UNEASYsilence ｻ How-To: Backup your Windows iTunes library
Posted by Derek 1 year, 1 month ago
Most online tutorials make use of iTunes� ability to burn data disk for music backup jobs. This requires that you have a CD burner and available blank media. This short tutorial requires that you either a.) have an external HD (or iPod) or b.) a second computer to use as temporary storage. If you decide to use an external HD, make sure that it is large enough to store your whole music library. Following this tutorial will allow you to transfer your Window iTunes collection to another computer while retaining your playlists, smart playlists, song ratings, play counts, and last played dates.
Right off the bat I知 going to say that this particular tutorial will be most useful for Windows users that allow iTunes to keep their libraries organized. It was written under the assumption that your iTunes preferences 適eep iTunes Music folder organized� & 鼎opy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library� are checked under the Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab.
The first step is deciding whether you wish to use an external HD or a second computer as a temporary host for your music collection.
If you池e going to use your iPod as your external HD, plug it into your computer and wait for iTunes to startup. You need to enable iPod disk mode if it isn稚 already enabled.
In order to keep this tutorial short I知 going to assume your Google skills can help you to get your computers networks. Hint: ICS (Internet connection sharing). There痴 always the comments at the bottom for questions.
Create a new folder on your external HD or in the Shared folder on your second computer. Name it something like 訴Tunes Backup�. Next, go into 閃y Documents� > 閃y Music�. Inside the 閃y Music� folder you値l find the iTunes folder. All you have to do is copy that whole iTunes folder to your external HD or Shared folder. The iTunes folder contains your complete music library as well as two important files: iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml
.
This next step is optional. If you would like to backup your iTunes preferences, which would eliminate the initial setup questions after a new iTunes install, follow these next steps:
Right-click on the Start button and select 薦xplore�. In the 禅ools� menu, select 詮older Options�. Select the 膳iew� tab. Under the 羨dvanced Settings:� tick 全how hidden files and folders�. Click 羨pply� and 前K� at the bottom of the window.
Use the left column to navigate to Documents and Settings > Your Username > Application Data > Apple Computer > iTunes. In the iTunes folder you should see a 訴Tunes Plug-in� folder and a 訴Tunes.pref� file. This .pref file contains all your preference settings for iTunes which is what you want to copy.
That痴 all there is to it. The only thing left to do is to install a fresh copy of iTunes. Download your copy from here and run the installer. At the end of the installation run iTunes once ignoring the import wizard and close it. Then drop the iTunes folder and files exactly where you initially found them. When you fire up iTunes the second time your playlists, smart playlists, ratings, play counts, and last played dates will be right where they池e supposed to be.
As usual, feel free to leave questions below if needed.
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This article was written with iTunes 7 in mind. However, the principle should hold for moving comparable versions (ie iTunes 6 Win to iTunes 6 mac) or for moving upstream (iTunes 6 Win to iTunes 7 Mac). Also, the principles describe below also apply to simply moving your iTunes library from one computer to another, Mac-to-Mac, PC-to-PC, or any combination of the two. You can even use this method to clone an iTunes library from one computer to many others.
windows iTunes migration
Apple’s market share has been growing dramatically. Many observers attribute that growth to the introduction of the Intel-based Macintosh as well as the so-called “halo effect” of the iTunes-iPod phenomenon. If you’re one of those people who have recently made the switch from Windows to Mac OS X because of said halo effect then you probably have already established an iTunes Library (with valuable hours spent creating playlists, rating songs and increasing play counts).
It would be a shame to lose all that hard work and data when switching platforms. Fortunately, it’s a rather simple* procedure to move all your music to your new Mac while preserving all that precious, gooey metadata. Some guides say to export your existing library to XML and re-import it one the new machine. But that’s a bit complicated and you run the risk of loosing your metadata. Since both the Mac and Windows versions of iTunes use the same file format for the library file, all you really need to do is copy the library files from one computer to the other, while making sure iTunes doesn’t forget where the songs are located.
*This procedure is rather simple provided a couple conditions are met:
* Your music files, be them mp3, aac or other, are all stored on your main (C:) drive, not an external hard drive.
* iTunes manages all your music files (ie all you music files are stored in the iTunes Music folder).
-or-
You are willing to have all your music files moved into your iTunes Music folder on your new Mac.
You’re starting fresh; it might be a good time.
Preparing Windows iTunes for Export
Simple Windows iTunes Library
click to see full-size
In this image, there is a simple Windows iTunes Library I created. It features a couple albums which have been rated and played.
1. In Windows, open iTunes.
2. Consolidate Windows iTunes Library
Select Consolidate library from the Advanced menu. This will move all the music files into the iTunes Music folder and sort them by artist and album.
