I carefully followed every step on the Apple support page "How to move your Itunes library to a new computer", but my playlists do not appear in Itunes on the new computer. Any suggestions? The old computer has Windows XP, the new one has Windows 8.
Perhaps Windows Explorer choked when it was copying your files. See Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy. This is the tool I use to make sure that any two copies of my iTunes Library actually hold all the same files. Ideally you would have used it from the outset as it is able to continue copying even if there is an issue with a particular file somewhere. If you set it up to clone the copy of the library on the external to the iTunes folder on your laptop and preview the action you should see that it is mostly going to make new files that represent those that haven't copied over already plus some overwrites for the library files you've accessed more recently.
tt2
I just realized that only 600 songs have been found. This is not good, that the vast majority of my library did not transfer over.
I think you need to start again 😟
with the external drive still connected to the old computer, hold down SHIFT as you start iTunes, and when you get this prompt:
click on Choose Library..., navigate to your external drive (if you've copied the library correctly you should be going to X:\iTunes, where X: is the external drive), select the iTunes Library.itl file that you'll find there, and click Open. If the library has been completely copied to the external drive, your complete library should be there and everything should be located and play correctly.
Regarding Consolidation, on the support page Back up your iTunes library by copying it to an external drive - Apple Support , the box saying "Keep iTunes media folder organized" is not checkmarked, so therefore I left it blank when going through these steps. I see in hhgttg's screenshot here, that box is checked. Could this be the problem? If so, I'll do it again and check both of those boxes. If it doesn't work, I'll proceed with turingtest's solution.
We were typing at the same time. I will go through these steps. I've just realized that on my old computer, iTunes has been locating music on the external drive. I now remember doing this, to save space on that computer. The music lives on the external storage drive. Is this a problem?
The Keep iTunes Media folder organized shouldn't make a difference - this doesn't control where media is stored (when the other option is checked, everything will still be in the iTunes Media folder). When the Keep iTunes Media folder organized option is checked, iTunes will rename files and folders as they are moved into the iTunes Media folder, where folders follow the pattern (for music) iTunes Media\Music\artist_name\album_title - the last two being derived from the Artist/Album Artist and Album values in iTunes, and files being named according to the disc number (if set), track number and song title.
"I've just realized that on my old computer, iTunes has been locating music on the external drive. I now remember doing this, to save space on that computer. The music lives on the external storage drive. Is this a problem?"
Not necessarily a problem, but definitely an explanation ... tt2's Make a split library portable user tip will allow you to resolve this.
I've downloaded SyncToy 2.1 to the old computer. The first step says to synchronize folders before starting. I located my "Music" file on the external drive, which contains music folders, and a copy of".iTunes Preferences.plist". Should that be in there? This is a separate folder from iTunes.
When I went to synchronize this Music folder, it wants me to add a "folder 2". I'm not sure what folder to include here. ??
To clarify, my Music folder contains all music folders. The term "music file" might have been confusing in my last post.
Okay, I realized I want to synchronize the external drive Music folder with the iTunes Music folder, which is in iTunes media, on the hardrive. Correct? Should the iTunes Music folder on the hardrive be folder 2 when synchronizing? Or the other way around?
By the way, I have the "new layout" when it comes to a portable library.
Also wondering if I should take that old iTunes Preference.plist out of the external Music folder before synchronizing. I doubt if it's current, as it is not in an iTunes folder.
The "iTunes Preference.plist" in the Music folder on my external drive, was modified in 2013. The one in my iTunes Media folder on the hardrive was modified in 2010. Is this is problem? I haven't done anything, yet. Awaiting advice here first.
Hi, been a busy day.
.iTunes Preferences.plist stores the layout of the library. Once a library is in the modern layout there should be no need for the file to be updated again. The file is stored in the media folder. The iTunes Library.itl file is the core of the library as it holds the database of the content that it is comprised of. The folder containing this file is the library folder. As long as the library folder contains the media folder, which in turn contains all the media, then the library should be portable. A clone of the library folder and all of its subfolders should work when copied to any other computer running the same build of iTunes.
Ideally the library folder is called iTunes and the media folder is called iTunes Media. The make a split library portable tip has suggestions for rearranging things if required.
tt2
In 2016, it's unbelievable that Playlists and Library don't auto-update on your other devices when you log into your Apple account.
The trial and error method users face trying to make that happen is ridiculous.
I know this post may not help individual users now, but maybe Apple reads these sometimes and does something - like replace iTunes altogether.
Transfer itunes playlists to new computer
