Using an External Drive for iTunes Libray for Two Computers

Is it possible to use a portable hard drive to store the iTunes Library and have a laptop and a desktop both use the same iTunes library? I travel a lot and take the portable with me to download podcasts & music, but when I sync the ipod it says it can only be sync'd with one computer. I have tried to just install iTunes on the portable drive, but it appears to store configuration information on the computer the drive is attached at the time. Any suggestions or am I stuck just useing one computer to sync to?

You might find this article useful: iLounge - Managing your iTunes Library on an External Hard Drive

Similar Messages

  • Reliably use one external drive with iTunes files with two computers?

    Hi all,
    I have an iMac with a 200GB external firewire drive as my main desktop. I also have a 12" Powerbook that I use around the house. I've also used the PB to stream music from my iMac to my stereo. I have the odd bit of trouble with this, music stopping and not reconnecting etc.
    We had a party last weekend and to stop the problems with wireless streaming occuring, I unplugged my firewire drive from my iMac and plugged it in downstairs to my Powerbook.
    To get the files to appear in iTunes on the PB, I had to drag everything across to from the finder to iTunes. After a while everything was there.
    The party went well: one visit from environmental health telling us to turn things down, and one visit to accident and emergency.
    Next day, I returned my firewire drive to to my iMac and now every track in itunes has an exclamation mark next to it.
    I know how to sort this out, and I'm not bothered about losing my playlists: what I want to know is a safe method to allow me to move my harddrive around and make sure it's all OK when I plug it into my iMac again.
    Any ideas?
    I suppose I probably left on the "Organise the music into folders" option when I first plugged in the drive to my PB and the files have actually moved a bit. Would making sure that this was set on both machines be a food thing to do?
    Cheers
    Stuart

    I suppose I probably left on the "Organise the music into folders" option when I first plugged in the drive to my PB and the files have actually moved a bit. Would making sure that this was set on both machines be a food thing to do?
    That probably changed the file locations, presumed the 'Organize' option was turned off on your iMac.
    Now your 'iTunes Library' file (iTunes' database) on the iMac can't find the files.
    It's a good thing to have the option turned on (or off) on every Mac you connect your external drive to.
    I used to have my library on an external disk too. The only thing I had to take into account was to copy the 'iTunes Library' file from one computer to the other when connecting my external HD.
    Never ran into problems.
    More info about the library files here.
    If you're running OS X 10.4, you could create an Automator workflow to copy the file to your external HD and another one to copy it from the external HD to the Powerbook.
    Hope this helps.
    M
    17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.6)   Several ext. HD (backup and data)

  • How do I use an external drive with iTunes

    I want to use an external drive (Windows XP & USB) for My Music Library. iTunes is running on the 'C' drive and points to the external drive. When I 'add folders' the music is available and plays, but I don't have my playlists or the play count / last played data. I have copied the 2 iTunes Library files into the exact same location on the external drive (My Music\iTunes). Either iTunes or Windows moves these files to the 'C' drive My Music\iTunes folder, and I don't have problem with these files on the 'C' drive as long as the music/video files reside on the external drive. I would like to set this up so the external drive looks and responds just like if the library was on the 'C' drive.
    Can someone help me get this right so it works?
    Thank you very much
    iPod 60GB Video   Windows XP   USB 120GB External drive w/42GB of My Music

    Have a look at this article in the Apple Knowledge Base.

  • I'm having a problem with using an external drive for my iTunes media

    I recently switched to using an external drive for my iTunes library and I was able to switch everything fine. I was able to get iTunes to download and new TV shows, videos, and music that I purchased from the iTunes store to the iTunes folder on my external drive but I can't get it to do the same for applications. All my applications are still being used through the iTunes folder on my internal drive and new ones that I download get put in that folder too. How can I set it to get iTunes to put new applications and use the existing application files from my external drive?

