Sorry for the confusion, Larry.
On Dec 05, 2007, at 07:26PM, Larry Wanger wrote:
>Can someone explain what consolidating libraries means though?
>
>
Here's what Apple says about consolidating libraries in iTunes:
<start quote>
Depending on how you've added songs to iTunes, your library might
include songs that are located anywhere on your computer's hard disk
or other media. To organize your files, you can choose to place a copy
of all the files in your music library in your iTunes Music folder.
>From the Advanced menu in iTunes, choose Consolidate Library.
Any song files that are located outside the iTunes Music folder remain in
their original location; copies of them are placed in your iTunes Music folder.
<end quote>
Every song, movie, audiobook, etc. that is in your iTunes Library will
get moved to your current iTunes Music folder location when you consolidate
your iTunes library.
You can skip the descriptions in my post about how you might
set up your preferences in iTunes so that additions to your music
folder get moved to another hard drive, if you start running out of
space. Likewise, you can ignore the description of how you can
add music files to your library so they can be played in iTunes without
physically copying the music over to the iTunes Music folder.
Hope this is clearer. Maybe someone else can explain this.
Esther
>On Dec 4, 2007, at 10:14 PM, Esther wrote:
>
>> Hi Jane,
>>
>> Consolidating library wouldn't really help you. I'm guessing that
>> your
>> invalid locations arise because you moved or deleted files outside of
>> iTunes. That mean that the file locations in your iTunes data base
>> don't
>> match where songs actually are (or aren't, in the case of deletions)
>> on
>> your hard drive, and they'll show up as invalid locations when you
>> try to play them.
>>
>> On Dec 04, 2007, at 05:01PM, Jane Jordan wrote:
>>> What does that option to consolidate the library mean? I have just
>>> deleted a bunch of invalid locations by hand, would it do that for
>>> me?
>>>
>>> Jane
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Consolidating library usually applies when the location of the music
>> in your iTunes Music Library is scattered over different
>> directories, and
>> you now want to put them all in one place. For example, if you used
>> a desktop computer, and ran out of space on your default hard drive,
>> you might have reset the default iTunes Music library location
>> to point to an external hard drive, which we'll call disk1.
>> Subsequently,
>> CDs that you rip, or music that you add to your iTunes Music Library
>> will be located in some folder on disk1, while your earlier music
>> still
>> sits on your main hard drive. Let's say you run out of space again on
>> disk1 and your change your default iTunes library location to be in
>> a new folder on disk2. Now new addtions to your iTunes Music Library
>> will be written into a folder on disk2. So you have your music
>> scattered
>> in folders on three different hard drives.
>>
>> If disk2 has a lot of space, you might simply decide to consolidate
>> your
>> library there. When your run consolidate library from the Advanced
>> menu of iTunes, what will happen is that a copy of every music file in
>> your iTunes library that is located outside of the current iTunes
>> Music
>> Library location will be copied into the current library location.
>> You
>> won't get duplicates of what's already there, but every file that was
>> on your original hard drive and on disk1 that iTunes knows about will
>> be copied to your current location in disk2 and organized. So you
>> better have a lot of space available!
>>
>> Another instance in which you might use consolidate library: suppose
>> you have music that you that you played using a third party music
>> player, especially if this is from a Windows machine and other
>> software.
>> You didn't initially want to let iTunes manage your music, because you
>> didn't want the folder structure changed when you edit the tags for
>> track name, album, artist, etc.; this would mess up your playlists
>> with
>> that third-party software. So you started off by going to the
>> advanced
>> menu preferences (Command+comma to bring up preferences; then
>> command+6 to go to the Advanced menu), and used the item chooser
>> menu to go to the General tab ("selected tab 1 of 3"), and you
>> unchecked the
>> box for "Copy Music files to iTunes Music folder when adding to
>> library", but left the box for "Keep iTunes Music folder organized"
>> checked.
>>
>> New music that you imported from CDs would go into your iTunes
>> Music folder, and be organized by Artist, then by Album, then by
>> Song according to the tag information on the CD when you ripped
>> it. In addition, because you checked "Keep iTunes Music folder
>> organized", if you edit these tags, for example, to correct the
>> spelling
>> of an Album title, the folder name for the Album will also change.
>> But changing the name of folders or files only happens to songs
>> in your iTunes library which are located in the default iTunes Music
>> folder, and then, only if you have checked "Keep iTunes Music folder
>> organized".
>>
>> So, if I decide to add music tracks to iTunes from another folder on
>> my hard drive, and I don't want iTunes to reorganize them, or to
>> place copies in the iTunes Music folder, I can go to my preferences
>> and uncheck the box for "Copy Music files to iTunes Music folder
>> when adding to library". Now, when I use Command+O to add these
>> files to my library, iTunes will point to their locations (wherever
>> they
>> are on my hard drive), so that I can play them, and will allow me to
>> edit the tags, but it will not change any of the file names or folder
>> names, because those files are located outside of the iTunes Music
>> folder. Even if, after these songs are added to my iTunes Music
>> Library,
>> I go back and check "Copy Music files to iTunes Music folder when
>> adding to library", that only applies to music that I add from that
>> point
>> on. I can still play the music I added earlier that is in a
>> completely
>> different location.
>>
>> However, if you later want to move your music library over to a new
>> hard drive, there's no simple way of knowing how to move over all
>> these bits that are scattered in different folders outside of your
>> iTunes
>> Music library into similarly structured bits on the new hard drive.
>> So
>> you might choose to consolidate your library. Alternatively, you've
>> become comfortable with iTunes, your tagging information is in good
>> shape, and you want to use it as your main player. So you decide
>> to consolidate your library, and any instances where your files were
>> initially outside of the iTunes Music folder are now replaced with
>> copies inside the music folder, organized by Artist, Album, and Song.
>>
>> It's actually faster for iTunes to work with files in one location.
>> Even
>> if you're using files outside of the Music Library folder, I used to
>> find
>> that I could burn data discs nearly twice as fast using iTunes as I
>> could using a burn folder on my G4 PowerPC laptop. Once you start
>> using operations with smart playlists, and develop a sizable library,
>> it's actually more convenient to let iTunes organize your library.
>>
>> If you do try to consolidate your library, make sure you have enough
>> space to do it.
>>
>> HTH
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Esther
>>
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