Moving iTunes to a new computer

[thach]

Hi all,

Did a search and found lots of info on moving an entire iTunes library, but I missed the thread on just moving iTunes.

I have a very old computer running Windows 2000. The main hd is only 9 gigs on which iTunes is installed. I installed a 20 gb slave drive just to store the iTunes library. Now, I want to get a new computer. I was thinking I could just move the slave drive to the new computer, but what will I need to do regarding the iTunes software itself? Do I lose all information?

What would you suggest I do? The new computer will have 100 gb. Should I move the library to the new computer or leave it on the slave drive?

Thanks all for your help! :)

[rockmyplimsoul]

if all your songs are on your external drive, then all you do is:

1- install itunes on your new computer, you can get it from apple's site.

2- copy the "iTunes Library.itl" and "iTunes Music Library.xml" files from your old computer to the new. keep them in the same ..\my music\itunes folder. this will preserve your playlists, ratings, & play history.

3- plug your external drive into your new computer.

4- open itunes on your new computer. go to edit/preferences/advanced and change the path to point to your external drive. this will ensure that new songs added to your library get stored on your external drive.

that should get you up and running. however, what i would recommend is that after you do all this, consolidate your library onto your new computer's hard drive, wipe the external drive clean, then use the external drive to back-up all your music and "iTunes Library.itl" and "iTunes Music Library.xml" files periodically.

[mutammim]

What if the songs are on a networked PC and I want to my iPod to sync to it from another PC on the same network, all this while preserving the current library content? Can this be done?

[rockmyplimsoul]

yes, you can have music spread across multiple locations. so your 'library' can consist of songs that are on your computer, with some on an external drive and others on a networked computer. there are a few caveats though:

- if songs are added to any of these locations without the use of itunes, then you'll have to manually add them to your itunes library. so, if someone copies a new song to the network, you'd need to know that and manually add it to your library (i.e. file/add folder to library or file/add file to library).

- you cannot let itunes try to keep things organized. otherwise, when you add songs to your library (as above) they will be copied into the directory structure that you have defined in your itunes preferences. make sure that in your itunes preferences you un-check the "Keep iTunes Music Folder Organized" and "Copy Files to iTunes Music Folder" (at least temporarily while you add songs from these remote locations).

- if the network is unavailable for any reason, obviously networked songs won't play and you'll get a ! next to them.