Transferring Music Files

[mccoady]

I have iTunes installed on my C Drive and of course "My Music" folder but my music files are taking up alot of space on that drive (some but not all of the files have been imported into iTunes). What would happen if I install another internal drive and transfer all the music files inside the "My Music" folder which includes the iTunes folder, would iTunes find the files? I would like to have another drive just dedicated to music files.

[fatbloke88]

You would need to tell iTunes where the folder is ie. "File/Add folder to Library" the problem would be you now have double of everything in iTunes but only one link will work, your album covers would be missing for the files you moved
It would probably be easier to back up all of your music files to one folder and then uninstall/reinstall iTunes , add the folder to your library and let iTunes search for album covers.Any covers it cant find,I use a program called tunesleeve which searches the net for them.
Hope this helps

ps If you bought any files from iTunes it would be a good idea to burn them to cd /dvd with iTunes before you do this, that way if the drm decides to play up you have a copy without it on and can add the tracks back to your library.

[mccoady]

Sorry I've been gone a few days so I couldn't respond but I just found this at the Kim Komando site:

Kim wrote:

"Yes, you can move the iTunes music folder. But if you want to maintain his playlists, ratings and history, you must do it correctly.

First, open iTunes preferences. In Windows, click Edit>>Preferences. In Mac, click iTunes>>Preferences. Click the Advanced button. Make sure that "Keep iTunes Music folder organized" is selected. Then click OK.

Now, reopen iTunes preferences. Click on the Advanced button and click the Change button. A window will open that allows you to navigate to a new location for the iTunes library folder.

Click the New Folder button and create a new folder to contain the library contents. Name the folder and click Create. Then click Choose in the Change Music Folder Location window.

In the Advanced window, click OK. You'll receive a message that the location of the library contents will be changed. Click OK.

Next, click the Advanced menu in iTunes. Select Consolidate Library. You'll receive a message saying that the music will be copied to the iTunes folder and that the change cannot be undone.

Click Consolidate. Now you can delete the original iTunes music folder. However, be careful not to delete the iTunes library files. These will be in the same location as the iTunes music folder. If you delete them, iTunes won't recognize the songs in the library."

When she talks about navigating to a new location for the iTunes folder (in my case the new drive) then creating a new folder, would you name this folder iTunes?

Also in her last paragraph she says to click consolidate and then you can now delete the original iTunes folder but don't delete the iTunes Library files. Going into the iTunes folder I find a "iTunes Music Library" and a "iTunes Library so is she saying before I delete the iTunes folder make sure I don't delete one or both of these things?

This confusing to me will I still have a iTunes folder left in "My Music" with one or both of the files I mentioned inside or will I remove those files and then delete the folder?

[fatbloke88]

I can't see a problem naming the folder iTUNES music or iTunes as it is on a seperate drive you can call it what you like,and yes you would still have the iTunes folder in My Music all it is allowing you to do is relocate the actual music files to a different location,it still relies on the other files to give itunes the information about where the files are now stored and which pictures go with which tracks.
You may be able to alter this when first installing itunes but without uninstalling then reinstalling itunes I could not say for definate.

[mccoady]

fatbloke88 what is the difference between "iTunes Music Library" and "iTunes Library"? And does her instructions mean to save both?

Also she says to delete the original iTunes folder??

[Krispy Kritter]

I haven't messed with this much, but iTunes supports more than just music, hence the "music library" and the "library". You also don't need to keep your files in any specific iTunes folder. All you need to do, is tell iTunes in which folders to look for your files.