Share library thats on external hard drive

I have found documentation on how to share my iTunes library between 2 user accounts on my mac which is what I want to do, however my iTunes library is stored on an external hard drive. Is it possible to still share the music between 2 accounts and let each account update it as I would normally as if I wasn't sharing it.
Thanks in advance

timmer81 wrote:
my iTunes library is stored on an external hard drive.
if your entire iTunes folder, including the iTunes library file ...
... is stored on the external, all you need to do is launch iTunes on each account while holding the option (⌥) key. when prompted, click on choose library and select the iTunes folder on the external.
note that only one iTunes at a time can access the library. if you're using fast user switching, user A must quit iTunes before user B can fire it up.

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HT1151 I have my iTunes library on an external hard drive that was connected to a PC, now I want to connect to my new iMac and load the iTunes library onto that computer, can I do that?

I have my iTunes library on an external hard drive that was connected to a PC, now I would like to connect that hard drive my new iMac and load the iTunes library onto that computer, can I do that? Looking for a solution that keeps me from re-ripping my CD collection.

Here are the official Apple Support instructions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Ciao.

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

HT5085 I bought a new computer. I backed up my old computer and put my itunes library on an external hard drive, that I then uploaded to the new computer. However, how do I access my Itunes account and use the $25.00 or so credit that Ihave and purchase

I bought a new computer, I backed up my itunes library on an external hard drive from the old computer. I then uploaded the external hardrive to my new comupeter Windows 8 - How do I access my apple store account to purchase additional music and use the $25 or so dollars I have in credit. ?
Thanks - Patti

You should be able to log into your account via the Store > Sign In menu option - if the drop-down menus aren't showing the control-B should them to show.
Your balance should be accessible wherever you are signed into the account. My account's balance shows at the top left of the store's page on my computer's iTunes, and by logging in to view my account via the Store > View Account menu option (that option will only show after you've signed in).

What is the best way to copy aperture library on to external hard drive? I am getting a message that say's "There was an error opening the database. The library could not be opened because the file system of the library's volume is unsupported".

What is the best way to copy aperture library on to external hard drive? I am getting a message that say's "There was an error opening the database. The library could not be opened because the file system of the library's volume is unsupported". What does that mean? I am trying to drag libraries (with metadata) to external HD...wondering what the best way to do that is?

Kirby Krieger wrote:
Hi Shane. Not much in the way of thoughts - - but fwiw:
How is the drive attached?
Can you open large files on the drive with other programs?
Are you running any drive compression or acceleration programs (some drives arrive with these installed)?
Can you reformat the drive and try again?
Hi Kirby,
I attached the UltraMax Plus with a USB cable. The UltraMax powers the cable so power is not an issue. I can open other files. Also, there is 500GB of files on the drive so I cannot re-format it. Although, I noted I could import the entire Aperture Library. However, I do not want to create a duplicate on my machine because that would be defeating the purpose of the external drive.
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HT1751 if i back up my itunes library to an external hard drive and then add subsequent music and want to back that up a few days later, can i backup the only newly added music without backing up the entire library again?

hello,
if i back up my itunes library to an external hard drive and then add subsequent music and want to back up the newly added music a few days later, can i do it without backing up the entire library again? or do i need to back up the entire library each and every time i back up to the external hard drive?

Just copy Users/yourusername/Music/iTunes (containing your library-files) to your external drive as well as that (extaernal) folder that contains all your audio-tracks.

I copied my iPhoto library to an external hard drive and all the event windows are black. Once you click on a square the photos are still there. How do I fix that?

I copied my iPhoto library to an external hard drive and the event windows show up black.
The photos are still there once I click on an event but they don't show in the window.
My next step is to delete the iPhoto library from the internal memory to free some memmory space but I don't want to do this until I see that the library works fine on the external hard drive.
How do I fix that?

Hold down the "option" + "command" keys and launch iPhoto.
Select the "Rebuild Thumbnails" choice.

I recently transferred my ITunes library to an external hard drive. I made sure to copy all the data from the saved location. After the transfer I noticed that a lot of albums are missing the first song and some recently purchased albums are missing.

I recently transferred my ITunes library to an external hard drive. I made sure to copy all the data from the saved location. After the transfer I noticed that a lot of albums are missing the first song and some recently purchased albums are missing. Is there any way to recover the data? Thanks for any help.

