New computer ... how to move iTunes?

HecticArt

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Oct 19, 2008
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I am not sure how a backup drive would have helped. I had all the music on a flash drive. The only thing I did not have (because I figured I didn't need -- iTunes was supposed to handle it) was music downloaded from iTunes.

And, my setup for WMP was flawless -- playlists and everything. And I have my music for iTunes (re-imported). The flaws appear to be in the P.O.S program otherwise called iTunes. I am hoping that once my music re-appears I can re-import the playlists and not have any issues.

In reading Apples support (now that it is back up again -- was down Sunday morning) it looks like these purchases will re-appear when I get around to syncing my iPhone to the new computer. Pretty backass way to do it. And I will certainly not fuck up my iPhone until I am damn sure that the setup on my new PC is back up to snuff.

Sorry bro. I sure wasn't flaming anything. (I mentioned pros and cons) I've seen several other happy Apple users talk about their dissatisfaction w/ iTunes too. I was trying to wish you luck.
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memebag

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On my old computer I had my ripped music under directory A. I had the iTunes copy of the music under directory B. The music downloaded from iTunes wound up also under B (and not A).

When I copied, I copied A to A'. I reimported A' into B' on the new computer. What I think I should have done (and will do) is wipe out B' and copy B into B'. Then restart iTunes and let it sort it out. I may even get my playlists that way.

Yeah, just copy the old iTunes library to the new machine. The playlists won't come with the music; you have to export them separately.

I keep all of my music out on a network share. Then all of my computers, old and new, can access it.
 

DAB

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Oct 9, 2008
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I am not sure how a backup drive would have helped. I had all the music on a flash drive. The only thing I did not have (because I figured I didn't need -- iTunes was supposed to handle it) was music downloaded from iTunes.

And, my setup for WMP was flawless -- playlists and everything. And I have my music for iTunes (re-imported). The flaws appear to be in the P.O.S program otherwise called iTunes. I am hoping that once my music re-appears I can re-import the playlists and not have any issues.

In reading Apples support (now that it is back up again -- was down Sunday morning) it looks like these purchases will re-appear when I get around to syncing my iPhone to the new computer. Pretty backass way to do it. And I will certainly not fuck up my iPhone until I am damn sure that the setup on my new PC is back up to snuff.


Well number one when you do a backup of music you do a complete back up not just a half ass backup, that is number one. The next thing is that YES you can download all your iTunes music directly to iTunes again if you wish to do it the hard way, which is the manner you picked. There is a download all, so it isn't like you must download each song, but depending on how extensive your library is and your internet speed.

Apple is getting ready to roll out iCloud, which is likely why the support stuff was down. The big announcement will come tomorrow and I am hoping that all the iCloud stuff, along with the new version of Mac Lion and iOS 5 is released. Though it may not be until later in the month, but its coming soon. I am not sure what restoring your new computer has to do with your iPhone. Your iPhone isn't a backup on your iTunes library, though you can copy purchases from it, just not recommended by Apple to be used as a backup.

I have a 2 tb back-up drive that backs up my notebooks, desktops and this includes iTunes. So, for me swapping drives and getting my machine back up and running happens as quickly as it takes to copy my iTunes folder back the computer. BAM I am done, no crazy stuff whatsoever! However my iTunes library is actually stored on my 2tb drive, so all I have to do is network it and my iTunes library is always in tact. I can then use it from mutiple devices too.

iTunes can be a pain in the ass, but lets face it this issue was not an iTunes issue.
 

DAB

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Yeah, just copy the old iTunes library to the new machine. The playlists won't come with the music; you have to export them separately.

I keep all of my music out on a network share. Then all of my computers, old and new, can access it.


Is that a iTunes windows deal, because when you copy the whole library over on a Mac the Playlist are there too. Just curious?

Mine is networked too and that makes life so easy! Which is why I suggested a backup drive!
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

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iTunes can be a pain in the ass, but lets face it this issue was not an iTunes issue.

