How To Back Up iTunes Music on a Jump Drive

[Amie]

I have a jump drive, and I'd like to back up all my songs in my iTunes library (playlists, song files, etc.) to my jump drive--just in case. But I'm not sure which thing to drag over to my jump drive. Do I drag the folder labled iTunes Music (which includes all my MP3 files) or do I drag the data file titled iTunes Library? I currently have the iTunes Library data file stored on my jump drive because when I tried to drag the folder titled iTunes Music, I get a message saying that it could not be copied onto the jump drive because there isn't enough free space. (It's a 512 MB jump drive; I have almost 200 songs in my iTunes.)

Please help!

 

[Dusky]

I have a jump drive, and I'd like to back up all my songs in my iTunes library (playlists, song files, etc.) to my jump drive--just in case. But I'm not sure which thing to drag over to my jump drive. Do I drag the folder labled iTunes Music (which includes all my MP3 files) or do I drag the data file titled iTunes Library? I currently have the iTunes Library data file stored on my jump drive because when I tried to drag the folder titled iTunes Music, I get a message saying that it could not be copied onto the jump drive because there isn't enough free space. (It's a 512 MB jump drive; I have almost 200 songs in my iTunes.)

Please help!

I'd drag the whole iTunes folder. Two hundred songs at about 3 megabytes each comes down to 600MB... hence the reason why you are getting an error message. Locate your iTunes Music folder. Get info on it. How much space does it take? Compare that number to the number of megabytes available for use in the jump-drive.

Please note... backing up ONLY your data file would serve of very little use. If you're not able to fit your whole iTunes folder (data file included), then at least save the music by your favorite bands/artists.

I guess another option would be to make a compressed disk image of your iTunes folder to transfer to the jump-drive.

 

[Dusky]

You might be better off backing up to a CD-R... and storing in a safe place. Again, if your music collection doesn't all fit, try compressing it into a disk image (disk utility) or a zip file (within the finder; contextual menu).

 

[Amie]

I have no idea how this got posted twice. I canceled this thread (or thought I did) and changed the subject heading and posted under the more appropriate title: "Please Help: Backing Up iTunes Music on a Jump Drive." So, please, moderators, feel free to cancel/remove this version/thread.

Thanks. Sorry about that.