any way that I can transfer the other 2,200 songs after this is done?
I also want to know if anyone knows if it makes sense for me partition the iTunes library somehow so it won't slow the computer down by being such a large file.
iMAC 1500 Mac OS X (10.4.10)
iMAC 1500 Mac OS X (10.4)
iMAC 1500 Mac OS X (10.4)
iMAC 1500 Mac OS X (10.4)

I would think you could access them directly from that drive, but I am not sure if the USB 1.1 bus speed will cause problems or not like stuttering, long pauses, aborts in the middle of songs, etc. You can certain give it a try and let us know if it works ok that way.
Also keep in mind that USB is a shared bus so it may work if the USB bus is doing nothing more than accessing the drive and your keyboard and mouse. If you start scanning in something from a USB scanner, printing to a USB printer, accessing a USB to Wifi device, etc. then you might see more issues with playback as iTunes has to share the USB connection with other things.
Patrick

Syncing iTunes Library on Portable Hard Drive at Home and at Work

I have my iTunes Library (including my music, videos, ringtones, podcasts and audiobooks) stored on a portable drive so that I can play my music at home and at work. Now I have a 3G iPhone and synching is causing me problems.
I have always manually copied and deleted music and videos from my iPods because I like that level of control. But the iPhone isn't as intuitive. I turned off syncing on my iPhone for everything but the Apps (because I cannot drag and drop them onto my iPhone in the Devices list of iTunes). And those I am syncing manually by telling iTunes to sync the Apps when I click the sync button (this is the one located on the Applications screen when I choose my iPhone in the devices list).
But today I am at work and I am being told that I am not authorized to use this iPhone on this computer so I cannot sync my Apps. Well, it's the exact same iTunes library. Why is this an issue? I sometimes need to adjust or copy things on my iPhone in two locations. What's the big deal?
A second problem is my Podcasts. For some reason, I cannot copy my Podcasts to my iPhone easily. I have many Podcasts that I collect in my iTunes library and I occasionally want to copy select ones to my iPhone. With an iPod, I'd just copy it over and it would appear in a list of Podcasts. With my iPhone, I have to copy the file to a playlist on my iPhone, and the Podcast doesn't show up in the list of Podcasts underneath my iPhone device. They don't even show up in the list of Music under my iPhone device. I am not even sure I am really deleting the files once I delete them from the playlist on my iPhone. They disappear, but I don't know if I am getting that space back because they aren't listed anywhere else on my iPhone.
Sync problem three... when I try to sync my Apps, the iPhone tries to back itself up to my computer. I click the little "X" button on the iTunes display and the backup stops and the Apps start to update. But I have already deleted the iPhone from the list of "iPhones and iPods backed up to this computer" underneath the Syncing panel of the iTunes preferences and this keeps happening.
I just need my iPhone to be as easy to use as my iPod when it comes to moving content onto it. And it's not. I am forced into this synching scenario and it's not working to my satisfaction. I am feeling "Microsofted" by Apple here... as in, they seem to think they know what I want to do better than I do, and they're trying to make it "easy" for the average user at the expense of my wish for complete control. (I haven't even gotten to my horror of being forced to use iPhoto to manage my photos... I just haven't had the strength to tackle that mountain of potential issues yet... gotta work all this out first)
As a side note, if it's of any value, I have "Disable syncing for iPods and iPhone" turned ON in my iTunes preferences, "Sync only checked songs and videos" turned OFF on my iPhone splash screen, and "Manually manage music and videos" turned ON on my iPhone splash screen.
Helllllllllp!
Thank you.

christopher rigby1 wrote:
You must maintain the actual library files separately on the Mac and PC as they are different formats, and use different file paths for each song.
That is what I was hoping to avoid. That means I would not be able to sync my iPhone on both machines. It also means I would have to sync my libraries on a regular basis.
My primary goal was to be able to put a movie or two and/or a couple of training videos on the iPhone and when I get through them, be able to update the iPhone with new ones to use on the flight back home.
What about keeping the library files for both machines on the external drive, in addition to the actual library. Would that solve my problem?

How do I import music from a portable hard drive to my iTunes library?

