I move iTunes Library but the iTunes Library.itl links to the old hard drive.

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I move iTunes Library but the iTunes Library.itl links to the old hard drive.

I have a portable library but when I follow online instructions and shift click iTunes click the iTunes Library.itl in the copied drive it links to the old drive path. I am trying to move it to a new hard drive (F:) from the old hard drive (E:) while still maintaining my play counts and playlists. Every online tutorial I follow leads to it looking for the files on E: even though the library and files have all been transferred to F: I have 20,000 songs so I would very much not like to have to find the new location manually for each one.

Posted on Mar 1, 2019 5:53 PM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

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Mar 2, 2019 11:18 PM in response to loganjamesalex

Before I got the new hard drive the path and .itl was in "E:\Users\alexl\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media" and "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" was checked and my entire library was organized by iTunes in that folder.

To be portable the .itl file should be in the folder that contains the media folder, in your example, "E:\Users\alexl\Music\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl", i.e. in the iTunes folder, not iTunes Media. It is the entire iTunes folder that is supposed to be copied, not just the media folder.

Given that all you're changing is the drive letter then an alternative approach after copying everything is to change the drive letters around so that say E:\ becomes G:\ then F:\ can become E:\ and lastly G:\ can become F:\. That way the new drive occupies the same path that the old one did, there is no need to shift-start iTunes to change libraries, and all of the references can continue to point to E:\.

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Answer 2

turingtest2

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Mar 2, 2019 5:00 AM in response to loganjamesalex

See Make a split library portable - Apple Community. What are the paths to the .itl file and the media folder shown under Edit > Preferences > Advanced? What were they before you tried to move the library?

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Answer 3

turingtest2

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Mar 5, 2019 3:15 AM in response to loganjamesalex

It would seem at first glance that the library on the E: drive is in a portable shape, so a clone of that library on the F: drive ought to work as a standalone library with all of the file references updating automatically after you use the shift-start-iTunes method to choose the iTunes Library.itl file on the F: drive. The media folder path in preferences should automatically swap too when you go from one library to the other. Your image shows some additional files on the F: drive, so perhaps you've done something something other than a simple clone of one folder to the other. What are the file sizes in E:\...\iTunes?

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Answer 4

Mar 2, 2019 6:59 PM in response to turingtest2

I knew someone was gonna link that. It's not a split library. Before I got the new hard drive the path and .itl was in "E:\Users\alexl\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media" and "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" was checked and my entire library was organized by iTunes in that folder. New hard drive path is "F:\Users\alexl\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media" only thing different is the drive letter. When I follow this forums tutorials and copy the media folder from E:\ to F:\ then open the copied .itl on F:\ it tries to find the library on E:\ (which I have not deleted because I haven't managed to get it to transfer properly) and when I right click+"Show in Windows Explorer" it links back to E:\. If I delete the .itl and transfer all the music through iTunes it treats them all like new freshly added songs and removes my playlists/play counts but it properly links to F:\ but I really don't want to do that.

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Answer 5

turingtest2

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Mar 3, 2019 6:40 AM in response to loganjamesalex

Can you confirm the exact path of the .itl file on E:\? Is it 1 or 2?

E:\Users\alexl\Music\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl
E:\Users\alexl\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\iTunes Library.itl

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Answer 6

Mar 3, 2019 6:20 AM in response to turingtest2

Sorry yes it was the entire iTunes folder copied on that path. I can't change the drive letter because I have too many games and apps, like 2TB on E: which is why I bought I new hard drive to put music on so I can listen to music and play games without stressing my hard drive.

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Answer 7

Mar 3, 2019 6:10 PM in response to turingtest2

Let me just give you a little context here. I built this PC myself each part bought separately. I troubleshoot all my problems myself, using google or just what I have learned over the years. When I was talking about the iTunes media folder in the first message that was only in the context of the iTunes settings, not what I copied over. This is not the first time I have tried to do this and it didn't work which is why I made this post finally. This same thing happened on my old PC, following all instructions on "portable library" and also using iTunes to organize the folders from the very first song added, the "iTunes Library.itl" located in "\Music\iTunes\" links to the old library. I honestly don't understand how it is supposed to recognize the new drive path when it is directly copied from the old one and has not been edited. Honestly this tutorial doesn't sound like it would work on any computer especially after trying it on two myself. If there was some way to open the "iTunes Library.itl" in notepad and get something readable/editable I would have changed the drive path myself.

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I move iTunes Library but the iTunes Library.itl links to the old hard drive.

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