Need help copying/moving iTunes library from windows to mac

[WannaBMW3]

Ok here it goes guys...

I have been a life long PC user and just got my first mac this week...

I have around 5,000 songs on my XP computer and I want to transfer them to my MBP...what would be the best/easiest way to do that?

External HD? Not sure, any advice would be great, thanks!
forever!!!!!!

 

[GregE]

I'm working on moving my songs over and I am going to use Senuti.

http://www.fadingred.org/senuti/

 

[spice weasel]

First, congratulations on the MBP purchase. I'm sure you are going to love your first Mac.

As for moving your music files, with 5,000 songs you likely have somehwere around 25 gigs of music. If you have an external drive, that's probably the easiest and fastest way. Just make sure it's formatted for your PC first, since Macs can read PC-formatted drives, but the reverse isn't true. You can also do it via your home network, but keep in mind that moving that much data over a wireless connection will take a while. I think you can use patch cable to connect the two computers via ethernet, but I've never connected a PC and a Mac this way, so I'm not sure what settings you would have to change in order to do this.

As for importing into iTunes on your new Mac, there are several things you can do. You can just do a standard import/drag & drop into iTunes. The faster way, since you will have already copied your files, is to

1) export your library from your PC (File: Export Library...). This will general an XML file.
2) place your copied music in the iTunes music folder on your mac
3) copy the XML file to your Mac
4) import the xml file

This will tell your Mac where all your music is, etc. There may be a better way, but this is how I've done it in the past. I can't remember if it saves your EQ settings though.

 

[ShadowPuppet]

I have a somewhat similar question. I ripped all of the stuff off my iPod onto my laptop's hard drive. I copied all of the music into folders and put them into the iTunes folder, but iTunes does not see them. Help? Do I really need to "Import Folder" for every folder I just put into the directory?

 

[spice weasel]

I have a somewhat similar question. I ripped all of the stuff off my iPod onto my laptop's hard drive. I copied all of the music into folders and put them into the iTunes folder, but iTunes does not see them. Help? Do I really need to "Import Folder" for every folder I just put into the directory?

If you just drop the folder in your iTunes Music Folder, then iTunes has no way of knowing what music is in there. That's why you need to either import/copy the folder or files, or export the xml file from your old library and import it into your new one. iTunes needs to know what files are it its directory in order for them to show up in the application.

You don't have to go to "Import Folder" for each album. Just open iTunes and drag all the music folders you want copied over "Library in the iTunes sidebar. When you see the plus sign, you are good to drop. It will copy all your files into your iTunes library for you. If you have "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" checked in the Advanced: General tab of your preferences, then it will obviously make a copy of all your files. If you have a lot of music to import, this can be slower, but it is the easiest method. Then, just delete the original files if you like. Alternatively, use the XML way I mentioned above. If there are any songs that aren't in the new library but are in the XML file from your old library, iTunes will let you know.

 

[JSchwage]

Whenever I get this question I just direct people to this tutorial: http://www.tunequest.org/migrating-your-itunes-library-from-windows-to-mac/20061105/

 

[SthrnCmfrtr]

I think you can use patch cable to connect the two computers via ethernet, but I've never connected a PC and a Mac this way, so I'm not sure what settings you would have to change in order to do this.

You don't need a patch cable to connect a modern Mac directly to a PC. Just a regular ethernet cable will do.

Right-click on your PC's hard drive and enable sharing, give access to everyone, etc. Set your PC up to get its ethernet address via DHCP. Tell your Mac to share its wireless connection to computers connected to its ethernet port. Connect the cable. Switch to the Finder, where a little Windows BSOD icon should appear in the left-hand partition of your Finder window. Click on it and your PC's hard drive should appear. Navigate through, grab your music, drag it onto your Mac.

That's pretty much it.

 

[Howard Brazee]

I'm saving this page, as I will be getting my first Mac in January. But I expect the first thing I will do is connect my Mac to my home LAN to copy all of my data that I might want from my old Windows machine before I get rid of it.

The Apple store copied my wife's laptop to her Mac a year ago - but she didn't have iTunes on it. I don't remember whether this was an extra cost deal to get her e-mail, browser, and "my documents" over.

 

[WannaBMW3]

Thanks for the replies...I think I might just transfer by hard drive...I just got the WD 500GB premium firewire/usb from costco for $129

 

[GregE]

Whenever I get this question I just direct people to this tutorial: http://www.tunequest.org/migrating-your-itunes-library-from-windows-to-mac/20061105/

Thanks for this link. I tried Senuti but didn't have any good luck with it. I moved all my songs on my PC inside my iTunes and followed this link and, using an external drive, got all my music moved over.

Should I reformat my iPod and reload it from my iMac now?