I have a portable hard drive with music on it. I have been successful in Importing Files from that external drive to my iTunes library and can play the music on my PC. However, when I sync my iPhone in an attempt to load those new songs, those songs get the little !exclamation point! next to them and the message "Original File Cannot Be Found". What do I need to do to get these songs from the portable drive onto my iTunes library as permanently recognized files that will be sync'd to my iPhone. Any guidance is greatly appreciated....thanks

Connect the external drive and choose Consolidate Library from the Library section of the File menu, or open the Advanced section of the iTunes preferences and tell it to copy music to the iTunes music folder for future imports.
(41256)

Moving iTunes library on to a portable hard drive and then my new laptop?

I am getting a new PC laptop and I want to move my entire iTunes library from my old PC to a portable hard drive and then eventually put it on my new laptop.
How do I do this without loosing all my play counts, play lists etc.?

Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location.
Additional info...
Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074
Cheers,
Patrick

HT201625 All my media is on a portable hard drive. The drive letter has changed, and now my library cannot locate anything. Is there a quick way to re-link the library to the new drive location?

All my media is on a portable hard drive. I installed Itunes on a new computer, and scanned the portable hard drive, thus creating a new library on the new computer. The portable drive now has a different drive letter. Now, the library cannot locate any of the songs because when it was created it (I assume) linked to the other drive letter. Now, from what I understand, I can select a (song, album etc) and then browse to the new location. But I have thousands of songs.
I need a way to re-identify as the whole group. And because this is a portable hard drive, this could happen on a daily basis, so I know there must be some other process I am missing. I guess I could delete the library and rescan the drive and create a new library every time I reconnect the hard drive, but that seems inefficient and time consuming. Oh, Windows 8.1 and Itunes 12.1.1.4, if that matters.
Am I missing some simple step to this?

See turingtest2's user tip on Make a split library portable - the best approach is to have the complete library (database, artwork, etc. as well as media) on the external drive. This layout is not only robust against changes in drive letters, but also means that the external drive can be used with any system running iTunes - just hold down SHIFT while starting iTunes and select the library on the external drive.
A quick fix, of course, is to use Windows' Disk Management facilities to reset the external HDD's drive letter to match the locations stored in the iTunes database.

Do I need to back up itunes library to a portable hard drive?

I'm in my late 50's and I'm totally new to ipod & itunes. I have just purchased the ipod classic 160g mainly because I want to store all my CD collection & download all the new stuff too. Have loads of tunes in my library & have been given mixed messages about backing up. If iTunes is stored online is the sole purpose of backing up just incase laptop goes down? Also, can I access my iTunes account from another computer?

I would definitely back up your iTunes on a seperate hard drive, iTunes is only stored on line if you've either bought the music from iTunes or if you subscribe to iTunes Match. Even if you have iTunes match, it isn't designed to be a back up, besides, why trust a third party with your valuable music?
You can have your iTunes account on 5 seperate computers. I wouldn't try to download music to a different computer using your iPod though, it might work if you sign in to your account on the other computer first but it'd be better to transfer from a portable hard drive.

Can I drag and drop a copy of my iTunes library from a portable hard drive more than once?

Can I drag and drop a copy of my iTunes library from a portable hard drive more than once? Not copy it, but actually drag and drop it into my music folder on my computer more than once if needed?

rnavarrette wrote:
Can I drag and drop a copy of my iTunes library from a portable hard drive more than once? Not copy it, but actually drag and drop it into my music folder on my computer more than once if needed?
Nothing is going to stop you from dragging it in multiple times, but what exactly are you trying to do? Are you trying to get iTunes to look through the folder and pick up newly added song files?

Backup Library, Albums & Titles to portable hard drive

I read the posts but confused on best way to move an entire library to a portable hard drive so it not only would be backup but also could be taken to family who also have Macs with ilife6. So they wouldn't have to manipulate individual jpegs, put in albums and retitle.
Many thanks,
Ralph

Ralph
The item that stopped it had a long title and a /.
In OS X the slash '/' is a shorthand for New Folder (or Directory), so, for instance, Home/Pictures/iPhoto Library Folder reads to the Operating System as Home Folder -> In there Pictures Folder -> In there iPhoto Library Folder. If you use a / in a file name, the computer things in means new folder and that makes no sense, so the copying stops.
How long is the Filename? OS X can use very long names (tho' I can't recall the exact amount offhand). However Window formatted disks have a 32 character limit. I wonder if your external disk is formatted for Windows?
Regards
TD

Can I put my iTunes Library on a portable hard drive?

