Ask Kirk – May 23, 2005

I regularly receive questions from my readers, and, if the reader includes an e-mail address, I answer as many as I can directly. Here’s a selection of submissions I’ve received without e-mail addresses together with my replies. I hope other readers find this helpful. Q: I have a 20G iPod and my version of iTunes is installed on a Windows based notebook. My goal is to uninstall iTunes and transfer it to a desktop PC. Both the laptop and PC run on Windows XP and are both Dells. Is it possible to move iTunes without messing up the iPod? Is there a certain way to go about doing this? Thank you in advance for the help!

Anonymous

A: That’s a simple one. Just copy the iTunes folder inside your My Music folder from the old computer to the new one. When you launch iTunes on the new one, it will read the library and all will be fine.

Q: After purchasing some MP3′s from a non-iTunes site, the songs are out of their intended order. I’m also having this problem with songs that I’ve ripped from CD’s. Dragging to tracks doesn’t work. Do you know how to re-order songs in iTunes? Many thanks!! (ps, we’re using an iMac and 4.7.1)

David

A: What you need to do is set the tags for the songs’ track numbers. Select the first song, then select File > Get Info. On the Info tab, look for the Track Number fields. Enter the appropriate number, then click Next to go to the next song. When you’ve done this for an entire album, it will display correctly.

Q: Excellent article on Playlist about organizing classical music on the iPod and iTunes. One problem, however: I’ve followed all your directions on how to join tracks when ripping a CD, but when I click on “Advanced”, the “Join CD Tracks” is dimmed, so I can’t click on it. Do you have any idea why?

Bob

A: This only works if your tracks are sorted in the correct order: click the left-most column header, and, if the arrow’s not pointing up, click it again so it is. That puts the tracks in their album order, and you can then join them.

Q: As a new iPod user, I am rapidly running out of room on my internal 80GB hard drive. Can I use an external hard drive to store my library, and still have the functionality of plug in/update as if I were set up with the internal hard drive?

Anonymous

A: Yes, this is easy to do. Move your iTunes folder (from your Music folder, if you run a Mac, or your My Music folder, on Windows) to the external hard drive. Then, in iTunes, select the Preferences, click the Advanced tab, then in the iTunes Music Location section, click Change and select the new folder location on the external hard disk. Just make sure the hard disk is connected when you want to sync your iPod.

Q: I have a 4G iPod with approximately 5,000 songs and all works well, except that the “Sound Check” function does not work correctly. I play the iPod through my stereo and find I have to adjust the volume very frequently. How can I get this to work?

Kent

A: To use Sound Check, you must turn it on both in iTunes and on the iPod. To turn it on in iTunes, open the iTunes preferences, click the Audio tab, then check Sound Check. To turn it on on the iPod, go to the iPod’s Settings menu, then select Sound Check to turn it on.

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