How to Relocate your iTunes Library

[bar]

Originally Posted by notaclueguru

help!!
i have trouble with my itunes when i try to play a song it asks me to locate and then when i click on that it shows folders of different downloads of itunes which d'ont open the songs either,if someone can answer this problem i would be gratefull as im not very computer literate

In order to allow itunes to work best, i prefer to select "Copy files to iTunes Media Folder when adding to Library" in the advanced preferences. If you haven't, do that.
It won't really solve the problem with the current tracks, but will solve it from now on.
Assuming the tracks you are talking about are SOMEWHERE on your computer, just erase the ones with the exclamation mark, and add them to your iTunes again. If you selected the setting i mentioned above, you will never have the problem again.

[haleytivet]

OK. I'm sure the answer to my question is on this forum somewhere but I can't seem to find it.

I moved/copied all itunes onto an external hard drive. I renamed the location and I believe I have everything saved the right way. I am now attempting to sync my iphone and it is telling me I have to erase everything in order to sync.

I have tried the "manage music files" but it's not allowing me to accept this change.

I am a MAC user and can't seem to figure out how to sync my phone without losing everything on it and starting over.

If I have to start over by erasing everything how do I start over? And will this same thing happen next time I try to sync?

Please help! Thanks!

[S2_Mac]

This is a dupe post. Please use this thread for discussion of this problem.

[jstuneck]

I am trying to move itunes to a new internal hard drive to create more space on the original drive. I successfully changes the location of the files onto the new drive as described in this post (I actually followed the directions in the article "Transferring your iTunes Library".) I carefully verified that the files had been transfered and then deleted what I thought was the music files on the original drive. I had actually chosen the newly copied files. I assumed I would be able to repeat the steps above to recopy the music files, however when I do, nothing happens.

What is the most efficient way to get the music files re-copied? It is only the music files that are missing. The movie, tv and podcast files are still in the new location. I did choose one album to import (I think that is what I chose) into itunes. It now works, but every track is duplicated (one that works and one that has an exclamation point and doesn't work.) There must be a way to do this without all the duplicates.

Thank you for any help you can give to this not completely computer literate person.

[blugsr]

yes I looked but I couldnt find any topic that covered using an external hd as your source drive for itunes. ive dl itunes plus the 8 k songs that i have on the f drive. they show up but with the exclamation point. I cant find these songs one by one to correct this problem. there has got to be an easier way

[crash613]

Originally Posted by blugsr

yes I looked but I couldnt find any topic that covered using an external hd as your source drive for itunes. ive dl itunes plus the 8 k songs that i have on the f drive. they show up but with the exclamation point. I cant find these songs one by one to correct this problem. there has got to be an easier way

see my post in here, somewhere, for step by step instructions

[sherrycanary]

3) Choose a new Music folder, and enter it into the appropriate box in the Advanced Tab of Preferences. (For me, a folder on the new internal drive. For you, on the external drive.)

Hi

How and where do I create this new music folder?

Thanks,
Sherry

[Thom_D]

With 11 pages of replys and the terrible search tool I just couldn't find the answer to this question. I have a new laptop running Windows 7and I am going to move iTunes from my old and soon to be dead desktop PC running windows XP. I get how to consolidate my music files, copy my iTunes folder from my old PC to my external hard drive and then copy that onto my laptops hard drive. This all seems pretty straight forward.

The question is, will this process also copy my iPhone backups, apps, photos, etc. from the old PC to the new one? Or are there additional steps I have to take in order to get everything moved over to the new PC.

I want to have essentially an exact copy of all of iTunes from my old computer (music, cover art, play lists, play history, iPhone backups, iPhone apps, the whole nine yards that has become iTunes) on my new one because as I mentioned I am going to retire the old machine and donate it to a school or church.

[Jesse Hollington]

Provided you've upgraded to the new iTunes Media folder structure your apps will be included in the consolidated Media folder, as this puts the "Mobile Applications" folder in the same hierarchy as the rest of your media content (music, movies, books, etc).

Your iPhone backup sare stored elsewhere, and while you can move those over if you really want to, there's rarely any point in doing so, since you'll get a whole new backup the next time you connect your iPhone anyway. You can find more information about where those are stored in this Apple support article: iPhone and iPod touch: About backups

Your photos actually have very little to do with iTunes, so you'll need to move those over yourself. The only thing iTunes knows about your photos is the folder you've pointed it to -- it syncs photos from that location, and even creates a cache of converted thumbnails in that folder, but otherwise doesn't touch or care about your photo collection.