I have an 80gb Portable Hard drive for storing music on. is there a way to store and access that music from itunes?
Inspiron 1100 Windows XP

I thnk this link from MacMuse may be just what you need. I ran iTunes off an EHD on my old PC due to lack of HD space & it worked great.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=121879

How do I access access library from ext. hard drive and send to icloud.

The library on the hard drive exceeds what's available on my mac. Also, cannot update to the most recent itunes because my desk top is so old. Also, itunes does not recognize anything I have purchase prior to 2011. I assume there is a way to access the library, but I'm unsure how to do it.

If you haven't yet - go into lightroom - select library - on the left you will see "folders" click the + sign and find the folder on your computer. Lightroom will not by default add folders that do not have images in them. Hope that helps... if you're already doing that try to describe your problem in more detail

Use portable hard drive for Time Machine & other things

I recently purchased a 1 TB portable hard drive. I'd like to use it for my Time Machine backups, as well as moving my iTunes library there. Is this an easy change? I'm not super familiar with hard drive set ups. Will I have to create any partitions on the drive?
Thanks!

You're welcome. Make sure your drive is formated as Mac OS Extended (journaled), GUID partition table.
Here's a nice link to use for Time Machine information.
You can partition the drive if you want to organize your various backups. For example you might create a Time Machine partition and Other Files partition. When Time Machine is working, it creates a folder (Backups.backupdb) and places the Time Machine backups in that folder. The rest of the partition is open to add whatever you want. I have multiple partitions on my USB external drive with Time Machine backups separated from other backups.

New computer, itunes backed up on portable hard drive, how to transfer?

I have just received a new laptop. I connected my portable hard drive on which i had backed up my itunes library from my old pc. On the new computer i used the "add folder to library" function in itunes. All the songs from my hard drive appear in the iTunes library on my new laptop, but when i try to play the songs, iTunes asks me to locate each individual song file on my portable hard drive. i have tried using the consolidate library function but this hasn't done anything. I don't want to have to "locate file" for each of the thousands of tracks i have stored on my portable hard drive.

if you want easy point and click stuff Home Sharing is pretty easy.
iTunes 9: Understanding Home Sharing
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3819
iTunes 9: Troubleshooting Home Sharing
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2972
You can set it up to automatically transfer a purchase made on one computer to the other using Home Sharing.

Can I back-up files to a portable hard drive and not use Time Machine?

I have a portable hard drive that I use for all of my Time Machine back-ups. I back-up the entire system every two or three weeks. I use the Time Machine software and it works quite well. I'm interested in backing up specific files (photos, documents, etc.) to a second portable drive every six months but I don't want to use the Time Machine software. Is there a simple way to hook up the portable drive (brand new Lacie 500 gb drive), open up the file on my desktop and drag the files to the new drive? Are there special steps I need to perform to avoid formatting the drive for Time Machine? Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

MacConvert54 wrote:
Is there a simple way to hook up the portable drive (brand new Lacie 500 gb drive), open up the file on my desktop and drag the files to the new drive?
You can do that, but you'll have to erase the drive, or delete the previous versions, each time. You might want to look at CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. They're most often used to make full bootable "clones" of your internal HD, but can be set to back up specific files and folders as well. CCC is donationware, so you can try it for a while before sending them some $$ so they can keep it up to date. SD has a free version, but I think you'll need the paid one (about $30, I think) to do this.
Are there special steps I need to perform to avoid formatting the drive for Time Machine?
It would be best to format it for Macs, which is the same as Time Machine. What is the problem with that?

Can i install itunes on a portable hard drive

Can i install itunes to a portable hard drive? Also can I have more than one itunes library?
I have a very large cd collections and dont want to put all the files on my mac hard drive, would like to install or keepmthe cd on a portable drive

That was timely. I had the same question (new MBP with two drives) and you solved my question. Thank you. It works the same way you change Aperture Libraries, so it makes sense and is easy to remember.

Send library to portable hard drive

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