Small Business Tech

I wanted to move my Apple iTunes library to another computer. The reason being was that I had replaced my laptop with another, which meant I needed access to my iTunes library on my new laptop. Now I’m using Microsoft Windows, so this guide is for Windows users, sorry Apple Mac owners. I moved the apps, movies, music and tv shows from a Microsoft Windows XP computer to a Vista computer and I am using iTunes 10.

Step 1 – Make a backup of your iTunes library.

Within the music folder for my profile, there is a ‘iTunes’ folder, which I copied to an external drive. I used ‘Windows Explorer’ to cut and paste the fold to my external drive. You can find ‘Windows Explorer’ in the ‘Accessories’ program folder accessible from the start menu.

Step 2 – Install iTunes on the new computer.

I installed iTunes 10 on the Microsoft Vista computer, signed in and I then closed the iTunes software.

Step 3 – Move the folder to the new computer.

Using ‘Windows Explorer’ on my new computer I found the new iTunes folder that  in the music directory and deleted it. I then copied the backup of the iTunes folder to the new computer’s music folder. Basically replacing the newly created folder, with the backup from the XP computer.

Step 4 – Run iTunes on the new computer.

I then ran iTunes, but discovered the ‘Apps’ tab was missing from the left hand menu options. The solution was to download a small ‘free’ game, and the option reappeared, with all my old games listed.

Conclusion

I hope this helps you when moving an iTunes library to a new Microsoft Windows computer. I’m sure the instructions I provided are using for Windows XP, Vista and 7 users.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 23rd, 2012 at 7:10 am and is filed under software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.