I may have found an answer here:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive
They only thing I can assume is that my external hard drive was slow to start and iTunes defaulted to its old directory (see the last paragraph at the link above). However, once my external was recognized shouldn't everything have fixed itself?
Message was edited by: williamson42
Message was edited by: williamson42

If I move the oldest 2/3 of my iPhoto library to an external hard drive, will I still be able to access those older photos? I assume that I will be able to select the source (internal hard drive or external hard drive)?

If I move the oldest 2/3 of my iPhoto library to an external hard drive, will I still be able to access those older photos? I assume that I will be able to select the source (internal hard drive or external hard drive)?

Yes, if you have a second library.
Here's one way to do what you want:
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
Now you have two full versions of the Library.
3. On the Internal library, trash the Events you don't want there
Now you have a full copy of the Library on the External and a smaller subset on the Internal
Some Notes:
As a general rule: when deleting photos do them in batches of about 100 at a time. iPhoto can baulk at trashing large numbers at one go.
You can choose which Library to open: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
You can keep the Library on the external updated with new imports using iPhoto Library Manager

Why won't itunes find my library on my external hard drive? All that shows up are the purchased songs in the cloud?

Why won't itunes find my library on my external hard drive? All it shows are my purchased songs in the cloud.

See also this migrate iTunes library post or Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

Can I put my library on an external hard drive and use it between two computers?

Can I put my library on an external hard drive and use it between two computers? I have two MBP; I will refer to one as computer A and to the other as computer B. I would like to be able to plug in my external hard drive, boot up iTunes, and if there were any changes made to the library previous to its last time accessed on this compluter, they show up on that computer, regardless of being imported on the other.
A hypothetical example: I import three albums called 1, 2, and 3 on computer A over a week or so. I take the external hard drive and plug it into computer B. The entire library which was visible on A, is visible on B, including albums 1, 2, and 3.
Is this possible? If so, what files need to be copied onto the external? I'm trying some different combinations, trial and error basically. Hopefully someone knows and can answer before I mess up my library. I also want to do this to free up space on my computer. All importing will be done from disc.

iTunes/Preferences/Advanced : point your iTunes to the new location of the Library.
Set "Share on local network" in the Sharing tab, and you or everyone on the local network can play your music.
You make a backup first of the Library.
Move the follwing to the new location:
/Users/your username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music
have fun.

I moved my iTunes library to an external hard drive. It re installed itself on the PC and there is now no more room. I cannot sync with the external version. My wife has is a user on the same computer and we have the same iTunes account. Can I uninstall

I moved my iTunes library to an external hard drive due to lack of space on the PC. I uninstalled it from the PC at the time to increase space. My wife is a user on the computer and shares the same apple account. I discovered that iTunes was back on the PC hard drive when I tried to sync my iphone and it would not for lack of space on the PC. If I uninstall I tunes from the PC where I am the user will it affect my wife's itune account which is still on the PC?

Close iTunes. Click the icon to start it, then press and hold down the left shift key. Keep holding until asked to choose or create a library. Choose the iTunes folder on your external drive. That should bring back all your playlists, ratings, play counts etc. You may have to settle for removing and reloading the media onto the device again. That's not too bad, but what you don't want to have happen is your apps being removed and reloaded as then you can lose settings and data. If that looks likely backup and then restore the device rather than sync it.
If for some reason rebuilding the library the way you did has moved files around then the restored library may have trouble finding things. If so post back and I'll explain what to do...
tt2

I upgraded MacbookPro 2009 from 10.6.8 to Yosemite. Beforehand I made a backup copy of my Iphoto library onto an external hard drive. Lets call it BU. I also deleted half of my photos from the default library on my laptop, lets call it DE. I then in

