With Boot Camp new need to switch and move iTunes library data from XP to Mac

[micha10589]

So now with Boot Camp I have one more good argument to convince a friend to get a Mac and give up his PC. He is already sufficiently impressed with his iPod and especially the iTunes software.

However, he would be more than disappointed if he couldn't move his iTunes library data (i.e., ratings and playcounts as well as the playlists) to OSX.

There have been threads here concerning this topic but no answer yet as to that possibility.

Anyone here who has successfully done that by now? Could anyone try it?

Thanks.

 

[Eraserhead]

I did it back with XP and Mac OS X 10.3, my ratings and playlists were copied but not playcounts

I did it by exporting my iTunes library and importing it, with the files in the same place with respect to my iTunes library file on a Mac. I made sure that I had consolidated my iTunes library on my PC first using Advanced Menu--> Consolidate library.
I then exported the library file using File Menu-->Export Library


Then I copied my music from my PC onto my Mac's Music directory And Went to File Menu-->Import and imported the library file.

 

[theBB]

I am pretty sure you have left out a little detail. You need to open Library.xml file (the exported library) in TextEdit and "Find and Replace" every occurance of "C:\....\username\MyMusic" with "/users/username/Music" or wherever you have decided to place your music files. Even then, I cannot say for sure whether playlists, Purchased music folder etc. will transfer without any issues, but they probably would.

Did all of your playlists and song info etc. got copied over properly?

 

[ITASOR]

I don't use playlists and ratings, so I just consolidated, copied the iTunes folder, and added them back on my Mac when I switched my iTunes library. Guess that won't work for your friend though.

There's a good tutorial on Apple's help about relocating a music library, you may be able to use portions of that.

 

[Eraserhead]

I am pretty sure you have left out a little detail. You need to open Library.xml file (the exported library) in TextEdit and "Find and Replace" every occurance of "C:\....\username\MyMusic" with "/users/username/Music" or wherever you have decided to place your music files. Even then, I cannot say for sure whether playlists, Purchased music folder etc. will transfer without any issues, but they probably would.

Did all of your playlists and song info etc. got copied over properly?

The way I did it didn't ment I didn't need to find and replace, though if you did that maybe your ratings would stay... This stuff is best to sort out when you have the new mac and can link the computers up together, its really obvious straight away if you screw up the iTunes stuff then you clear your library on the new Mac and try again.

 

[Electro Funk]

So now with Boot Camp I have one more good argument to convince a friend to get a Mac and give up his PC. He is already sufficiently impressed with his iPod and especially the iTunes software.

However, he would be more than disappointed if he couldn't move his iTunes library data (i.e., ratings and playcounts as well as the playlists) to OSX.

There have been threads here concerning this topic but no answer yet as to that possibility.

Anyone here who has successfully done that by now? Could anyone try it?

Thanks.

can he fit all of his music on his iPod? if so... there are a few free programs that will rip all the music from his ipod (including playlists & counts) to the new mac...

i did this recently when i bought a new iMac for the home office... had all my music on the PBg4... just synced the 60gig ipod and then ripped to the new iMac...

 

[Coolnat2004]

I copied all of my iTunes data from XP to OS X about a year ago. Everything transferred... song names, ratings, playcounts, etc.

You have to copy the music data, and edit 'iTunes Music Library.xml' to replace the file paths with the new path, then you import it on the new machine I believe.

I don't know, but I got it on the first try.. along with transferring my mail from XP Mozilla Thunderbird to Mail 2.

 

[micha10589]

Thanks for everyone's input so far. I'm afraid, I am not yet convinced that this will work as it should. The possible loss of the playcounts would be a major frustration. I wished Apple would offer some more guided procedure to do this, just like with Boot Camp itself.

 

[exeterbohemian]

I copied all of my iTunes data from XP to OS X about a year ago. Everything transferred... song names, ratings, playcounts, etc.

i did the same exact thing when i got my powerbook. i simply copied the 'itunes' folder in its entirety from my windows machine and replaced the 'itunes' folder on my powerbook with it. and when i opened itunes, everything was there. playlists, tags, playcounts, etc. my advice, don't make the process more complicated than you need to.