I disagree completely. The fact that my WMP was copied 100% incuding playlists with ease is an indication of this.

Meme made good point in that I did not actually copy the iTunes library and relied on iTunes to do the rest. Will do the library copy tonight and see if that goes smoother. In retrospect, I did not do this because I thought iTunes would handle redownloading the music. It does not -- at least not easilty.

Having a spare 2TB drive is nice -- certainly makes things easier. My new computer has this. My old one does not.
 
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memebag

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Is that a iTunes windows deal, because when you copy the whole library over on a Mac the Playlist are there too. Just curious?

Mine is networked too and that makes life so easy! Which is why I suggested a backup drive!

I don't know. It may have to do with how you configure iTunes, regardless of platform. My music is not stored with my playlists or database. My music is stored remotely. iTunes provides no good means to share its database or playlists among instances. Apparently it was created for people without families.
 

DAB

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Oct 9, 2008
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I disagree completely. The fact that my WMP was copied 100% incuding playlists with ease is an indication of this.

Meme made good point in that I did not actually copy the iTunes library and relied on iTunes to do the rest. Will do the library copy tonight and see if that goes smoother. In retrospect, I did not do this because I thought iTunes would handle redownloading the music. It does not -- at least not easilty.

Having a spare 2TB drive is nice -- certainly makes things easier. My new computer has this. My old one does not.


The question is did you have iTunes setup to copy your files to the iTunes library or just links to them in other places on your hard drive.

Also copying all your purhased content means you hit a button that says download ALL now really how freaking hard is that?
 

DAB

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I don't know. It may have to do with how you configure iTunes, regardless of platform. My music is not stored with my playlists or database. My music is stored remotely. iTunes provides no good means to share its database or playlists among instances. Apparently it was created for people without families.

Again, mine is my my 2tb drive and I access it from Apple TV, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro and Windows 7 PC all from the same library. Not sure why it wouldn't work that way for you.
 

memebag

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Again, mine is my my 2tb drive and I access it from Apple TV, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro and Windows 7 PC all from the same library. Not sure why it wouldn't work that way for you.

It doesn't work because iTunes can't share content, database and playlists among accounts. It's written for use by one person, not a family.
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

Sherbet is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
Oct 11, 2008
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The question is did you have iTunes setup to copy your files to the iTunes library or just links to them in other places on your hard drive.

Also copying all your purhased content means you hit a button that says download ALL now really how freaking hard is that?

I had it copy. I will delete the folder it has now and copy the copy and let iTunes deal with it.

If I could find this button, I would. I see the apps one but not the music one. I had a download option once but it has become hidden (hence my original question). Clearly I would not ask how to download something if iTunes actually presented me with an option.
 

DAB

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It doesn't work because iTunes can't share content, database and playlists among accounts. It's written for use by one person, not a family.

No not across multiple accounts, but with one account and set to manual you can only sync what you need per device. You can also activate home sharing which will let you copy stuff to other accounts pretty easily, but you must have the home sharing activated for it to play any DRM protected content like movies, music this is not a problem since music is no DRM free.

If I could find this button, I would. I see the apps one but not the music one. I had a download option once but it has become hidden (hence my original question). Clearly I would not ask how to download something if iTunes actually presented me with an option.

I will have to check when I get home, but I've seen that button I know because I thought it was very nice that you could select download all rather than be forced to download each song. Surely this isn't just in the Mac version of iTunes. I will check from my Windows machine when I get home and let you know what I see.

Just a dumb question, but you did download the latest version of iTunes correct? LOL It also could be with them rolling out this newer version if iTunes, iCloud, iOS5 and Mac Lion 10.7.2 that they have that disabled until they get everything situated. Perhaps you just picked a bad time to upgrade your PC. hehehe
 
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IdRatherBeSkiing

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Oct 11, 2008
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I will have to check when I get home, but I've seen that button I know because I thought it was very nice that you could select download all rather than be forced to download each song. Surely this isn't just in the Mac version of iTunes. I will check from my Windows machine when I get home and let you know what I see.

