iTunes using double space

[cmm]

I just put 500mb into iTunes, then moved the folder into the iTunes dir and noticed that I lost a gig of space.

I am guessing this isn't an isolated incident. How do I start all over and reload all music to iTunes and reclaim all the space that is being 'used?'

 

[ph0rk]

I just put 500mb into iTunes, then moved the folder into the iTunes dir and noticed that I lost a gig of space.

I am guessing this isn't an isolated incident. How do I start all over and reload all music to iTunes and reclaim all the space that is being 'used?'

Itunes is probably making a copy of all the music you added - did it take a while when you first added it?

Open itunes preferences, go to Advanced, is "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" checked?


If so, you can probably delete your original folder of music files once they've been added.

 

[cmm]

Itunes is probably making a copy of all the music you added - did it take a while when you first added it?

Open itunes preferences, go to Advanced, is "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" checked?


If so, you can probably delete your original folder of music files once they've been added.

Yes, it took about 10 minutes.

No, I just unchecked that about 20 minutes ago per someone else's suggestion.

I don't want to lose all 10gb of music...

 

[WildCowboy]

Definitely sounds like it copied instead of moving. Try a Spotlight search for some of the song names and see if you can pull up multiple copies of them and find out where they're residing.

 

[cmm]

Found copies.

But this is just for this one folder. I am guessing all my music has done that. And considering I only have a 40gb hdd, space is vital.

So how can I wipe everything off iTunes, and put it back safely? I have an external HDD that I could put all the music on.

I would just like my free space back.

 

[theBB]

From Preferences -> Advanced, you can pick a new folder for your music, let's say on your external. Then if you consolidate (I think through File -> Consolidate), it will copy everything to that new folder. If iTunes does not already delete the old versions, you could probably delete (through Finder) iTunes Music folder and all the other music files from your hard disk. Be careful, you can delete "iTunes Music" folder, not "iTunes" folder.