Transfer your large iTunes Library to your new computer

3 Parts:

One of the most effective methods is to use an External Hard Disk

Tips Tricks & Warnings

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Most of music and movie fans will face the issue of needing to move their iTunes large library to their newly purchased Laptop or PC. Although is it a simple task, sometimes it can be confusing on how to do it.

1. 1
   Connect your external hard disk to your old Laptop, in where your iTunes library files are located, and wait for it to be recognized and mounted.

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2. 2
   Run your iTunes program, and go to "Preferences" then "Advanced", and make sure both options "Keep iTunes Media organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" are ticked

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   that will copy all your files in your library that are not in your iTunes Media folder to your iTunes Media Folder.

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3. 3
   After this is done, you must organize your files, now that they are all in one folder, to do so on iTunes program, go to "File", then click on Library, then select "Organize Library"

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   in here also check both options "Consolidate files" and "Reorganize files in the folder "iTunes Music".

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4. 4
   By that, all your files are located and organized in your iTunes folder, all you need to do is to copy that folder to from Your old Laptop hard disk to your External Hard Disk

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   Mostly iTunes files are under your user name folder, and inside "My documents / My music". To be able to copy, you need to quit the iTunes program first to release the lock on iTunes folder.

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5. 5
   Use the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" to disconnect your External Hard Disk, to make sure it is safe to remove it.

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6. 6
   Connect your External Hard Disk to your new Laptop, and wait for it to be recognized

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   Make sure iTunes is turned off.

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7. 7
   Navigate (browse) to your backup folder in your External Hard Disk and copy the iTunes folder to your new Laptop inside "My documents / My music"

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   Since you are using iTunes on your new Laptop, most likely you will find an iTunes folder in there. Over write that folder, unless you have a needed library files in there.

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8. 8
   Now you need to run iTunes and create a new library

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   A very useful trick, is to Hold the "Shift" key while clicking on the iTunes icon, which will allow you to choose from a window "Choose Library".

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9. 9
   Navigate to your iTunes folder, and open it to select the copied library.

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• You may also use your iPod to back up your iTunes library, yet you need to use a copying program, like "TouchCopy" or any other program you might prefer or Google out.
• Make a periodical backup of your iTunes library, for safe keeping. In the world of 1-0's you never know, something might go wrong and you loose all those iTunes you spent a lot to get.
• You may also use the built-in backup utility in iTunes "Back up to Disc", that is if you have a DVD driver. yet for large library that could take more than 2 DVD's and it is time consuming.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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