[epluth]

Searched... and there are literally tons of topics on this, but Im still feeling in a bit of hell here...

I have nearly 1470 mp3 files that spotlight located, but only have around 953 songs in my main itunes library. I have noticed that there are files as well as duplicates in several different directories... My goal here is to simply (here is where I was wrong) get rid of all the files not linked to itunes (extras) and back the rest up on dvd. I then want to put them on my external, and have itunes work directly through my external... (I read several topics on that setup, got that covered)

Is there a way to burn the library file mp3's while keeping their library information, and then magically separating them and deleting all the duplicates/unwanted mp3s from my hard disk?

tia

[rjenkinson]

1. delete all songs in your itunes library
2. use spotlight to locate all MP3s on your hard disk
3. move all of them to a single location, such as a folder on your external desktop
4. drag that folder to your itunes library
5. use the "show duplicate songs" command under itunes edit menu to find all duplicates
6. remove the undesired songs

-r.

[epluth]

Originally Posted by rjenkinson

1. delete all songs in your itunes library
2. use spotlight to locate all MP3s on your hard disk
3. move all of them to a single location, such as a folder on your external desktop
4. drag that folder to your itunes library
5. use the "show duplicate songs" command under itunes edit menu to find all duplicates
6. remove the undesired songs

-r.

Thank you big time. This choice obviously will not allow me to keep any of the custom info I have typed into each library song, correct?

[Apfhex]

If you've modified the ID tags of the MP3 files, well, that information is stored in the individual files, not iTunes (I find this to be inconsistent in some instances where iTunes doesn't seem to actually write the information to the file, though this is what it should be doing). You will loose song ratings, play counts, and playlists.

Also if you don't want to mix up the files you already have in iTunes and the ones you don't (since you mention wanting to get rid of files not in your Library), you could always copy everything from your iTunes library (Select All and drag them from the iTunes window) to, say, your external drive. Then you could delete all the files on your main HDD, which would leave you with only the files that were in your Library, which you could then put back in iTunes.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by rjenkinson

1. delete all songs in your itunes library
2. use spotlight to locate all MP3s on your hard disk
3. move all of them to a single location, such as a folder on your external desktop
4. drag that folder to your itunes library
5. use the "show duplicate songs" command under itunes edit menu to find all duplicates
6. remove the undesired songs

-r.

Couldn't you simply choose the "consolidate library" command in the "advanced" menu, then search for duplicates, and then delete anything not in your iTunes Music Folder?

[rjenkinson]

as I understand it, "consolidate library" copies all the music already in your library to your account's music folder. it won't gather up the 500 or so songs that aren't in epluth's library, so he'll still need to find the other songs and copy all of his music to his external drive.

-r.

[epluth]

thank you all for your help. I have successfully done the job, and all (that I've seen) ide tags still in place. I am running the itunes lib now from my external, which is an 80 gig WD, and hopefully can use it for a long time to come as a music server. That is if it doesnt die from being on constantly.... I make sure I sleep the machine everytime it is not in use, and this makes the drive sleep as well.