iTunes 8 offers a new way to back up your iTunes library, playlists, and iTunes Store purchases (including Applications, games) for safekeeping. The Back Up to Disc feature saves your media (games, songs, apps, videos) to a blank disc (CD or DVD) and once backed up, iTunes can use your backup disc(s) to automatically restore your iTunes library. If you have iTunes 5 or 6, click here to learn how to backup iTunes library includes games, songs, videos with Mac.

The Back Up To Disc feature will back up the following files from your iTunes Library:

Applications
Audiobooks
Games
Movies
Music
Music Videos
Podcasts
Ringtones
TV Shows

Backing up your iTunes library (songs, games, apps, etc.)to a CD or DVD

To burn a CD (CD-R or CD-RW), your computer must have a compatible CD burner. To burn a DVD (DVD-R or DVD-RW), your computer must have a compatible DVD burner. Burn is a good CD and DVD burner. You can download it from: http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/

Before backup, check in iTunes Preferences to see if a drive is compatible. Follow below for steps:

1Choose File > Library > Back up to Disc.

2Select the option you want from the resulting dialog and click Back Up.

The two options you can select from are:

1. Back up entire iTunes library and playlists

2. Back up only iTunes Store purchases

Whichever of these two options you choose, note that you can also choose "Only back up items added or changed since last backup" to perform an incremental backup.

3Begin burning

Insert a blank disc (CD or DVD) into your computer's optical drive. iTunes will scan the disc and begin burning.

Note: If the disc you insert does not have enough space to hold all of the content you will be backing up, a dialog will appear asking whether you wish to backup to multiple discs. You can click Data Discs to continue.

iTunes burns the number of items that fit on one disc and then asks you to insert subsequent discs to continue burning the remaining files. Don't eject a disc while a backup is in progress.

Spoken programs purchased from the Audible.com website are not backed up.

Discs you create using the iTunes backup feature can be used only to restore; they can't be played in a CD or DVD player.

Restoring from a backup disc

1. Open iTunes.

2. Insert your backup disc.

3. iTunes will ask whether you want to restore from this disc. Click Restore.

Check drive compatibility

1. Choose a playlist on the left side of the iTunes window.

2. Click the Burn Disc button on the bottom right corner of iTunes.

3. If the drive is listed, it's compatible.