How to back-up iTunes music

karaokeman

Hi all,

I have over 3,000 songs uploaded to iTunes on my laptop.

I want to back up all of my music in case anything ever happens to my laptop/ my CD collection as I've spent a lot of time and money to accumulate this collection.

Just wondering if I save them all to memory sticks or external hard drives will it be possible to play them, assuming I ever have to buy a new laptop.

Also if this is the wrong forum, mods feel free to move.

Thanks to all wishing to give advice,

Km

chin_grin

Like this.

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

yoyo

Itunes typically stores music in the My Music/Music folder on Windows in the Itunes folder. Backing this up should in theory back up all your files. A fair bit of Itunes content uses DRM, but logging in to your Itunes account when restoring should fix this

Nick

karaokeman

yoyo wrote: »

A fair bit of Itunes content uses DRM, but logging in to your Itunes account when restoring should fix this

Nick

I don't think I have an online account, I just have it as a file on my laptop with all my songs stored.

I'm interested to know would my songs still work if I saved them on a series of memory sticks and ever had to transfer them to another laptop.

yoyo

karaokeman wrote: »

I don't think I have an online account, I just have it as a file on my laptop with all my songs stored.

I'm interested to know would my songs still work if I saved them on a series of memory sticks and ever had to transfer them to another laptop.

You may need to change the library location, theres an option somewhere in Itunes to do this I think! Look under preferances. I think Itunes uses an XML file to store library data, this file should be in the Itunes "My Music" folder

Nick

Gadgetman496

To copy all the items in your iTunes library (including the iTunes Library file that holds all your playlists, playcounts, ratings, and other data) to your external hard drive, follow these steps:


1. Quit iTunes.
2. Locate your external hard drive.

Mac: On the desktop or Finder sidebar.

Windows: In My Computer

3. Locate your iTunes folder:

By default, the iTunes folder is located in:

Mac OS X: /Users/username/Music

Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\

Windows Vista or Windows 7: \Users\username\My Music\

4. If the iTunes folder is not in the default location listed above then you can find where the iTunes folder is located by following these instructions:

a. Open your iTunes Preferences:

Mac: Choose iTunes > Preferences.

Windows: Choose Edit > Preferences.

b. Click Advanced.
c. The location of your iTunes folder will be listed in iTunes Media folder location box, as pictured below.



5. Drag the iTunes folder to your external hard drive. This can take a while if you have a lot of items.



6. When the transfer is complete, your iTunes Library will have been successfully copied to your external hard drive.


Restoring your iTunes Library backup

When you need to restore your backed up iTunes Library from your external hard drive to your computer, follow these steps:

1. Quit iTunes.
2. Locate your external hard drive.
Mac: On the Desktop or Finder sidebar.

Windows: In My Computer

3. Drag the iTunes folder (backed up earlier) from your external hard drive to whatever location you desire on your internal hard drive. It is recommended that you choose the default location for the iTunes folder, which is:

Mac OS X: /Users/username/Music

Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\

Windows Vista or Windows 7: \Users\username\My Music\

4. Open iTunes while holding down the Option key (Mac) or Shift key (Windows).

5. In the resulting dialog, click the Choose Library button.



6. Select the iTunes folder you just moved to the internal hard drive.

7. Click Choose (Mac OS X) or Open (Windows) and then choose the iTunes Library file inside.

After following these steps, iTunes will open and your iTunes Library will be restored.


-


Source: Apple KB
Edit: In lieu of Sherlocks new SI related to Copyright I would ask all members to put a backlink to the webpage of any tutorial copied, regardless of where they are coming from. Cheers for the understanding folks.

chin_grin

chin_grin wrote: »

Like this.

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

Do people actually click on links anymore?! :rolleyes:

yoyo

chin_grin wrote: »

Do people actually click on links anymore?! :rolleyes:

Just to ask members that any tutorials/content cut 'n' pasted from any site should have a backlink included. This is due to the new SI that has recently been signed in to law

Cheers for the understanding folks

Nick