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All the songs cannot be found after unplugging the external drive on my Computer.

Consolidated iTunes to external drive and installed on new computer Library only plays when external drive is plugged in. When unplugging external drive all songs can not be found with exclamation point. I've only seen one discussion about this while googling and it only addresses on a mac as I have windows 11 and difficult to follow anyway . When transferring the few songs I have downloaded on my computer there is no problem .Only the thousands on the external drive


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Oct 9, 2024 4:58 AM

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5 replies

Oct 9, 2024 11:04 AM in response to 2265-

See Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community. If you want the library to operate independently of the external drive then you need to copy or consolidate it over to the internal drive. If your active library is already on the internal drive then consolidate to an iTunes Media folder in the same location as the .itl file, typically <User's Music>/iTunes.


tt2

Oct 9, 2024 1:16 PM in response to turingtest2

I consolidated files from old computer to external drive. Then imported from external drive to new computer and then as originally asked when unplugging external drive can’t accessiTunes library in PC windows 11 Aren’t iTunes already consolidated? Don’t know how to get to transfer to internal drive. I need step by step instructions that I can't find anywhere online

Oct 10, 2024 12:21 PM in response to 2265-

From your brief explanation I understand that your media files are on your external drive. When it isn't connected they won't play. What isn't exactly clear is where the library is, however if it works when the external drive is disconnected then I assume it must be on the internal drive. Typically you can migrate a library by copying a consolidated library (all media is inside the named media folder) from the internal drive to an external drive, move that drive between computers, the copy the library from the external drive to the internal drive and use the shift-start-iTunes method to access the library wherever you have copied it to where it should be independent of the external drive. In you case I think you done things slightly differently, perhaps consolidating the media from the original location to the external drive, copying the .itl file independently, or simply importing the media into a new empty library on the new computer in a way that leaves it connected to the files on the external. Either you need to choose a more appropriate media folder, on the internal drive, and consolidate to it, or you need to revisit the migration. There are detailed instructions in the user tip I linked to in my previous post.


tt2

Oct 10, 2024 1:47 PM in response to turingtest2

The first line of your answer stated correctly that when the external drive is connected to my PC, songs play on my Itunes library. Then on the second sentence you said the complete opposite saying " What isn't exactly clear is where the library is, however if it works when the external drive is disconnected then I assume it must be the internal drive" IT DOES NOT WORK WHEN I DISCONNECT THE EXTERNAL DRIVE. Songs can not be found with exclamation point , do i want to locate them . Files opens on my PC . The songs are not there they are on my external drive and I have thousands of them. As to where the library is I have no idea what you mean. I have many times consolidated my Itunes when external hard drive is plugged in and when it is unplugged . I go to I tunes and "add file to library" click on folder that i have consolidated trying many times from my PC and my external drive . As to "where my library is " I repeat I added files as instructed on itunes file tab and where they go is where the system puts them. The link you added shows instructions from the start how to move itunes to new computer that I am trying to explain is what I have done over and over. At this point it seems the only way I can access my Itunes library and listen to my music is to plug in my external drive . I am afraid of repeating this process over and over for fear of losing all my songs I do not know how much clearer I can be explaining my situation. I also tried copy and pasting the Itunes media file directly to where the internal drive is on my PC and it said to copy follow path and the heading on my external drive disappeared and now just the individual songs are listed , which is why I am afraid of messing around anymore thinking all my songs will some how also disappear


All the songs cannot be found after unplugging the external drive on my Computer.

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