Sir Stewart Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I bought an external hard drive and copied all the files in my iTunes library to it, with the intention of the using the external drive as the source of my iTunes library. In iTunes preferences, I changed the file folder location from my computer's hard drive to the external drive. I then deleted the files from my computer's hard drive. Now, all of the files in iTunes have an exclamation point next to it, and the only way I know to "find" the files is to click them one-by-one and reset the path. WTF Why isn't iTunes able to read that I reset my preferences - that I have all these files on my external hard drive - without my having to find them one by one? This is bad. Thanks for any input. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TCP Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Are you on a PC or Mac? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 16, 2007 Author Share Posted December 16, 2007 iMac. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gobias Industries Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Is your external going to always be connected to the computer? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 As far as I know, you'll have to delete the files in your iTunes library and then re-drag them into the iTunes window. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 16, 2007 Author Share Posted December 16, 2007 Is your external going to always be connected to the computer? Yes. I'll turn it on to use iTunes. As far as I know, you'll have to delete the files in your iTunes library and then re-drag them into the iTunes window.Oh, man. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Alright, heres something you can do. First, go to File -> preferences -> Advanced and make sure "Keep iTunes music Organized" and "copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" are UNchecked If you have these checked, when you add the files back into the library iTunes is probably going to make duplicates of the music files somewhere. Alright, so now what you can do if you'd like is delete all your songs with exclamations next to them and then go to File->Add to Library... Then select the folder that contains all your music. This should automatically go through all the songs and reimport them. I think this is what you are asking for, but I'm not sure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 16, 2007 Author Share Posted December 16, 2007 OK - I think that's what owl was saying, too. But OTM - why would I uncheck the 'keep...organized' option? Also - can I get a what what as far as Why is iTunes too stupid to relocate the files on its own? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 OK - I think that's what owl was saying, too. But OTM - why would I uncheck the 'keep...organized' option? Also - can I get a what what as far as Why is iTunes too stupid to relocate the files on its own? What What! Yeah, there should be a way of having iTunes do this for you, definitely. I guess I thought it would be safe to uncheck those because if you import the files from their new location I have a feeling iTunes will be silly and make a new iTunes folder and copy all your music into it, so you'll have double the files. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted December 16, 2007 Author Share Posted December 16, 2007 What What! Yeah, there should be a way of having iTunes do this for you, definitely. I guess I thought it would be safe to uncheck those because if you import the files from their new location I have a feeling iTunes will be silly and make a new iTunes folder and copy all your music into it, so you'll have double the files. I see what you're saying, but shouldn't your other suggestion (unchecking 'Copy files to...') take care of that? It seems I would need the organizing option.Thanks for responding, particularly the what what. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Yeah, I'm not 100% clear on what the organizing check thing necessarily does, so yeah, feel free to keep it check, i dunno. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I'm getting an external HD next week, and I know I'm going to feel like a retard trying to get my stuff on there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foolnrain97 Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I don't know about on a mac, but an import might be the easier thing to do.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TCP Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 On my mac, when I move a folder that's in my iTunes library, iTunes automatically knows and redirects itself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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