S.Petersen
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Tried to import my iTunes library from my old PC to my new Mac Air and it said start up disk full. Only have 58gb of music but it says close to 90gb. How do I see what transferred?

I have a Macbook Air with 121 flash storage. I followed the instructions on how to export original library from my PC to an external drive and then how to transfer it to the desktop to transfer into iTunes and while importing it came up with the "start up disk full". There wasn't much of anything on the laptop before this. How can I see what happened or how do I undo the import without messing things up?

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jan 9, 2016 9:18 PM

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S.Petersen

Q: Tried to import my iTunes library from my old PC to my new Mac Air and it said start up disk full. Only have 58gb of music but it ... more

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  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jan 9, 2016 9:50 PM in response to S.Petersen
    Level 9 (54,353 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 9, 2016 9:50 PM in response to S.Petersen

    Which exact instructions were you following? I don't know what you have really done because there are many different set of instructions out there.  If you were dragging an iTunes folder to somewhere on your Mac then delete it and empty the trash. It should still be present intact on the external drive.

  • by S.Petersen,

    S.Petersen S.Petersen Jan 10, 2016 9:55 AM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 10, 2016 9:55 AM in response to Limnos

    This is the instructions we used.....

     

    How to move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Support

     

    I did drag the folder from the desktop to the trash and deleted trash and restarted laptop and it still shows almost 90GB. When I view how many songs are in iTunes it only shows 32gb of songs about 7300 and the original library has over 12,000. So the whole library didn't get transferred over.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jan 10, 2016 7:04 PM in response to S.Petersen
    Level 9 (54,353 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 10, 2016 7:04 PM in response to S.Petersen

    Are you sure the library you are trying to move does not exceed the free space available on the hard drive? It is pretty easy to have huge libraries compared to the smaller internal drive sizes these days.

  • by S.Petersen,

    S.Petersen S.Petersen Jan 10, 2016 7:33 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 10, 2016 7:33 PM in response to Limnos

    There should have been room there was very little on there a few documents and a few pictures. I had no other music or audio files on it yet. With the instructions I used what will be the best way to undo it and see how much space there is? if it is easier to back up what other files I have on the laptop and wipe the rest of it clean so it's a clean slate that may be the way I have to go. The file size from the old computer was less than 60GB but more than 50GB.

  • by ammoniumnitrat,

    ammoniumnitrat ammoniumnitrat Jan 11, 2016 5:35 AM in response to S.Petersen
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jan 11, 2016 5:35 AM in response to S.Petersen

    If this is all music you bought in iTunes it might be cleaner, easier and faster (depending on your internet connection) to just redownload you music. iTunes -> click your name in the upper right -> bought articles.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jan 11, 2016 5:54 AM in response to ammoniumnitrat
    Level 9 (54,353 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 11, 2016 5:54 AM in response to ammoniumnitrat

    Yes, you can re-download your music but it will only re-download things you purchased from Apple, it will take forever to do 60 GB, it won't include playlists, ratings, date added.  I.e., you are much better off transferring it.

     

    Moving a library: Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings:  Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its sub-folders and files) intact to the other drive, hold down the option/alt key while starting iTunes, and when requested to select a library select the iTunes Library.itl file in the copied folder.

     

    If you are doing the above and your computer says it has 90 GB free and you say the stuff you are moving is 50-60 GB then we need to work on that problem.  Fr example, are you absolutely positive as to the free space on your hard drive?  Did you get info on the drive and see what it reports?