iTunes back-up

[KMP]

Hi, I just got my iPad all set up the other day... can somebody please tell me the best way to back-up iTunes and the libraries? I actually don't have any music in there just the apps (thus far) and some books.

Just to clarify, I know that the iPad and iTunes will sync when I plug in the usb; however, I want to ensure all my iTunes libraries are back-up. Do I need to consolidate first or do I just check the file location by Edit and Preferences and Advanced and then move the file that is indicated there (copy it) to an external hard drive?

(Windows 7)

Many thanks.

 

[dhewson777]

So, just to clarify, you are asking how to back-up your iTunes library that is on your PC. The result being if your PC dies, you have something to fall back on?

I personally have my iTunes library residing on a network share already, so it is not on my PC. If it was, I guess one of those general back-up to external HD programs run on a regular basis would possibly take care of that for you, along with backing up other important data.

I'm sure others have more knowledge and experience in this.

 

[Sonia ferdous]

No you'll need to consolidate your library first. This is a feature of iTunes that makes sure that all files in your iTunes library are stored in the same folder. This is necessary because when you backup your library, you'll be moving just one folder and you don't want to accidentally omit behind any files that are stored somewhere else. So do it first.

 

[dhewson777]

No you'll need to consolidate your library first. This is a feature of iTunes that makes sure that all files in your iTunes library are stored in the same folder. This is necessary because when you backup your library, you'll be moving just one folder and you don't want to accidentally omit behind any files that are stored somewhere else. So do it first.

Good point, I forgot to cover consolidating above. In my case, the iTunes library (and it's media) are consolidated to a location on my network share. The trick, though is to go back and delete the old instance of the tracks in other folders because you will end up with 2 physical copies - just in different locations. Most of the time, people put their music into "'My Music" in windows, and by default, that is where iTunes will set-up it's library location unless you tell it otherwise.

 

[Bosvaark]

The consolidate library works but if you have a large music collection and video , podcast library, disk space can be an issue
Ie: my music is 120GB, consolidating creates another duplicate of the music , you will need a big hard drive to backup the library.
One if my biggest gripes of iTunes is you cannot backup to an external location.

 

[KMP]

Thanks everyone, got it all consolidated and backed-up...!

 

[iphoneblaster]

Hi,
There are many ways to back-up iTunes and there are several ways to back up your iTunes library, playlists, and iTunes Store purchases (including Applications purchased from the App Store) for safekeeping. I would love to copy all the items in my iTunes library (including the iTunes Library file that holds all your playlists, playcounts, ratings, and other data) to my external hard drive.

 

[dhewson777]

Hi,
There are many ways to back-up iTunes and there are several ways to back up your iTunes library, playlists, and iTunes Store purchases (including Applications purchased from the App Store) for safekeeping. I would love to copy all the items in my iTunes library (including the iTunes Library file that holds all your playlists, playcounts, ratings, and other data) to my external hard drive.

Is this a question or a statement? You can do exactly what you say in regards to copying your iTunes library to an external drive.

 

[Bosvaark]

The consolidate library works but if you have a large music collection and video , podcast library, disk space can be an issue
Ie: my music is 120GB, consolidating creates another duplicate of the music , you will need a big hard drive to backup the library.
One if my biggest gripes of iTunes is you cannot backup to an external location.

I should have clarified , iTunes cannot backup an iPad to an external drive, you can backup the iTunes library to external source.

To help prevent disasters and loss you can do what I have done, on a Windoze machine,
iTunes installed Drive C: under programs
iTunes library is placed on my Drive D: (data drive)backed up as a normal backup of data, which I run manually.
Music stored on Drive E:
All three drives are independent IE: not a single drive with multiple volumes.

My music is sorted into playlists, i add songs and albums by dragging them into playlists I don't use the music library, meaning I only synch playlists to iPad or iPhone , separately ticked.