I Tunes File transfer Computer to computer

robstar63

New member
Jan 15, 2009
21
0
0
Dear all

How do I transfer my I tunes Files from my old desktop to my new laptop to save reimporting all of my CDs ? any help would be much appreciated
 
You'd be best setting up a network so you can transfer files easily whenever you want. Otherwise you'll need a crossover cable, an external hard drive or an optical drive and a lot of patience to transfer the files.

Could you tell us if you own a router / what OS you are using on you're desktop / laptop?ÿ
 
emotion-8.gif
Thanks. My laptop is Vista HP, my desktop is XP, I have a router running wired, I have an external hard drive but I Tunes only seems to give a back up option for CD/DVD - I have copied my library to these but when I put them into the tray on the laptop I tunes does not seem to recognise or copy - I assume that back up is computer specific ?. I havent a clue how to use my hard drive to transfer the Library
 
On your desktop, find the directory - usually in "My Music" - called I think "iTunes". Copy the whole of that directory onto your external hard drive. Then attach the drive to the Vista machine and copy it into the Documents/Music (off the top of my head) directory on your Vista laptop. That should be all you need to do - if there is an "iTunes" directory on your Vista machine already (probably), rename it to "iTunes Old" or somesuch.
 
emotion-2.gif
Success

After a little trial and error I have now managed to transfer my existing library saving me much time.

The first time I tried it the computer asked if I wanted to create some additional files rather than replace them.

This created duplicate files and I Tunes did not pick up the transferred library.

Second time around I deleted the original I Tunes file within Music on my laptop so that when I then imported the desktop library (ITunes file) from the external hard drive it was the only one within the laptop files and no duplicates to confuse matters - hey presto I have now populated my laptop with my lossless library from my old desktop.

I Tunes Help does not give any advice on this so advice here much appreciated. Regards
 
I am about to do this, but my i-Tunes library is located on a Freecom HDD as my old laptop HDD was too small. I now have a new laptop, have downloaded i-Tunes onto it and now want to add all my tracks as well, also leaving them on the external drive as a backup. Am I right in thinking that I just need to press "Consolidate Library" for i-Tunes to import all the tracks, etc to the right destination? I'd really appreciate any help as I'm terrified of getting in a mess!
 
An iTunes library is simply files on your harddrive. Locate them and copy them to the new computer, via a network, external harddrive, etc.

Then open iTunes, specify this new folder as the source, and then add the folder of music.
 
Thanks for the quick reply Eddie! understand. On my old laptop, the pathing is specified as drive E: (the external HDD) - I assume this is irrelevant for the new computer or the library as a whole?

Does "consolidate" effectively do the same thing, then?
 

TRENDING THREADS