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[elpaolo]

Hi, MC Forum,

Like many users, I have files spread across many hard drives (6), and I'd now like to consolidate them all into one for easier backup, organization, and just general management.  The library seems large by most accounts (~260 GB), which leaves me a bit uneasy about how to move the files.  Thus, I have a few burning questions that I'm hoping some more experienced users (or JRiver folks) can address:

(a) What is the safest (and hopefully quickest) method within MC for moving files to a new location while maintaining library links (I have a lot of playlists I'd like to keep intact)?  Or, should I be using explorer in some way instead?  I've looked through the options in MC, but thought I'd come here for first-hand accounts.

(b) Also, if I were to use MC, is version 15 reliable enough for this move, or should I stick with 14 for now?

I'd greatly appreciate any help with this...and I apologize if this is in the wrong forum.

P

[JimH]

MC's Library Tools/Move, Copy Rename tool can do it.  Check the directory box and choose rules.

Try a few before you do very many.

MC15 or MC14 would work.

[elpaolo]

Thank you, thank you.

A trial run of 1000 files seems to have worked flawlessly (not that you expected anything less).

Is there any sort of cover art hangup with the move tool?  Everything looks preserved--I'm not overlooking anything am I (i.e., coverart stored outside vs within the files)?

Thanks again for the quick response!

P

[glynor]

The library seems large by most accounts (~260 GB), which leaves me a bit uneasy about how to move the files.

My primary media library is around 2.3TB, not counting my "offline" storage (3 1TB hard drives on a shelf with rarely accessed stuff on them), and mine is by no means the largest one around on the forum.  I think you'll find that MC scales to handle large libraries better than any other solution, and provides many tools (like the one you just found) to simplify the management of a large dataset.

Oh, and MC 15 is fine.  Fantastic, even.

I'm not an expert on cover art stored externally (but next to the files), because I store all of mine in the tags and in a centralized folder, so I'll leave that question to someone else.  Any cover art stored inside the files will be preserved, of course.  However, I will say this... The Rename, Move, & Copy tool can be used on more than just music, and you can easily create an "all media" view where you can see the audio files and image files all at once.  I know there is also some sort of built-in handling of cover art though, but I'm not clear on the details.

[elpaolo]

Thanks for the reply, glynor.

The whole move was flawless and took far less time than I expected--major win.  Cover art seems OK, too.

I'm actually a longtime MC user (way back to the MJ days), but I had never used the move feature before....*and* moving files like that (and potentially breaking 200 playlists) was making me uneasy.  Why did I ever doubt that it would work perfectly?

Now, on to figuring out the best way to share the library across to PCs and a Mac in the house....