ITunes, XP, multiple users, mirrored iTunes?

I have iTunes loaded on my user profile. I want my wife to have access to the same music folder, and also the same playlists. Basically, I want her iTunes to mirror mine, so that when I make changes to my playlists and such, when she logs in, she sees those changes; and vise versa.
I know how to go in to edit>preferences and find the same music folder, but the playlists don't track.
Where can I go within the harddrive in the iTunes files to find where the playlist type of information is stored?
Synching ipods is no big deal, I got that part.
Can anyone shed some light?
Thanks!

iTunes does not use the .xml file. It is simply created for other apps to access the iTunes library.
Yes, you can all use the same library on the same computer and see all the same playlists and music.
Log in to account #1 and quit iTunes.
Go to \My Docuemnts\My Music\.
Drag the entire \iTunes\ folder to a Shared directory.
Launch iTunes holding the Shift key.
Select *Choose existing library* and select the *iTunes library.itl* file in the iTunes folder you moved to the Shared folder.
Everything should work.
Quit iTunes.
Log out of account #1 and log into account #2.
Go to Windows Explorer to \My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes music\ folder.
Select all the folders inside the iTunes music folder (should be Artist names) and move them into the \iTunes\iTunes music\ folder in the shared location.
Launch iTunes holding the Shift key.
Select *Choose existing library* and select the *iTunes library.itl* file in the iTunes folder you moved to the Shared.
All the music from account #1 should be there.
Now File -> Add folder to library and select the *iTunes music folder* in the Shared location. This will add all the music that you moved in to it from account #2.
It should all play okay.
Quit iTunes and log out of account #2.
Log into account #1 and launch iTunes normally.
All music should be there.
Log out account #1 and log into account #2.
Launch iTunes normally. All music should be there.
If so, go to \My Documents\My Music\ and delete the \iTunes\ folder.
You may need to verify all users have read/write permissions to the iTunes folder and all contents in the Shared location.

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Sharing an iTunes Library across multiple user account and a network.

