Can i have my itunes library on 2 computers at the same?

i have a burning question thats needs a very thorough explination. i want my itunes library on my desktop and laptop so when i'm on my desktop i can listen to it on there and when i'm out and about i can listen to it on my laptop. if this possible can someone explain to me how it's done as i don't want to acidently wipe my library if you know what i mean.
thanks for all your comments in advance.

I hope you don't mind me throwing a curve ball into this discussion... It should be a fairly simple matter to copy your library from one computer to the other. The tricky bit is keeping the two copies up to date with each other. I've written about this before, primarily with a view to being able to update devices from each computer, so perhaps this will be useful to you too.
Sync iPod/iPad/iPhone with two computers
Although it isn't possible to sync an Apple device with two different libraries it is possible to sync with the same logical library from multiple computers. Each library has an internal ID and when iTunes connects to your iPod/iPad/iPhone it compares the local ID with the one the device normally syncs with. If they are the same you can go ahead and sync...
I have my library cloned to a small 1Tb USB drive which I can take between home & work. At either location I use SyncToy 2.1 to update the local copy with the external drive. Mac users should be able to find similar tools. I can open either of the local libraries or the one on the external drive and update the media content of my iPhone. The slight exception is Photos which normally connects to a specific folder on a specific machine, although that can easily be remapped to the current library if you create a "Photos" folder inside the iTunes Media folder so that syncing the iTunes folders keeps this up to date as well. I periodically sweep my library for new files & orphans with iTunes Folder Watch just in case I make changes at one location but then overwrite the library with a newer copy from the other. Again Mac users should be able to find similar tools.
As long as your media is organised within an Tunes Media folder, in turn held inside the main iTunes folder that has your library files (whether or not you let iTunes keep the media folder organised) each library can access items at the same relative path from the library folder so the library can be at different drives/paths on different machines. This solution ensures I always have adequate backups of my library and I can update my devices whenever I can connect to the same build of iTunes.
In your case you could use a shared folder on one computer in place of the external drive, but you could use the SyncToy tool to keep the two folders in sync with each other rather than trying to do that part by hand which is almost impossible...
tt2

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How can I get my itunes library on multiple computers at the same time. I have 3 and an iphone 4S

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No.
Iphone will sync with one and only one computer a a time. Syncing to another will erase the current content from the iphone and replace with content from the new computer.

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Thank you Joe - I tried this but it's only showing a teensy amount of music - the stuff on the second users account as opposed to the giagntic library on the 'main' account. I actually went to a Genius Bar and they said that apple doesn't really want you to share music between accounts - parents don't want to hear their kids music etc. Which seemed strange, but it might be the case sadly Thanks anyway!

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Thank Niel
I have already got a library hosted on another computer and have homeshared my apple id for my home laptop, but I'm not sure what to do there after - any help would be appreciated! I' worried I make my husband's library disappear......

How can i copy my itunes library to another computer in the same household?

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If you just want to share the iTunes library with other computers in your house: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3819
If you want to move the iTunes library:
For Windows: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364
For Mac: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449

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This might help:
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
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I have 1 very large iTunes library in which I am always adding/deleting/editing songs and 2 computers (1 home, 1 laptop). I would like to be able to manage my library with my laptop when I am away from home but also be able to see any changes I made next time I open iTunes on my home computer. I tried home sharing but this seems to be more for computers on the same network. My library is much too big for iCloud. Someone suggested I hold shift when I open iTunes to select a library but even though I can select the library file I want, it doesn't populate iTunes with my changes (or any music for that matter). I'm running XP with the latest version of iTunes (10.7.0.21). Thanks

This describes a work/home scenario. For home/away use, edit the library directly on the portable backup when away, then sync libraries on your return.
Sync iPod/iPad/iPhone with two computers
Although it isn't possible to sync an Apple device with two different libraries it is possible to sync with the same logical library from multiple computers. Each library has an internal ID and when iTunes connects to your iPod/iPad/iPhone it compares the local ID with the one the device normally syncs with. If they are the same you can go ahead and sync...
I have my library cloned to a small 1Tb USB drive which I can take between home & work. At either location I use SyncToy 2.1 to update the local copy with the external drive. Mac users should be able to find similar tools. I can open either of the local libraries or the one on the external drive and update the media content of my iPhone. The slight exception is Photos which normally connects to a specific folder on a specific machine, although that can easily be remapped to the current library if you create a "Photos" folder inside the iTunes Media folder so that syncing the iTunes folders keeps this up to date as well. I periodically sweep my library for new files & orphans with iTunes Folder Watch just in case I make changes at one location but then overwrite the library with a newer copy from the other. Again Mac users should be able to find similar tools.
As long as your media is organized within an iTunes Music or Tunes Media folder, in turn held inside the main iTunes folder that has your library files (whether or not you let iTunes keep the media folder organized) each library can access items at the same relative path from the library folder so the library can be at different drives/paths on different machines. This solution ensures I always have adequate backups of my library and I can update my devices whenever I can connect to the same build of iTunes.
When working with an iPhone earlier builds of iTunes would remove any file not physically present in the local library, even if there was an entry for it, making manual management practically redundant on the iPhone. This behavior has been changed but it will still only permit manual management with a library that has the correct internal ID. If you don't want to sync your library between machines on a regular basis just copy the iTunes Library.itl file from the current "home" machine to any other you want to use, then clean out the library entries and import the local content you have on that box.
tt2

Can users have one iTunes library deriving from two drives?

