simonmurray
Level 1 (10 points)
Notebooks

Q: Making the jump to Macbook and exteral iTunes library.

Hi All,

After years of dedication to windows based PC's, i have finally decided to take the plunge and move to Mac!

 

Q: my current itunes library is on an external hard drive via usb as there is not enough space on the computer. Ideally i would like to plug this drive straight into my Macbook and continue as normal but i know its not as easy as that. How to i overcome-

1. The Macbook will likely not recognise the external USB drive as its in a windows format. How do i get around this without putting at risk the content on the drive.

2. With the above on mind, how do i set up itunes on my mac, point the location of the Itunes media folder to the external hdd and simply continue from there? I.e if i point the settings to the HDD will my library which is also in icloud somply find the tracks in the itunes folder on the Hdd without me having to simply manually select each file?

 

Thanks

 

simon

Dell, Windows Vista

Posted on May 23, 2015 1:12 PM

by turingtest2,Solvedanswer
turingtest2 turingtest2
Level 10 (87,851 points)
Apple TV
A:

See the see Make a split library portable user tip. If the library is in the correct shape you can connect the NTFS drive to OS X, copy the entire ITunes folder onto an HFS+ drive, then option-start iTunes to connect to the fresh copy.

 

tt2

Posted on May 24, 2015 6:39 AM

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simonmurray

Q: Making the jump to Macbook and exteral iTunes library.

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  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 May 23, 2015 1:24 PM in response to simonmurray
    Level 10 (87,851 points)
    Apple TV
    May 23, 2015 1:24 PM in response to simonmurray

    First see Make a split library portable and make sure your library is truly self-contained on the external drive. Having the media alone on it won't work, and the components need to be in the correct portable relationship to make the transition between operating systems.

     

    OS X will read both FAT32 and NTFS formatted drives, but it cannot write to NTFS without some additional software. You could either buy a second external drive which you format to HFS+, then copy over the content, or purchase a suitable NTFS driver.

     

    Note that you should aim to maintain at least two copies of your iTunes library, and any other important data, at all times. The user tip Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy includes suggestions for OS X utilities which work in a similar way to SyncToy.

     

    tt2

  • by simonmurray,

    simonmurray simonmurray May 24, 2015 1:42 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Notebooks
    May 24, 2015 1:42 AM in response to turingtest2

    Thank you, the help is most useful. One quick query. If i buy a new external HDD and format to HFS+. Can i connect this to my existing PC and port the content across as descrbed when everything is in place? Will the PC see the formatted drive that has been set up for OS X? I.e all "Transition" works will be done on the PC before bringing the Mac into play, including formatting, porting etc. Hope this makes sense?

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 May 24, 2015 3:41 AM in response to simonmurray
    Level 10 (87,851 points)
    Apple TV
    May 24, 2015 3:41 AM in response to simonmurray

    Unfortunately Windows cannot work with HFS+ drives without additional driver software. It would seem wasteful to pay for that on a system you are about to abandon.

     

    tt2

  • by simonmurray,

    simonmurray simonmurray May 24, 2015 6:10 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Notebooks
    May 24, 2015 6:10 AM in response to turingtest2


    Agree,

     

    But how then to I transfer from a windows back drive on which are the content is probably segregated as per your article to a larger external HDD which is format for OS X? How do I complete the crossover/porting of material between devices which have different operating systems?

     

    Sorry, hope this sounds right

     

    S.

  • by turingtest2,Solvedanswer

    turingtest2 turingtest2 May 24, 2015 6:39 AM in response to simonmurray
    Level 10 (87,851 points)
    Apple TV
    May 24, 2015 6:39 AM in response to simonmurray

    See the see Make a split library portable user tip. If the library is in the correct shape you can connect the NTFS drive to OS X, copy the entire ITunes folder onto an HFS+ drive, then option-start iTunes to connect to the fresh copy.

