Itunes slow with a large library

Martynt74

Martynt74

Martynt74

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I’ve got quite a large itunes library (around 60k tracks over about 200gb) which is all saved on an external hard drive.

I’ve using my laptop which is a Sony Vaio Nw20 which I think has dual core 2.2ghz and 4gb ram and Windows 7

It still often seems very slow when scrolling down tracks and on searches which can make it very tiring when I’m trying to search through tracks and update my iphone.

Does anyone have any ways to either optimize this or is something better preferred? I’m thinking one issue might be due to the hard drive being external and only 5400rpm rather than internal but I wasn’t sure if its just a case of itunes not being as well optimised for use on Windows
 
Which version of iTunes do you have and which view are you using? Does switching the view (the standard List view should be the quickest) help?

Your HDD won't make a difference since iTunes will just read everything from its library file initially and then access files when needed.
 
I’m using the latest version of itunes, 10.2 or something like that?

Yeah, I’m just on the bog standard view and don’t think I use too many columns, just

Track
Artist
Album
Play count
Size
 
Marvt74 said:
I’ve got quite a large itunes library (around 60k tracks over about 200gb) which is all saved on an external hard drive.

I’ve using my laptop which is a Sony Vaio Nw20 which I think has dual core 2.2ghz and 4gb ram and Windows 7

It still often seems very slow when scrolling down tracks and on searches which can make it very tiring when I’m trying to search through tracks and update my iphone.

Does anyone have any ways to either optimize this or is something better preferred? I’m thinking one issue might be due to the hard drive being external and only 5400rpm rather than internal but I wasn’t sure if its just a case of itunes not being as well optimised for use on Windows
Click to expand...
 
Again, the hard disk makes NO difference! iTunes keeps its own "iTunes Library.itl" and "iTunes Library.xml" files that store all this information. These (under Windows) are stored in My Music > iTunes. They can be moved to a different drive (at least under Mac OS X) but i'm guessing you haven't done that? Not that it would make any difference being on a different drive anyway.

If you really need proof of this - close iTunes, disconnect the external HDD, open iTunes and it won't tell you a file is missing (with a little icon) until you click on it. Since this is the point when it actually starts reading the file itself.

It's probably due to having 60,000 tracks (again file size/bitrate isn't the issue) and iTunes simply isn't optimised for libraries of that size. Think about it people with libraries above even 10,000 tracks probably account for less than 1% of iTunes users.
 
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Actually cover art is stored and fiddled with (probably optimizations for iTunes/Cover Flow etc.) in the folder called "Album Artwork" in the same directory as your iTunes Library file. This happens regardless of if you downloaded the artwork through iTunes or it was stored in the file itself.

Track metadata is stored in the library file. Like I said it stores this data in the library file then only looks at the actual music track file (at which point it will update any metadata if you changed it using an external program) when you at least single click on it.
 
If he's moved the iTunes library file to the external drive (i.e. the proper way) then I'd say it's a combination of the slow external drive and the massive library.

On that note.. I have 10,000 tracks, but honestly I can't even comprehend 60,000 :eek:
 
While I couldn't be certain of this before I did a quick Google just now to check and it certainly seems to be this way...

The library file is loaded into RAM when iTunes starts up. Obviously iTunes still has to process this file when scrolling/searching etc. which is what causes the slowdowns when it's as huge as 60,000 tracks.

I shall repeat my previous statement that the HDD doesn't make any difference* :p


*Well, if you have your library file on it your iTunes startup time might be minutely increased.
 
Nope never bothered to move the library file, i just don't have the internal hard drive capacity to store all my tracks together.

If Itunes isn't optimised for this amount of tracks can anyone suggest an alternative which may be useable that would still allow me to sync my ipod/phone?

I used to always use Winamp but i don't know how that is anymore
 
~60,000 tracks and only ~200GB?

My library is 13k tracks, 89GB... they must be really low bitrate? Either that or they're all ten seconds long :p
 
As for using another program as far as I know an iPhone/iPod touch is pretty much locked to iTunes since it isn't a Mass Storage Device.

For other iPods Winamp is probably your best bet.
 
uv said:
~60,000 tracks and only ~200GB?

My library is 13k tracks, 89GB... they must be really low bitrate? Either that or they're all ten seconds long :p
Click to expand...

Thats probably a bit out but most things are at 192k, its only for having on in the car/train/out running.
I've got my cd player for when i want to listen properly.

Thanks Fillado - I had a feeling there were other software items for ipods, though i didnt know they weren't compatable with the Iphone
 
Mines pretty swift with 9k tracks and 60Gb Library.

Besides iTunes keeps the metadata and album art in it's own library.

I don't even need my library HD connected and it will show all the songs etc, it just complains when I try and play it.
 
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