[peck1234]

I know how to save all my music from the my music folder in itunes...

But is there any way to save my playcounts? prefences? playlists? Ratings? .etc

[helpmerick]

The one thing that Apple doesn't make very easy with iTunes is kind of an important one, but fortunately, if you follow these directions very carefully, you will get your iTunes, ratings, playlists, everything transferred to your new computer:

Apple's instructions for moving iTunes library.

Good luck!

[peck1234]

thanks for the link helpmerick...

But itunes has to be kidding me with the backup process! Only allowing you to save the playcount info etc by burning it to dvds!

I have over 30 gigs of music... and I sure aint backing up my music on 7 dvds!

Only god knows why they wouldn't let a backup to be performed to a hardrive...

[parasolution]

Simply move the database (library and xml file) in your iTunes folder from your old computer to your new one.

Install iTunes on your new PC. Start iTunes, but don't import your music yet. Just get it setup and then close it. Locate the iTunes folder and replace the existing xml and library file with the one from your old pc. Also, put all your music in the music folder. If you have an artwork folder from your old pc, transfer that too.

Once everything has been transfered, restart iTunes and everything should be just as it was on your old pc.

[peck1234]

aha! NOW WE ARE TALKING...

I understand perfectly... thanks parasolution!

[helpmerick]

Will that method preserve ratings and number of plays Parastation? The XML import works good...sometimes, but I have had to go through the "find and replace" to properly identify the new location to get it to work properly.

The Apple instructions are extremely long and tedious, but it does work. And no, you don't have to copy the music to DVDs...you can just move the actual music folders with an external hard drive or hard drive enclosure. If you didn't care about preserving all your customization data, it wouldn't be nearly as laborious.

One other option you can try, but I can't vouge for since I've never used them, is iTunes library transfer software. Here's an example called Media Widget from Bootstrap Software: However. Like ALL downloadable software, make sure you know your vendor and product, since there is so much spyware riddled crap out there these days.

[parasolution]

Originally Posted by helpmerick

Will that method preserve ratings and number of plays Parastation? The XML import works good...sometimes, but I have had to go through the "find and replace" to properly identify the new location to get it to work properly.

The Apple instructions are extremely long and tedious, but it does work. And no, you don't have to copy the music to DVDs...you can just move the actual music folders with an external hard drive or hard drive enclosure. If you didn't care about preserving all your customization data, it wouldn't be nearly as laborious.

I have never had a problem with it and I have used this method almost 10 times this year in building/rebuilding PC's in our household. If for some reason iTunes is having difficulty finding songs, its probably because the song location in the "preferences" menu is not set correctly. During the setup of iTunes on the new PC, make sure the "preferences" menu is set correctly, i.e, music folder location. I also make sure to check the "let iTunes organize" my music files. After everything is set, close iTunes and locate the iTunes folder and delete the database that was just created and replace it with your old database. Then move your music files to the folder you specified in the preferences menu. When you open iTunes again, it will take a minute or so as it organizes itself.

The database files is what keeps all your playlists, playcounts and ratings. So, as long as those are moved, you're fine. I learned this method when my iTunes database got corrupted and lost all the playcounts, etc... I simply had to go into the "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder and copy the latest backup to the where the database files are located. While I lost some playcounts (because the it was a month old), I was able to preserve everything else.

[helpmerick]

Thanks for clarifying parasolution. I will keep this method in mind. Moving iTunes libraries always drives me nuts.

[peck1234]

will this also method also back up my playlists?

[parasolution]

Originally Posted by peck1234

will this also method also back up my playlists?

Yes

[peck1234]

great thanks again...