Is it possible to use your iPod on two different computers?

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Britina

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Here is the thing:

I got my first iPod mini about two years ago and we were in the process of moving and we didn't have our computer set up. So, all I had was my laptop and it didn't have DSL on it, just dial up and it's been that way ever since. It's been okay, because all I do is upload the music I want from my CD's to iTunes and since it doesn't use the 'net for that, I had no problem with it. But now I just got the Classic and I want to download videos and TV shows and I can't because of dial up.

I DO have my desktop that has DSL and I'm on WindowsXP, so under my mom's user name she has her iTunes and under my user name I have a different iTunes. Could I use that iTunes for my iPod, or would it remove all my music? If I can't, is there any way to transfer my music from that iTunes to this computer?

It's such a hassle now because I need to download upgrades and such for the new iPod and I can't, because it's just an insane amount of time.
 

kornchild2002

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Yes, this is very possible. Simply plug your iPod into the primary computer, go to the main iPod window in iTunes, put a check mark in the box next to "Manually manage music and videos," then click on the Apply button. All you have to do now is use iTunes to drag-and-drop your media to your iPod.
 

Britina

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Oh wow, sounds easy enough!

But how would I be able to drag-and-drop the media I want to my iPod if I have never connected my iPod to the computer I'm about to? If I don't sync my iPod to that iTunes, won't it not recognize that it's connected? And it won't erase all my songs, will it? Because I have no songs on this iTunes and almost 3000 songs on my iPod.

Hope all that made sense.

Thanks! :)
 

OldVolkswagen

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I came across this situation recently such as yours (correct me if I am wrong):

Basically I think the iTunes iPod management settles are saved to the iPod (device) itself because I was afraid too that if I used a freshly downloaded iTunes on a different computer then it might be defaultly set to autosync and erase all my stuff, given that a newly dling iTunes might not have a library index yet.

BUT I too the risk (foolish of me yes) and it did not automatically autosync a blank library erasing songs on my iPod.

I cannot say what happened in technical terms, but if this is a related situation -- can someone please elaborate on the technical aspects of this?
 

kornchild2002

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Your iPod won't be erased as long as you use your primary computer and set it to manual sync mode. As long as manual mode is enabled, nothing will be erased from your iPod. Then you can take your iPod to a computer it has never been hooked up to and sync it just fine. Just remember to drag-and-drop your music/video content over. All you have to do is select it in iTunes, left-click and hold the mouse button on one of the items, and drag it over to your iPod icon in iTunes and let go of the mouse button.

It is actually very simple, the key is to set your iPod to manual sync mode. Once that happens, everything will be easy.
 

Britina

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Thanks! I did what you said and it worked.

However...I might have a *slight* problem. I didn't click "manage music manually" on my main computer first. I plugged my iPod into the computer I had never used before, dragged-and-dropped the TV show I wanted to add and it put it on there with no problem and none of my songs got erased.

It just kind of worries me I didn't push the manage music manually first on my primary computer. Will I have any problems when I do connect it to my primary computer?

What I did notice was my iPod on my primary computer was *not* automatically syncing, I had to push "sync" and I did not put it on manually manage before. But that might be a whole different issue.

But as long as it's on manual, the iPod hardware won't be damaged switching it from computer to computer? Can you also use a computer that is not the primary one for your iPod for updating the software?

I apologize for all the confusing questions! It's just as I said I had an older model iPod before and never needed it for anything other than music. Now since I have the Classic, I have a few questions.
 

kornchild2002

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You don't have to enable manual mode on your primary computer but it just eliminates that message that pops up saying that iTunes wants to erase the iPod, that is all. You can plug the iPod into any computer and enable manual sync mode, it doesn't matter. You won't have any problems at all, hardware or software wise. In fact, now that your iPod is in manual sync mode, you can actually sync it to 100 different computers if you really wanted to. It won't damage the iPod in any way, shape, or form.

You can also update your iPod's firmware using any computer running the most recent version of iTunes. The key here is that the computer is using the latest version of iTunes.
 

Britina

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I do have one more question.

I put another full CD on my primary computer/iTunes and it wouldn't sync, even after I pushed sync. So I had to drag-and-drop each song into my iPod. Is that normal for it NOT to sync even after I push sync and I added new music? Is there an easier way to add full album's instead of doing it one by one?

I also don't have album artwork for this CD yet, but I plan on adding it. How do I get that to update if it isn't syncing?

Thanks!
 

kornchild2002

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Pushing the sync button will no longer work as, to my knowledge, that only works whenever you have your iPod set to autosync mode. You can add more than one song at a time. If you want to add an album then simply click on the first song, hold the shift key, then click on the last song. All songs for that album will then be highlighted. Then just drag those songs over to your iPod.

As for the album art, you will have to delete the songs off of your iPod then put the newly tagged songs on it.
 

Britina

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Okay, I have one more painfully obvious question I'm sure. :)

How would I delete songs off my iPod if the sync button doesn't work? Because I've always deleted songs off my iTunes and when I plugged in my iPod, it would automatically update. But if the sync button doesn't work, how do I manuelly delete songs?

After this I'm pretty sure I'll be done with the questions! Haha.
 

S2_Mac

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It's really as easy as it should be...just takes some getting used to ;-)

To add stuff to the iPod, select as many things as you want in iTunes and then drag 'em onto the iPod icon in the left side of the iTunes window. For instance, to add an album you would select all the album tracks, and drag. To copy a playlists' worth of stuff, select the playlist in the left side of iTunes' window, and drag it up to the iPod icon.

To delete stuff from the iPod, you select track(s) (in the iPod's Music listing, not iTunes Music!) and hit the Delete key. Or you can select a playlist and hit Option-Delete (that's on a Mac....maybe it's Shift-Delete for Windows) to remove the playlist and all the tracks it covers.

Play around with it a little bit, have some fun. The iTunes Help info can actually be...helpful. As long as you don't delete stuff from iTunes you can always repair "mistakes" on the iPod, so kick back and enjoy....
 
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