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User profile for user: stevestutman
stevestutman Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

I recently bought a new external hard drive for my library and changed the itunes library location in preferences to the new drive. However, itunes still pulls the file location from the old external drive. How do I switch this?

I had my entire library on an external 4TB drive. I recently bought another 4TB cloud drive, copied my entire library over to the new drive and tried to point iTunes to the new drive. I went to edit->preferences and changed the location of the music files in iTunes. iTunes went through a long process to "update the library" and organize the files, but now that it's finished, when I click on "get info" for the songs in iTunes, they still point back to the old drive. Do I need to delete my iTunes library files and rebuild from scratch?

null-OTHER, Windows 8, WD My Cloud drive

Posted on Jul 23, 2015 6:25 AM

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User profile for user: stevestutman
stevestutman Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jul 23, 2015 7:22 AM in response to turingtest2

For best results, I should keep the library files with the media then? You're right - I have the iTunes library files on my c: drive but all the media is on the external and organized manually. If the best bet is to keep everything on the same drive, what is the best way to do this? My new source drive is NAS and the article you attached said that might not be the most efficient solution I thought. Sorry for the basic questions.

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
272,719 points

Jul 23, 2015 7:54 AM in response to stevestutman

Changing the location of the media folder in preferences doesn't change where iTunes looks for existing content. Had you consolidated the media to the new path iTunes would have updated its own records as it copied the files over.


It may be better to use a locally connected external drive as the primary location of the library, and use the NAS as a backup. iTunes seems to have some issues with NAS that can lead to data loss or crashing. I'm not sure about the current build, but there were certainly issues not so long ago for those who had their mobile applications folder stored on a NAS drive. That said there are probably a number of factors involved and your setup may work just fine,.


Each update to the library involves writing out a new copy of the iTunes .itl database and the .xml version of it. If the files are large and located remotely this results in a lot of network traffic for each minor change such as playing a track or making a metadata edit. It is best therefore to store the library in a fully portable layout on a locally connected internal or external drive. However if you still want the primary copy of the library stored on the NAS then it should be possible. First manipulate the library into a portable shape on the current external drive, then replicate this to NAS by copying over the updated library files and move/rename the media folder if needed. Once the library has been accessed on the NAS the library files can be copied back to local storage for performance, and later moved back to the NAS in advance of any move between systems.


tt2

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User profile for user: stevestutman
stevestutman Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jul 23, 2015 11:22 AM in response to turingtest2

So, with such a large library (3TB), does it make sense to re-establish my .xml and .itl files on the external Hitachi drive, and use that as the primary iTunes drive, and use the WD NAS as a backup only (and also as an outside-the-home-network way to access the content)? If so, is there an easy way to move the library files from the c: drive? I don't want to have to wipe iTunes and re-establish the library if I don't need to.

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User profile for user: stevestutman
stevestutman Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jul 23, 2015 11:52 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks. Some of that is a little over my head, but now re-reading it, I think it makes sense. I always maintained a very stripped down structure on the external drive for the media files since I only had music and movies. The larger iTunes folder structure was created, but void of content on the c: drive. So I think the steps for me are to 1) uncheck the "Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized" option, 2) select my music folder from the Hitachi drive in edit>preferences>advanced as the media folder location; 3) cut and paste the 5 library files plus the artwork and previous library folders to the Hitachi drive, 4) start iTunes holding down shift to select the recently moved library files.


I think the last time I did this (when I changed desktops a few years back), the first CD I ripped got placed in a "music" folder within my music folder. It took a long time to figure that one out. I think it's the "Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized" option which I must have had checked at the time.

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
272,719 points

Jul 23, 2015 12:03 PM in response to stevestutman

Hmm, it might be a little more complicated. What is the path to the media folder on the external drive? Is all your connected content inside this folder? You have to be careful which steps you take but the aim is to get the library files in \iTunes and the media folder as \iTunes\iTunes Media. Getting between where you are now and where you want to be usually involves opening and closing the library at some intermediate positions. Changing the state of Keep organized should not be necessary.


tt2

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User profile for user: stevestutman
stevestutman Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jul 23, 2015 12:13 PM in response to turingtest2

The folder structure on the external drive is incredibly simple - 3 folders: Music (which contains artist folders, plus the folder called "automatically add to iTunes," which is empty), Photos, and Movies. Only the music folder is used in iTunes for me. If I were to start from scratch, iTunes would take all those movies and throw them in a movies folder within the iTunes folder. I see what you're saying though - I need to have at least that basic iTunes folder structure - I can't just move the library files over. Can I manually create those folders/subfolders to mimic what iTunes would have set up if I didn't have the split library? Or, should I move everything that's on the c: drive over and then embed my music in the iTunes media folder? I think this is where I ran into the issue of iTunes embedding a music folder inside of my music folder.


