Please Help: Backing 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!

 

[rmmcwh]

Hi Amie. Usually (depending on what kind of file was chosen (mp3, wav file, etc.) and compression level) songs in iTunes average 5Mb in size (my mp3 files are between 4.5Mb - 7Mb). Your jump drive only has 500Mb, which could probably hold 90 or so songs.

 

[Amie]

Hi Amie. Usually (depending on what kind of file was chosen (mp3, wav file, etc.) and compression level) songs in iTunes average 5Mb in size (my mp3 files are between 4.5Mb - 7Mb). Your jump drive only has 500Mb, which could probably hold 90 or so songs.

Thanks very much for your reply. That makes a lot of sense. And that is what I feared--that my jump drive wouldn't hold all my songs.

Is there a way to zip or compress the song files to make the entire folder small enough to copy to my jump drive?

(By the way, all my music files are MP3 format.)

Thanks for your help!

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

You can compress the entire iTunes Music folder by right-clicking it and selecting "Create Archive of..." but since the music files are already compressed (MP3 = compression), the size of the archive and the actual size of the folder will differ very little... in other words, it won't compress worth a crap because the files are not very "compressable" -- certainly not 50%: from about 1GB (200 songs x 5MB ea.) down to 512MB (capacity of jump drive).

If you've got another jump drive as well, you can use Backup 3 (with a .mac subscription) or make a segmented .sit file with StuffIt Deluxe and copy half to one jump drive and half to the other. Otherwise, you just can't fit all your music onto that jump drive -- gotta find something bigger.

 

[Amie]

You can compress the entire iTunes Music folder by right-clicking it and selecting "Create Archive of..." but since the music files are already compressed (MP3 = compression), the size of the archive and the actual size of the folder will differ very little... in other words, it won't compress worth a crap because the files are not very "compressable" -- certainly not 50%: from about 1GB (200 songs x 5MB ea.) down to 512MB (capacity of jump drive).

If you've got another jump drive as well, you can use Backup 3 (with a .mac subscription) or make a segmented .sit file with StuffIt Deluxe and copy half to one jump drive and half to the other. Otherwise, you just can't fit all your music onto that jump drive -- gotta find something bigger.

"Right click"? You must be a Windows PC user. LOL

 

[g/re/p]

Does your iBook have DVD-burning capabilities?
If not, burning to CD may be an option - i think
a CD will hold about 760 mb.

"Right click"? You must be a Windows PC user. LOL

IMHO, right click with a non-apple "three-button" mouse is much
better than control-click - i think control-click is a royal PITA!

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

"Right click"? You must be a Windows PC user. LOL

Hehe... yeah, I am, in addition to Mac OS X and just about every other conceivable OS on the planet... but multi-button mice are the boon of all OSs!

 

[Amie]

Does your iBook have DVD-burning capabilities?
If not, burning to CD may be an option - i think
a CD will hold about 760 mb.


IMHO, right click with a non-apple "three-button" mouse is much
better than control-click - i think control-click is a royal PITA!

Yes, it does. I considered that, but the CD option just didn't seem reliable (CDs wear and tear, etc.). But, at this point, I don't see any other choice. Thanks for the reminder about the CD. I guess I'll go with that.

 

[Amie]

Hehe... yeah, I am, in addition to Mac OS X and just about every other conceivable OS on the planet... but multi-button mice are the boon of all OSs!

Not on laptops.

 

[g/re/p]

I use a mouse on my powerbook, and when i go portable
(surf from the couch - lol) i use the scrollpad, which forces
me to revert to control-click - which SUCKS

 

[Amie]

I've actually thought (very briefly before tossing the the idea) about purchasing a wireless mouse (just because they look cool--LOL) for my laptop. But, truth be told, I absolutely love the trackpad mouse. I like the fact that I can access all my keys and my mouse without ever taking my hands off the keyboard. And you can't do that with any other type of mouse.