Computer migration questions

[Epical]

So I'm finally making the switch to the computer I built last year from the one I built three years ago, and I just have a couple questions regarding the switch to make it as efficient as possible. Last time I did this I just did it the long way and did all my settings, playlists, etc from scratch and it took FOREVER to get back to what I had it at.

- Is there a way to transfer iTunes libraries? So I don't have to import alllllll my shit again? If I export my existing iTunes library, will it look to the old location of all my music?
- Is there anything I should be aware of regarding the syncing of my iPhone on my new PC? I know iTunes likes to freak out when a device is synced on a new machine. Is it going to start taking photos and music and shit off my phone?
- My playlist in Winamp is just under 2000 songs, and if I were to load it on my new PC, it would point to the locations of where the music was on my old computer (C:\), where as on the new PC I'm going to have a partitioned data section (E:/ or something). This would pretty much render the entire list useless and would make me re-add everything again anyways. Any way around this?
- Speaking of partitioning, on a 500GB HDD, what would be the best way to partition it? 100GB OS (C:\), remainder Data (E:\ or whatever)? Are there really any practical benefits to partitioning at all other than if you need to reformat you don't lose all your data?

I'm kind of in a hurry, so I'll probably edit and revise this list later on, but this is all the important stuff for now. Thanks boys and girls.

[Cephius]

Can't comment on iTunes cuz I'd never use that shiet but..

As for winamp, its not too hard for you to point at at your music folder and just let it re-populate the list, no?

Partitioning is mostly for tidiness sake, if you care about backing up stuff it helps to have a drive just dedicated to your OS. Splitting up one drive is kind of dangerous since if the drive goes down, you lose everything at once. Keeping your data on a completely separate drive helps, or at least having a seperate drive to backup everything to.

[Caiyuo]

For itunes/iphone, this post should help: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/h...r-ipod-iphone/

Specifically this software which they recommend in the post: http://www.getsharepod.com/

I've had to use that before to restore a friend's itunes library from their ipod touch after their hard drive failed and it worked really well. Should be the same sort of process.

[Epical]

Can't comment on iTunes cuz I'd never use that shiet but..

As for winamp, its not too hard for you to point at at your music folder and just let it re-populate the list, no?

Partitioning is mostly for tidiness sake, if you care about backing up stuff it helps to have a drive just dedicated to your OS. Splitting up one drive is kind of dangerous since if the drive goes down, you lose everything at once. Keeping your data on a completely separate drive helps, or at least having a seperate drive to backup everything to.

Hmm, I'd love to get a Velociraptor and throw the OS on it and keep the 500GB for data separately, but I definitely don't feel like dropping $200 when I don't need it. That being said, do you suggest just not partitioning the single drive I have? I really didn't mind having everything on C:\ on this current computer, and if there's no painfully obvious advantage to partitioning it, it might not be worth doing it?

Also, Winamp doesn't just generally point to a music folder, each individual song has its own path, which makes the task of repathing everything VERY tedious. =(

For itunes/iphone, this post should help: http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/25/h...r-ipod-iphone/

Specifically this software which they recommend in the post: http://www.getsharepod.com/

I've had to use that before to restore a friend's itunes library from their ipod touch after their hard drive failed and it worked really well. Should be the same sort of process.

Great, thanks.

[SephYuyX]

As stated, dont parition, and get a ~100gb HD for your OS. Yeah, it would be nice if you could get one of the high end ones, but really, youre better off with any $50 HD than having your OS on the 500GB HD with all your other stuff.

[Deadgye]

For ~50 dollars you could get a 500gb hdd. <.<;

[SephYuyX]

Indeed, but bigger isnt always better~

[Cephius]

Hmm, I'd love to get a Velociraptor and throw the OS on it and keep the 500GB for data separately, but I definitely don't feel like dropping $200 when I don't need it. That being said, do you suggest just not partitioning the single drive I have? I really didn't mind having everything on C:\ on this current computer, and if there's no painfully obvious advantage to partitioning it, it might not be worth doing it?

It's really not worth partitioning your single drive unless you're anal about organization. If you're not doing regular backup images there's really no point to it.

Also, Winamp doesn't just generally point to a music folder, each individual song has its own path, which makes the task of repathing everything VERY tedious. =(

I'm 99.9% positive that you can just do the "add folder" option in winamp and it'll grab everything in the folder and any subfolders. I have a "my music" folder like everyone else, with folders of album names in it and I can add the whole thing with one click in AIMP2, I'm sure winamp can do the same.

[Epical]

As stated, dont parition, and get a ~100gb HD for your OS. Yeah, it would be nice if you could get one of the high end ones, but really, youre better off with any $50 HD than having your OS on the 500GB HD with all your other stuff.

The 80-160GB HDDs are literally within $10 of a 500GB HDD, and if I were to get another 500, wouldn't that just put me back into the same situation? I mean, the ideal solution here is a SSD or Velociraptor, but those are both $200+. I think I'm answering my own quesiton here. Either spend the money or use one hard drive!

I'm 99.9% positive that you can just do the "add folder" option in winamp and it'll grab everything in the folder and any subfolders. I have a "my music" folder like everyone else, with folders of album names in it and I can add the whole thing with one click in AIMP2, I'm sure winamp can do the same.

Oh, yeah, you can do that, but I don't listen to everything in "My Music". I've gone and added individual songs from individual albums and such, which is why this is such a pain. I fear the worst at this point... looks like I'll have to go through and re-add everything. ><

[SephYuyX]

While it seems wierd to spend the samish amount of money on a smaller drive within a same performace bracket, it's often a better choice.

The reason for doing this is to seperate the OS from your storage, while partioning seems like thats what youre doing, it's still on the same physical drive. There are numerous issues with having the two together, mainly slowdown. The reason for picking a small drive is that there is less room for the OS and other installations to fragment over time, and while the seektimes, writetimes, and latencys might be the same in a 80gb and a 500gb in that price range, the smaller will often perform better.

Id recommend: A Veli (or similar) and 500, or a 80~150gb and 500, or a 500 (but keep non installation stuff off of it) and 500, or just the 500 (non partitioned), in that order.

In the end it's your money, so just a suggestion.

[Cephius]

Oh, yeah, you can do that, but I don't listen to everything in "My Music". I've gone and added individual songs from individual albums and such, which is why this is such a pain. I fear the worst at this point... looks like I'll have to go through and re-add everything. ><

Oh, I get you now. Yeah, that kinda sucks. You can export playlists though no? Then you can just add everything and then import your playlist so you only have the songs you want.

Also SSDs are the future for housing your OS, but they're still pretty expensive. Give it another 6 months and they'll be more affordable, might as well just stick everything on one drive and back it up until then.

[Epical]

Well, did my migration today, and for those wondering or those who might stumble upon this thread via search in the future, my Winamp playlists AND iTunes libraries all automatically changed the file paths to where the music was located on the new hard drive. Don't ask me how, but when it worked, I breathed the biggest sigh of relief ever. All I did was transfer all my folder (which contained the music itself and the playlist files) from my external HDD to my internal HDD and it just... worked! As for iTunes, I overwrite the library .xml file from the new install with the one from my old PC and again, all my stuff was there, imported. Including my iPhone sync playlist! Cool stuff.