What are the pitfalls of transferring my iTunes library to an external hard drive

I have acquired more music on an external hard drive than will fit on my computer or my iPod.  I am looking to transfer my iTunes library to the external drive.  Will I be able to add purchases or rip more cds to the hard drive without incident?  Does anyone have any ideas of how or if I will be able to connect my external drive to my sound dock and have it play through the aux. mode? Thank you.

Using the external should not present problems, but some specifics lie in details of your external drive.  The main thing will be the external will need to always be on when you use iTunes (if it isn't already).
I know zero about your sound dock so I have no idea what it is capable of.  Can it play files on, say, a flash drive?  If so it may be able to use an external drive but likely it will need to be a non-Mac format.  you can consider that for your drive but it may present problems in the details as I indicated above.  I won't go into it until I know more about your setup.

Similar Messages

  • I recently transferred my ITunes library to an external hard drive.  I made sure to copy all the data from the saved location.  After the transfer I noticed that a lot of albums are missing the first song and some recently purchased albums are missing.

    I recently transferred my ITunes library to an external hard drive.  I made sure to copy all the data from the saved location.  After the transfer I noticed that a lot of albums are missing the first song and some recently purchased albums are missing.  Is there any way to recover the data?  Thanks for any help.

    I may have found an answer here:
    http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive
    They only thing I can assume is that my external hard drive was slow to start and iTunes defaulted to its old directory (see the last paragraph at the link above). However, once my external was recognized shouldn't everything have fixed itself?
    Message was edited by: williamson42
    Message was edited by: williamson42

  • I transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another and added more music on the same day. How do I get rid of my duplicate files without going through them one by one which would take forever?

    Please help. I have transferred my iTunes library from one external hard drive to another plus added additional music now I have duplicates of the same music in many albums. How do I delete the duplicates without going through them one by one which would take forever? I understand how to get the "show exact duplicate" feature up on iTunes but, because they were added to the library on the exact day I can't seperate them I'm that manner. So each duplicate is right next to eachother in the exact duplicate screen.

    My DeDuper script is designed to help clean up. See this thread for background.
    tt2

  • What is the best way to copy aperture library on to external hard drive? I am getting a message that say's "There was an error opening the database. The library could not be opened because the file system of the library's volume is unsupported".

    What is the best way to copy aperture library on to external hard drive? I am getting a message that say's "There was an error opening the database. The library could not be opened because the file system of the library's volume is unsupported". What does that mean? I am trying to drag libraries (with metadata) to external HD...wondering what the best way to do that is?

    Kirby Krieger wrote:
    Hi Shane.  Not much in the way of thoughts - - but fwiw:
    How is the drive attached?
    Can you open large files on the drive with other programs?
    Are you running any drive compression or acceleration programs (some drives arrive with these installed)?
    Can you reformat the drive and try again?
    Hi Kirby,
    I attached the UltraMax Plus with a USB cable. The UltraMax powers the cable so power is not an issue. I can open other files. Also, there is 500GB of files on the drive so I cannot re-format it. Although, I noted I could import the entire Aperture Library. However, I do not want to create a duplicate on my machine because that would be defeating the purpose of the external drive.
    Thanks,
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  • When my old PC died I had the tech guy place my iTunes library on an external hard drive. Just set up my new iMac

    When my old PC died I had the tech guy place my iTunes library on an external hard drive. I just set up my iMac and I cannot get my library on the external hard drive to import to iTunes. I authorized my computer and had the "purchased" songs downloaded from iTunes directly, but I have 3,000+ songs from other sources that I cannot seem to get to. Help! What's the trick?!

    maggiedoodle wrote:
    When my old PC died I had the tech guy place my iTunes library on an external hard drive. I just set up my iMac and I cannot get my library on the external hard drive to import to iTunes.
    Don't import anythiong.
    Simply copy the entire /Music/iTunes/ folder from the external to /Music/ on the internal.
    Launch iTunes.
    That is all you need to do.