Suppose I want to scrap everything and just rebuild the library files on the Hitachi drive and then add the content? I know that will take hours to index, but it'll be set up correctly and I have artwork embedded in each song so I'm not worried about losing anything. How do I do that since iTunes tries to create everything on the c: drive? Is that even necessary? Maybe I can just get away with mimicking the iTunes folder structure.

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
272,719 points

Jul 23, 2015 12:30 PM in response to stevestutman

What is the drive letter of the external?

What is the current location of the media folder given under Edit > Preferences > Advanced?


The steps I recommend will mean that you end up with your music in \iTunes\iTunes Media\Music, your movies in \iTunes\iTunes Media\Movies and your photos in \iTunes\iTunes Media\Photos. Whether or not you connect the movies to iTunes is up to you, but don't worry about manually moving anything just yet.


It will take me longer to type out the steps than it will take you to implement them, which will be a lot faster than starting from scratch. Using the terms given in the user tip you need steps e. g. and h. We should throw in b. & c. for good measure, but only when we know the correct media folder is selected.


tt2

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User profile for user: stevestutman
stevestutman Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jul 23, 2015 12:32 PM in response to turingtest2

External drive letter is G: I recently decommissioned a WD drive that was my source drive because it wasn't staying on reliably. That was F: To replace F: I bought the WD My Cloud drive, which I've mapped to M:


The current location of the media folder in edit>pref>advanced is M:Music, but the individual song tracks still show G (when I select "get info" for any of them).


I think I'm going to move the contents of the iTunes folder on my C: drive over to G: and then insert the music, movies and photos folders into that structure. Is that what you'd recommend?

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
272,719 points

Jul 23, 2015 1:04 PM in response to stevestutman

  1. To be on the safe side I suggest you move the Movies and Photos folders up to the root of the drive before you start. iTunes should only process folders that hold its own content when moving things about, but no reason to rely on it when we don't have to.
  2. Under Edit > Preferences > Advanced change the media folder to G:\Music. iTunes will probably whir some. If it offers to consolidate any media to the new location say no at this point.
  3. Under File > Library > Organize Library... tick both check boxes if possible, otherwise tick Consolidate files and click OK. This makes sure that your library will use the new layout, and copies in any files that had been randomly connected from other locations on the C drive, desktop etc.
  4. If the rearrange files option was greyed out at step 3 go into Edit > Preferences > Advanced and turn Keep organized... off, click OK, then go back and turn it on again. This will trigger the rearrangement of files into the new layout.
  5. With iTunes closed, copy the following files from your iTunes folder on C: into the root of the G:\ drive:
    Album Artwork (folder)
    iTunes Library.itl
    iTunes Library Extras.itdb
    Tunes Library Genius.itdb
    sentinel (hidden file, probably not vital if you can't make it visible, but may slow down the next step)
    We'll ignore the .xml and Previous iTunes Libraries folder. The .xml gets a new name and the previous libraries probably won't be useful once things have been rearranged.
  6. Click the icon that starts iTunes and immediately press and hold down the shift key, keep holding until asked to choose or create a library. Click choose, then browse to and open G:\iTunes Library.itl
  7. Check that your media is still playing correctly.
  8. Close iTunes, rename the folder G:\Music as G:\iTunes Media.
  9. Start iTunes, check that media folder under Edit > Preferences > Advanced has automatically updated to G:\iTunes\iTunes Media, if not click the change button and correct it then close and reopen iTunes.
  10. Check your media still plays.
  11. Close iTunes, create a new folder at G:\iTunes. Move the library files including the .xml this time and both the Album Artwork and iTunes Media folders inside the new folder.
  12. Click the icon that starts iTunes and immediately press and hold down the shift key, keep holding until asked to choose or create a library. Click choose, then browse to and open G:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl


Use Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy to clone the library to the NAS.


tt2

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
272,719 points

Jul 23, 2015 1:26 PM in response to stevestutman

The root of the drive is the top level folder, e.g. G:\.


In Windows Explorer open G:\Music, select the Movies folder by clicking on it, then Ctrl-click Photos to add it to the selection. Press Ctrl+X. Navigate to G:\. Press Ctrl+V. Or use drag & drop instead of cut & paste if you prefer.


You can move the Movies and Photos folders into G:\iTunes\iTunes Media when you're done with the rest of the steps, assuming you want to.


tt2

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I recently bought a new external hard drive for my library and changed the itunes library location in preferences to the new drive. However, itunes still pulls the file location from the old external drive. How do I switch this?

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