Shuffle deletes all songs when connected

[katzeye]

I don't know if this is a feature that can be corrected, but it is giving me a headache. I am unable to keep my music library on my hard drive because of space issues. So I keep it on DVD's and add and remove files as I need them. So I filled my Shuffle ejected it and removed the files from my hard drive. When I plugged the shuffle back in it erased all the files on the shuffle and tried to refill it with the few tracks that I have bought recently from the ITMS that are on my hard drive. So my question is, Is there a way to keep my shuffle from updating when ever I dock it, or is it going to keep doing this?
Thanks

[zip22]

nope, its the way it works. apple designed it as sort of a portable playlist, not a standalone player (obvioulsy causing problems for people like you). i would say stop spending money on dvds and buy a hard drive. i just saw an 80gb for $20.

[chex]

if you only need to plug it in to charge it, turn off the option for the shuffle to open itunes when its plugged in. if itunes doesnt start, it wont upate - right?

if you're using windows you can even kill the iPodService process (via ctrl+alt+delete task manager) and that'll let you plug in your shuffle and use it as a flash drive without changing the setting in itunes

[zip22]

right, but whenever he or she wants to update the music, it will be erased just like before. i think getting a hard drive would solve this problem (and if you don't have enough space to keep at most 1gb of songs, you're computer needs it anyways).