Q: Vista > Windows 7 and Migrating iTunes
Hello, first time poster. I had an older iPad where I managed my music on a laptop running Vista. More recently I got a new iPad Air 2. I was still managing my music on the laptop for a while. However, In the last couple of months this ability has been broken. The iTunes version on the laptop is 12.1.27. I can use that version of iTunes to manage music on the laptop of course, but when I plug in the new iPad Air 2 it says "The iPad cannot be used because it requires a newer version of iTunes. Go to itunes and download it". I go to the download and the link specifically says I will get iTunes 12.3.3 for Windows XP and Vista. So it should be fine. However, when I install it says 'iTunes requires that your computer is running Windows 7 or newer'.
I also do not seem to be able to migrate this iTunes setup to my Windows 7 desktop (12.3.2.35). On the Windows 7 desktop, I definitely cannot edit song information and perform basic tasks. I also do not seem to be able to even add music to the iPad Air 2, but I am not sure since I cannot sort the iPad's music from the Windows 7 iTunes. The iTunes on my Windows 7 desktop also has some other music files it has detected, but lacks most of the music on my laptop. I obviously don't want to spend weeks doing some kind of one-by-one manual crosschecking of all the databases involved and trying to get the desktop to look just like the laptop. There's got to be some kind of smart way to migrate here. In particular why would iTunes 12.3.3 for Windows XP and Vista give such an error message? I am on iOS 9.3.1. Thanks in advance.
iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi, iOS 9.3.1
Posted on Apr 5, 2016 2:59 PM
Apple's update system is broken in that it offers 12.3.3 as valid version on Windows XP and Vista. Support for Windows Vista (and XP) was dropped when Apple released iTunes 12.2 last year. The latest (and almost certainly last) version to support Vista is 12.1.3.6 - this is an out-of-sequence release from September 2015 that adds support for iOS 9 devices but lacks Apple Music and other features added in iTunes 12.2 and 12.3. Links to the installers:
- iTunes 12.1.3.6 for Windows XP SP3 and Vista, 32-bit: iTunesSetup.exe
- iTunes 12.1.3.6 for Windows Vista, 64-bit: iTunes6464Setup.exe
- iTunes 12.1.3.6 for Windows Vista, 64-bit "for older video cards": iTunes64Setup.exe
The last of these is actually (like all "64-bit" editions of iTunes prior to 12.1.2) the 32-bit application with a 64-bit installer - this should be used if you get a warning message about video card incompatibility and may also address issues with poor audio playback, integration with 3rd party software, and general stability of iTunes. However, f you only need to migrate the library from Vista to Windows 7 you don't need to update the software on the laptop.
To transfer your library from the Vista laptop to the Win7 desktop, you need to copy the complete library from the former to the latter. Do this with iTunes not running on either system. If you've followed iTunes defaults then the source folder on the laptop will be C:\Users\username\My Music\iTunes - depending on how large this is you can copy across a network, using a USB thumbdrive, or an external hard drive.,This folder and all its contents should be copied to C:\Users\username\My Music\iTunes on the desktop (you can also access this as C:\Users\username\Music\iTunes). If you've not added any new media on the desktop you can simply overwrite any existing content there. Then start iTunes on the desktop and you should find your complete library restored to you. Since this method transfers the iTunes database as well as your media it has the added benefit that your iDevices will see this as "the same" library so you won't have any issues with content being deleted from the iDevice when you sync.
Once everything's copied over and you've verified the results, and if you don't plan to use the Vista laptop with iTunes again, make sure that you deauthorize your Apple ID on that machine.
The following links provide additional information:
- How to move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Support - this is the "official" documentation of the migration process
- Make a split library portable - steps that may be necessary to bring the library on your laptop into the layout that makes it easy to migrate (applicable only if you have media files outside the standard iTunes Media folders or have made other changes to iTunes' default functions)
- Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy - recommended method for copying your library to/from an external drive using a tool that;s more reliable that Windows' standard copy functions (particularly relevant if you have a library of significant size). The same method can be used to create and maintain a backup of your iTunes library - something you should do frequently.
Posted on Apr 5, 2016 6:29 PM