iTunes

Josieb1 · 12-11-2015, 03:20 AM

Does anyone on here know anything about backing up and consolidating iTunes?

I have a library of around 230GB and I have used software for a few years now to back it up and I once transferred my library to a new pc using the software and it was fine. Now the software doesn't work and the company are ignoring my emails so I figured I'd have to look at another option for backing it up.

I've read about consolidating my library but first of all I don't think I have enough free space to start doing that as my iTunes media is scattered all over my pc and secondly if I do manage to consolidate it into he iTunes folders are those folders good enough to transfer iTunes to a new PC?

kyteflyer · 12-11-2015, 05:07 AM

You need to copy it all to an external drive, then do some kind of consolidation, get it all into itunes (its library anyway, you can run that from an external drive)... then you can access the drive anytime you like, from whichever PC you use.

Josieb1 · 12-11-2015, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

You need to copy it all to an external drive, then do some kind of consolidation, get it all into itunes (its library anyway, you can run that from an external drive)... then you can access the drive anytime you like, from whichever PC you use.

My problem is I need to let iTunes do a consolidation as my library is far too big to start all over again with, it's 230GB. I've always been wary of this as I know the consolidation will just make copies of everything and initially I don't have enough space to do it within my C drive. So not sure how to even approach this now.

HarryT · 12-11-2015, 06:40 AM

What I do personally is to keep my iTunes library on an external USB hard disk. 1TB USB drives cost under £40. Move your iTunes library to the external drive and then let it consolidate on that drive. This also makes it very easy to move your library when you replace your PC. My iTunes library is currently 416GB.

kyteflyer · 12-11-2015, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

My problem is I need to let iTunes do a consolidation as my library is far too big to start all over again with, it's 230GB. I've always been wary of this as I know the consolidation will just make copies of everything and initially I don't have enough space to do it within my C drive. So not sure how to even approach this now.

Yes, I got that, thats why I said move it to an external and *then* consolidate. You just need to point itunes at the new location. You'll end up with some duplicates but if they are all in the same place as opposed to be scattered over the drive and several folders, you'll be able to clean the library without too much hassle.

[Edit] as per Harry's comment as well.

pwalker8 · 12-11-2015, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

What I do personally is to keep my iTunes library on an external USB hard disk. 1TB USB drives cost under £40. Move your iTunes library to the external drive and then let it consolidate on that drive. This also makes it very easy to move your library when you replace your PC. My iTunes library is currently 416GB.

That is more or less what I do. I keep my iTunes library on a drobo (external RAID drive). I back it up to a different drobo on a regular basis. I use a mac, so I use a program call File Synchronization to do my backup. I'm up to 1T at the moment, but that music, audiobooks, movies, tv shows and music videos. The video (movies, tv shows and music videos) take a lot of room. The music and audiobooks is around 300 G. I back up my ebooks the same way. I also keep copies of my music, audiobooks and ebooks on my laptop.

pwalker8 · 12-11-2015, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

Yes, I got that, thats why I said move it to an external and *then* consolidate. You just need to point itunes at the new location. You'll end up with some duplicates but if they are all in the same place as opposed to be scattered over the drive and several folders, you'll be able to clean the library without too much hassle.

[Edit] as per Harry's comment as well.

Note, there is a bug with iTunes sync with iDevices that cause it to not sync songs that have duplicates when you don't have iCloud turned on.

HarryT · 12-11-2015, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwalker8

That is more or less what I do. I keep my iTunes library on a drobo (external RAID drive). I back it up to a different drobo on a regular basis. I use a mac, so I use a program call File Synchronization to do my backup. I'm up to 1T at the moment, but that music, audiobooks, movies, tv shows and music videos. The video (movies, tv shows and music videos) take a lot of room. The music and audiobooks is around 300 G. I back up my ebooks the same way. I also keep copies of my music, audiobooks and ebooks on my laptop.

Yes, I have a separate external drive that I backup all my data, including my eBooks and my iTunes library to, using Microsoft "SyncToy" to do the syncing. Works very well.

Josieb1 · 12-11-2015, 08:51 AM

Thanks for the advice, so are you all saying point my iTunes at an external drive then tick the button for consolidation?

Right now I have the main bit in a folder in music called Back Up (my library was built from an backup imported from another PC) then more music folders within the Music section. Then videos in the Videos section and my audible books in the audible downloads folder.

Do I move my main iTunes folder first, to the external drive, then consolidate? Will iTunes then copy everything from elsewhere into that iTunes folder on my external hard drive. I know I'll have to delete my stuff from elsewhere and do some general typing up on its all in one place.

HarryT · 12-11-2015, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Thanks for the advice, so are you all saying point my iTunes at an external drive then tick the button for consolidation?

Yes, exactly. Then, once you've done that, go to "Preferences/Advanced", and make sure that both the "Keep iTunes Media folder organised" and the "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" boxes are checked, so your library will stay consolidated in the future.

