Video:Backup Your iTunes Library
with Don SchechterYou could lose files in a hard drive malfunction or a computer crash. Learn how to backup your iTunes Library to CD-R or DVD-R, play it safe and let the music play!See Transcript
Transcript:Backup Your iTunes Library
Hi, I'm Don Schechter for About.com Computing.It is really easy to back-up your iTunes library and playlists with iTunes.
Today I'm using Version 7.
CD or DVD Storage Space for iTunes Back-up
Before you begin, make sure that you have enough recordable DVDs or CDs to accommodate your entire library.Take a look at the bottom section of your iTunes to see how many megabytes you have. Remember, a CD only holds approximately 700 megabytes and a single-layer DVD holds approximately 4.7 gigabytes.
How to Back-up Your iTunes Library
Go to File, then select Back-up to Disc. iTunes will ask you if you want to back up your entire library and playlists or just your iTunes purchases.If this is not your first time doing a back-up, select the Only back up items added or changed since last backup option. This way you can continue to save your music on an on-going basis.
Click back-up. If you have a computer with a CD/DVD drive that has an ejection tray, the computer will automatically open it up and ask for you to insert your first disc.
If there are songs listed in your library that you deleted or moved to your computer, iTunes will ask if you want to continue the backup without the missing files.
Cancel iTunes Library Back-up
During the back-up, do not terminate the iTunes program or else you risk corrupting the disc. If you must quit early, hit the X button to the right of the status bar.iTunes Library Back-up CDs and DVDs
iTunes will continue to ask for discs to be inserted until it has finished backing up your library.When finished, you will not be able to listen to these discs like a regular music CD. They are a system backup only and are written to the disc differently than a regular music or data CD.
If you needed to restore your entire library, simply insert the first disc into your CD/DVD drive. iTunes will then ask if you want to restore your library.
Thanks for watching. To learn more, visit us on the Web at Computing.About.com.
About videos are made available on an "as is" basis, subject to the User Agreement.