TuneSwift can be used to backup an iTunes library including iPod Touch, iPad or iPhone backups. Even better is the fact that the program uses incremental backups which means that only the latest changes can be backed up instead of the full library.

But the program offers more than that. It can also be used to transfer the iTunes library to a new computer, external hard drive or a new location on the same computer.

CopyTrans TuneSwift is offered in two versions, a standard version that needs to be installed and a portable version that can be run from the location the program is unpacked to. The requirements are a computer with a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows operating system and iTunes 10 installed. The full feature set includes:

• Back up the entire iTunes library including music, videos, applications, books, purchases, artworks, playlists, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch backups and many more in a single archive
• Restore iTunes library from any backup on PC or Mac
• Save the latest changes of the iTunes library as an incremental backup
• Move iTunes library from Windows to Mac
• Transfer iTunes library to an external hard drive or a new folder
• Export iTunes library including iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad backups

TuneSwift is currently available free of charge. This will change in March 2011 when the program will be offered as a commercial software. Users who download the program now can activate it with the license code TUNESWIFT-ACTI-VATE-ME.

The software is easy to use, as it makes use of pictograms to guide the user through the process of backing up, restoring or transferring the computer’s iTunes library.

TuneSwift is available for download at the CopyTrans website. (via)

A total of 19 different scripts are available that can be executed from the interface. The scripts usually spawn a dos window that will execute the selected script. A selection of the script itunes_not_found will for example scan the iTunes music library for music that is no longer available on the local hard drive. Other cleanup scripts include the search for duplicate music in iTunes. Some scripts require user input like removing songs based on a playlist or location. The script collection will usually list the available options and wait for keyboard input to continue executing the script.

Teridon’s iTunes Scripts provide a great way of cleaning up the music collection in Apple iTunes. The script collection does contain several additional scripts that might be worth a try. One interesting script is for example the one that will create a playlist containing all songs of a connected iPod.

The scripts are also available as Perl scripts for users who do not like to download the executables. They have been tested both with iTunes 6 and 7 but most should work fine if iTunes 8 is installed on the computer system as well.

The main reason to use multiple iTunes libraries would be to divide specific data into different libraries. This can be dividing losless and lossy music, libraries for specific occasions, specific music genres or types like bootlegs or live music only.

It is actually very easy to create a second iTunes library. All that needs to be done is to press the Shift key (Alt on Macs) before launching iTunes. A small popup window will be displayed asking the user to choose or create a library.

Selecting the create a library option will create a new iTunes library that acts independently of all other iTunes libraries. It should also be noted that iTunes will always open the library that has been used the last time iTunes was executed. Switching libraries would again require pressing the Shift key during launch.