How do I transfer my iTunes music from one internal hard drive to another internal hard drive without having to locate every song?

Question

Level 1

0 points

How do I transfer my iTunes music from one internal hard drive to another internal hard drive without having to locate every song?

So I have two internal hard drives in my laptop but the hard drive that my music is on is running out of space. I want to transfer my music from the smaller hard drive to the larger hard drive so my computer can run faster. If I do this I'm afraid I'm going to have to locate every song within the iTunes library. Is there a way around it so I won't have to go in my files and locate every song? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Windows 7

Posted on Apr 13, 2014 8:25 AM

Reply

Answer 1

diesel vdub

Level 7

22,178 points

Apr 13, 2014 2:05 PM in response to Jthekidd

Close iTunes.

Move the ENTIRE iTunes folder from it's current location to the desired location.

While holding SHIFT, launch iTunes.

When prompted to create new or locate existing library, point iTunes to the new location of the iTunesLibrary.itl file.

Reply

Answer 2

Jthekidd Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 14, 2014 4:16 PM in response to diesel vdub

I'm going to try it but is there a way to reverse it if it doesn't work? Or can I have all my files on both disks until I find out it works? Cause I have quite a bit of music and I don't want to have to redo it all

Reply

Answer 3

Apr 14, 2014 6:20 PM in response to Jthekidd

Instead of moving the entire iTunes folder you can copy it, then do the Shift-launch trick to select the .itl file from its new location. If it works, then go back and delete the original location.

But maybe clarify your configuration ... specifically, is your "iTunes Library.itl" file currently on the same drive that your music files are stored on? Or, do you keep your .itl file on a separate drive than the native files? If the .itl file is on a separate drive right now, then moving or copying the music files over to be on the same drive can result in iTunes not knowing where your native files went. You can get around that using the Consolidate utility in iTunes, but that is not necessary if the .itl file lives with the music files.

Reply

Answer 4

Jthekidd Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 15, 2014 12:42 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

My iTunes folder is located under Libraries --> Music. The .itl file is in a seperate iTunes folder with all of my music folders, so do I just copy my all of the music folders and the entire iTunes folder to my new hard drive? Then shift launch iTunes and find the .itl folder on the new hard drive? Appreciate the help.

Reply