iTunes and file format

That wouldn't work. You need to understand how iTunes finds songs. Take a look at the sample below of how iTunes stores the data about a song. Notice toward the bottom is the line that starts with Location file://localhost/Volumes/AIFF. The song "What's the Matter Here" is in a folder named "In My Tribe" which is a subfolder of "10,000 Maniacs" which is stored on the drive named AIFF. It stored it there because I had that drive selected as my music folder in advanced preferences when I ripped that song. When you click on the song in your iTunes library that is where it goes to get it, and if it isn't in that exact location it can't load it.

That location is stored when you first ripped or copied the song to the library. If you move it iTunes will still look where it was. If you change the storage location in advanced preferences that only changes where it will store things in the future.

Consolidating makes a copy of everything in the library no matter where it is stored and puts it all in the location listed in advanced preferences, and that changes the location stored in the database. If I changed my music folder in advanced preferences to D:\music\itunes and then consolidated it would take everything on my AIFF drive and copy it to the new folder and that line in the database would change to

D:/music/itunes/10,000%20ManiacsIn%20My%20Tribe01%20What's%20the%20Matter%20Here_.aif.

It would play it from the D: drive but the copy on AIFF would still be there.

You can also update the location stored in the database after moving when you select the song to play. iTunes will say it can't find it and you can browse to it to update the location. This is very tedious for a big library and it is easier just to erase the library and reload it, but you also loose things like play lists, ratings, and other metadata.

Track ID 9411
Name What's the Matter Here?
Artist 10,000 Maniacs
Album In My Tribe
Genre Rock
Kind AIFF audio file
Size 51483898
Total Time 291066
Track Number 1
Track Count 12
Year 1987
Date Modified 2009-10-01T01:13:41Z
Date Added 2009-11-29T02:10:31Z
Bit Rate 1411
Sample Rate 44100
Artwork Count 1
Persistent ID B52BDC3F3661B448
Track Type File
File Type 1095321158
Location file://localhost/Volumes/AIFF/10,000%20Maniacs/In%20My%20Tribe/01%20What's%20the%20Matter%20Here_.aif
File Folder Count -1
Library Folder Count -1

What if iTunes was installed on the external drive? Then couldn't you just make a new desktop link to iTunes and it have that work?

Although alternatively the pointer in advanced preferences and the consolidate function could be changed/used twice, first to copy to the new drive and then to copy back.

Probably the easiest thing to do if you want to use the existing drive as the music drive and the new drive as the backup. That way you would be sure iTunes points to the correct drive.

Changing this setting does not point iTunes to existing files. It only determines where iTunes will place any files added after that point.

Thanks for correcting me on that, Herman.

If you simply copy as I suggested it will continue to play the files off of the original drive and once you reformat it you will need to delete the old iTunes library and add all of the files back into the new iTunes library. Easy enough to do but consolidating is easier.

The files would be deleted from the original drive during the re-formatting process anyway (at least when using typical reformatting methods), and so they would have to be copied back to the original drive in any event.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, and assuming that all of the music files are presently in one folder location on the existing external drive, the reason to change the pointer in advanced preferences and then use the consolidate function would be if Howard wants to end up with the existing drive serving as the backup drive.

If he wants to end up with that drive continuing to be the one used for playback, then your original suggestion should work fine (as long as the existing drive is assigned the same drive letter following re-formatting, on the specific computer). Although alternatively the pointer in advanced preferences and the consolidate function could be changed/used twice, first to copy to the new drive and then to copy back.

However, it should be pointed out that the drive letter assigned to a given external drive may be different depending on what computer it is connected to.

So in the light of the correction which you indicated, I guess what we are saying is that if the drive is connected to a computer on which it has not previously been used as the library store location, the advanced preferences in the iTunes program on that computer should be set to point to the iTunes music folder on that drive (based on the drive letter which is assigned to it by that particular computer), and then the consolidate function should be run.

