Transferring Itunes data between computers using an external hard drive.

I just bought a new laptop and an external hard drive. What is the best way to go about transfering all of my 1400 songs on Itunes from my old computer to my new laptop using the external hard drive? I have purchased some songs from Itunes but mostly they were not bought there. Thanks in advance.

The guide for using the iPod as a hard drive is a good starting point. Just skip on past the part about enabling the iPod as a hard drive and read from "Is all the music together?". Substitute "external hard drive" for "iPod" and the instructions are the same: How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer

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Condensing iTunes from 3 computers to an external hard drive?

I have 3 computers (one G4, one PC, and a MBAir) which have iTunes on them (one account but different items on each.) I want to transfer all my iTunes files to one external hard drive which will then be used exclusively with a Mac. Thanks in advance!

Grab all your iTunes content from each of the 3 computers (Home/Music/iTunes) and copy it to your hard drive. Then plug in the hard drive to your Mac and import all your content into iTunes.

How to use iTunes on multiple computers with an external hard drive.

I am trying to use two computers, one Macbook and one mac mini, with the same itunes library. I have searched and found info on doing this, but it was older info and I am pretty sure that what was suggested does not work. I can not get itunes to recognize the library files on the external drive, it will however recognize the media. This would be fine, except the mac mini is being used as my media center and I update things on the macbook. The thing that I am having a lot of trouble with is the home movies section. Of course all my movies are not "movies" so I have sorted through the "homemade" tv shows and movies, but when I switch computers, all this info goes away. Why can't it follow the media? I have had pretty good luck with keeping the cover art, but when I label the file as a movie or mark it as watched, this info is not transferred. In some of the other answers people had given about this, they said itunes should ask where to go if the external drive was disconnected. When I do it this way, itunes will just make a new file when the drive is unplugged. I have about a thousand movies and I have changed info on these files twice now (thanks for adding home videos apple!), and it looks like I will be doing it for a third time, I just don't want to do it a fourth time on the other computer. Any help would be great. To break it down to the basic form, I would like to have an external drive that will sync file info between two or maybe more computers. Is there a better solution?

Make sure the copy to iTunes media folder is unchecked.

ITunes music is stored on an external hard drive. How do I play...

I just transferred all of my music onto an external hard drive to save space on my computer.
Is it possible to set iTunes so that it uses the external hard drive as the source of the iTunes music library. iTunes seems to only want to have the "iTunes Music" file on the C drive so that it can access it automatically as iTunes opens.
How do I switch it from looking at the C Drive to a specific folder on my G drive?

I followed all the instructions for consolidating my music into one folder on my external hard drive. (I'm struggling with this because my ext HD was renamed when I synched my iPod shuffle last night. The "E:" drive has now become the "F:" drive and all my songs have those dreaded exclamation points next to them. Exploring my computer, I found "My music" folders in two place on my C: drive and one place on my external hard drive... and the song list in each place is different.
Argh.
So... following the directions in the article reference here, I attempted to consolidate all of my songs into one folder on my external hard drive.
But.. I checked the song list when the "consolidation" was complete... and MANY songs are missing. They're still on the C: drive, but don't appear to have been copied to the new folder on the ext HD.
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks so much!
Edit: I tried to reassign the ext. HD a permanent letter, but my Control panel does not appear to offer the option of Administrative tools. Is there an easy way to get to this, as this seems to be the root of the problem?
Thanks.
Message was edited by: hbdivegirl

Is there a way I can use my external hard drive without the files being transferred on to my computer? as like like my iTunes music being on my hard drive without them being copied onto my computers hard drive ?

is there a way I can use my external hard drive without the files being transferred on to my computer? as like like my iTunes music being on my hard drive without them being copied onto my computers hard drive ? because i dont have that much memory and i wanted my external hard drive to be the source for my music files and not my computer.

Many users keep their iTunes libraries on external drives. You just have to remember to connect and power up the drive before launching iTunes.
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

Transferring iTunes librarys between computers.

Hey I just got a new Macbook Pro and I transferred all my music and iTunes stuff to it, but when I transferred everything over all my song's playcounts were erased. I used My top 25 most played smart playlist a lot and now it's useless. All the information used to be on my mom's pc. Is there any way I could get that information off of that computer onto this one?

That's basically what I did. I used a external hard drive and just copied/paste the whole music folder from the pc to my new computer.
Which "whole music folder"?
Was it \My Music\ folder which contains an iTunes folder or \iTunes music\ folder, which is in \My Music\iTunes\ folder?
The playcount is stored in the \My Music\iTunes\iTunes library.itl file.
Does the iTunes Music Library.xml file have anything to do with it?
iTunes creates this file only fro opther applications to access iTunes library.
Not sure if playcount is in this file but it can be imported into iTunes.
If you do import it, it will duplicate all your playlists.