I upgraded MacbookPro 2009 from 10.6.8 to Yosemite 2 weeks ago. My iphoto is now a nightmare. i went to our local apple retailer but they could not help either. Perhaps someone can help. Beforehand the OS upgrade I made a backup copy of my Iphoto library onto an external hard drive. Lets call it BU with 50GB. I also deleted half of my photos from the default library on my laptop, lets call it DE, now with about 20GB, to gain space. I then upgraded to Yosemite.
I have also installed since a long time Iphoto Library Manager 3.8.6. (this may be the cause of the problem as it was not upgraded and perhaps thus not compatible with iphoto 9.6 which I have now after the upgrade to Yosemite) It all worked fine before the upgrade, switching in iphoto between the two libraries DE and BU.
It also worked fine after the upgrade for a few days. At one stage Iphoto asked me to upgrade the iphoto version as it otherwise could not read the photos when I tried to load the BU library into iphoto. I did click yes to upgrade iphoto. As a result I became a brand new but totally empty library, no photos.
BU was still on the external disc, however the "Master" file was empty. We fortunately discovered all photos were in another file called Old Master, also under BU. We made another copy of the Old Master file onto the external disc. Lucky we did, because shortly afterwards we could not open anymore the BU file thus had no access to anything in there. Now I have 17000 photos in a file called Old Master on my external disc and another smaller library DE on my laptop. When I tried to import the photos from Old Master into a new iphoto library it was very messy. All events dates were mixed up, many photos were imported twice. I have no idea whether all my 17000 photos have been imported.
Can anyone suggest what is the most time efficient way? How do I best import my 17000 into a new library ensuring I don't loose any in the process. I do not wish sorting through 17000 photos for a week or so. Shall i also get a new iphoto library version now? Thank you for anything that may work.

Yes, the Old Master file has a folder for each year where I find all photos from that specific year. I am attaching a screen shot of the file.
In the meantime i have managed to download all photos (it did not download any video files though in mpg, avi, 3gp, m4v,mp4 and mov format) to a new iphoto library. Unfortunately the photos are quite mixed and often doubled up. I ma considering to purchase iphoto library which checks all duplicates in iphoto. this will save me a lot of time. What do you think?

Issues with using my iPhoto library on my external hard drive. Very slow to open and pictures disappear in thumbnail view.

I have recently transferred my iPhoto Library to my external hard drive (WD MyBook Live) and have some questions. Since I have done this and used the "alt + option" to select it as my default library I have been having some issues. When using the library on the external drive as my default drive it takes a very long time to load compared to when it was on my macbook's hard drive. Is this normal? Also, once it does load the thumbnails are only viewable when scrolling quickly through the photos and they are very blurry. However, if I were to select one randomly (because of this problem I have no way of knowing which one I'm selecting) it brings it up in the edit view and it is a crystal clear picture.
Is there a way to fix these issues? I'd love to be able to use the iPhoto Library off the external drive to free up space on my macbook but if it isn't going to work as streamlined as it would on my macbook hard drive. I have not yet deleted the original iPhoto Library from my macbook because I did not want to do so until I knew the new iPhoto library on the external drive was working properly. Does this make a difference?
Please help!

The problem lies with occasional dropouts that can corrupt the library's database files if they are being written to as the time of dropout. It's the nature of wireless networks. If you have a very strong signal throughout and are willing to take a chance then go for it.
But as for the speed, it must be iPhoto 11 and it's complexity causing the slowness. I had tried using a library on an EHD connected to my iMac from my laptop wirelessly with iPhoto 7 or 8 and it was pretty fast. I think it was 7 before faces and places came into being.
Send a feature request to Apple via http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphoto.html to improve wireless performance, etc.
OT

HT1229 Tried moving my library to an external hard drive and now when I open iPhoto, there are no pictures there!!!!

I am using iPhoto '08 and moved my library to my external hard drive exactly as all the instructions online explained how to do. I renamed the original "iPhoto Library.old" and ,y external hard drive shows a iPhoto library using the same amount of memory as what it shows on my internal hard drive. Here is where is becomes a problem. When I hold the option key and open iPhoto, the only box that comes up does not give me a list of libraries to choose from. It give me the option to "Create new library" or "choose existing library". When I click "choose existing library" I can find the copied library on my external hard drive but when I open it, iPhoto shows No Photos. When I have tried opening the original iPhoto Library (the exact same way using the option key and choosing library) that I have not done anything to, except rename it, it does the exact same thing: No Photos. Both my internal and external hard drives show about 137 GB of space being taken up by photos but I can't access them. My other big problem is that ,y internal hard drive is completely full, which is why I am trying to transfer them to an external, to free up space so I am very limited on what I can do because I have no free space. Also, when I open iPhoto and try to go to the Preferences to change to path under advanced settings, it freezes and I have to force close it.
Ay advice would be greatly appreciated as I am getting stressed out that I can't open my thousands of photos!

My guess is that the library has been corrupted from being run on an overfull HD.
So, try rebuild the Library on the External
Try these in order - from best option on down...
1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
2. Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In Library Manager it's the FIle -> Rebuild command)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new *iPhoto 08* library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Events and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
In the iPhoto Preferences -> Events Uncheck the box at 'Imported Items from the Finder'
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library (Right Click -> Show Package Contents) on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Event Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.

Share library thats on external hard drive

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