3. Quit iTunes.
4. Navigate to your My Music folder. It’s typically found at C:\Documents and Settings\~username~\My Documents\My Music.
5. Copy the iTunes folder to the Desktop of your new Mac. Depending on the size of your library and the method of transfer, this could take a while.
Ready your Mac and copy
1. Say no to finding music. Mac iTunes.
On your Mac, launch iTunes. If you haven’t used it yet, go through all usual set up questions. When iTunes asks to find your music, say “No.” You will be presented with a new, empty library.
2. Quit iTunes.
3. Navigate to /Users/~username~/Music/.
4. Move the iTunes folder to the trash and empty it.
5. Move the iTunes folder that you copied from Windows from the Desktop into the Music folder, replacing the folder you just deleted.
6. Open iTunes again. You should see your familiar library with all the ratings, play counts intact.
Familiar iTunes Library
click to see full-size
Exact copy of your Windows iTunes Library, ready for listening.
Enjoy.
P.S.- Theoretically, this procedure will also work for moving your iTunes Library from Mac OS X to Windows as well.
UPDATE Jan 30, 2007: Apple recently updated it’s instructions for moving a library using an iPod that includes similar instructions to what I’ve presented above. If you need a second opinion, give it a look.
How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer
How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer
Got a new computer and want to move your entire iTunes library? Starting with iTunes 7 there is a new backup feature that will archive your entire library to CD or DVD, including ratings and playcounts, which can be moved to another computer. If you are interested in moving your library using this method click, here.
If you do not have access to a CD or DVD burner then there is another option if you own an iPod. Because your iPod contains a high-capacity hard drive, you can use it to move all your music from your old computer to the new one.
Note: While you can use the Transfer Purchases from iPod option under the File menu to copy iTunes Store purchases from the the iPod to another computer, you can't transfer songs from other sources from the iPod library to iTunes, so you'll need to follow the steps below to use iPod as a hard disk to transfer music files from one computer to another. This process will require the use of iTunes 7 on all computers. Any computers running iTunes 6 or earlier will need to be updated to follow these steps. Download the latest version of iTunes here. Once you have the files transferred, you'll need to authorize any iTunes Store content. If you won't be using your old computer, you'll want to deauthorize it.
Important: Windows operating systems don't recognize Mac OS-formatted disks (HFS or HFS Plus formats), so you can't use a Mac-formatted iPod to move your music to a Windows PC. See "iPod: How to determine iPod's hard disk format" if you're not sure what format your iPod is.
Switch the iPod to manual update and enable disk use
The first thing you need to do is make sure have configured your iPod to enable disk use. To do this:
1. Open iTunes on your old computer.
2. Connect your iPod to your old computer and wait for it to appear in iTunes.
3. Select your iPod in the Source pane under the Devices section to display your iPod preferences in the main library window.
4. Click the Summary tab in the main iTunes window.
5. Click the Manually manage music button. Changing from automatic updating to manual puts a check mark by Enable disk use. A message says
"Disabling automatic update requires manually unmounting the iPod before each disconnect."
6. Click OK in the message window.
7. Click Apply in the iPod preferences section of the iTunes window.
Is all the music together?
To make the move as easy as possible, be sure your music is all in one place.
1. Open iTunes Preferences:
Mac: From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
Windows: From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
2. Click Advanced and then click General.
3. Look to see if the checkbox for "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" is selected. If it is, skip ahead to Is there enough room on the iPod. If it is not, continue to step 4.
4. Select the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" checkbox.
5. Click OK. Note: Clicking OK will cause iTunes to copy all of your music files to another location on your computer. You will need to manually remove the files from their previous locations if you are concerned about space. If your computer does not have enough hard-drive space this process will not work correctly. Please speak to your computer manufacturer or Microsoft for more information on how to obtain more space to perform this action.
6. From the Advanced menu, choose Consolidate Library. A window appears reading: "Consolidating your library will copy all of your music into the iTunes music folder. This cannot be undone."
7. Click Consolidate.
Is there enough room on the iPod?
iPod shares its hard disk space between the songs that iTunes puts on it and any files you've added when using its disk mode. To transfer music with your iPod, you need enough free space to hold a copy of all your music files in addition to any copies that may already have been placed by iTunes (this is because non-purchased songs placed on the iPod by iTunes cannot be copied off the iPod while in disk mode). To figure out how much space you have on your iPod:
1. Open iTunes on your old computer.
2. Click on Music in the Source pane. The size of your library appears at the bottom of the iTunes window:
3.
4. Connect your iPod to your old computer and wait for it to appear in iTunes.
5. Click the iPod under the Devices section of the Source pane.
6. The amount of free space on the iPod appears near the bottom of the iTunes window:
7.
