Moving music and film onto external drive

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Can anybody tell me if it is possible to move all of my music and film files onto my external hard drive and still have iTunes access them normally so long as the hard drive is connected?

If it is possible can I have a nice short idiots guide about how to do it please?

Cheers

Phil F
 

chscag

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How to move your iTunes media Library: LINK Next time, please use your search functions. The above link is an Apple knowledge base how to article.
 
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Your link says 'sorry, we cannot find the article you are looking for', which is the same thing I found when I used used my search functions the first time around; so not only am I wondering just how friendly some of you folks are I am also none the wiser.

** hum

Thanks anyway

Phil F
 
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The link works fine for me here... but here is what the page says:

Notes:

* To move the iTunes Media folder on a Windows PC, see this article.
* If your iTunes library was originally created using iTunes 8 or earlier, the iTunes Media folder may be called "iTunes Music" instead.

If your hard drive is nearly full after loading all your music and other media into iTunes, or if you just want to move all those music and media files to another hard drive on your system, here's a way to make the move while retaining all your playlists, ratings, and play history.

First make sure that the "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" option is selected in iTunes Preferences:

1. From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
2. In the resulting window, click the Advanced button.
3. Select the "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" checkbox.
4. Click OK.

{The pic here is the Advanced Tab with 'Keep itunes folder organized' and 'Copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library' both have a checkmark}

Once you've done that, follow the next set of steps to change your iTunes Media folder location to the new drive and then consolidate your library to the new location. This not only copies your audio and media files over, it also retains your ratings and playlists. Note: If you move your music and media to an external hard drive, you will need to have that drive connected to access your files. No matter what, it's always a good idea to have a backup of the media you have in iTunes.

1. Open iTunes.
2. From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
3. Click the Advanced button in the Preferences window.
4. Click the Change button in the iTunes Media folder location pane.
5. In the Change Media Folder Location window that appears, navigate to the location where you would like your new iTunes Media folder to be created.
* Note: By default, your iTunes Media folder is a folder named "iTunes Media" in ~/Music/iTunes/ where the tilde "~" represents your home directory.
6. Click the New Folder button in the Change Media Folder Location window.
7. In the New Folder window that appears, enter the name of the new iTunes Media folder.
8. Click Create.
9. Click Choose in the Change Media Folder Location window.
10. Click OK in the Advanced window.
11. From the File menu, choose Library and then Organize Library if using iTunes 9 or later. If you're using iTunes 7 or iTunes 8 for Mac, choose File > Library and then Consolidate Library.
12. In the Organize Library (or Consolidate Library) window, select Consolidate files.
13. Click OK. Important: This action copies all of your music and media files to the new location. There must be enough hard disk space available to copy all of your music and media files.
14. After the folder has been copied, locate your original iTunes Media folder, and drag it to the Trash. Important: Don't remove the iTunes Library files that may be in the same location as the iTunes Media folder. For more information about the iTunes Library files, see this article.
15. Quit iTunes and then open iTunes once more.
* If you receive the alert "The folder containing "iTunes Library" cannot be found, and is required. Please choose or create a new iTunes library," you most likely moved the iTunes Library files. If this is the case, move them out of the Trash and back to where they were.
* If you can open and close iTunes without encountering the above alert, empty the Trash.
--
That is how I have mine done as well as my iphoto files. Both I followed other directions on the net by seaching in google for specific terms, the directions for different programs are different for each I believe.
 
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I also used parallels and search to find all mp3s etc, put them in a seperate folder on my external so I have another backup of my music (but this will not retain playlists, ratings, and play history) but if you use this method, itunes would have to reorganize.
 

chscag

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Your link says 'sorry, we cannot find the article you are looking for', which is the same thing I found when I used used my search functions the first time around; so not only am I wondering just how friendly some of you folks are I am also none the wiser.

** hum

Thanks anyway

Phil F

The Link works fine here and also for others. Perhaps there's a problem with your browser or connection.

And as far as how friendly folks here are, I suggest you get rid of the attitude and consider that people are devoting their free time to assist users like you.
 
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Thankyou aqua. Very much appreciated, I shall get right on to it.
 

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Just a heads up, I tried that url a few times and one of those times Apple said it could not find the article. Maybe they are having some server issues. The next click it came up.
 
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Just a heads up, I tried that url a few times and one of those times Apple said it could not find the article. Maybe they are having some server issues. The next click it came up.

Thankyou.

Phil F. :)
 

dtravis7


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Thankyou.

Phil F. :)

What was bugging me is I know Chscag and he would never post something that was not working, so I thought my ISP was having issues or something, then clicked it a 2nd time and got the page. It was going to Apple, but Apple could not find the page, so it has to be their end.
 

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