WinZip and iTunes Question

I'm trying to transfer my itunes library from my old dell desktop to my new alienware laptop. I was told I could just copy the itunes folder from my old computer onto a flash drive and load it onto the new one, but I was wondering if I could just zip it up and e-mail it to myself instead.

Can I use WinZip to zip up the itunes folder from my old computer and use my e-mail to open it with my new computer?

And if so, I was hoping someone could tell me exactly how to "zip up" a file. I have very little experience with WinZip and would have no idea where to begin.

So, can I use WinZip for this and if so, how do I do it?

Thanks.

 

It's not wise at all to email yourself an entire library of music. Most email providers limit the size of the email to something like 10 MB, which is only enough for about 2 songs max per email. Zipping up the entire library wouldn't help much, other than consolidating the library into one file for easy transport.

The whole-zipping process is very simple in XP/Vista:
1. Select all the files/folders you want to zip up in your music library
2. Right-click on one of the selected items and choose "Send To.../Compressed Zip"
3. Let it "try" to compress the files (could take a while)
4. Copy the generated Zip file to a USB stick
5. Plug the USB stick on the new computer, right-click on the Zip file, and choose "Extract All..."
6. Follow on screen instructions and choose your profile's Music folder for where the files should be extracted to.
7. Install itunes on your new machine
8. It will find your library auto-magically if you chose your profile's default music folder.
9. Enjoy!

 

Prepare to send yourself couple thousand e-mails. It's possible but not feasible. You can however use things such as microsoft live sync or live mesh to transfer all your music collection from one computer through another through either your router or the internet.

 

In addition to the problem already stated about email attachment size limits, another concern is that unnecessary uploading & downloading risks corruption of files.

Using a thumb drive is really the easiest option. You could also burn the files to a DVD or attach the hard drive to your new computer either physically with an adapter or over a home network as Jack suggested.

Zipping the files is a bit unnecessary if you utilize any of the options in the second paragraph, since it won't compress the archive by any worthwhile amount.