     

    tt2

  • by simonmurray,

    simonmurray simonmurray May 31, 2015 9:09 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Notebooks
    May 31, 2015 9:09 AM in response to turingtest2

    Thank you so much for all your help to date. The library is in the correct format to be ported between devices as outlined in your article. Im about a month away from getting my new mac. Ive noticed on my PC that even though i have copied across the 5 library files as requested, including the hidden sentinel file, itunes in still updating the library files in my old default location, i.e music folder on my pc and inside the iTunes folder within it. I didnt delete this folder even though it was effectively mirrored on my external hdd. Up until the point which i move to Mac, how do i get my pc/itunes to instead update the library files on the external HDD and not the location in which the programme was initially installed? Or is it simply a case of copying the most up to date library files (5 off) prior to porting? Thanks again for your help.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 May 31, 2015 9:54 AM in response to simonmurray
    Level 10 (87,851 points)
    Apple TV
    May 31, 2015 9:54 AM in response to simonmurray

    Have you shift-started iTunes to connect to the external copy?

     

    tt2

  • by simonmurray,

    simonmurray simonmurray May 31, 2015 11:07 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Notebooks
    May 31, 2015 11:07 AM in response to turingtest2

    Just done it, super thank you.

     

    One final point. When i get the man and i plug in my external HDD in the correct format etc, do i simply but itunes up for the first time and point to the folder.

    Is it as striaght forward as that or do i need to do something else to ensure it uses the library etc that is on the external HDD?

     

    Thanks again for all your help

     

    Simon.

  • by turingtest2,Helpful

    turingtest2 turingtest2 May 31, 2015 11:21 AM in response to simonmurray
    Level 10 (87,851 points)
    Apple TV
    May 31, 2015 11:21 AM in response to simonmurray

    On a Mac it is option-start-iTunes to switch to an alternate library.

     

    tt2

  • by simonmurray,

    simonmurray simonmurray Jun 2, 2015 7:07 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 2, 2015 7:07 AM in response to turingtest2

    Sorry,

    Quick one.

     

    On my portable layout  notice that the Home video's folder is resideing within the music folder? Im assuming it should not be there ot should it?

     

    I have also noted that for new Podcast downloads since updating the library, Podcasts are being downloaded to a Podcasts folder within the Music folder and not the older Podcasts folder within theiTunes Media folder.

     

    2 simply things, but just want to get this absolutely right.

     

    Thank You

     

    S

  • by turingtest2,Helpful

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Jun 2, 2015 8:01 AM in response to simonmurray
    Level 10 (87,851 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 2, 2015 8:01 AM in response to simonmurray

    Where is the active .itl file?

    What is the path to the media folder under Edit > Preferences > Advanced?

     

    Ideally they would be:

    X:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl

    X:\iTunes\iTunes Media

    where X: is the drive letter.

     

    I'm guessing you've picked the folder X:\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music. If so correct it, then turn keep organized off and back on again. That should resolve things.

     

    tt2

  • by simonmurray,

    simonmurray simonmurray Jun 2, 2015 8:13 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 2, 2015 8:13 AM in response to turingtest2

    Super,

     

    That has corrected things. I changed the preferences tab to Itunes/Itunes media.

    The only thing remaining is that when i go into the Music folder i am seeing--

     

    1. An empty automatically added to itunes folder. (I already have one fo these in the media folder)

    2. For some strange reason the Home movies folder is showing in the Music folder. Should i re-locate this to the movies folder and simply lopcate the 8 or so files from within itunes?

     

    Thanks

     

    S

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Jun 2, 2015 8:53 AM in response to simonmurray
    Level 10 (87,851 points)
    Apple TV
    Jun 2, 2015 8:53 AM in response to simonmurray

    1. You can delete the extra Automatically Add to iTunes folder, the restructure won't have removed it.

     

    2. Moving things by hand generally gets iTunes confused. Looking at a test library home movies should go to \iTunes\iTunes Media\Home Videos. Does that folder exist? If not you could create it and move the files there, then repair the links to those 8 files if iTunes doesn't pick them up by itself.

     

    tt2

  • by simonmurray,

    simonmurray simonmurray Jun 2, 2015 10:14 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 2, 2015 10:14 AM in response to turingtest2

    Hi,

     

    I noticed with making the prfercnes change to Itunes/Itunes Media, when i bring all by music back down from the icloud via match, instaead of it placing it in organised folders within the Music folder i.e Itunes/Itunes Media/Music (The organized bix is ticked), it is instead creating folders for all the music within the media folder.

     

    Tried unchecking and re-checking organised box again but still downloading and organising in the media folder and not music. (Hence why i set the prefercnes to Itunes/ItunesMedia/Music previousl)

     

    Any way to correct it doing this?

     

    S

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