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[elpaolo]

I'm moving all my files from 4 split drives to one large one and would like to preserve the folders the files are in.  Doing the move within MC and then renaming everything would seem to be a good solution, but it takes a long and seems to mess with the cover art.

I guess my question is if there is a quicker, all-in-one way of doing this.  Moving the files in explorer and doing a find/replace seems quicker because I don't have to rename as many files.  I know that's discouraged in the documentation...but I'm not sure what else to do.

Has anyone does something similar?  Any pointers?

[marko]

Moving the files in explorer and doing a find/replace seems quicker because I don't have to rename as many files.

This is my preferred method for mass movement, but you need to be prepared...

If you're moving the files from 4 drives onto a single drive, make sure the new drive has a drive letter that is different from the other 4.

Make absolutely sure that auto import is turned off...

Make a library backup (File > Library > back up library)
Then close MC.

Start moving the files using explorer. Again, pay attention to detail. Think about what you will need to use to accomplish your 'find and replace later on. Ideally, you would be looking for four simple find and replace jobs...
Find D: replace with H:
Find E: replace with H:
Find F: replace with H:
Find G: replace with H:
You've not mentioned your path structure, but presumably the paths you use are uniform across all four drives.

After you've finished moving all your files, launch MC and load a view that shows all the files in question. All of your files should have red crosses beside them indicating, as expected, that MC cannot find the files.

Select all files, right click, library tools, find and replace.
Click the 'select none' button, then find and select "Filename" in the list. You will need to launch this tool 4 times, MC will remember this field selection each time you load the tool, meaning that after setting it, you need only concern yourself with the find and replace strings.

After performing each of the four steps, MC will find and reconnect with your files without losing any valuable database information.

Warning Tip
Using the find and replace tool on the file name field can produce unexpected results if you are not fully aware of how it works, so extra care must be taken.

Using the tool as described above will work exactly as described. ie., it will repair broken links to files.
If you change the filename of a file that is not missing, this does not create a broken link in the library, MC will move the file to the new location specified

A good way to ensure that your list of files contains broken file links and nothing else is to create a new smartlist using the rule:
[=ismissing([filename])]=1

Once you're finished, remember to reset your auto import options if needed.

-marko.

[JohnM]

How about using MC | Drives & Devices | My Computer. Drag and drop the folders. MC asks if you want to move or copy. You don't have to do any "Find & Replace", the library is automatically updated with the new paths.

[marko]

I find that fine for a few files and folders, but for an entire library being moved to a different drive, it would take too long, and during the transfer, the library could be in a rather vulnerable state, if, for example, a crash occurred several hours into the operation.

There are several ways to achieve the goal, and ultimately, how you do it is entirely up to you.
I've recently had to do similar reorganising tasks, and you know, when it came to doing things like shunting 178 Gb of music files from one drive to another, I was quite happy to go to work/sleep while my file manager got on with these huge tasks. Personally, I would not leave huge tasks like that to MC, not because I don't think it could cope, but because my library is precious and I'd rather not expose it to potential corruption should something go wrong with the move operation during the night.

As MC uses the windows move/copy controls when used in this way, the only time to be saved is in not having to do the find/replace steps after moving the files with a file manager, but if the paths are uniform, and the find/replace is a simple drive letter, it would take a lot less than a minute to go through and reconnect all the files, so for me, in the given situation, the find/replace route is the more robust choice.

-marko.

[gappie]

just a small note.
one of the pains when copying a large amount of files using explorer is that if one file failes the process stops. finding which part succeded and where it failed can be frustrating. i use this free small tool for copying huge amounts of data. http://www.ruahine.com/
works for me.

[JohnM]

I find that fine for a few files and folders, but for an entire library being moved to a different drive, it would take too long, and during the transfer, the library could be in a rather vulnerable state, if, for example, a crash occurred several hours into the operation.

You have a point here. Didn't think of this.

[AoXoMoXoA]

whenever I do need to move a drive full of files I use the same proceedure as Marko outlined and have not yet encountered any problems in the half-dozen times I have updated to new (larger) hard drives.

One thing I do suggest is to COPY the files rather than use the MOVE command. This insures the recovery of any files lost or damaged in transit since you still have the originals as a back-up.

[Alex B]

One thing I do suggest is to COPY the files rather than use the MOVE command. This insures the recovery of any files lost or damaged in transit since you still have the originals as a back-up.

This is a good idea if you disconnect the old drive(s) or change the base folder names before doing the Find and Replace step.

If MC can find the old files it moves them to the new location instead of fixing the broken links. All files would be duplicated and the library files would have adjusted filenames. (For example, file (1).mp3 instead of file.mp3)

[elpaolo]

Thanks for all the replies, and especially yours, Marko.  I also considered just partitioning my large drive (500 gigs) into the drives I have now....but I'd rather just keep it all in one place.  My ultimate plan is to pick up another 500 gig seagate (external for $139!) and really simplify the backup process between the two.

The move aspect of find replace is intriguing...could I just move the files that way by renaming their drive letter to the one I want?  Would MC move all the files?  I suppose I'd be left without a copy of each file, though....and I'd like to keep redundancy...

Hm.  I'll figure it out.  One of these methods will work.  Again, thanks!

Paul

[elpaolo]

Actually, let me add another thought that borders on a feature request for our good friends in the warehouse district (you're still there, right?).

I had been poking around iTunes yesterday to see what it's backup utility is like and thought this might make a nice addition to MC.  Where iTunes falls a bit short, however, is in how it restricts the types of media to which you can make the backup (cds, dvds).  In other words, it doesn't allow the user to write the backup to a drive, which, as I think my case shows, would be immensely useful.  External drives are so very common now and such an easy way of backing up music files that I think this would be a worthwhile addition.

[laufen]

I do routine backups with xcopy from a script or command shell.  Something like this should work for you:

xcopy /IEHRYZDC "N:\My Music"  "Z:\My Music"

I forget the details on all the options to xcopy, but I worked these out for a script I run once a week to put everything I care about onto an external drive.

Once copied, either re-import the files into a new library or update your existing library.

Regards,
Derek

[mlagase]

I use a similar command, but use Robocopy to do it instead of xcopy. Here is my command syntax if it helps others out.

robocopy G:\music j:\music /s /e /r:10 /w:0 /z /sec

Mike