Is it possible to do this with Itunes? Use only an ext HD?

[NQK]

I have about 50 GB of music, movies and stuff in my itunes library. I have all of it backed up to an external hard drive. Is it possible to delete all the files from my mac book and just use the external HD every time I go into itunes?

 

[Alan64]

Yes, as long as your iTunes library file is also on that external drive.

 

[Tomorrow]

I have about 50 GB of music, movies and stuff in my itunes library. I have all of it backed up to an external hard drive. Is it possible to delete all the files from my mac book and just use the external HD every time I go into itunes?

Yes, but unless you have a fast connection, there will be a bit of a performance hit.

I'm doing this on a NAS over 802.11g, and it works fine but starts up slowly. It also works slowly accessing the iTunes store.

One nice thing about this is being able to access the same iTunes library from multiple computers - just point them to the same iTunes database file on the external drive.

 

[Consultant]

Works great with firewire external disks.

USB not as good.

Yes, but unless you have a fast connection, there will be a bit of a performance hit.

I'm doing this on a NAS over 802.11g, and it works fine but starts up slowly. It also works slowly accessing the iTunes store.

One nice thing about this is being able to access the same iTunes library from multiple computers - just point them to the same iTunes database file on the external drive.

External drive doesn't have to connect over network. But yeah those points are valid for those circumstances.

 

[Tomorrow]

External drive doesn't have to connect over network. But yeah those points are valid for those circumstances.

That was my point - USB beats wi-fi, but wi-fi beats USB for multiple computers.

 

[klrobinson999]

I did this for years before I bought a newer computer with a larger internal hard drive.
Just make sure the actual library files are also on the drive you are using.

 

[dejo]

iLounge has an excellent article on this: Transferring your iTunes Library

Yes, as long as your iTunes library file is also on that external drive.

Not necessary. It's possible to have all the media on the external drive but the library on your internal drive.

 

[Alan64]

I have about 50 GB of music, movies and stuff in my itunes library. I have all of it backed up to an external hard drive. Is it possible to delete all the files from my mac book and just use the external HD every time I go into itunes?

iLounge has an excellent article on this: Transferring your iTunes Library


Not necessary. It's possible to have all the media on the external drive but the library on your internal drive.

The OP mentioned that he wanted to delete all the (music) files from his Macbook. If he deleted his library file as well, then he'd have problems. That's why I suggested he move the library file over to the same external drive. I suppose I should have gone into more detail and shouldn't have implied that he HAD to have the library file on the same drive.

 

[SpaceKitty]

iLounge has an excellent article on this: Transferring your iTunes Library


Not necessary. It's possible to have all the media on the external drive but the library on your internal drive.

This is the way I do it. I have the library file on my MBP and everything else on two 2TB external drives.

 

[NQK]

Yes, as long as your iTunes library file is also on that external drive.

This may be a dumb question, so please forgive me, but how do I do that? I already have a complete copy of everything that 's on my laptop on the external HD.

 

[Tomorrow]

This may be a dumb question, so please forgive me, but how do I do that? I already have a complete copy of everything that 's on my laptop on the external HD.

There's a file called itunes library.itlb or something similar in your iTunes folder. That file needs to be on the external drive with the actual music files.

iTunes will re-create this file for you if you let it, but you'll lose your ratings, play counts, etc.