[crashtestdummy]

I just moved my iTunes from XP to Windows 7. All my music was on an external. First I just copied the .xml file in the iTunes folder in My Music. My iTunes was OK, but my iPod Classic wasn't. I restored it and resynced it. Then I copied everything from my iTunes folder to my new iTunes folder. When I synced my iPhone, everything was happy.

[S2_Mac]

Apologies to the mods if this is considered OT...

FWIW, I do most of my iLounge searching via Google (man, they index this site quickly -- posts are often "in" Google before I even read them here ;-). To limit a search to a specific site, include the following in your Google search string: [i]site:forums.ilounge.com[/b]. For instance, "transfer itunes new computer iphone site:forums.ilounge.com"

Of course, there are so many posts here that some weeding-outh is still needed, but at least it cuts down on the cruft. (And limiting a Google search to iLounge avoids links to low-quality/confuddled info like Yahoo Answers and all the wannabe iLounge competitors. Search aside, this site is still the class of the field.)

[S2_Mac]

Jesse, maybe it's just me...but it sure seems that one of your fine tutorials on Moving iTunes to a New Computer -- the iPhone Edition would be a great traffic-driver for the site. (Esp. since Apple just can't seem to be bothered to produce a clear step-by-step guide.) Umm, in your copious free time, of course ;-)

Looks like our little heat wave crossed the bridge at Sarnia and took a leisurely drive up the 401; you're welcome <g> Try not to melt!

[crash613]

Originally Posted by S2_Mac

Jesse, maybe it's just me...but it sure seems that one of your fine tutorials on Moving iTunes to a New Computer -- the iPhone Edition would be a great traffic-driver for the site. (Esp. since Apple just can't seem to be bothered to produce a clear step-by-step guide.) Umm, in your copious free time, of course ;-)

Looks like our little heat wave crossed the bridge at Sarnia and took a leisurely drive up the 401; you're welcome <g> Try not to melt!

Do you mean like this one?

Transferring your iTunes Library | iLounge Article

The search function really DOES work.

Admittedly it does not cover the "multi-media" nor apps portion of your backup. But i believe those questions were answered in the last few pages of this thread.

Maybe a refresh of the current guide would be in order. hum.

[crashtestdummy]

Originally Posted by crash613

Do you mean like this one?

Transferring your iTunes Library | iLounge Article

The search function really DOES work.

Admittedly it does not cover the "multi-media" nor apps portion of your backup. But i believe those questions were answered in the last few pages of this thread.

Maybe a refresh of the current guide would be in order. hum.

I looked at that article when I was contemplating moving mine, but there were many issues with it (for me). It's 2 years old, it's very long (very short attention span), and there was a lot of that info that I already knew.

Perhaps a FAQ, starting at the basic and working towards the complex.

[S2_Mac]

LOL -- a quick review of my last 2,000 posts will p'bly indicate that I'm aware of the tutorials ;-) And maybe it's just me, but it feels like there's an uptick in folks wanting to know -- specifically -- about the fate of their iPhone and its backups when transferring iTunes to a new computer. The current tutorial is getting a bit long in the tooth (last update was 22 months ago), and mentions nary a word concerning "what to do" about preserving iPhone backups or what will happen to/with the phone when it first connects to its transferred library.

(Not that there's anything that needs to be done; unless the iPhone is having a problem, it will make a new backup as soon as it's connected to the new computer. But tending-to-their-backups seems to be on peoples' minds -- yay! -- and having the realities explained by an authoritative voice like Jesse's would go a long way toward easing their concerns.)

I'm not knocking Jesse's work at all -- he does great stuff. (Like, I wish there was a non-Kindle ebook version of his iPod & iTunes Portable Genius title; I'd promote it heavily.)

Actually, I'm going to backtrack on my first sentence... Since I returned to the forums after my injury, I've had less occasion to link posters to the "Transferring" article, p'bly because it doesn't address the issue of "what will happen to my iPhone/touch?". Apple's tech articles aren't addressing this particular bit of customer concern, and it strikes me that updating the current tutorial could bring lottsa new eyeballs to the iLounge site...and do a good deed at the same time.

Then again, this could all be in my head...Bog knows there's little enough going on up there, so every tiny thought has way too much room to grow ;-)