    There is a Windows based utility that will allow one to change the location of the 'My Music' folder, but you appear to be running a Mac.
    You may find more appropriate help in the iTunes for Mac Discussions.
    If you are running Windows, post back and some info can be provided.
    Best of Luck

  • Going from xp to windows 7 64 bit using an external drive for music storage

    Greetings Techies!
    I hope you all are well.
    I need to move my iTunes from an XP machine to Windows 7 64 bit. On the XP machine I am using an external drive for music storage and the iTunes database is stored on the internal drive. I am looking for advice on how to transfer all of this over to my new Windows 7 64 bit machine. I know iTunes can be picky about everything and I don’t want to take and chances and loose my playlists or music.
    Any help would be much appreciated.
    Blessings,
    paul

    You are right about it being picky. I just upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 and was forced to format my drive. I had all the music backed up, but when I imported it, I have 2 or 3 copies of some songs, art work missing, and have lost my playlists. I hope someone responds to your question, because I could use similar help! Best of luck to ya . . .

  • I have the G Drive 1 TB (GEN4 1TB) external drive purchased in 2010. I need to connect to my new MacBook Pro. I'm using the external drive for media storage of my video editing projects. Will a 800fw to thunderbolt adapter cable work?

    I have the G Drive 1 TB (GEN4 1TB) external drive purchased in 2010. I need to connect to my new MacBook Pro. I'm using the external drive for media storage of my video editing projects. Will a 800fw to thunderbolt adapter cable work? I understand that using a USB port connection is not fast enough for video editing. I read somewhere the G Drives don't connect well to MacBook Pro.
    thanks
    larry

    I doubt this can be relocated or moved so you might want to just repost in the macbook pro area.
      MacBook Pro
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os?view=discussions
    Can you afford a new Thunderbolt case and cable? any case with FW800 is going to be slow 72MB/sec and less, and any new 1TB drive is capable of 75MB/s minimum up to 125MB/sec.
    Thunderbolt storage can of course when setup properly reach 100's of MB higher using multiple drives.
    Use what you have for a system backup or for secondary backup storage.
    you might be able to take the drive - most cases allow you to open and swap drives - and use this:
    G-Technology 1TB G-DRIVE mini High-Speed Portable Hard Drive                                   
    or this:
    http://store.apple.com/us/product/HB137VC/A/g-technology-4tb-g-raid-professional -high-performance-dual-drive-hard-drive?fnode=5f

  • Using an External Drive for Time Machine and Other Things

    I have a 2TB external drive which I use for Time Machine Backups on my 2 macs. The macs have HDs of 500GB and 160GB so the external drive has ample space for backups.
    Is it okay to use the external drive for other things that I don't care if they aren't backed up (like digital copies of DVDs)? i.e. Will Time Machine cause any issues if a drive is used for more than just Time Machine backups?

    rgraves wrote:
    I have a 2TB external drive which I use for Time Machine Backups on my 2 macs. The macs have HDs of 500GB and 160GB so the external drive has ample space for backups.
    Maybe. See #1 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    Is it okay to use the external drive for other things that I don't care if they aren't backed up (like digital copies of DVDs)? i.e. Will Time Machine cause any issues if a drive is used for more than just Time Machine backups?
    It's best to put such things in their own partition. See #3 in the FAQ.
    You may also want to make separate partitions for each Mac's backups, if you're backing-up either one directly (ie, not over your network). See #4 in the FAQ.

  • I've used an external drive for time machine which has important files on it. After trying to back up my computer, it suddenly needed to be "repaired" by utilities. Now it's not being "seen" at all! How do I recover my important files off the drive?

    I've used an external drive for time machine which has important files on it. After trying to back up my computer, it suddenly needed to be "repaired" by utilities. Now it's not being "seen" at all! How do I recover my important files off the drive?

    If the external drive can be seen at all in Disk Utility, follow the instructions for repair here.

  • HT201250 How can I revert to my internal drive for time machine backups after using an external drive?

    Hi. I've been using an external drive for time machine back ups and decided to revert to my internal drive, but it isn't available in the time machine options. The only available option is to set up a time capsule, which I don't own.
    Is it because not enough space is available on my internal drive (approx 50GB)?
    Thanks!

    50 Gb free on your internal drive is relly very low and of course not enought for a any kind of backup.
    How big is your internal HD ?  If you have left only 50 GB free it is probably 90% full. Let's imagine you have a 500 Gb. This means 450 Gb data and 50 Gb free.  How can you backup 450 into 50 ?
    Second point. The backup on your internal HD is a nonsense evenif it is big enough. If it stops working you will have no bakup.
    Do you have an iMac or a portable ?
    The portable automatic uses the internal HD if the external is not connected, but this is intended for a short time.
    This could give you some more links to read about  https://discussions.apple.com/message/20726927#20726927

  • HT3275 I am using an external drive for backup. I am now getting a message that the drive needs a disk repair, but when I run disk repair it  just seems to freeze.