Hi everyone,
I keep my 4 & 5 star songs on my C drive and the rest (all stars, 1,2 3, etc.) on my exhternal hard drive.
Whenever I want to listen to my music, all I can readily play are the tunes on my C drive.
I'm guessing the issues having one library for tunes stored on separate drives is insurmountable?
I say that because I'm guessing that my iPod (4th gen) is only capable of importing from one library?
I think the biggest issue is either I don't know how to (or maybe users can't) list a second drive so that iTunes can load all songs from both drives whenever I do have the second drive up and running.
Adding to the second drive library issue, I can't figure out how to permanently tag my external HD's (I've got 6) so that their drive letter is not automatically defaulting to their order of prescence.
I can deal with that issue by simply not opening iTunes while I the second drive has been assigned a drive letter other than what iTunes (hopefully) is set to (i.e.; hopefully C and F drives).
But can users have one iTunes library deriving from two drives?

Seems I've over come what is something I'd hoped/expected iTunes would be capable of (ie; reinitiating the pathway for external HD music files when their drive letter is the only thing that changed).
I tried the obvious by going to iTunes's Edit>Preferences>Advanced and clicking the change button for "iTunes Music folder location", then entered the current drive and pathway (as the drive is currently assigned, F as opposed to the original G) and of course iTunes still couldn;t find the missing tunes.
Giving up on the hope that iTunes was designed smarter than it is (ie; each and every single missing tune req's manual redirection of pathway, as opposed to a preferable tick box for something like 'use the last redirected pathway').
And I finally figured out how to properly changed drive letter assignments, but still uncertasin if that means permanently tags my EHD's with that drive letter.
For that to be permanent, maybe I need to name each drive regardless that Windows already has unique inforamtion on each HD. Suppose I'll soon find out if the drive at this point has fianlly stored its drive name and whether or not Windows will contiue to change the EHD drive letters simply by the order which I am introducing them to the os.
No real luck with rats nest USB hubs as they crash my os alot, so I'm left to trying to find an easy way of managing the EHD drive assignments. THe following is the closest I've yet to come to doing that:
Click Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management, and then in the left pane, under Storage, click Disk Management.
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Click Change.
Click Assign the following drive letter (if it is not already selected), click the drive letter that you want to use, and then click OK.
Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the drive letter change.
Again, too bad iTunes doesn't afford a 'find' feature for 'missing' files such that one might be afforded a tick box for 'do not prompt again, instead use the last indicated location for "iTunes Music" folder as the base storage location'.
This drive renaming thing is a real hassle. Not like somebody couldn't have guessed it and Windows and/or iTunes can't afford some script, etc. to better manage 'tagging' EHD's and/or re-locating 'missing' tunes.
But then what would we have to complain about, not that they listen anyway.

I'm sorry for repeating this, but i have not found a clear answer. i have a macbook wit iTunes library, an iMac, and a time capsule. how can i transfer my itunes library from TC backup to the iMac? thank you -

i'm sorry for repeating this, but i have not found a clear, step-by-step answer in several hours.
i have a macbook with iTunes library, a new iMac, and a new time capsule. how can i transfer my itunes library from TC backup to the iMac?
(sharing the iTunes library between the macbook & iMack requires both machines and seems silly ...)
thank you -

No.

Can I share one iTunes Library with multiple computers on a network?

Can I share one iTunes Library with multiple computers on a network?
note: one library universally shared, not Home Sharing (one library each, shared to each.)
I want to share one library stores on my server and access it through various local computers. When I buy a song from a computer (non-server), I want it to be added to the library (stored on server). I want it to auto copy to my server, for organization. I want to be able to sync my phone from any computer.
Most of this I can do, if i figure out how to use one universal library for all my computers.
Any ideas how I can do this?

eyeinit,
You can authorize your iTunes account on up to 5 computers at a time.
However, purchased music is downloaded to the first machine to download it, but these articles have more information on moving your music between authorized computers:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93063
This one is for moving all your music using an iPod as a storage drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173
Hope this helps,
Nathan C.

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Carolyn:
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Can 2 different users with 2 different Iphones use the same itunes to backup each phone separately? if not how can I have a backup for 2 different iphones on the same laptop?

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Can i have my itunes library on 2 computers at the same?

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