Is it impossible to use my iPod with my Mac at home and my PC at work?

I've been using my iPod nano with my MacBook at home for over a year without incident (more or less). I have a PC desktop at work, and I'd like to be able to use my iPod here as well -- is that the impossible dream? I'd rather not have to reformat the iPod or restore it and lose all my files, but I can do that if it'll help me to use the iPod in both places. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!
-Kate

If your iPod is formatted for Mac it won't run natively on a PC because Windows operating systems don't recognize Mac OS-formatted disks (HFS or HFS Plus formats): How to determine your iPod's disk format
Macs can read Windows drives so you could restore and format the iPod on a PC. iTunes will allow you to use an iPod formatted for Windows on a Mac. One proviso is that Apple currently only fully supports using the iPod shuffle in FAT32 format on Mac, in other words all future software updates for the iPod would have to be carried out in Windows to maintain the formatting. Alternatively there are third party programs that will allow you to use a Mac formatted iPod on Windows, this is one for instance gets good reviews. It's a commercial program so you'll have to purchase a license to use it: XPlay 2
You can read another user's experience of using XPlay at this link: iPod on Mac and Windows

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Using my ipod with a Mac and a PC

I'm one of those users who have got a Mac at home and a PC at work. I synch my iPod to my Mac but I'd also like to download songs and podcasts from my work PC. Is there any way I can use my iPod with both my Mac and PC?
Thanks for any advice.

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Can I work successfully on the same project using a Mac at home and a PC at work with InDesign CC?

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Can i use my ipod with this mac

Sorry if this was asked before, but my problem and question may be slightly different.
I have an old 20 gig ipod that I've had since 1995. I have downloaded many songs from i-tunes and from my own cd's to my pc running widows xp. There are about 1300 songs on the i-pod
The pc was given away to a friend who transferred all my music to my macbook. The hard drive was removed. We did not deauthorize the pc---(I know-a mistake).
I-tunes and everything works and plays ok on the Mac. Even new songs I've ordered or put in from cd's work & play ok. But note--in the "library" section not all the tunes have the little check in the box next to them. I do not know why this is. I have no problem synching from this Mac to my i-phone.
So--my question is---can I now use (synch) the ipod with this Mac ?
Can I just plug it in an keep using it to update my library ? I certainly do not want to erase all the tunes on it and not be able to replace them. What exactly do I have to do ?
Any help and detailed instructions would be greatly appreciated----Thanks---Jerry

I have a similar problem. I have a 60 GB old non video ipod. It connected to my old G5 with a firewire plug. Ihave been running it for eight or more years. When I upgraded to new IMAC and MacBook Pro 15 in. They do not have inputs for the end of the cradle. One end has the same wide flat connector now used by ipod touches. I have a new third gen IPOD touch. I was able to sync both ipods with both the two old computers and the two Snow Leopard macs. I must have accomplished by sharing in Itunes preferences.
It has been awhile. Anyhow, now I am trying to sync the oldest IPOD. It doesn't show up on my new IMAC as a device. I suppose because it isn't pluged in. I tried disconnecting my 1 T external hard drive to see if I could use that input. But I don't see any port to connect my older IPOD? How do I add music from CD to new IMAC and sync it onto the old IPOD. I feel so lame. Please someone. I have read lots of books on IPOD touch and IMAC Portable, Snow Leopard. Maybe I need to check them out of library or buy one. Please advise. Spinning wheels.

Using an iPod with multiple Macs

Hi all!
I have a 30GB iPod with color display. I've been using it with my Power Mac G4. That's where I keep all of my music and photos.
However, I just got a Pismo PowerBook, and I would like to use my iPod to play music through it while I'm at school, rather than copy my gigs of music onto the PowerBook.
I used to have the iPod set to automatically update everything, but in order to listen to music on my PowerBook, I had to set it to manually manage.
Does this mean that I have to manually sync everything, or manually copy music to the playlists on the iPod?
Thanks,
Alex

Hi Alexander,
Does this mean that I have to manually sync everything,...
If the songs/photo differ on the two computers, the primary computer, where you have your songs stored in this case your G4, you can keep automatic. However, on your PowerBook, just keep it manual.
You may also want to take a look at this article:
Using iPod with multiple computers
Gary

How to partition my second hard drive in my Macbook to use as data with both Mac Mountain Lion and bootcamp Windows 7

