I have an HP laptop, running Windows 8- I have loaded all of my music into the "automatically add to itunes" folder, and by everything I have read, it should evaluate and load automatically, but it isnt doing it. How do I get it to load the music into iTunes?
HP laptop-OTHER, Windows 8
That isn't the way to move your library correctly.
Ideally you would copy the entire iTunes folder from user's music on the old computer into user's music on the the new one. That way you retain ratings, playlists, play counts, date added information, etc. Building a new library with the same set of media files is not the same thing. In some cases, for example when the media folder has been split out to a new path, there may be some preparation to do (see Make a split library portable) or you may need do additional work to hook up the library and the media in the new location.
What exactly have you done? Copying content into the Automatically Add to iTunes folder will normally cause it to be added to the library. Reasons it might not could be some kind of permissions problem, or that you are looking at a folder that isn't part of the active library.
tt2
That isn't the way to move your library correctly.
Ideally you would copy the entire iTunes folder from user's music on the old computer into user's music on the the new one. That way you retain ratings, playlists, play counts, date added information, etc. Building a new library with the same set of media files is not the same thing. In some cases, for example when the media folder has been split out to a new path, there may be some preparation to do (see Make a split library portable) or you may need do additional work to hook up the library and the media in the new location.
What exactly have you done? Copying content into the Automatically Add to iTunes folder will normally cause it to be added to the library. Reasons it might not could be some kind of permissions problem, or that you are looking at a folder that isn't part of the active library.
tt2
Perhaps I didnt phrase my question exactly properly... I did not START with the music in iTunes... I had to reformat my hard drive on my laptop so I was starting with a blank slate,trying to repopulate my iTunes from a music back up I have on an external hard drive. As such, all of my music was copied directly from the CD onto the external hard drive. I downloaded the latest version of iTunes, and then dragged (copied) the music from the external drive to the "automatically add to iTunes" folder on the laptop. My understanding is that iTunes will automatically load it into iTunes when I next opened iTunes. It isnt doing that... it loaded SOME, but not the bulk of the files. Thanks for your help
Automatically Add to iTunes isn't really ideal for bulk additions. It is more for dropping the odd album into. A better approach would have been to copy the media from the external drive into the media folder (normally <User's Music>\iTunes\iTunes Media) and then use File Add Folder to Library to add the folder that you've copied. If iTunes is set to organize the media folder, which it is by default on a fresh install, iTunes will rearrange media as it is added to the library.
Was iTunes open when you copied in the files? Is there a new subfolder of Automatically Add to iTunes called Not Added?
tt2
hmmmmm.... all the folders that are "named" the title of each CD are empty, and all of the content (songs) are in the not added file. I dont see anyplace that tells me WHY it wasnt. Anyway, I can try doing it the other way if you think that would be easier than figuring out why it didnt work. All of the albums were copied in Windows Media Player, does that make a difference? My understanding is that iTunes will convert them. Oh, and no, iTunes was not open when I put them into the Automatically add folder
Ah, as I understand it the Automatically Add to iTunes folder can only be used for compatible files, so anything in WMA would have been rejected to Not Added. If you move this folder out to say the deskop and then use File > Add Folder to Library (use Ctrl+B to show the menu bar) then you will get asked if you want iTunes to convert any WMA files. Before you start check your import settings (Edit > Preferences > General > Import Settings) to make sure you're happy with the target format and bitrate. No point converting to a higher bitrate.
tt2
wow, I dont even know what you mean by target format and bitrate.... does it even matter? I tried adding ONE album the way you described and it did work, but converting it to the proper format took a long time. Time doesnt matter, I can leave it running all day if necessary. So in clarification (asssuming I dont do that import setting thing since I dont understand it) I can locate the folder on the external drive that has all the music in it, Open iTunes and use the "add folder to Library" command; select the folder with the music, and it SHOULD all convert and load into my library?
If everything on the external drive is in WMA format then that method would work, otherwise you are likely to get duplicates, which is why I suggested you work with the Not Added folder.
Different audio formats have different ways of compressing and storing the information from the original source. Most software and hardware will only work with a limited range of formats. iTunes cannot play WMA directly, but can convert it to one of the formats it will play. Given this is a clean install of iTunes that format is likely to be AAC if you haven't changed it. MP3 may be a better choice if you might want to put the media on some non-Apple device in future, otherwise ACC is supposedly slight more efficient, i.e. a smaller file for the same quality.
The main factor affecting file size is bit rate. The more original data that is kept, the larger the file and the more closely the reproduced music will match the original source. WMA is a lossy format typical bit rates are 128kbs and 256kbs. Conveting a 128kbs file to, for example, a 256k AAC file results in a file larger than the original, but no better quality.
If you put Windows Explorer in details view you should be able to enable a bitrate column and scan through to see what the current values are. You can adjust your import settings as given. You may want to import in more than one batch if there is a mix of bitrates.
tt2
Yes, it is all in the same format, so that is what I will do. Thank you so much for your help, it has been a real education for a real technophobe!
You'll still want to remove the Not Added folder and send it to the recycle bin which you can then empty so that it doesn't take up wasted space.
See also Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy for backup advice and Getting iTunes & Windows Media Player to play nicely in case you are tempted to fire up Windows Media Player and want it to share a common media folder with iTunes without causing problems.
tt2
moving library from external drive to new computer
