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Transferring tv series /videos to external drive

I currently have a significant number of tv shows on my laptop which take up an awful lot of space. When watching these shows I mirror my laptop to my Smart TV.


My question is this, can I transfer all of my purchases (tv shows) from my laptop to an external hard drive?


If the answer is yes, can I still mirror to my tv and how would I go about doing that? Is it as simple as connecting the external drive to my laptop.?


Word of caution I am not overly knowledgeable about all of this stuff so please, if at all possible, lets keep it plain and simple.


I am worried that my shows are encrypted and may not be transferrable to an external hard drive.


I need space on my laptop, its quite slow. I think I have approximately 133 videos in my ITunes library.


Thanks ever so much for any help or assistance you may provide.


Hoping to hear from someone fairly soon.


Joce


PS my laptop is not a Mac

Posted on Jan 16, 2019 1:02 PM

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Question marked as Best answer

Howdy!


I have purchased tv shows and movies on external hard drive all the time! The easiest way is to install quicktime player on your laptop. Then you can play the tv shows and movies from your external hard drive to quicktime on your laptop. And yes, you can still mirror your laptop to your smart tv. Are you mirroring via HDMI cable? That is the easiest.


Summary:

  • iTunes store purchased content can only be played via iTunes or Quicktime Player on your Laptop.
  • You can mirror your laptop to your smart tv via HDMI cable.

Posted on Jan 16, 2019 1:40 PM

8 replies
Question marked as Best answer

Jan 16, 2019 1:40 PM in response to jocelynefromottawa

Howdy!


I have purchased tv shows and movies on external hard drive all the time! The easiest way is to install quicktime player on your laptop. Then you can play the tv shows and movies from your external hard drive to quicktime on your laptop. And yes, you can still mirror your laptop to your smart tv. Are you mirroring via HDMI cable? That is the easiest.


Summary:

  • iTunes store purchased content can only be played via iTunes or Quicktime Player on your Laptop.
  • You can mirror your laptop to your smart tv via HDMI cable.

Jan 16, 2019 2:06 PM in response to jocelynefromottawa

If there is not cable running from your laptop to your tv (hdmi) then you do not have hdmi. You must be using software to mirror your laptop to your tv (this usually requires wi-fi via internet). For example, for us apple users. We can "air-play" our iphone, ipad, laptops to our apple tv in turn to our tv via wi-fi internet. Obviously, if you are successfully mirroring your laptop to the tv, you can ignore all this. I was just curious about how you mirrored. :)

Jan 16, 2019 2:18 PM in response to MajorMenace Cam

Thanks again.


I guess I am mirroring via wifi as my laptop is not connected to my tv by way of a cable.


I"m just hoping that if I do buy an external hard drive that once its plugged in to my laptop I will still be able to mirror to my tv.


Any suggestions as to the size of external hard drive I should buy. I have 3 seasons of Outlander which is at least 40 episodes and 4 seasons of Game of Thrones, not sure how many episodes that is.


Thanks again.


Joce

Jan 16, 2019 2:40 PM in response to jocelynefromottawa

Woo! I am also watching Outlander & Game of Thrones. Thoroughly enjoying season 4 of outlander! Keen for next season of g.o.t.


Ok, so first things first.


You don't have to download the tv shows to watch them, you can stream them. Streaming is good for hard drive (hdd) space, but if you have slow internet connection, the video may buffer (stop to load content) or play at a very low resolution. However, if you want to download the tv show to watch without interruptions and take them with you, then yes get a hdd. You can remove the download after watching it as well, this will save you space, you can download again at anytime.


Now if you want an external hdd here are some specs:

Game of Thrones Seasons 1 to 7: 147GB of space

Outlander Seasons 1 to 4: 121GB of space


Note: 1000GB = 1TB (approximately). 2000GB = 2TB etc.


A 1TB hdd is usually enough for most people. But for people who like me who own 812GB of movies & 1.3 TB of tv shows and want to keep them downloaded for offline viewing at anytime, I opted for a 5TB HDD. Which is the biggest portable hdd you can get at this time.

Jan 16, 2019 3:16 PM in response to MajorMenace Cam

Interesting indeed. I originally signed up for netflix since they had Outlander and then signed up for Crave because they had GOT.


Then of course neither one had the most current episodes so I bought them from ITUNES. Enjoying Outlander season 4 and certainly looking forward to the last season of GOT. I am also very much into the Last Kingdom, Frontier, Medici.


I hope I'm understanding all of what you said. I guess my main concern or worry was encryption. I once tried to copy an episode of GOT to a USB but it did not work because of encryption or something like DRM?


Thanks again, you have been most helpful.


Joce

Jan 16, 2019 3:26 PM in response to jocelynefromottawa

You should be able to transfer DRM-protected iTunes content to an external hard drive. I have done it. You can only play iTunes DRM-protected via iTunes or Quicktime. Just make sure your laptop is authorised via iTunes. Quicktime can be faulty at times with errors.


You can't play iTunes DRM-protected content on Windows programs or third-party programs like VLC. Nor can you plug it directly into a TV and play the content. You can only play through iTunes or Quicktime.



Transferring tv series /videos to external drive

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