Daniel Shaughnessy wants iTunes and Windows Media Player to see the music on his external USB hard drive.

This can be done, but there are two caveats: You have to tell these programs that a particular folder on the external drive should be part of their music "library." And you have accept occasional error messages when the drive isn't plugged in and the program can't find the music you want to play.

Here's how to add the appropriate folder to the library:

In Windows Media Player 11, with the external drive plugged in, press F3. Click Advanced Options, then the Add button below the list of folders. It's all pretty obvious from there.

In iTunes 8, select File, then Add Folder to Library. Select the folder from the resulting Browse For Folder box.

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