Moving files from Windows to Mac plus moving database

@Tony > FAT32 refers to the filesystem of the drive itself. All hard drives can be formatted to a variety of filesystems (FAT32, NTFS and exFAT are common Windows filesystems, and HFS+ is typically used by Macintosh computers) - but only FAT32 can be read/written-to by both Mac and Windows computers, which is why it is recommended when migrating between operating systems. That should be your first step; format your 3TB drive to FAT32.

Next, follow the instructions to move all of your music to the external drive, and relocate your database there as well.

Unfortunately there is no easy way to have the databases from two drives loaded simultaneously, and synchronizing / merging the data is not a fun thing to do on a regular basis, so the idea of 1000 songs internally should be done as an export from your main database instead of trying to maintain them separately.

Thanks Pulse.

Rather than migrating/moving the database, how can I copy the database? where is the database located on a windows pc?

The reason I do not want to migrate the database is that i would like to keep the current setup on the windows laptop "just in case" it was ever needed again, and to still have the current cues, loops etc.

Thanks

@Tony > Try using the Backup feature (it creates a copy); File > Library > Backup Library.

Thanks again.

I successfully copied the database and files from the windows laptop to the MacBook with the files on the external drive and have used it at the last few gigs and has been fine.

To do the 2nd part where you recommended:

"Unfortunately there is no easy way to have the databases from two drives loaded simultaneously, and synchronizing / merging the data is not a fun thing to do on a regular basis, so the idea of 1000 songs internally should be done as an export from your main database instead of trying to maintain them separately."

Can you explain how to export the files. I've tried highlighting all the files in a playlist called Most Played tracks but then when I right click, the "Export files" option is grayed out. I then tried to select some files from within the Collection but again the export files option was grayed out, so am not sure how to export them?

@Tony > If you're moving from one OS to another, using the backup / restore procedure will move database and all of your music (when you select that option), no need to "Export," which is used to prepare USB drives for use with a player (CDJ, XDJ, etc).

Hi, no, it's to achieve the following:

The main laptop is a new MacBook Pro with a 500Gb hard drive, using an external 3Tb drive for the music/video files.

The backup laptop is an older MacBook Pro with a 1Tb drive. On this MacBook I would like to take the 1,000 most played files from the library on the external 3Tb drive.

the older MacBook would not need to be synced with the main MacBook though. It's just the most played tracks in case of emergency machine, however I would like it to have all the loops, cue points etc from the main database.

You can't selectively export a portion of the database. My recommendation would be to backup the entire database (and songs) to an external drive, then restore it on the backup computer, delete everything you don't need and move from there.