  • I recently transferred my itunes library to an external hard drive. Now I get the error message 'the original file could not be found. Could you like to locate it' when i try to open songs. My iPod syncs ok.

    I recently tranferred my iTunes library to an external hard drive. Now I cannot open songs and get the error message ' The song "***" could not not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it'. This applies to all 9742 songs!!. My iPod still syncs ok, but I can't play songs on the PC. Can anyone please help.

    It would help to have more background about your iTunes collection such as if you keep it on an external drive, or if you have moved or renamed anything recently.  iTunes is very sensitive to you renaming or moving files or folders involved with your media.  iTunes only keeps a reference to where a media file is located  and then goes to look for it when you try to play it. If you have changed things since it was added to itunes then it's like me sending you to look for a friend in my addressbook but that friend has moved.
    The other possibility is your computer is starting to lose files.  Again, the computer uses a reference database to tell it where on the drive to look for a file. If that database gets corrupt then it starts losing files.  Use Dsk Utility's first aid to verify your hard drive.

  • What is the best way to manage itunes content using an external hard drive connected to airport extreme?

      Just a little history on what I've already tried. I have my itunes folder on my external hard drive with an alias linking to my macbook pro. My hard drive is networked from airport extreme. Streaming content is not a problem. Syncing my iphone is the problem. I just get the pinwheel and a message stating sync unsuccessful because itunes was unable to connect. It takes a very long time to change any settings in itunes for mu phone.I have 8g of ram so that shouldn't be a problem. Any help would be appricated.

    The best solution would be two different types of backups, one local (in your own home) and one elsewhere. So, option 3 is the "best" solution.
    I, personally, use Crashplan to backup all of my computers because it's much more convenient than an external hard drive.
    With an external hard drive, you can either use Time Machine to create the historical/incremental backups OR you can create a bootable clone periodically using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner.
    I don't know of any way to make the machines mirror images of one another - as far as I know, the best you could do is transfer data from one to the other at time of purchase and then use something like DropBox to keep files in sync.
    ~Lyssa

  • I transfered my itunes library to an external hard drive, and its accessible, but I can't burn a cd now. I need help!

    I transfered all my music to an external hard drive, and changed the location in the preferences options in itunes. I can add music to the library, i can play music and make play lists, but I cannot burn a cd. What's happening, and what can i do to fix, or get around this problem?

    Ok. progress...
    So is your media folder called iTunes Music or iTunes Media? And does it have a folder called Music inside it?
    Before going any further you should first attempt to use File > Library > Organize Library > Rearrange files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (ignore if grayed out). This will make sure that any iPod Games or Mobile Applications get placed inside the iTunes Media folder which is needed for portability.
    If your iTunes Media folder is called iTunes Music, close iTunes, rename the folder as iTunes Media and start iTunes again. iTunes will automatically adjust. Close iTunes again.
    On your external drive rearrange the folders that you have already copied there so that they match the layout in your active library. You should end up with a folder called X:\iTunes where X: is the external drive letter, and the media folder is X:\iTunes\iTunes Media. If the library layout was upgraded then you will need to create a Music folder inside this and move all the artist folders and Compilations into Music. You will also need to copy iPod Games and Mobile Applications from your internal drive into the new media folder. Next copy the files iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, sentinel and the folder Album Artwork from the internal drive into X:\iTunes. The preceding manipulations should make the internal and external copies of your library match without you having to copy all of the media over again.
    Now hold shift as you start iTunes. Click choose, browse to and open X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl.
    Finally use File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate files. This will ensure that any stray files that might have been added from outside your original media folder will be copied into the new one.
    You can now reclaim the space used by your library on the internal drive, however before you do so I would advise you to obtain another external drive and make use of this backup tip.
    tt2

  • What is the best way to move iTunes library to a different hard drive?

