Transferring iTunes Library file to new Mac

I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro and have tried to transfer my iTunes Library files from my old MacBook Pro to my new one. Both are running iTunes 11. All music, video, apps etc are stored on an external drive which iTunes is set to look at. I copied the 'iTunes' folder from my 'Music' folder on my old MacBook Pro to an external hard drive and then plugged it in to my new MacBook pro and replaced the 'iTunes' folder in my 'Music' folder with the existing contents. However when opening iTunes 11 on my new MacBook Pro iTunes seems to create a new blank library file and overwrite the one I previously copied. Any help with this would be much appreciated.

Are just your media are stored on the external, or is the whole iTunes library (which includes artwork files, the central iTunes Librarby.itl files, and other things)?
If the whole iTunes library, there's no need to copy the unused folder on your old computer. Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the library file on the external.
If you keep just your media on the external, copying your library folder is correct. I don't know why iTunes 11 is erasing it. One thing though is I believe the media folder location is stored in preferences. I know I once changed it on my older iTunes version where I have multiple libraries and when I changed it for one it did it to them all. You may have to configure this in iTunes preferences though that still doesn't explain why it erases the copied library folder.

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Hi, sorry for a noob question.
I have an older Mac and it's iTunes library location is point to an external HD, now I got a new Mac and I would like to use the same external HD for my iTunes library, so basically the contents in the external HD doesn't need to be move, is there an easy way to have my new Mac recognize my old library? I did temporary try to move my external HD to my new Mac and use the "Choose Library" option on iTunes but it show me an error message "The iTunes library file could not be found in the folder".
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I'm purchasing a new Mac, but I use an iPod Touch with a different Mac. If I copy my current iTunes library to the new computer, what will happen when I plug my iPod in? I'm hoping that if I make a copy of the library, I won't have to completely rysnch my iPod. I know I'll at least have all the playlists/videos/apps/etc on the computer by making the copy, and so I can just readd them, but I'm mostly concerned with my contacts, notes, and the progress I've made in some of the game apps. I don't sync contacts or notes to my current computer, though I will if I have to so I can preserve them, but as far as I know there's no way for me to save all the data in my apps if I have to resync it. Will my data be safe if I simply copy the library? If not, is there anything I can do to avoid losing it without having to constantly sync my iPod with the old computer?

shadowsowner888 wrote:
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I have a similar problem
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TempleDoc wrote:
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Hi,
I've been using iTunes on my old PC (HP 2000 Notebook) and accessing all of my music from a 1 TB Toshiba external hard drive. I recently switched to a MacBook Pro and I'm trying to get my iTunes Library (145 GB worth of stuff) on to the Mac while 1) retaining my playlists, checked songs, etc. from the old computer and 2) without having to transfer the files from the external hard drive on to the Mac in order to save space.
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Hi,
I've been using iTunes on my old PC (HP 2000 Notebook) and accessing all of my music from a 1 TB Toshiba external hard drive. I recently switched to a MacBook Pro and I'm trying to get my iTunes Library (145 GB worth of stuff) on to the Mac while 1) retaining my playlists, checked songs, etc. from the old computer and 2) without having to transfer the files from the external hard drive on to the Mac in order to save space.
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Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
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You might find this article useful: iLounge - Managing your iTunes Library on an External Hard Drive

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The second Article guides you to copy the whole iTunes Folder which will include linbrary and all media type:
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Transferring iTunes Library file to new Mac

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