Two iTunes libraries by mistake on one PC

My old computer crashed and I couldn't recover the most recent iTunes folder on that drive. However, I did back-up the folder to an external drive a few months ago (I know, why so long). Here's where I did something wrong... I installed iTunes on my new Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit computer, then I copied the older backed-up folder from the external to write over the iTunes folder installed on my PC by the iTunes app after installation (can't remember which location I put the B/U folder, I am new to Win7). I did a "Shift" Open iTunes to choose folder and the app informed me I have two (2) iTunes folders. One is path "Home -> My Music -> iTunes" and the other is under path "Libraries -> Music - iTunes". I think I really screwed-up here.
(Apple Support (#800) was no help and was only interested in getting my $60 for further support (spoke to 5-reps, first 4 were kind enough to help at no charge, last one wanted the money). The first rep, Howard, had me redownload all my apps Purchased from iTunes, this took two hours since I had a lot. The second rep, Christina, gave me a case #, advised on how to Sync my apps correctly and also my music. I had to reauthorize my audiobooks with my audible.com user/pw to get my books which went fairly well. The third rep, Shabu, was no help at all and barely spoke English (sorry but that's the way it was), so I didn't understand what he was trying to help me do about the two folders. The fourth rep, Cory (male), hung up on me after reading my notes on their case # file (no kidding), and if disconnected would call back within two minutes; no call back. The last rep, Ronald, was rude and said I had called too many times, "give me money for help" or you're on your own. I had asked him about the two iTunes folders (above) but he said he didn't know about PC's so could help with two folders.)
Soooo...sorry to ramble, I am a senior citizen who is very confused and exhausted right now.
* How do I tell which folder the app iTunes is using (they are both the same size and same number of files)?
* How do I tell which folder to safely delete since I don't know which one iTunes is accessing?
* How do I get this back to way it was on my old XP machine? (iTunes folder failed machine was in "My Documents -> My Music -> iTunes")
Thanks. Please help. (I did a search but could not find a specific problem such as mine or a solution which may be simple).
Jake

I totally feel your pain. I too have a similar setup, a G4 running Tiger wherein I ripped my vinyl to a higher bitrate than my CD copies. I have in one of thses threads a script that was written for me that would rummage across the home network and pull down all the lower bitrate copies and move them, but I had a hard drive snafu, ran out of space and never got around to it..
I DO think however, that you can display the bitrate of the files in the list view options within iTunes and sort the files that way, and move the duplicate files you don't want to the trash. From within iTunes.. Let me go fire up the livingroom frankenbox to check..
Yup.. If you use the View Options you can sort through the master list in iTunes by bitrate..
http://imageupper.com/i/?S0300010100011D1344782818223713
Takes a bit to sort out the tracks but it's workable..
As to joining the libraries that you've gotten them cleaned up, you need to drop all the song files into a single folder and let iTunes sort them into the default location. There is a submenu here:
http://imageupper.com/i/?S0500010010011A1344783379227569
http://imageupper.com/i/?S0500010010021A1344783379227569
Good luck!
Deb.

Similar Messages

Can you access and store two itunes libraries on one computer?

can you access and store two itunes libraries on one computer?

Welcome to the Apple Community.
Yes but you may run into issues if you want them both to run iTunes Match or automatic downloads.

I need two itunes libraries on one computer

Hi,
I have two iphones, an ipad, and a imac. I have downloaded my music to my iphone, and imac. My girlfriend has an ipad and iphone with songs put on it from another pc. How do we have two itunes libraries on our imac that we can both use.
Thanks
Brad

How to use multiple iPods, iPads, or iPhones with one computer

I created two iTunes libraries on my mac mini and would like to merge them into one library. What is the easiest way to do this?

I created two iTunes libraries on my mac mini back in the day. I would like to consolidate them into one iTunes library. What is the easiest method to do this? I do use i-Match to access all my music from iCloud, if that makes any difference. Thanks. Mark

Thanks for the reply. When I created the 2 libraries years ago I would hold down the options key and had 2 library names to choose from. Now it just shows a lot of files when I do that, With over 7,000 songs I think I will just look for the few songs from the original library I used to use that still interest me, if they don't show up in my default current library. Thought there would be any easy was to integrate all my music files into one library. I am definitely not going to spend days manually doing this, but thanks again.

Can I put two Itunes libraries on one ipod

Wondering if I can put my husband's itunes library onto my ipod, so that we won't need two ipods.

to do this you need one itunes library. I understand you have two iPods are they both syncing with hte same itunes library. If so just sync the all content onto one iPod if you have enough space. Some peope have a lot of music and video.
If you have two itunes libraries that you sync each ipod with then you need to merge them these are your options if itunes are on separate computers
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
If they are on the same computer but different logons then copy the music foler from one account to the other.
Once everything is in the same iTunes you may also need to Authorise the computer with the other persons Apple ID
Then you should be good to go

HT1660 I have two iTunes libraries on two different pc's (one windows and one Mac). Can I consolidate these on an external hard drive?

I have two iTunes libraries on two different pc's (one windows and one Mac). Can I consolidate these on an external hard drive?

I'm sorry I just saw the last post. I had two users on my hard drive, one for me and one for my daughter, but I am not sure what you mean by partioning my external????? I have heard the term before, but don't know how to do it. I am having serious crashing issues with this computer and believe I really need to do a clean install. I just want to make sure everything for both ipods is safe (is???? I think so, everything is......I hate when the English language does this to me!)