Hi guys
So this is my dilemma...
I have a 13" macbook pro, I have just installed a 128GB SSD and am using that as the main boot drive and the bootcamp. I have split that hard drive in half (64gb each), one half is for OS X and the other half for Windows 7, no data is being stored on the SSD.
I have also replaced the Super drive with the original 500GB Sata drive and am wanting to use that as my Data drive. I want to partition that drive as 400GB for OS X data and 100GB Windows 7 Data (windows is only going to be used for work which wont be using too much storage.
Lets call the SSD as the OS drive and the 500GB as the Data drive...
Now i have currently formatted the Data drive in Disk Utility as MSDOS (FAT) so that both OS X and Windows can read data from it. I am not really fussed with the Mac being able to read what is on the Windows partition or vice versa but i do want to be able to store files larger than 4GB.
In the Windows bootcamp i have formatted the data drive partition as NTFS and that seems to work but I now cannot store files in the Mac partiton that are larger than 4GB, how to i get both HFS and NTFS to work on one physical hard drive to remove the 4GB limitation?
I hope i have explained the situation clearly enough.
Thanks
Ash

FAT32, what Mac/OS X/Apple calls MSDOS FAT, can only store files smaller then 4GBs in size. That is the limit of FAT32. So all you need to do is format the partition you want to use for the Mac "Mac Extended (journaled)" (If you can on a MBR partition table drive, Not sure) or exFAT.
But be aware that Apple's implementation of exFAT is flawed and Windows may not be able to read a exFAT partition formatted by OS X.
Everytime I have tried to format a drive exFAT on a mac and nthen move it to a Windows computer, that is Win 7 that natively support exFAT, Windows could not read the drive.
Good Luck

Using an Ipod Nano with a Mac OS X and a PC on Windows XP

Hello,
I have a MAC OS X at home and a PC with Windows XP at work. I have been using my Ipod Nano at home for quite a lon time, but I have tried to use it at work for the first time.
However, when I try to see the music content on my PC, it says that my Ipod is formatted for MAC and that I need to reformat it if I want to use it with the PC.
The problem is that if I reformat it, I will lose all its content and I am afraid to be obliged to reformat it when I want to connect it to my MAC again.
How can I do to be able to use my Ipod with my MAC and with my PC?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Pentium 4 Windows XP

If your iPod is formatted for Mac it won't run natively on a PC because the Windows OS does not support the HFS Plus file system and therefore will not see the drive. Macs can read Windows drives so you could restore and format the iPod on a PC. Strictly speaking using a Windows formatted iPod on a Mac isn't supported however many people use one without any issue. iTunes will allow you to use an iPod formatted for Windows on a Mac; however, Apple currently only supports using the iPod shuffle in FAT32 format on Mac. Alternatively there are third party programs that will allow you to use a Mac formatted iPod on Windows, this is one for instance gets good reviews: XPlay 2
You can read another user's experience of using XPlay at this link: iPod on Mac and Windows

Using my iPod on a Mac and a PC in parallel - is it possible?

Is it possible to use the same iPod nano on two computers, one a Mac, the other a PC (Vista)? I was using my iPod till now on my Mac but got recently a PC. I've downloaded iTunes on the PC and it does recognize my iPod when connected, but tells me that I should reconfigure it for Windows. However, I don't want to loose the possibility of using my iPod with my Mac.....

Macs will recognize iPods formatted for Mac and for Windows. Windows will ONLY recognize iPods formatted for Windows. So, you could always restore your iPod on your Windows computer (which would delete everything on it and reformat it for Windows) and still use it on your Mac. You would need to manually manage your content. The only potential drawback to this is that all software/firmware updates would need to be done on the Windows computer.
Best of luck.

Using 2 iPods with one iTunes account.

I share a computer with someone who also has a iPod and we have one version of iTunes downloaded. Although we have seperate user names iTunes seems to autosync what she's put in the library to my iPod and vise-versa. We would love to share some of the files that we pay for, but we certainly don't want to share everything. Is the best option for us to just sync our files manuelly instead of auto-syncing?
Thanks

There are actually a few methods for using more than one iPod on a single computer: How To Use Multiple iPods with One Computer
Just to summarise what's in the link above which is a little out of date:
Method one is to have individual Mac or Windows user accounts which by definition would give you completely separate iTunes Music folders and libraries.
Method two is to set your preferences so that any or all of iPods get updated with only certain playlists within one library:
Loading songs onto iPod automatically - Windows
Choosing the update option "Sync Music - Selected playlists" allows you to create a playlist specifically for each iPod and drag the tracks you want into it. If you tire of the list and want to change it, you just add or remove the songs you don't want. The ones you take out out remain in the library to be used by the other iPod. You can read more about playlists at these links:
iTunes: Creating playlists of your favorite songs
How to create a Smart Playlist with iTunes
Another option when using a single library is to set any or all of the iPods to manual update: Managing content manually on iPod

Using Multiple Ipods with 1 PC

What do I need to do so that my daughter can also maintain a plat list on my PC.
I have my play list for my ipod. She would like to have her own play list/ipod set up on my pc as well.
Thanks,
Tom