A couple of additional notes, for Howard's information:

1)Windows XP, at least at some point in the past, and perhaps even now, could not create a FAT32 partition larger than 32gB. I'm not sure about Vista or Mac's, in that regard. In any event, there are lots of third party programs which can do that.

2)A FAT32 partition has a 4gB limitation on the maximum size of an individual file. That shouldn't be a concern for music, but it could be a problem if you also wanted to store video files on the drive. Keep in mind that multiple partitions can be set up on a single physical drive, if need be, one as FAT32 and one as NTFS for example, each of which would be assigned its own drive letter.

I really don't know much about all of this -- as is doubtless obvious from this post

As all of this makes clear, even those of us (like me) who have very extensive computer experience and expertise can be just as confused! :)

Regards,
-- Al

I'm going to agree with Synthfreek on this one. If you change the iTunes music folder in advanced preferences to the new external drive then consolidate iTunes will copy everything over to the new drive AND use the files on that drive. If you simply copy as I suggested it will continue to play the files off of the original drive and once you reformat it you will need to delete the old iTunes library and add all of the files back into the new iTunes library. Easy enough to do but consolidating is easier.

This will not work

However, it should be pointed out that the drive letter assigned to a given external drive may be different depending on what computer it is connected to. In which case the iTunes program on each computer can easily be pointed to the iTunes folder on that drive by going to Edit/Preferences/Advanced within the iTunes program.

Changing this setting does not point iTunes to existing files. It only determines where iTunes will place any files added after that point. When you add a file to the library iTunes records the path to that file and looks for it in that location from then on. If you move the files and then change the iTunes folder to match the new location iTunes will still look where the files were, not where they are. Consolidating instead of copying changes the pointer and takes care of that problem,

Do you plan on using Time Machine for backups? If so you should remember that the first time you perform a backup you should allot 2-3 X's the copied drive's capacity on the Time Machine drive. In other words if you set up a fresh drive as a 1TB backup and copy 700GB of music onto it Time Machine will not work. I'd run Time Machine after you've copied 1/3 of your music then copy the next 1/3 and run TM again. Finish copying the final 1/3 and lastly running TM again. A program such as SuperDuper would need to be purchased/used or you'd need to start over if you get the point where TM gives insufficient space errors. I nearly lost it the time I made that mistake. Right on the screen it said something like "Insufficient Space-you are trying to back up 600GB but you only have 920GB available...". I was like huh?!

Thanks so much, Herman. I know so little about this that I nearly typed "NTSB" for the file format when I was posting this question. I plan to follow your very clear instructions -- on a really big drive -- and be good to go. Thanks, again.
Howard

I think instead of simply "copying" the files to the new drive you're supposed to use the Consolidate Library function. Simply copying would lead to incorrect path/directory errors wouldn't it?

Actually, Herman's excellent suggestion will end up with all of the files in their original location (as well as on a backup drive). And what the "Consolidate Library" function does is simply to copy music files that may be present at locations other than the iTunes music folder into the iTunes music folder.

However, it should be pointed out that the drive letter assigned to a given external drive may be different depending on what computer it is connected to. In which case the iTunes program on each computer can easily be pointed to the iTunes folder on that drive by going to Edit/Preferences/Advanced within the iTunes program.

Regards,
-- Al

I think instead of simply "copying" the files to the new drive you're supposed to use the Consolidate Library function. Simply copying would lead to incorrect path/directory errors wouldn't it?

The MAC can read but can't write to an NTFS drive.

On a PC you can format your drives as FAT32 or NTFS. The Mac can read and write FAT32 but can only read NTFS. The PC can't read or write a disc formatted in one of the Macs native formats. The best bet for you is therefore FAT32 since they both can read and write to the drive without special programs.

You need to have a backup drive anyway and they are very cheap now so buy another external drive and format it FAT32. Copy all of the files from the NTFS drive over to it. Once you are confident you have a good copy, format the NTFS drive as FAT32 and copy the files back to it. Now you have 2 drives with the same files that both computers can read and write.