iTunes- backup method

Hi,

I am wanting to backup my itunes (not the individual music files). Many times when reinstalling/upgrading windows on my PC, iTunes is the biggest problem.

I would like to be able to:

Save the ratings of individual music files (in a simple way- not creating playlists for 3 star rated, 4 star rated etc)

Save the 'date added' or 'date modified' information. This is important as I sort my music by when it was added to iTunes.

I was hoping I could just backup the user area (appdata) but I haven't been able to work out if those files will help.

Any ideas? Cheers

 

What you need to do is backup and restore the iTunes metadata file which frankly, i don't really remember which it is.

This is for OS X: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-hard-drive, but it should at least help you get started. I remember finding a way to do this a while ago, but since i wasn't looking for that, i forgot how exactly to do it.

 

Thanks for that, I had a look but it seems unnecessarily complicated and long for what I'm after

My playlist option would be faster/simpler for me... Only problem is I couldn't keep the dates modified info (unless I did playlists of time periods).

Does anyone know a better/easier way?

 

Just back up what's here: C:\Users\Your-User-Name\Music\iTunes

I usually backup the whole folder with synctoy.

If you don't want to backup the music files just backup the files in that folder.