iPod - Do you have to store the files on your hard drive too?

[garfieldy]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of buying one of the new 4G iPod's, however I have just one question. My sister currently has the 3G iPod and wasn't able to answer this question for me.

My laptop is my main computer of use, and has a 60gb HD. However I'm planning on buying a 40gb iPod and can't really afford 40gb of space to double up what the iPod already stores. Is there an easy way to set up the iPod so it only stores your music on the iPod rather than storing it on both the iPod and the computer's hard drive? I know this creates backup issues, etc. But quite frankly if it dies it dies and I'll just start again I suppose.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. And I hope the answer is positive so I can soon join the ipod community.

-Zac

[camera obscura]

Yes, you can do this, you just need to make sure you disable automatic updating in iTunes. You'll get a prompt regarding this when you first install it. You can still stream the songs on your iPod through iTunes even if you don't have them on your HD, which is a nice feature.

[honeybee1236]

Here's how to set the iPod on "Manually Manage songs and playlist". This will stop the iPod from auto sync'ing with iTunes. You can then drag-n-drop the songs onto the iPod.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61131

Welcome to the lounge.

[garfieldy]

Does this mean iTunes will still work as normal. Ie. I can put in a CD and it will copy all the songs over to the iPod, etc? Or will there be more of a manual process? That using your iPod as a hard drive appears quite complex in that you need manually copy the songs across?

This may be the case already, but ultimately my desire is that it works exactly the same way it does if it automatically syncs, except it doesn't actually store a 'second' copy on the hard drive as well as the iPod.

Cheers, and thanks for your replies thus far.

- Zac

[camera obscura]

If you turn off automatic updating, whether you use iTunes' CD ripper or import your files, you will have to manually add them to your iPod. They'll be added to your library, but you'll have to add them to your iPod yourself; it's just a matter of dragging and dropping them. After that, you can delete them from your hard drive.

It's not at all difficult, but you'll have to do it if you don't want the songs on your hard drive.

[The Punisher]

can they be deleted from the iPod easy?

and

if i store music on my iPod, and delete it from my HD - can i copy the music back to my HD easily at any time?

thanks

[AndyH]

Originally posted by The Punisher
can they be deleted from the iPod easy?
Yes, you can do this when the iPod is connected to iTunes.

Originally posted by The Punisher
if i store music on my iPod, and delete it from my HD - can i copy the music back to my HD easily at any time?
Yes, but you need a third-party application to do this, as iTunes won't allow you to copy music from an iPod back to a hard drive. Go to the Help >> iPodFAQs for more info on this.