Moving My iTunes To An External Hard Drive

[topcat84]

Hi Everyone !

Can someone explain the steps I'd need to take to move my iPhone music and videos to an external hard drive. Please explain it as if I'm a 6 year old. (I'm not very computer savvy !!) My hard drive is rapidly running out of space and I need to move those 7GBs or so to the external drive to free up some space. Also, after doing this, would I need to leave the external hard drive hooked up to the computer every time I connected my iPhone to the computer ? Thanks in advance. Cheers !!

[x999x]

Are you on a Mac or PC?

The files are located on different places depending on what you're running. You should be able to just drag and drop the iTunes folder.

[dimensiondvdrob]

in iTunes, go to Preferences, and go to the Advanced tab. in the iTunes Music Folder Location area, select the location on your external hard drive where your library will be stored. close the preferences window by selecting OK. on the menu bar at the top of the screen go to the advanced one, pull down and select CONSOLIDATE LIBRARY. it will warn you that all your music will be copied to the itunes music folder. say OK and it'll copy everything to your new location. then erase your internal music collection after making sure that your music, etc. is safely and correctly moved to the external drive.

hope that helps.

[topcat84]

Are you on a Mac or PC?

The files are located on different places depending on what you're running. You should be able to just drag and drop the iTunes folder.

Hi x99x,

I'm on a PC. Thanks !

[topcat84]

in iTunes, go to Preferences, and go to the Advanced tab. in the iTunes Music Folder Location area, select the location on your external hard drive where your library will be stored. close the preferences window by selecting OK. on the menu bar at the top of the screen go to the advanced one, pull down and select CONSOLIDATE LIBRARY. it will warn you that all your music will be copied to the itunes music folder. say OK and it'll copy everything to your new location. then erase your internal music collection after making sure that your music, etc. is safely and correctly moved to the external drive.

hope that helps.

Thanks for taking the time to explain that to me, dimensiondvdrob. I think with those specific instructions, I ought to be able to figure it out. Will I need to put iTunes on the external hard drive or will that be taken care of by following your directions ? Thanks again !! Cheers !!

[scandalex]

Hi x99x,

I'm on a PC. Thanks !

TC, this was my way of doing it...

iTunes, click on PREFERENCES > ADVANCED > in the GENERAL tab you'll see iTUNES MUSIC LOCATION > on the right, click CHANGE and point it to the drive Letter that is not your external hard drive. Hope the included pic helps.

All I did was copy everything from my computer and paste it to the external hard drive. Took no time at all to do.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/snQQpy/external1.jpg

[dturner]

TC, this was my way of doing it...

All I did was copy everything from my computer and paste it to the external hard drive. Took no time at all to do.

This is exactly what I did. Works perfectly.
You will have to have the Drive on anytime you do anything like syncing or adding anything to itunes.

[scandalex]

This is exactly what I did. Works perfectly.
You will have to have the Drive on anytime you do anything like syncing or adding anything to itunes.

Exactly... if you dont have the drive plugged in, iTunes wont be able to find your stuff.

Also, someone suggested to "consolidate library," I didnt do this because it screwed up the way I managed my library.

[topcat84]

TC, this was my way of doing it...

iTunes, click on PREFERENCES > ADVANCED > in the GENERAL tab you'll see iTUNES MUSIC LOCATION > on the right, click CHANGE and point it to the drive Letter that is not your external hard drive. Hope the included pic helps.

All I did was copy everything from my computer and paste it to the external hard drive. Took no time at all to do.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/snQQpy/external1.jpg
Thanks for the help, scandalex !! You all have been a BIG help !! Cheers !!

[topcat84]

TC, this was my way of doing it...

iTunes, click on PREFERENCES > ADVANCED > in the GENERAL tab you'll see iTUNES MUSIC LOCATION > on the right, click CHANGE and point it to the drive Letter that is not your external hard drive. Hope the included pic helps.

All I did was copy everything from my computer and paste it to the external hard drive. Took no time at all to do.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v322/snQQpy/external1.jpg

Hey scandalex,

Did you really mean to point it to the drive letter that is NOT your external drive or IS your external drive ? I'm a little confused. Thanks again for the help.

[scandalex]

Thanks for the help, scandalex !! You all have been a BIG help !! Cheers !!

Thats what we're here for!! :laugh2:

[dimensiondvdrob]

Thanks for taking the time to explain that to me, dimensiondvdrob. I think with those specific instructions, I ought to be able to figure it out. Will I need to put iTunes on the external hard drive or will that be taken care of by following your directions ? Thanks again !! Cheers !!

no, leave iTunes installed on the internal drive.

[scandalex]

Hey scandalex,

Did you really mean to point it to the drive letter that is NOT your external drive or IS your external drive ? I'm a little confused. Thanks again for the help.

That should have said NOW/IS.... sorry about that. Didnt mean to confuse you.