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Helpful answers
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Aug 18, 2014 6:42 PM in response to dbbmdby Kappy,You can download your iTunes Match tracks to iTunes if you wish, but it would be slow compared to transferring from one hard drive to another.
iCloud is not a storage alternative for all your computer data, just for your iDevice data. If you want a backup in the cloud for your computer then you need to buy space from the many vendors of cloud storage. Hard drives are much cheaper and much faster.
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Aug 18, 2014 6:47 PM in response to Kappyby dbbmd,Thank you for the fast response. What is the best way to create a new backup then? Can I still do this from the .iti and .xml files on my laptop?
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Aug 18, 2014 8:21 PM in response to dbbmdby Limnos,1) It depends upon what was on the external vs. on the internal drive. I am not clear what you had on the external drive and what on the internal drive. A complete library is library files + media. some people keep library files on the internal drive and media on the external. It's the media that are critical. If those were only on the external drive what is on your computer is incomplete and you will have to rely upon Match.
2) As said before, iCloud is not a backup, even if you subscribe to Match. For one, it only stores media, not the other files that give iTunes structure. For another, media are not always in an identical format to what is on your computer.
The .itl (and the essentially identical .xml file which iTunes itself does not use) do not contain media, they contain the information that generates the view you see in iTunes. I think you really need to tell us how you had iTunes structured on your setup.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 - and making an iTunes library portable.