ImagoX

Q: How do I move my iTunes Library from one PC to another when all my actual songs live on an external hard-drive?

Need to transfer my iTunes from one Win7 laptop to a new one.  The trick is that all my music files live on an external hard drive, which I also use for Home Media Server use (iTunes only has a portion of my full collection under management for use on my iPhone).

 

I don't want to consolidate the music files to the My Music folder (which almost all tutorials say is the first step to transfer the library) - I want to keep them on the external drive.  I want to retain my playlists mainly, as well as things like Podcasts which are unique to the iPhone.

 

  How does one accomplish this? 

 

  Thanks in advance!!

 

-Matt

  Columbus, Ohio

iPhone 4, Windows 7, External hard drive

Posted on Apr 21, 2011 8:36 AM

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Q: How do I move my iTunes Library from one PC to another when all my actual songs live on an external hard-drive?

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  • by ImagoX,

    ImagoX ImagoX Apr 25, 2011 6:49 AM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 25, 2011 6:49 AM in response to turingtest2

      Oh, sorry, I was unclear... My older images are all safe in an offline directory.  It's only Camera Roll I'm worried about.  Thanks!

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Apr 25, 2011 6:53 AM in response to ImagoX
    Level 10 (86,891 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 25, 2011 6:53 AM in response to ImagoX

    No worries, and no harm in backing it up before you try to switch machines, just in case...

     

    tt2

  • by ImagoX,

    ImagoX ImagoX Apr 25, 2011 1:55 PM in response to turingtest2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 25, 2011 1:55 PM in response to turingtest2

      SUCCESS!    My iPhone is synced with my new laptop, and it's authorized to make use of purchased files (podcasts, mainly).

     

      For now, my media file is still set to F:\MP3 - I'll leave that as-is, since I'm pretty sure I won't need to consolidate it.  Worst case, I may need to restore the files somehow in the event of a HDD failure or something, but if that ever happened, I'd just rename the new HDD as "F:\" to re-sync everything.

     

      My only real concern is that now I'm operating form the library database that exists on F:\iTunes as opposed to a library file which exists on the main C:\ drive.. no big deal as my external drive is a Fantom Green drive that's powered up 24/7.  I have a second drive just like it (assigned to G:\) that I use as a secondary backup for all my music and digital image files in the event I ever lose that external HDD - I just run regular 1:1 backups of all files from every sub-directory and will rename THAT drive to "F:\" if I ever experience a drive failure.

     

    Thanks once more for all your assistance - it really was a huge help.  Hopefully the next person that tries this will find this thread useful.

     

      -Matt C.

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Apr 25, 2011 2:03 PM in response to ImagoX
    Level 10 (86,891 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 25, 2011 2:03 PM in response to ImagoX

    Glad to hear you're all transferred and backed up. Enjoy the music.

     

    tt2

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