    I have a MacBook Pro and recently removed my optical drive and replaced it with an internal hard drive so that I can have more storage. My iTunes library is on the original hard drive. I am getting close to running out of space on the original hard drive and would like to move my library to the new internal hard drive. What is the best way to do this? Thanks.
    -gigascott

    A re-iteration of what I posted earlier... If you let iTunes manage your music for you then copy the whole iTunes folder and everything it contains to the other drive.  Hold down the option key at the same time as starting iTunes. It will present you with a window, one of the options being to open a different iTunes library.  Navigate to the iTunes folder on the other drive and let it open the library.itl file in the folder there.  In all likelihood it should open it with no problem and you will not see any difference between when you had it on your first internal drive.  If you get info on a track and look at summary you will see it is now referencing media on the other drive.
    Message was edited by: Limnos to reflect using second internal drive.

  • Itunes library both on external hard drive and mac.

    Hello.
    I wish you could help me. I transfered my itunes library to an external hard drive. However, there are times that I would forget to put it back on. Now, there are some files that itunes can't locate.
    How do I back up the new files i have on my itunes to the external hard drive.
    Thank you very much.
    Patty

    update to the question above -- I went into Time Machine and restored my iTunes library, so it is showing what music I have again in there. FYI in advanced settings, I kept the setting that the music is stored in the Seagate HD.
    BUT when I click on any music, it still cannot locate the file (all the music media files are still stored on the Seagate ext. HD)
    So -- how can I get the iTunes library to re-connect with what is in the Seagate HD?
    Thank you!

  • ITunes library transfer to external hard drive

    i transferred my iTunes library to an external hard drive, how do i sync my iPod?

    As long as iTunes recognizes the new location and can play the library's contents without problems., you sync just as you always have.
    Regards.

  • HT1386 I have a new computer. I have copied Itunes library from an external hard drive. Itunes now tells me I cannot sync with my Ipod as it thinks the 20gb on the computer are different to the 20gb on my Ipod touch! What have I done wrong? How can I fix

    I have a new computer. I have copied Itunes library from an external hard drive. Itunes now tells me I cannot sync with my Ipod as it thinks the 20gb on the computer are different to the 20gb on my Ipod touch! What have I done wrong? How can I fix it?  Alan

    See:
    Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive: Apple Support Communities
    Sync Your iOS Device with a New Computer Without Losing Data - How-To Geek

  • I copied my itunes library via an external hard drive. now when i connect my ipod to the new computer i can see my music but my apps are disabled

    i copied my itunes library via an external hard drive. now when i connect
    my ipod to the new computer i can see my music but my apps are disabled

    Here are the official Apple Support instructions:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
    Ciao.

  • HT1151 I have my iTunes library on an external hard drive that was connected to a PC, now I want to connect to my new iMac and load the iTunes library onto that computer, can I do that?

    I have my iTunes library on an external hard drive that was connected to a PC, now I would like to connect that hard drive my new iMac and load the iTunes library onto that computer, can I do that?  Looking for a solution that keeps me from re-ripping my CD collection.

    Here are the official Apple Support instructions:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
    Ciao.

  • I moved my iTunes library to an external hard drive. It re installed itself on the PC and there is now no more room. I cannot sync with the external version. My wife has is a user on the same computer and we have the same iTunes account. Can I uninstall

    I moved my iTunes library to an external hard drive due to lack of space on the PC. I uninstalled it from the PC at the time to increase space. My wife is a user on the computer and shares the same apple account. I discovered that iTunes was back on the PC hard drive when I tried to sync my iphone and it would not for lack of space on the PC. If I uninstall I tunes from the PC where I am the user will it affect my wife's itune account which is still on the PC?

    Close iTunes. Click the icon to start it, then press and hold down the left shift key. Keep holding until asked to choose or create a library. Choose the iTunes folder on your external drive. That should bring back all your playlists, ratings, play counts etc. You may have to settle for removing and reloading the media onto the device again. That's not too bad, but what you don't want to have happen is your apps being removed and reloaded as then you can lose settings and data. If that looks likely backup and then restore the device rather than sync it.
    If for some reason rebuilding the library the way you did has moved files around then the restored library may have trouble finding things. If so post back and I'll explain what to do...
    tt2

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