Q: transfer my itunes to external

Try this post.

If you want a step by step for your circumstances I'll need a little more info. E.g. details of where your iTunes library database is now, where the media folder is, and whether you've already upgraded to iTunes Media Organization.

tt2

In theory iTunes 10 should have no problems irreversibly updating the library file to iTunes 10.  You don't say how old the other version of iTunes you are using is.  Try openeing the one on the external but don't erase the copy on the old Mac until you are happy it is working.

Oh, you do have backups of all your files?

Dragging the entire iTunes folder to the external, then holiding down Option as your start iTunes and connecting to //iTunes/iTunes Library should work. That assumes the folder was in a typical layout before you started. If your iTunes folders were in the old school layout dragging over the entire folder can break links to iPod Games, Mobile Applications and Ringtones. If your iTunes Media (or iTunes Music) folder wasn't inside the main iTunes folder then things get messy.

Once the entire library, database and media, is working properly in a portable format it can be moved between any machine running the same build of iTunes. Once you use it with a newer build on one machine you will need to upgrade iTunes on any other computer you want to access the library with.

tt2

Do you keep everything in a single folder on the old computer?  iTunes has several components and they all have to be put in their correct place (best done by dragging over a complete itunes folder) in order to work.  If you were manually managing music then it can get messy and manually managing music is best done when you really know what you are doing (and don't need to ask us ).

The point of  this post is to make sure your original library is ready to be moved before you move it.

Select a single song with an exclamation mark and press CMD-I (or whatever opens) Get Info., cancel when iTunes asks you to try to locate the file. Look at the location given on the summary tab. Now find the true location. Please post back the results. If you're lucky there is a quick fix I can give you, otherwise the library may need to go back to the original computer for some tweaking... Or you can have a go at using the recently introduced and not always successful self-repair feature iTunes has.

tt2

Click No or Cancel, then iTunes should show you the dialog box. On the summary tab take a note of Where: iTunes thinks the file should be. Find out where it really is, full path please, post back both values.

tt2

It sounds like your iTunes collection is not properly managed and completely intact inside the iTunes folder.  Pieces got left behind when you dragged the folder from the other drive.  You will need to follow instructions for consolidating and organizing your collection as in turingtest2's post or as outlined in detailed in the move your library post I linked in my first post.

OK, the problem here is probably caused by the non-standard media folder name, but the non-standard structure below that won't help either.

Is all your media inside records recorded or are there other folders inside the main iTunes folder apart from Album Artwork and Previous iTunes Libraries?

Do you use the same user name with your new Mac? I.e. would it be feasible to move the records recorded folder to Users/christiansturgis/Music/iTunes/ ?

tt2