Help with switching PC / Mac

[Racer2]

Hi,

I was using a iPod already for a while and sometimes the question came to my mind what if something happens for example to my hard disk or to my PC and I will lose all the music because most of my music are imported CD's.

Now I'm in addition using an iPad and my existing PC getting old and slow and I was thinking about buying a new PC or iMac.

My question is, what do I need to do to be able to keep all my Music I have on my existing PC when I switch to a new one. Is it enough to copy the whole iTunes folder to a external drive and replace it on the new PC or Mac or is there another way to do this?
I really want to avoid to import all music again and hope somebody could help me with this.

Regards,
Tom

 

[lenwest]

If you buy a new Mac and sign up for their one on one program, they will transfer all your files and settings from the PC to the new Mac.
Otherwise you could network the two computers and drag the files across.

 

[Pocobear]

If you buy a new PC or MAC just follow the guide on iLounge.com to transfer from old to new computer.
"http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-hard-drive/"

As you will see in the guide, it's not as simple as drag and drop, but not too hard to do.

 

[richgalen]

I bought a little program called iPod2PC (here's the link: iPod2PC). About $20 US. Handled the whole process more-or-less automagically.

 

[Racer2]

Thanks to all of you for your help. This helped me a lot.

Regards,
Tom

 

[Crammer]

Thanks for help guys!

 

[Mickey330]

If you buy a new PC or MAC just follow the guide on iLounge.com to transfer from old to new computer.
"http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-hard-drive/"

As you will see in the guide, it's not as simple as drag and drop, but not too hard to do.

Following that link, Pocobear, is what made my transfer from an old (6 years!) Windows XP laptop to my new Windows 7 Professional desktop a cinch!

In fact, while I was reading this, I was going to suggest that article, but you beat me to it. Very, very helpful (and knowledgeable) guy, that Jesse David Hollington!

Oh, and may I suggest you follow his advice on file management: Let iTunes do the work and (1) organize your library on your current system (select the option to "Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization") and (2) select the two options under "Advanced" to keep that organization and have iTunes store new files within iTunes.

I was putting off buying a new system because of the hassle of moving over - and most of it was due to iTunes (I have a big library!). But, after reading that article (okay, I printed it out...), I was able to follow it and it worked a treat!

Good luck with the move, guys.

Marilyn