Two iTunes libraries one MacBook Pro account...

How do you make two itunes libraries on one macbook account? I've heard it's possible for PC so it should be for a Mac... If this topic has already been discussed sorry for the inconvenience...

Make sure iTunes is closed, then hold down the option key while clicking iTunes in the dock. Creating a new library should be an option in the window that pops up. To select a different library, just do exactly the same except you'll select the library you want to open instead of creating a new one.

Combine two itunes libraries thatare one on computer

I have two iTunes libraries that are on my computer (I use the shift button when opening to choose which one I want to open). So since I have two (one for iPhone and one for iPod) the music in them is mismatched because I use my iPhone more often and downloaded songs get placed into that library. My question is do I have to manually go through and find out which songs aren't in both libraries and import them or can I do this automatically? I don't want to merge them, I just want them to have the same music in them so I can just uncheck which ones I don't want to sync. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Drag the larger library to the external drive normally, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, choose it, drag the media files from the second library into the open iTunes application window, and then import the playlists.
(118104)

Can I merge two iTunes libraries?

Can I merge two iTunes libraries, one on a Dell PC, the other on an attached external hard drive? If so, step-by-step instructions would be appreciated. There is too much work involved to allow a mistake! - jazzeas

Read the post over on the right under the heading, More Like This
Allan

I have two macs. I have two itunes libraries. How can I sync my iphone with both

Itunes is driving me insane every single day now.
I have two macs so I obviously have two itunes libraries. I have purchased things on both my desktop and my laptop UNDER THE SAME ACCOUNT.
How Can I add/sync media from both without having to erase EVERYTHING. So ridiculous.
Thanks

To share the iTunes content between your computers, just enable Home Sharing from iTunes > File > Home Sharing.
You'll still have to sync the iPhone with just one iTunes library because of the copyright restrictions that iTunes must follow.
More syncing info and options here -> Using iPhone, iPad, or iPod with multiple computers

I How do I combine two ITune libraries from my laptop and home computers so I can download the songs to my IPhone?

I have two Itune libraries one on my home computer and one on my laptop. I have been able to download one library to my IPhone (home computer) but not the other. How can I merge these two so I can use both computers or can I???? Help! I called my Apple store for an appointment to figure this out and they aren't even answering the phone!!

Home Sharing:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3819

How do I merge two iTunes libraries?

I have two iTunes libraries on different hard drives on one computer. I choose the appropriate library when starting iTunes.
I now want to merge these libraries but retain the files on their separate hard drives (the files are too large to combine).
How do I do this?

This is indeed an excellent question. I am looking for what seems to be the exact same solution. I have two libraries, where the ratings, checks, and play counts are included in the itunes xml library files. I have found that using synchronization software only compares documents and replaces one with the other. If I modify one computer (in terms of collections, ratings, or play counts), and then don't synchronize before modifying the other computer, then my libraries do not match.
If there were a quick solution to compare and merge libraries, then I would not have to re-synchronize libraries each time I switch computers (assuming I'm not adding/changing mp3 file structure).
I suppose there could be a very long-winded applescript to do this, but I'm not familiar with scripting, nor interested. Any help?
Have any solutions been found?
MacBook Pro 15" Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Two Computers two itunes libraries... 1 Iphone

I have two computers - 1 iphone and 2 itunes libraries... is there an easy way to make the two Itunes libraries sync, so i don't have to constanly make sure both libraries match, so it doesn't delete the stuff i want, and so podcasts etc don't download twice?

I know what you mean. At home, we have 4 iPods, but only one PC. It was very difficult to manage so many ipods from only one itunes library. My Dad look on the internet and found out this. Actually, this is a pretty cool tool because you can create your own library, add or delete the music you want, without affecting the other's libraries. What I like the most is that I don't have my brother's music on my ipod anymore!!!!
Hope it helps

I have two iTunes libraries I need to merge. Both contain over 34,000 songs, so I cannot do this manually. Is there an easy way to do this?

I have two iTunes libraries I need to merge. Both contain over 34,000 songs, so I cannot do it manually. Is there an easy way to do this?

Drag the media folder from one over to an open iTunes window. Go away and have a long lunch. Of course if you have a lot of common content you will be spending your next vacation sorting out the duplicates. Oh, you can search the Internet because I am sure somebody has some wonder tool that purportedly prevents duplicates, not that I would trust any automated method. I always deal with duplicates one by one.
Consolidating Multiple iTunes Libraries - http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/consolidating-multiple-itunes -libraries-api1/ - Basically using consolidate/organize to make sure all your media are in one place, then copying media from a second library to the main one by simply adding the media as new files.
Commercial software that purportedly helps merge libraries (not a complete list, nor have I tried any of them):
http://supersync.com/
PowerTunes - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powertunes/ (commercial software)

Compare two iTunes Libraries

Hi all.
I have two iTunes Libraries: one in my Time Capsule and one in an external HD. They are similar with slight differences. In the TC library I have 15.600 tracks, in the HD I have 14.900 tracks. I'd like to update the HD library with the same tracks I have in the TC library. How can I compare the two libraries in order to understand what tracks I have to copy?
Thanks.

I don't think there is a way of doing this directly as iTunes can only handle one library at a time.
You could export each library into a separate text file and then use other software fo compare them. If you have database software, it should be fairly easy to do using that. The files should be easy to import as tab delimited files.

Two iTunes libraries by mistake on one PC

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for