Do you know how to fix my major itunes library issues

[lawnphysics]

Hey guys,

I have been looking for advice and direction on the following three or four issues.

1) My itunes library is scattered over 4 devices. A) Laptop B) iPhone C) iPad, and D) An external hard drive, that is sometimes not available. I want them all on one device so I can back them all up, and it would be nice to have it organized for a change!

2) I have files on both my iPad and my iPhone I do not want to lose, is there a chance I can lose these files while synching?

3)I have a secondary account from years ago when you could sign up with AOL screen names. The music and TV shows are on my external HD but I have no way of accessing my permissions to play them or transfer them between my devices. How can I contact apple to resolve this? I have tried to recover the username and password but the system never lets me!

4)I am fairly sure there is no way to do this, but I am going to ask anyway. Apple recently allowed us to use the iPhone as a hotspot for a few devices. Is there a way to use my iPad to create a wi-fi connection for my laptop? I recently cancelled my iPhone when the contract was up (before they announced the wi-fi hotspot capability) and I am unsure if I want to go back. The iPad does more for me than my iPhone ever did, except there are times I need to do things on my laptop and there is no internet connection. I felt as if I was double paying for the same service. The iPhone is basically an iPod to me now.

Thanks again, these issues have just been building up and I have to get them resolved. I am about out of space on my iPad and I really need to free up some room to record more class lectures this week. I have a atleast 2GB of videos I want to move off the iPad but I do not want to lose my purchases!

 

[blevins321]

Ok, I'll start from the beginning

1) To handle A and D, in iTunes, go to iTunes>Preferences>Advanced and change the library location to wherever you want the 'final destination' to be. Make sure the copy and organize checkboxes are selected. Then close the preferences window by clicking OK. Then go to File>Library>Organize library. Select both checkboxes in the popup window. (Be sure to plug in the external drive before you do this). Click OK, and let iTunes do it's thing. If there are alot of files on the external drive, it might take a while for this to work. It'll also reorganize the folder that is already on your internal drive.

For B and C, when you plug then into your computer, iTunes should prompt you to Transfer Purchases. If not, right click on their entry in the Devices list in iTunes, and click Transfer Purchases. If there are files other than purchases that you need to transfer (not sure how, without iTunes, you got MP3s on there), try THIS program.

2) As long as you do the Transfer Purchases (assuming all the files you're interested in are iTunes purchases, you'll be fine. If there are somehow other files on the devices that you need, you'll have to use a program like the one I linked to above. iTunes should automatically copy purchased songs and apps when you sync the devices as a transparent step in the syncing process, though.

3) Unfortunately I have no clue on this one. I didn't start using the iTunes Store until after they required a 'real' Apple account. Every experience I've had with iTunes support though has been outstanding, so I'm sure they will help you if you email them. HERE is a link to their contact page. The option that you want is Authorization>Authorize your computer.

4) I'm assuming that you have an iPad 1. Unfortunately there's not a 'simple' jailbreak yet for the iPad 2. You have to jailbreak your iPad to be able to do this, and install a program called MyWi. I haven't heard of many people doing it this direction, so I'm not sure if it's entirely fool-proof. I have my 3GS iPhone with MyWi and it works perfectly.

 

[lawnphysics]

Thanks!!!

Thank you man! I will try to do this tonight. If I have problems I will post back. I wasn't expected that detailed of a reply and I wanted to thank you for it!

I also know I have the issue of multiple-multiple duplicate files on my external and I am not two awfully sure how this happened. Ill deal with that later though after I get everything in one place.

My only concern with my iPhone is I think I have two albums on there that was purchased on the PC then transferred to my iPhone. The ones on the PC were deleted somehow. I'm guessing transfer purchases won't help me there, but the program you posted will.


Thanks again!

 

[anjinha]

Thank you man! I will try to do this tonight. If I have problems I will post back. I wasn't expected that detailed of a reply and I wanted to thank you for it!

I also know I have the issue of multiple-multiple duplicate files on my external and I am not two awfully sure how this happened. Ill deal with that later though after I get everything in one place.

My only concern with my iPhone is I think I have two albums on there that was purchased on the PC then transferred to my iPhone. The ones on the PC were deleted somehow. I'm guessing transfer purchases won't help me there, but the program you posted will.


Thanks again!

If they were bought from iTunes the "transfer purchases" should still work.

Also there's a "Show duplicates" option on iTunes that you can use to clean up your library.