Can I use 2 ipods on one PC?

Question

Hello, I've just got my first Ipod - a shuffle. However my boyf' has already created an account using our PC. When I attach my shuffle it opens up his itunes.
Any music I download goes onto his itunes.
Is this normal and is there anything I can do to set up my own itunes?
Thanks
Sam

Answer 1

If the iPods belong to different people, there are basically two ways of using multiple iPods on a computer and these involve:
a) Sharing a single iTunes library and user account.
b) Creating multiple user accounts and having separate libraries.
Sharing a Library
If you want to share the one library, you can set either or all of the iPods so that they only get updated with only certain playlists (you can update from more than one if you wish):
Loading songs onto iPod automatically - Windows
Loading the iPod shuffle differs slightly but it can still be used with the others, for details have a look at this page:
Loading songs onto iPod shuffle - Windows
Or you can choose to update any or all of the iPods manually and just drag whatever content you want to them: Managing content manually on iPod
It's also possible to have multiple libraries in a single account. To create or access a second (or more) library, hold down the Option key (or Shift key in Windows) when launching iTunes 7. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to the other Library.
Note: You can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one. This can prove tricky when using multiple iPods, if you don't use the keyboard command you can risk syncing to the wrong library:
Using multiple iTunes libraries -Windows
Separate User Accounts
Another option is to create a separate User account for each person on your PC or Mac. Different accounts by definition would give you completely separate libraries. Each account has it's own iTunes folder, Library and iTunes Music folder and you load it with CDs etc just as you did with your original one. The iPod can be set to update however the owner chooses, sync all, manual or sync specific playlists
I don't use Windows so I can't give you a step by step on that one, however I can point you to another web page which should help you out. You can read about Windows user accounts here:
Setting up new user accounts in Windows 2000