Just a dumb question, but you did download the latest version of iTunes correct? LOL It also could be with them rolling out this newer version if iTunes, iCloud, iOS5 and Mac Lion 10.7.2 that they have that disabled until they get everything situated. Perhaps you just picked a bad time to upgrade your PC. hehehe

My wife has done this successfully which is why I chose to do it this method (not a blind copy) so its not a Mac thing. I got the latest version if iTunes not sure which one. I did see a download button but hit it before I remembered I had to authorize the computer. It then disappeared and hasn't come back.

I will try the whole library copy which hopefully will solve this issue amd eliminate the need to redownload. Also it may give me my playlists.
 

DAB

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My wife has done this successfully which is why I chose to do it this method (not a blind copy) so its not a Mac thing. I got the latest version if iTunes not sure which one. I did see a download button but hit it before I remembered I had to authorize the computer. It then disappeared and hasn't come back.

I will try the whole library copy which hopefully will solve this issue amd eliminate the need to redownload. Also it may give me my playlists.

Well I hope it will work and give you your playlist back too. It is strange that the download all has vanished on you. I would try deauthroizing and then reauthorizing and see if that doesn't solve it. Maybe you have already!

I will just be glad when all these updates hit and we can finally settle down with all this stuff for awhile.
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

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Oct 11, 2008
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Well I hope it will work and give you your playlist back too. It is strange that the download all has vanished on you. I would try deauthroizing and then reauthorizing and see if that doesn't solve it. Maybe you have already!

I will just be glad when all these updates hit and we can finally settle down with all this stuff for awhile.

I did that as well. The good news is that this is still an island. I can even uninstall and re-install if I so choose. Still have my other computer until I get it just right.
 

memebag

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Ok. I copied the library and I can't get iTunes to recognize it. This is starting to piss me off.

What "library" did you copy? The folder containing your music files? Or the .itl file? Or the folder containing the .itl file?

And how does iTunes fail to recognize this library?
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

Sherbet is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
Oct 11, 2008
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What "library" did you copy? The folder containing your music files? Or the .itl file? Or the folder containing the .itl file?

And how does iTunes fail to recognize this library?

I got it now. I read a bit more and realized there were 4 files (.itl, .xml, and a couple of others) which also needed to be copies. Also, it expected it under an iTunes Media directory. Once I did this it is all there including playlists and purchased music.

I should have taken a closer look at how Apple organizes their stuff before I copied. Now I understand it. Given that I am changing the structure of the filesystem between the computers, it did a pretty good job adapting to it once I understood how it organizes its files. Also have my apps there now.
 

DAB

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Oct 9, 2008
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I got it now. I read a bit more and realized there were 4 files (.itl, .xml, and a couple of others) which also needed to be copies. Also, it expected it under an iTunes Media directory. Once I did this it is all there including playlists and purchased music.

I should have taken a closer look at how Apple organizes their stuff before I copied. Now I understand it. Given that I am changing the structure of the filesystem between the computers, it did a pretty good job adapting to it once I understood how it organizes its files. Also have my apps there now.

Good deal, glad to hear it. YEP, you need to just copy the whole iTunes directory.

We may see an updated version of iTunes tomorrow that brings us iCloud! hehehe
 

Biaviian

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Nov 17, 2008
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According to Apple's website iCloud is already part of iTunes 10.4. Is that not true?
 

DAB

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According to Apple's website iCloud is already part of iTunes 10.4. Is that not true?

On the ability to have access to anything that you already purchased in the library, but iCloud is a lot more than that, which has yet to be integrated into iOS and OS-X. Hopefully the rest of it will roll out pretty quickly after they announce whatever today.