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winky · Dec 22, 2006, 08:28 AM

Is it possible to allow half of my iTunes library to reside on one hard drive and half on a different hard drive? I am running out of space and this seems a logical option if possible.

Any and all information is greatly appreciated.

Sherman Homan · Dec 22, 2006, 08:40 AM

Answer:
Nope.

Yup..
Unless you mind having two libraries. Which you could do by holding down the Option key when you launch iTunes, then you could choose which library you want.

GregGH · Dec 22, 2006, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by Sherman Homan

Answer:
Nope.

Yup..
Unless you mind having two libraries. Which you could do by holding down the Option key when you launch iTunes, then you could choose which library you want.

Hello
We are all running out of room .. hmm .. has anyone come up with smart way to add MOVIES to iTunes -- I haven't tried having TWO libraries for iTunes ... maybe that is a work around ... is there a fast way to switch between libraries -or do you need to re-start?

Music is 50 gig - but MOVIES -- well - 5 to 10 times that space required ...

Patiently awaiting what iTV does

Regards
Greg H

Sherman Homan · Dec 22, 2006, 01:48 PM

You can put your pictures and movies on a different volume, separate from your music library. But there in lies confusion. If you are going to get a external drive, why don't you move the whole shootin' match over to it?

winky · Dec 22, 2006, 08:58 PM

This is exactly the approach I decided to take. Best Buy has a 300 gig external firewire/usb drive for $149. I might be able to get it cheaper online. This is the simplest solution for me.

Hi I'm Ben · Dec 22, 2006, 09:08 PM

What are you guys talking about?... as long as you don't have the "Copy to library" location or "Manage my music for me" features enabled he can have his music located anywhere he wants to. Just drag it in from the second location.

If you have songs in a single location and need to split them, you could do some tricky movies but the easiest thing would be just removing part of them from iTunes, move them to a new drive, and drag them back in.

crazyjohnson · Dec 23, 2006, 11:58 AM

Ben is absolutely correct. I have some of my music on my laptop and the rest on my external drive. I thought you guys must have been asking some other question because what you want to do just plain works out of the box.

ghporter · Dec 23, 2006, 12:43 PM

Ben is on target. You can "import" anything from anywhere, as long as you don't select "Copy to library" or "Manage my music for me." I have stuff on a number of different places; my wife's iBook, my MBP, my network drive, my PC desktop, etc. Each machine has its own copy of iTunes, and each is configured for its own job so some can "see" all 17GB on the network drive, and others can't. But they can ALL access it and include it in the library by reference.

winky · Dec 23, 2006, 08:21 PM

Thanks for the excellent info as always. Now how does one go about solving the problem? I have all of my music on a drive named Mako. Mako only has 7 gigs left so I need some room. My iTunes library is 75 gigs, all on Mako. I have a drive named Baracuda that has 75 gigs available. I would like to move half (or more) of the iTunes library to Baracuda. What steps should I take to ensure I can access both drives?

Thanks in advance all

ghporter · Dec 24, 2006, 09:46 AM

Move your selected "half or more" songs to the new drive. Open iTunes. Note all the pretty exclamation points-one for each song that's not where it was. Delete these songs. Now go to File and select "Import" (making sure to have UNchecked both "Copy to my iTunes Library" and "Let iTunes manage..." Choose every folder you just moved (you can choose individual files, individual album folders, artist folders, or the whole darn "now they're on Baracuda" folder). When they're imported, you're done. Make sure your other drive is regularly accessible by your computer-my network drive is one of my saved "server" addresses on my MBP, and on my PC it's one of my "Network Places" that's available whenever it's needed.

My WHOLE library, as I said, is on a networked drive. I download songs from iTunes to my MBP. Then I copy them to my networked drive and my other AUTHORIZED COMPUTERS then simply import the songs as desired. My wife has an 8GB Nano and she has connected her iTunes library to the network drive so she can decide what songs she wants on it with a simple "check" of a box. My PC desktop is what I use for my 60GB Photo iPod, and obviously I just put everything on it-why muck around with choosing when it all fits? This works GREAT for all of us with one caveat: the network drive seems slow because it has to both spin up and then pass the song data over the network when you use it. This is an issue when you start iTunes and when you sync. It is a MINOR issue.

winky · Dec 27, 2006, 09:28 PM

ghporter thank you so much. This worked perfectly. While I plan to move the whole library to an external drive at some point, I was able to postpone the purchase for a bit.

Bravo to MacNN forum contributors. A great group of people.