8. If the amount of free space left on your iPod is larger than your library, skip to Copy iTunes folder to iPod.
Free up space on the iPod
If your library is larger than the amount of free space on your iPod, you'll need to free up some space on it. Here's how:
1. Click your iPod in the Source pane.
2. Click on the Music option listed under iPod in the Source pane. (If you do not see this option, click the gray arrow next to the iPod to reveal the iPod's contents)
3. Click any song that appears in the main part of the iTunes window (to the right).
4. From the Edit menu, choose Select All.
5.
6. Important: The next step will delete all music from your iPod. If you have been using automatic update you don't need to worry, because all your music is also on your computer. If you have not been using automatic update, and your iPod has music on it from another source (other than your iTunes library), following the next step will delete that music.
7. Press Delete on the keyboard. If you see a message that says "Are you sure you want to remove the selected items from the list?", click Yes.
Copy iTunes folder to iPod
To copy all your music files (including the library file that holds all your playlists and other settings) to your iPod:
1. Quit iTunes.
2. Locate your iPod:
Mac OS X: On the desktop
Windows: In My Computer
3. Locate your iTunes folder:
Mac OS X: /Users/username/Music
Windows: \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\
4. Drag the iTunes folder to the iPod. This can take a while if you have a lot of songs.
From your old Mac to the iPod
From your old Windows PC to the iPod
5. When the copy completes open iTunes.
6. Click on the iPod in the Source pane
7. Click the Eject button in the lower right corner of the iTunes window.
8. Disconnect the iPod from the computer when the "Do not disconnect" message no longer appears on the iPod screen.
Get iTunes ready on your new computer
To get iTunes ready to accept all your music on your new computer:
1. Download and install the latest version of iTunes.
2. Open iTunes on your new computer. If this is your first time to open iTunes on your new computer you will need to choose your options in the iTunes Setup Assistant.
3. Connect the iPod to your new computer.
Backup any music that's already on your new computer
Do you already have some music showing up in your Library in iTunes on the new computer? If so follow these steps to make sure this music gets saved (You can see how to add it back into iTunes in the Adding music on new computer back in section below). If not you can skip down to the Copy music to new computer section.
1. Open iTunes Preferences Mac OS X:
From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
Windows: On the Edit menu, click Preferences.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click the Reset button next to iTunes Music folder location.
4. Make sure the checkbox next to Copy files to Music folder when adding to library is checked.
5. Click OK.
6. From the Advanced menu, choose Consolidate Library. An alert message appears: "Consolidating your library will copy all of your music into the iTunes music folder. This cannot be undone."
7. Click Consolidate.
8. Quit iTunes.
Copy music to new computer
To copy all your music files (including the library file that holds all your playlists and other settings) to your new computer:
1. Locate your Music folder (Mac OS X) or your My Music folder (Windows) on your new computer:
Mac OS X: /Users/username/Music
Windows: \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\
2. Drag the iTunes folder in this location out to the desktop.
From the Music folder to the Desktop on your new Mac
From the My Music folder to the Desktop on your new PC
3. Locate the iPod on the new computer:
Mac OS X: On the desktop.
Windows: In My Computer.
4. Double-click on the iPod to open it.
5. Drag the iTunes folder from the iPod to the Music folder (Mac OS X) or My Music Folder (Windows) on your new computer. This can take a while if you have a lot of songs.
From the iPod to the Music folder on your new Mac
From the iPod to the My Music folder on your new PC
6. Open iTunes.
There you go. All your music, playlists, and other information like play counts and ratings have all been moved from your old computer to your new one.
Add existing music on new computer back in
If you already had some music on your new computer, and you want to incorporate it into the music you just moved from your old computer:
1. From the File menu in iTunes, choose Add to Library (Mac OS X) or Add Folder to Library (Windows).
2. Navigate to the iTunes folder on your Desktop.
3. Click Choose (Mac OS X) or OK (Windows).
Note: Information like ratings and play count are not preserved for these songs.
Free up room on the iPod
To free up room on your iPod so iTunes can put all your music back on it:
1. Quit iTunes.
2. Drag the iTunes folder out of the iPod to the Trash (Mac OS X) or Recycle Bin (Windows).
Mac OS X: From the File menu, choose Empty Trash.
Windows: A Confirm Folder Delete window appears. Click Yes.
Switch the iPod back to automatic update
To set up your iPod to be updated with all your music from iTunes on your new computer:
1. Open iTunes.
2. Select your iPod in the Source pane and click the Music tab that is available on the right in the iPod Settings.
3. Click the “Sync music” option, and the “All songs and playlists” option. An alert message appears:
"Are you sure you want to enable automatic updating? All existing songs and playlist on the iPod "ipod name" will be replaced with songs and playlists from the iTunes music library."
Optional: Uncheck the Enable disk use button in the Summary tab if you don't want to use the iPod as a disk. If you leave this option checked you need to eject your iPod from iTunes before you disconnect the iPod from your computer.
4. Click Apply.
The iPod update begins. All your music is now on your new computer, and after the update completes it will be on your iPod again too.
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