Windows – How to mass relocate the iTunes library

Hold the option (alt) key when opening iTunes and you'll be prompted to either create a library or choose an existing library.

You can then select the iTunes library that you have stored on the NAS share.

This method may require that the NAS share contains a iTunes library file. If it does, then you might be able to copy the default one created when iTunes starts for the first time and move it over to the NAS share.

The when you add music to iTunes, it will be written to the library file stored on the NAS share. YOu can turn off the options to make iTunes keep you music organised and turn off the copy files to iTunes Music Folder to prevent it from moving or creating dupes of your music files.

I have this set up at home. (Windows XP/Vista/7)

All music resides on my file server on a drive called M:\. This drive is shared as \\fileserver\m\. The Itunes library file is located at M:\Music\Itunes\ituneslibrary.xml.

Every computer maps the network drive \\fileserver\m\ as M:\, thereby making the paths to the files the same on all systems.

Load iTunes on each machine. During startup press Shift (windows) or Option (mac) to select the library file. On each machine you'll select M:\Music\Itunes\ituneslibrary.xml

You can add media from any system by simply dropping it into the M:\Music folder (or wherever your tunes reside). It will not get added to itunes on its own (Thanks alot Apple!), so you need to use iTunes Library Updater (ILU). This will add all your songs to iTunes and remove songs that you've deleted behind iTunes' back.

Some limitations: When you modify a playlist or something on one computer, you need to close iTunes to save the library information. Say you open up iTunes on two machines at the same time, make changes on one and close, it will save that library. If you then close the other one it will save it's version of the itunes library (without your changes you made on the other one). So be careful with that one.