Will using an external hard drive cause me to have duplicate files on my itunes library?

I put all my ITUNES MEDIA folder on my external hard drive from my older computer.. I recently bought a new computer and installed Itunes. I synced some of my Itunes purchased songs back on by using my Ipod.. however the songs I ripped from my cds are still not reinstalled in my library.. I will have to use my external hard drive or re rip those.. and there are a lot of them.. since I have already replaced some of the ones I purchased back on using my Ipod will it duplicate them if I use the prefrences method and return them all from my external hard drive? If i delete my files that I have already returned on my new computer before using my external will Itunes remember which are Itunes purchased music and which arent as well>??? also how exactly do you move music from an external? just plug it in and click the prefrences box about syncing files and keeping Itunes library organized?? any other thing to click?

An iTunes library consists of both the media and the database that knows which files are in the library and hold details of ratings, playcounts, playlist membership and other details not stored in each file's metadata.
Depending on how you have moved content to your external drive you may find you are only moved the media, but not the database. If you import this media into a new library it will work, but your library will be seen as "new" with respect to any devices that you have and iTunes will want to erase and reload them, losing you current selections, settings and data on the device.
These are two possible approaches that will normally work to move an existing library to a new computer.
Method 1
Backup the library with this User Tip.
Deauthorize the old computer if you no longer want to access protected content on it.
Restore the backup to your new computer using the same tool used to back it up.
Keep your backup up-to-date in future.
Method 2
Connect the two computers to the same network. Share your <User's Music> folder from the old computer and copy the entire iTunes library folder into the <User's Music> folder on the new one. Again, deauthorize the old computer if no longer required.
Both methods should give the new computer a working clone of the library that was on the old one. As far as iTunes is concerned this is still the "home" library for your devices so you shouldn't have any issues with iTunes wanting to erase and reload.
I'd recommend method 1 since it establishes an ongoing backup for your library.
If you have an iOS device that syncs with contact & calendar data on your computer you should migrate this information too. If that isn't possible create a dummy entry of each type in your new profile and iTunes should offer to merge the existing data from the device into the computer, otherwise the danger is that it will wipe the information from the device.
If your media folder has been split out from the main iTunes folder you may need to do some preparatory work to make it easier to move. See make a split library portable. Alternatively you could copy over the iTunes folder and make sure your external drive has the same drive letter on the new system as the old, however moving the library into a portable form will make every subsequent move that much easier.
Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library, or a backup of it, then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device for advice on how to set up your devices with a new library with the maximum preservation of data.
tt2

I have tried and failed to copy my iTunes library and playlists from my Windows 8 desktop to my Windows 7 laptop using an external hard drive. Can it be done? Help would be appreciated.

I have tried and failed to copy my iTunes library and playlists from my Windows 8 desktop to my Windows 7 laptop using an external hard drive. Can it be done? Help would be appreciated. I have followed instructions found online but the library of music doesn't pull in. Thanks!
Nate

Migrate an iTunes library from one computer to another
These are two possible approaches that will normally work to move an existing library to a new computer.
Method 1
Backup the library with this User Tip.
Deauthorize the old computer if you no longer want to access protected content on it.
Restore the backup to your new computer using the same tool used to back it up.
Keep your backup up-to-date in future.
Method 2
Connect the two computers to the same network. Share your <User's Music> folder from the old computer and copy the entireiTunes library folder into the <User's Music> folder on the new one. Again, deauthorize the old computer if no longer required.
Both methods should give the new computer a working clone of the library that was on the old one, with ratings, play counts, playlists etc. preserved. As far as iTunes is concerned this is still the "home" library for your devices so you shouldn't have any issues with iTunes wanting to erase and reload.
I'd normally recommend method 1 since it establishes an ongoing backup for your library and unlike copying with Windows Explorer the process can be resumed if it is interrupted and it will continue to the next item if there are any read/access errors.
Note if you have iOS devices and haven't moved your contacts and calendar items across then you should create one dummy entry of each in your new profile and iTunes should merge the existing data from the device.
If your media folder has been split out from the main iTunes folder you may need to do some preparatory work to make it easier to move. See Make a split library portable.
Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library or a backup then then seeRecover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device for advice on how to set up your devices with a new library with the maximum preservation of data.
tt2

How do I transfer my data to my new macbook pro using an external hard drive?

I've already set up my new MacBook Pro is my issue. It asked me if I'd like to "Migrate" my stuff or use an external hard drive etc but at the time I didn't transfer my data from my old MacBook yet. I was going to manually do it later as I had to wait for my External hard drive to back my old Mac up. Now it's that time and I have no idea how to do it. I believe I've researched best of my ability.
I feel like I'm asking a pretty dumb question. If I were to just drag all my programs out like my Adobe Suite on to my new macbook pro would that work? I feel like that's just too easy and incorrect. Please and thank you.

