[bordeaaj]

Thanks ashawley. So you believe as long as I make sure to enable disk mode in itunes (it's on the iPod Options page...click on iPod icon in lower right hand corner) and don't set iTunes to Autosync MC9 will continue to work as normal with my ipod. I am about to install iTunes but I see a couple of different methods. Do you have a preference or any further recommendations to add?

Method A (Spoonman)
Before installing iTunes:
1) copy *all* my mp3's into one new directory, say...d:\mp3 (or "iTunes?")
When first running iTunes:
1) set my iTunes music folder as that new directory
2) go to Edit->Preferences->Advanced and check both the copy and sort options
3) add that new folder to your library
iTunes will then parse through the files, and make it's directory structure WITHOUT copying anything, since these files are already in the iTunes folder. Now, anything new I get, I copy to a temp folder on my desktop, and once I have formated my tags and ran mp3 gain over it, I import it to my iTunes library, and delete the folder from my desktop. Any new files are then added to my "recently imported" smartlist, where I can easily rate them.

or

Method B (thenightfly42)
During the install of iTunes:
1)change the pre-selected option to "I'll add songs manually later"
When you first run iTunes:
go to Edit->Preferences->Advanced and de-select:
1) "Keep iTunes music folder organized" (this is what would move all of the files into folders based on the Artist/Album tags)
2) "Copy music to iTunes music folder when adding to library" (this is what would make a copy of every song that is not located in the selected iTunes music library folder location)
Method B will allow you to keep your pre-existing file structure intact when adding songs to the iTunes database.