iTunes updating and keeping files ...

Hi all

I store all my music on an external USB hard drive, which I usually power down after I disconnect my laptop. When getting back to my desk - iTunes might already be running or not - I often start to download some podcasts. The problem is obvious: Instead of iTunes warning me my external hard drive is not yet ready for some reason, the new podcast episodes get stored in the music folder in my home.
Now when I change back to my preferred location, iTunes always has to update the music library and always asks me whether I want to keep my files organized.
The latter always takes more than 20 seconds - and prevents me from playing any music, which I find most annoying - although only one or two episodes have been downloaded, iTunes seems to scan through a whole lot of files.

Is there any way around that - aside from connecting the hard drive properly, before attempting to use iTunes?

---

Orignal From: iTunes updating and keeping files ...