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
See this...
Using Multiple iPods With One Computer
Also, you can have many different playlists set up in one iTunes library and have iPods just sync from one playlist.
I am assuming you want two different libraries?
Either way, see the link for more information.
btabz

Using an iPod with Windows Me

As far as I know, you can't use iTunes with Windows Me. I knew that when I bought my iPod, but I figured surely I'd be able to use it without iTunes--with a different program, maybe, like Winamp. Apparently not: my computer wouldn't recognize the iPod as anything but a removable drive, which was fine, except I couldn't play anything on it that way. Tried the installation software that came with the iPod and was told it wouldn't work on anything but a Windows 2000 or XP either.
So then I thought, hey, I've got a semi-functioning Mac OS X at work; I'll just use that to put everything on my iPod, even if I can't use iTunes at home. Great, except it doesn't have the right version of iTunes, won't go online to upgrade, and demands a password to install from the CD. Again using it as an external hard drive, I stick something on it anyway and try to bring it home, whereupon my Windows Me tells me that the iPod needs to be formatted.
This is all making me crazy, because I paid good money for that iPod and I'd really love to, you know, use it. Is there any possible way I can use this iPod with Windows Me, with or without iTunes? Some kind of plug-in I can download, maybe?
Windows ME

groans
I finally figured I had nothing to lose--I'd just downloaded a new version of Real Player, which supposedly will work with iPods and Windows Me--and I let my computer format the iPod, hoping that would let it work with Windows again. Apparently not. Now it won't turn on--it's giving me the folder-and-exclamation-point icon. Resetting it didn't help, and I can't restore it because I can't install the software to my computer in the first place.
I suppose the only thing to do is borrow a friend's computer or something.

I have an order iPod classic (2007). I also have a Boise docking station. I can use the ipod with earphones

I have an order iPod classic (2007). I also have a Boise docking station. I can use the ipod with earphones or the computer however there is no sound when placed on the docking station. I don't believe it is the docking station as it is never moved, only I use it (older and single). Could it be a setting? Help

iPods, iPhones, and iPads aren't tied to one particular iTunes accout/Apple ID. So there are no special instructions to follow to allow you to sync it with your newer account. Simply sync it as you would your iPhone 4.
B-rock

Using the IPOD with VISTA

I have just purchased a new sony vaio, running vista. My older desktop is running xp. I had my IPOD and iTunes working just fine with this existing desktop. I just installed iTunes on the new laptop, and now want to use the iPod with this laptop. I attached it and attempted to sync, that the iPod is using an existing library, and wants to delete it and then use the new library. However, since the old library is on the old PC, it is not able to do this. It then says sync is complete, but none of my music is found on the new laptop. HELP.....

When you connected the iPod to your new laptop with the empty iTunes did you press "Erase and Sync"? This syncing does not transfer content from the iPod to iTunes, it transfers from iTunes to the iPod. If you linked to an empty iTunes it will have erased the original contents of your iPod and with nothing to sync will have left it blank.
Connect your iPod back to your desktop computer and it will sync the existing library back onto it again. If you want to connect and use an iPod on more than one computer you need to change the update preference in the iPod Summary tab to "Manually manage music and videos" and click Apply. The content of iTunes and the iPod are not syncronised in this mode so the two can be different. You can directly access the content of the iPod and play it through iTunes and you can drag and drop whatever you want to the iPod from either library:
Using iPod with Multiple computers
Managing content manually on iPod
Syncing Music to iPod
Something else to be aware of when using an iPod in manual mode is that the "Do Not Disconnect" message will remain on the display until you physically eject the device: Safely Disconnect IPod

Using a ipod with two different computers...

I just bought a new laptop and had to download itunes again but when i hook up my ipod it tells me that that ipod is already synced with another computer (my main desktop comp.). Is there a way to use my ipod with two different computers, or can you just use one computer at a time?
thanks!
Dell Inspiron 1505 Windows XP

You can use more than one computer, but you'll have to load your iPod MANUALLY if you do, otherwise it will keep erasing things to match the library it's hooked up to.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304711

HT1353 How to use older iPod with Windows 7 & latest iTunes?

I have ipod classic 5th generation 30g that still has a lot of my music on it. My computer with iTunes version that synched with it crashed. New VAIO Windows 7 laptop can't recognize the hardware. Where can I get a driver for the VAIO Windows 7? Can I use my iPod with the latest iTunes? Will I ever be able to load new music to this older iPod?

I fixed this by un-installing iTunes. Next installed latest version for 64bit Windows 7. Opened iTunes and connected my iPod to my laptop using the USB cable. The driver was automatically updated and iTunes was able to recognize the older iPod and copied all my purchased music to iTunes on my new VAIO.
Yeaaa!

Is it impossible to use my iPod with my Mac at home and my PC at work?

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