How do I get iTunes to recognise media on a new external hard drive?

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How do I get iTunes to recognise media on a new external hard drive?

I had moved my entire iTunes library to an external HDD after running out of space on my 2007 Macbook. Unfortunately my HDD then broke so I sent it for data recovery. Now I've got it back I can't seem to be able to get iTunes to automatically recognise my new HDD, and iTunes seems to have changed the location where it's searching for the music back to the default one.

If memory serves me correctly I did this on an older version of iTunes but am now running the latest one. Dunno whether that makes any difference or not but I just want to be able to access the music which the data recovery company salvaged (tens of GBs' worth) so I can update my iPod and hear my tunes!

MacBook (13-inch Late 2006), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 31, 2013 8:07 AM

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Answer 1

judysings

Community Specialist

Jun 2, 2013 12:33 PM in response to aghill77

Hi aghill77,

I'm sorry to hear you are having issues moving your iTunes library to an external drive.

The article below explains how to move your iTunes library to a different location.

You may want to verify how the recovered files have been named so that they match the information contained in the article.

iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder

If your hard drive is nearly full after loading all your music and other media into iTunes, or if you just want to move all those music and media files to another hard drive on your system, here's a way to make the move while retaining all your playlists, ratings, and play history.

iTunes: What are the iTunes library files?

I hope this information helps ....

Have a great day!

- Judy

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Answer 2

aghill77 Author

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Nov 19, 2013 4:03 AM in response to judysings

Hi Judy and thanks for the reply, even though it has taken me ages to get back to you. The reason for this is that I've since upgraded my sytem and have a much bigger HDD now, I have all my iTunes stuff on the external HDD though and want to put it back into iTunes. The version of iTunes I'm now using, however, seems not to like it when I try to reverse the process. I'd like to be able to move everything back onto the HDD. Any idea as to how to do that please? I've also now got an iPhone and want to put all my music on there but it seems to be having trouble syncing via WiFi. I figured that if I get the iTunes issue sorted first I can then address the iPhone issue as I thought it might be easier if everything is all in the same place!

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Answer 3

judysings

Community Specialist

Nov 24, 2013 12:12 PM in response to aghill77

Hi aghill77,

You may need to update your iTunes software first on your new HDD, then start with a clean, empty library, and add the music from your iTunes Media folder on the external drive to your internal HDD.

You'll have to re-create your playlists, but I think this would be the best way to resolve this.

Adding music and other content to iTunes

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1473

iTunes 11 for Mac: Set up syncing for iPod, iPhone, or iPad

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12113?viewlocale=en_US

Cheers,

- Judy

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Answer 4

aghill77 Author

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May 15, 2014 3:58 AM in response to judysings

Hi there,

Unfortunately, I tried everything, even installing iTunes onto another computer, but nothing seems to have worked. I've come to the conclusion that the library files must have been corrupted when the old HDD on which it was stored broke. I had the HDD's content recovered but pretty much all my library is bust. Is it possible to re-download tracks I've already bought, and if so, how do I go about that? Do I remove the existing versions first or just go to download again?

All help appreciated!

Andrew

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Answer 5

judysings

Community Specialist

May 19, 2014 1:03 PM in response to aghill77

Hi aghill77,

Sorry to hear of your troubles. If you click on a song and it will not play, you can delete it. Then you can redownload it from the iTunes Store or re-import it from a CD or file as described above. The links below will show you how to delete purchased content and redownload it from the iTunes Store. There also a link to review your entire purchase history and get help from the iTune Store Support team if you need it.

iTunes Store & Mac App Store: Seeing your purchase history and order numbers

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2727

How to delete content you've downloaded from the iTunes Store, App Store, iBooks Store, or Mac App Store

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5772

Downloading past purchases from the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBooks Store
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519

Good luck!

- Judy

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