Disable live updating on iTunes

Question

Disable live updating on iTunes

How does one go about disabling live updating in iTunes. I do not use smart playlists and am trying to optimize the environment that is in iTunes, since my computer runs very slowly when iTunes is running.

I have an iMac G4 (isight I believe). It has a 340Gb HD (with 180Gb free) and 1.5Gb of memory. Yes this is an older Mac, and since upgrading to 9.1, iTunes runs significantly slower than the 8.x version I was using. When I try to switch songs the little colorwheel is displayed for up to 10 seconds before anything happens. Also, when playing video (TV shows, movies), the video is very jumpy.

The library I have is on an external RAID drive (LaCie 4Big Quadra) and the size of the library is about 975Gb. I do have a significant amount of playlists (not smart playlists, just regular ones) for most of the albums. I also have about a hundred 'custom' playlists (from different albums same or different composer).

I have been informed that the number of playlists I have is slowing iTunes down.

I don't like the other methods of displaying the albums, thus I use playlists to keep track of the albums I have on my iMac.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Posted on Mar 8, 2011 8:00 AM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

428,363 points

Mar 8, 2011 8:54 AM in response to pigletsharley

How does one go about disabling live updating in iTunes. I do not use smart playlists

Select a smart playlist

File > Edit Smart Playlist

Note that iTunes automatically includes some smart playlists already, so you have some even if you didn't make them. Top rated, Recently Added, etc.

I have an iMac G4 (isight I believe). It has a 340Gb HD (with 180Gb free) and 1.5Gb of memory. Yes this is an older Mac, and since upgrading to 9.1, iTunes runs significantly slower than the 8.x version I was using.

Newer versions of anything include newer features, which often means slower. I was happy with 7.5 and have stuck with it because I don't need bells and whistles.

Also, when playing video (TV shows, movies), the video is very jumpy.

That's because your computer is old and slow compared to the demands of modern video formats. There's a few tweaks you can try but frankly they likely won't do much and might not be easy or possible in your computer (like buying a faster video card).

The library I have is on an external RAID drive (LaCie 4Big Quadra) and the size of the library is about 975Gb. I do have a significant amount of playlists (not smart playlists, just regular ones) for most of the albums. I also have about a hundred 'custom' playlists (from different albums same or different composer).

One thing about iTunes is that when you do pretty much anything it re-writes the library file. Stopping live updating will help. Still, the bigger the library file, the longer it takes to load, unload, and write. The more playlists you have, the more items you have, the longer it takes.

I have been informed that the number of playlists I have is slowing iTunes down.

yes.

I don't like the other methods of displaying the albums, thus I use playlists to keep track of the albums I have on my iMac.

So, it's your decision, and you have to decide if it's worth the slow-down trade-off.

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