Trouble with Back up Copies of iTunes and iPhoto

Question

I place copies of my iTunes library and iPhoto library on a portable hard drive for when I travel. However, when I launch iTunes or iPhoto on my laptop with the hard drive connected, I get the following problems:
1) Not all songs from iTunes are in the right playlists or even the Library. I often have to add songs back to the library.
2) iPhoto albums are not recognized. The data simply appears as dated albums or a folder called "modified"
I would like everything organized just as it is on my G5 home computer. Any suggestions on how to copy files from the G5 to the portable hard drive so everything remians intact?
Thanks!

Answer 1

William
In the case of iPhoto, make sure that the Portable HD is set to ignore permissions. (You do this in the Get Info window.) Then copy the iPhoto Library Folder from Home/Pictures to the portable. Copy the entire folder intact, not just the constituent parts.
Then, on the laptop, hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. Choose 'Locate' and navigate to the new location of the iPhoto Library Folder. But of course, you must have the same version of iPhoto on both machines. This won't work if one is a v5 and the other a v6.
A similar system will work for iTunes - just copy the iTunes folder from your Music Folder to the HD, use the option (or alt) key on Launch trick and so on.
But remember, if you launch either app without the HD connected to the laptop, they will default to their original locations, and you'll need to use the option (or alt) key trick to get back to the library on the HD.
Regards
TD