The Adobe suite can be downloaded free, you dont have to copy it at all, under standard CS6 Adobe rules, if you own the suite, you get 2 computers "activated at any one time" Make sure, if youre not using the older computer, you deactivate the software under the HELP menu in Adobe.
format the new drive in disk utility ......APPLICATIONS.....UTILITIES.....DISK UTILITIES.......select the external drive and format (if its new and empty!!!) under the ERASE button with Mac OSX extended journaled
copy all your important stuff from older computer , pics, files, documents, personal anything.
most of you apps, i ASSUME you bought in the (other than Adobe software, or Office suite, etc etc,..... obviously) in the MAC APP store, so you can reload them on the new computer without copying them , makes things very easy......just open APP STORE, and download what you already bought.
really the only important things , is copy all important work files, documents, pictures, personal ABC...XYZ...... obviously.
the migration is about emails, contacts, etc etc etc, also data, just because you passed it by at the time doesnt mean you still cant do it, go to the SEARCH at menu at top and type in MIGRATION ASSISTANT to do it again , since you passed it by at first .
the only thing you NEED / SHOULD copy is all your personal stuff........Applications need to be reinstall from either ONLINE download,.......or from the MAC APP STORE,........ you cant just copy the apps over (in most cases) and toss them onto the new computer
Nahh, there are no dumb questions, just dumb mistakes because you DIDNT ask any questions, and we all make those here and there.

Hello, I have two questions on time capsule I can only have it on my external hd files and free up my internal memory to my mac I can use an external hard drive, in my case a lacie rugged as shared memory for my two computers

Hello, I have two questions on time capsule I can only have it on my external hd files and free up my internal memory to my mac I can use an external hard drive, in my case a lacie rugged as shared memory for my two computers

I have a mackbook pro and an iMac if I buy a time capsule 2tb airport, I can use it with time machine and what would be the best way to use it.
There is no particular setup required for TM.. both computers will create their own backup sparsebundle which is like a virtual disk.. Pondini explains the whole thing if you read the reference I gave you.
and how to use time capsule airport whit other external hd to use my old lacie airport with the new time capsule
Up to you.. you can plug the external drive into the TC and enjoy really slow file transfers or you can plug it into your computer and use it as external drive.. which is faster than the TC.. and TM can include it in the backup.
Again everything is explained in the reference.. you are not reading it.

Can I use an External hard drive and my computers hard drive for apple tv

Can I use an External hard drive and my computers hard drive for apple tv

If you mean to hold iTunes content to stream then the answer is yes. Your iTunes library folder and the media usually live in the same location, but media can be in a different or several different locations. The external drive wuld have to e connected and powered to stream media to AppleTV.

How do i use an external hard drive for all my itunes music?

how do i use an external hard drive for all my itunes music?

Hi valleydave,
Here are two good links for you to check out:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
The first one goes over, in-depth, what you're looking for in regards to "off site" iTunes.

Can some please provide instructions on how to import an iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Mac without getting a bunch of duplicates? I tried transferring my pictures using an external hard drive and then copying it to the Pictures folder on my Mac

Can someone please provide instructions on how to import an iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Mac without getting a bunch of duplicates? I tried transferring my pictures using an external hard drive and then copying it to the Pictures folder on my new Mac. I ended up getting a bunch of duplicates. My old Mac has an older version of iPhoto while the new Mac has iPhoto '11. Is that the cause of the problem? Please advise. Thanks.

Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then launch iPhoto. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.
Regards
TD

I cannot find videos (not movies) that i have transferred to my macbook pro from an external hard drive, these files used to be on my windows PC!

I cannot find videos (not movies) that i have transferred to my macbook pro from an external hard drive, these files used to be on my windows PC. Photos and a few of the videos came over but i am missing the majority of the videos. Help please!!! I have tried omnidisksweeper with no success in finding them.
in my Usage it says i have over 40 gb of movies when i only have about 9gb which i can see using spotlight search. i really hope the other amount is my missing videos! these are videos of my kids as babies.

Read this post and do the migration again, putting the library in a portable shape first if necessary.
tt2

How do you remove back up data from the memory storage? my storage data states that i have over 80gb of data used for back ups and i dont know why as i use a external hard drive as a time machine .now my 250gb flash storage is nearly full

how do you remove back up data from the memory storage? my storage data states that i have over 80gb of data used for back ups and i dont know why as i use a external hard drive as a time machine .now my 250gb flash storage is nearly full.. HELP!

When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.

Transferring Itunes data between computers using an external hard drive.

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