    I am using an external drive for back up. Yesterday the backup failed and I received a message that the external drive( a passport drive) needed a 'disk repair", when I ran disk repair nothing happened it seemed to freeze. Suggestions? should i simply erase the external drive and start over-my computer is fine.

    Get a different drive for backup.
    In the meantime, once you are backed up some drive safe, then you can attempt to repair the backup drive using the repair the directory link.

  • I have a MacBook Air w/ 64 GB. I have hours and hours of music/vids/etc. Is it possible to have an external drive specifically set-up for my iTunes? If so, what do I need to do? Thanks!

    I have a MacBook Air w/ 64 GB. I have hours and hours of music/vids/etc. Is it possible to have an external drive specifically set-up for my iTunes? If so, what do I need to do? Thanks!

    Yes, many people do just that. Copy your iTunes folder to the external drive. Once done, open iTunes with Option held down and select the new location of the library file.

  • I would like to use an external drive for the iPad I just purchased for my husband?  How can I accomplish this is there an accessory that would allow me to use a USB

    I would like to use an external drive for storage on the ipad I just purchased.   How can I do this?

    You can't attach drives to any iOS device.
    Having said that, there are some drives with built-in wifi routers that a device can connect to.  These would behave like a cloud device in which some of your apps might be able to connect.
    Try googling to find some brands.

  • How do i use an external drive for iphoto library

    I am looking to use an external drive to store my photo library.
    Tips

    Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
    And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
    And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
    LN

  • Using an external drive with shared files (iPhoto, iTunes), attached to a Time Capsule, can the contents of the external drive be backed-up to the internal Time Capsule drive? Perhaps a RAID1 mirror to a partition?

    Using an external drive with shared files (iPhoto, iTunes), attached to a Time Capsule, can the contents of the external drive be backed-up to the internal Time Capsule drive? Perhaps a RAID1 mirror to a partitioned Time Capsule? I understand that the Time Machine (software) cannot backup a networked drive (the external) and that Time Capsule (the router/wireless hard drive) does not have its own backup software... so it won't backup the connected drive. What I would like is an alternate solution for having an automated backup of a networked drive. A 2TB Time Capsule has more than enough space for Time Machine backups of my family of Macbooks, so I had hoped to mirror a 500GB external drive (with shared media files) to a portion of the Time Capsule internal hard drive. I assume this would require a partition of the Time Capsule drive. If not, would the sparse file from the various computers being backed up need to be copied to the external drive as part of the RAID1 setup? This seems like overkill for the Time Machine backup, but it would cover the media files.  

    The complexity with this idea is the software has to run from a Mac computer on your network.. so you need a Mac turned on, probably most of the day.
    It isn't possible to partition the TC although you can create a image area.
    The software would have to copy the material, that means all files to be copied, go from USB drive, back to the Mac, then back to the TC, and written to the drive. In other words you have just added Network congestion, although a proper incremental backup type software will not actually use a lot of capacity.
    Finally it will be slow.. network drives are slower than internal drives. Well USB connected drive is much slower than the same drive connected directly to the computer.. and if the drive is connected directly to a computer it can be shared with the network.
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/4577/airport-extreme-5th-gen-and-time-capsule-4th- gen-review-faster-wifi-/4
    Read carefully the speed of the USB drive plugged into the TC.

  • Due to a divorce all my music is on my iTunes and iPod. I had to buy a new computer and want to transfer my Library to the new computer. How can I do this without using an external drive and use new computer just like I do the old one? Thanks.

    Due to divorce, all my music is on my iTunes and iPod. I have had to buy  a new laptop and want to transfer the library to the new computer before deauthorizing the old one. I dont want to have to use an external drive every time I want to listen to my music. How can I do this and have the same basic iTunes setup as before? HELP!

    You might consider itunes match for moving CDs you've copied into your itunes library if you dont have a way to use home sharing.
    iTunes match is an optional service offered by apple that costs about $25 a year.  It scans your music library and if it finds music that is already in apple's itunes catalog it'll automatically "unlock"/"store" these in the cloud for you.  Items that it does not find in the catalog it'll upload and store these in the cloud for you and you can download them on your devices.  See http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/

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