iTunes on my new computer won't find music held on my external hard drive

Hi,

Did you copy across from your old PC your iTunes library file (*.itl) usually in folder 'C:\Users\*name*\Music\iTunes' If you press and hold shift when you click to load iTunes to location to this iTunes library file then it should find all your music on your external drive assuming this drive is letter 'D' on both your new and old PC's.

Thank you for your reply, and info.

Seems files on the external disc are all in the one library folder, ('andyp's Library') as you have used them ok on the old computer.

You might want to try this method below of letting iTunes know where to find that library on the external disk.

Ensure the external disc is available on Windows:

Close iTunes :

Hold down the Shift key when you open iTunes again.

You should get an option to choose which Library you open ...

If so, navigate to your music folder on the external drive, and choose the 'andyp's Library' folder.

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For your info: (you may or may not want to change how you use iTunes)

The iTunes User Guide for PC - Apple Support

Eg: says:

"How is iTunes changing?

  If you used iTunes before, now use the Apple Music app to listen to your music library, the Apple TV app to watch your shows and movies, and the Apple Devices app to sync all your media to your other devices."

More info: iTunes — before and after

Eg: says:

"When you install the Apple Music or Apple TV app, you can only use those apps for your music, TV shows and movies;

you can continue to use iTunes to listen to your audiobooks and podcasts.

If you don’t install Apple Music or Apple TV, you can continue to use iTunes for all your media."

Thank you for your reply, and info. Sorry I'm not more familiar with using Windows.

Wondering if the whole music library you want to restore access to may already be known as 'andyp's Library' in the system, whatever the actual folder name may be.

Re: Should I create a folder called andyp's Library and if so where should it go in the hierarchy?

No. Not if you want to restore access to the whole iTunesMedia library you used before. (andyp's Library may or may not be what it is called)

Re: If not what do I do?

We aim to tell the system which folder is the music library you want access to.

When you open iTunes holding down the Shift key:

If there is no option to choose the correct library already:

See if you can navigate to the correct iTunesMedia folder on the external drive ... the folder with all the music you want to restore access to.

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Re "(shame that I can't attach a file here)".

Any time you wish, or are able to: In a "Reply" window: A screenshot can be added using the image-insertion button at the bottom of the toolbar.

brbo, FYI, this is an iTunes support forum. iTunes still works fine and the point here is to help people with their iTunes problems. Apple Music for Windows is missing several features and people need help with making iTunes work instead of steering them to an unfinished product.

Re: "Are you suggesting that I uninstall iTunes and then install Apple Music?"

No? You are free to choose whether to stay with iTunes, or move on to Apple Music.

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Re: "Will that allow me to access all my music on the hard drive?"

You should be able to use music on an external drive with either iTunes or Apple Music.

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Re: "NB my external drive seems to have suffered from file-corruption. Luckily I copied all of my Media folder onto a memory stick a few months ago so I should have everything still except for any music I added in the interim period. I now plan to copy this folder back onto the computers hard drive".

OK. That plan seems fine.

Thank you kindly for your opinion.

Re: iTunes on my new computer won't find music held on my external hard drive

Seems your new computer doesn't automatically find your music files:

See how to:

"Add files to your library but not to your Apple Music folder

When you add an item already on your computer to your library, Apple Music places a copy of the file in your Apple Music folder. The original file remains in its current location.

You can change this setting so that files are added to your library without being added to the Apple Music folder. You might want to do this, for example, if you prefer to store files on an external disk but still want to view them in Apple Music.

1. Go to the Apple Music app  on your Windows device.
2. Select  at the top of the sidebar, choose Settings, then select Files.
3. Turn off the “Copy files to Media folder when adding to library” option.

From this point forward, when you drag a file to your library, the item appears in Apple Music, but the actual file isn’t copied or moved.

Tip: You can temporarily reverse this setting by holding down the Alt key while you drag files to the Apple Music window."

Above info. comes from Apple Support's article (link below):

Change where your music files are stored on Windows - Apple Support

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if needed:

More info / support / contact options etc: Music support website: Music - Official Apple Support