Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software products that may be mentioned in the topic below. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information below at your own discretion.
Question:
"How do I set up another iPod in iTunes when I already have an existing iPod/iTunes combo on my computer?"
Answer:
First things first, lets get your iPod up and running with the correct firmware:
- Begin by throwing away the disc that came with your iPod. The software on it is more than likely out of date anyway!
- Download the latest iPod firmware from HERE and install it on your computer (by double-clicking the installer icon).
- Go to Start > All Programs > iPod > iPod Updater > etc and run the updater application.
- When the pop-up box appears, connect your iPod and select the RESTORE option.
- When instructed, disconnect the iPod from the PC and connect it to the AC adapter to complete the process.
OK, now you need to decide 'how' you want to manage your music. You have a couple of options:
Using the existing iTunes installation on your PC
If you want to use the same library and iTunes installation, then you can just re-connect the iPod to the computer via the USB or Firewire. iTunes will launch and ask you to register the iPod. To manage your music, you now have two further options. You could either:
- Use 'Auto-Synch' to transfer the entire music library and playlist selections to your iPod.
OR- Use the 'Manual Synch' option to manually drag and drop the songs and playlists that you want on to your iPod.
OR- Set up a 'Master' playlist which contains all the songs you like, and then set the iPod to automatically synch to that.
Using a new iTunes installation (Requires windows XP)
If you want to keep your new iPod music completely seperate from the original iTunes library, then you can install another instance of iTunes. To do this, you must:
- Create your own XP user profile.
- iTunes should be accessible using this log-in. If not, then download and install the latest version of iTunes. This can be obtained HERE. (Note: When swapping between User IDs, you should not use the 'Switch User' option. iTunes really doesn't like that!)
- Once the iTunes install has completed, you can begin adding your own music. Your music files will be automatically added the the newly created iTunes folder which can be found at C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music.
- If you want to keep all the music on the hard-drive in the same place (and minimise the possibility of having multiple versions of the same song everywhere), then you can change the settings in iTunes so that all music is derived from the same location. To do this, go to Edit > Preferences and select the 'Advanced' tab. You can then change the iTunes Music folder location to something like C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\Shared Music.
- Do you want to provide feedback on this User Contributed Tip or contribute your own? If you have achieved Level 2 status, visit the User Tips Library Contributions forum for more information.
Replies