When using an external drive, go to the Windows "Disc Administrator" tool and assign the drive a fixed drive letter (I use "M:" for "Media"), so that the drive letter doesn't change if you happen to have other devices connected to the PC at the time. If the drive letter changes, iTunes won't be able to find your library!

Josieb1 · 12-11-2015, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, exactly. Then, once you've done that, go to "Preferences/Advanced", and make sure that both the "Keep iTunes Media folder organised" and the "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" boxes are checked, so your library will stay consolidated in the future.

When using an external drive, go to the Windows "Disc Administrator" tool and assign the drive a fixed drive letter (I use "M:" for "Media"), so that the drive letter doesn't change if you happen to have other devices connected to the PC at the time. If the drive letter changes, iTunes won't be able to find your library!

Thank you

. I will have a go but probably over Christmas now. I go into hospital tomorrow for a minor procedure and then I have work next week so will wait until I have some leave.

Right now my Surface 3 is up the creek after an update so I have to do a factory reset

HarryT · 12-11-2015, 09:05 AM

You're very welcome. Hope your hospital treatment goes well! Don't hesitate to ask if you need any more help with iTunes; it's a program I'm extremely familiar with

.

Josieb1 · 12-11-2015, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

You're very welcome. Hope your hospital treatment goes well! Don't hesitate to ask if you need any more help with iTunes; it's a program I'm extremely familiar with

.

Thanks Harry, just one last question for now, if I get one with a USB power supply does that mean it doesn't have a separate power plug as well? It would be o much simpler if I could have iTunes on a separate drive that just needs plugging in.

HarryT · 12-11-2015, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Thanks Harry, just one last question for now, if I get one with a USB power supply does that mean it doesn't have a separate power plug as well? It would be o much simpler if I could have iTunes on a separate drive that just needs plugging in.

Pretty much all external USB drives are powered from the USB port - no need for a separate power supply.

I have a number of these drives and they work well.

Josieb1 · 12-15-2015, 01:58 AM

I've consolidated my iTunes to an external drive and everything seemed fine until I disconnected my drive to check it on another PC. Now I can't see my library in either PC even though I point both PCs to the library.itl file on the external hard drive.

Both PCs have a fixed drive letter for the drive.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I've googled the problem and everything I've found says I'm doing it correctly but iTunes is just empty.

12-11-2015, 03:20 AM	#1
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,086 Karma: 18051062 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kindle Scribe, Coloursoft, PW SE, Kindle 6, Kobo Libra 2	iTunes Does anyone on here know anything about backing up and consolidating iTunes? I have a library of around 230GB and I have used software for a few years now to back it up and I once transferred my library to a new pc using the software and it was fine. Now the software doesn't work and the company are ignoring my emails so I figured I'd have to look at another option for backing it up. I've read about consolidating my library but first of all I don't think I have enough free space to start doing that as my iTunes media is scattered all over my pc and secondly if I do manage to consolidate it into he iTunes folders are those folders good enough to transfer iTunes to a new PC?

12-11-2015, 08:51 AM	#9
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,086 Karma: 18051062 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kindle Scribe, Coloursoft, PW SE, Kindle 6, Kobo Libra 2	Thanks for the advice, so are you all saying point my iTunes at an external drive then tick the button for consolidation? Right now I have the main bit in a folder in music called Back Up (my library was built from an backup imported from another PC) then more music folders within the Music section. Then videos in the Videos section and my audible books in the audible downloads folder. Do I move my main iTunes folder first, to the external drive, then consolidate? Will iTunes then copy everything from elsewhere into that iTunes folder on my external hard drive. I know I'll have to delete my stuff from elsewhere and do some general typing up on its all in one place. Last edited by Josieb1; 12-11-2015 at 08:55 AM.

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12-11-2015, 05:07 AM	#2
kyteflyer Wizard Posts: 1,844 Karma: 9547754 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Newcastle, Australia Device: iPhone 12 Mini	You need to copy it all to an external drive, then do some kind of consolidation, get it all into itunes (its library anyway, you can run that from an external drive)... then you can access the drive anytime you like, from whichever PC you use.

12-11-2015, 06:40 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	What I do personally is to keep my iTunes library on an external USB hard disk. 1TB USB drives cost under £40. Move your iTunes library to the external drive and then let it consolidate on that drive. This also makes it very easy to move your library when you replace your PC. My iTunes library is currently 416GB.

12-11-2015, 09:05 AM	#12
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	You're very welcome. Hope your hospital treatment goes well! Don't hesitate to ask if you need any more help with iTunes; it's a program I'm extremely familiar with .

12-15-2015, 01:58 AM	#15
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,086 Karma: 18051062 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kindle Scribe, Coloursoft, PW SE, Kindle 6, Kobo Libra 2	I've consolidated my iTunes to an external drive and everything seemed fine until I disconnected my drive to check it on another PC. Now I can't see my library in either PC even though I point both PCs to the library.itl file on the external hard drive. Both PCs have a fixed drive letter for the drive. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I've googled the problem and everything I've found says I'm doing it correctly but iTunes is just empty.

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