Sharing an iTunes Music Library across multiple user accounts.
Hello Everybody!
Firstly, this was designed to be run in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. It will not work with earlier versions of Mac OS X! Sorry.
Here's a handy tip for keeping your hard drive neat and tidy, it also saves space, what in effect will be done is an iTunes music library will be shared amongst multiple users on the same machine. There are advantages and disadvantages to using this method.
• Firstly I think it might be worthwhile to state the advantages and disadvantages to using this approach.
The advantages include:
- Space will be saved, as no duplicate files will occur.
- The administrator will be able to have complete control over the content of the iTunes library, this may be useful for restricting the content of the Library; particularly for example if computer is being used at and education institution, business or any other sort of institution where things such as explicit content would be less favorable.
- The machine will not be slowed by the fact that every user has lots of files.
The disadvantages to this system include.
- The fact that the account storing the music will have to be logged in, and iTunes will have to be active in that account.
- If the account housing the music is not active then nobody can use the iTunes library.
- There is a certain degree of risk present when an administrator account must be continually active.
- Fast User Switching must be enabled.
Overview:
A central account controls all music on the machine/network, this is achieved by storing iTunes files in a public location as opposed to in the user's directory. In effect the system will give all users across the machine/network access to the same music/files without the possibility of files 'doubling up' because two different users like the same types of music. This approach saves valuable disk space in this regard and may therefore prove to be useful in some situations.
This is a hearty process to undertake, so only follow this tutorial if you're willing to go all the way to the end of it.
Process:
Step 1:
Firstly, we need to organize the host library, I tidied mine up, removing excess playlists, random files, things like that. this will make thing a bit easier in the later stages of this process.
Once the library is tidied up, move the entire "iTunes" folder from your Home directory to the "//localhost" directory (The Macintosh HD) and ensure that files are on the same level as the "Applications", "Users", "Library" and "System" directories; this will ensure that the files in the library are available to all users on the machine (this also works for networks)
Optionally you can set the ownership of the folder to the 'administrator' account (the user who will be hosting the library.), you may also like to set the permissions of 'you can' to "Read & Write" (assuming that you are doing this through the user who will host the library); secondly you should set the "Owner" to the administrator who will be hosting the library and set their "access" to "Read & Write" (this will ensure that the administrator has full access to the folder). The final part of this step involves setting access for the "Others" tab to "Read Only" this will ensure that the other users can view but not modify the contents on the folder.
Overview:
So far we have done the following steps:
1. Organized the host library.
2. Placed the iTunes directory into a 'public' directory so that other users may use it. (this step is essential if you plan on sharing the library across multiple accounts on the same machine. NOTE: this step is only necessary if you are wanting to share you library across multiple accounts on the same machine, if you simply want to share the music across a network, use the iTunes sharing facility.
3. set ownership and permissions for the iTunes music folder.
Step 2:
Currently the administrator is the only user who can use this library, however we will address this soon. In this step we will enable iTunes music sharing in the administrator's account, this will enable other users to access the files in the library.
If you are not logged in as the administrator, do so; secondly, open iTunes and select "Preferences" from the "iTunes" menu, now click the "Sharing" tab, if "share my library on my local network" is not checked, the radio buttons below this will now become active, you may choose to share the entire libraries contents, or share only selected content.
Sharing only selected content may be useful if their is explicit content in the library and minors use the network or machine that the library is connected to.
If you have selected "share entire library" go to Step 3, if you have selected share "share selected playlists" read on.
After clicking "share selected playlists" you must then select the playlists that you intend to share across your accounts and network. Once you have finished selecting the playlists, click "OK" to save the settings.
Overview:
In this step we:
1. Enabled iTunes sharing in the administrator's account, now, users on the local network may access the iTunes library, however, users on the same machine may not.
Step 3:
Now we will enable users on the same machine to access the library on the machine. This is achieved by logging in as each user, opening iTunes, opening iTunes preferences, and clicking "look for shared music". now all users on the machine may also access the library that the administrator controls.
This in effect will mean that the user will not need to use their user library, it will be provided to them via a pseudo network connection.
As a secondary measure, I have chosen to write a generic login script that will move any content from the user's "Music/iTunes/iTunes Music" directory to the trash and then empties the user's trash.
This is done through the use of an Automator Application: this application does the following actions.
1. Uses the "Finder" action "Get Specified Finder Items"
1a. The user's "~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music" folder
2. Uses the "Finder" action "Get Folder Contents"
3. Uses the "Finder" action "Move to Trash"
4. Uses the "Automator" action "Run AppleScript"
4a. with the following:
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Finder"
empty trash
end tell
return input
end run
IMPORTANT: Once the script is adapted to the user account it must be set as a login item. in order to keep the script out of the way i have placed it in the user's "Library" directory, in "Application Support" under "iTunes".
Overview:
Here we:
1. Enabled iTunes sharing in the user accounts on the host machine, in effect allowing all users of the machine to view a single iTunes library.
2. (Optional) I have created a login application that will remove any content that has been added to user iTunes libraries, this in effect stops other users of the machine from adding music and files to iTunes.
Step 4:
If it is not already enabled, open system preferences and enable Fast User Switching in Accounts Options.
Summary:
We have shared a single iTunes library across multiple user account, while still allowing for network sharing. This method is designed to save space on machines, particularly those with smaller hard drives.
I hope that this hint proves to be helpful and I hope everybody will give me feedback on my process.
regards,
Pete.
iBook G4; 60GB Hard Drive, 512MB RAM, Airport Extreme Mac OS X (10.4.6) iWork & iLife '06, Adobe CS2, Final Cut Pro. Anything and Everything!!!

how to share music between different accounts on a single computer

Multiple users sharing one itunes library

i have multiple users on my mac, but i'd like us all to be able to access the same itunes library. when i go to itunes prefs on one of the other users accounts and redirect their music library to my folder, it says it is doing it, but itunes still goes to their own music folder instead of mine. i can share my library with the sharing pref, but while they can now listen to my music, they still can't use it in imovie. is there any easy way around this problem??
thanks for your help.

I wrote a simple shell script that executes each time a user logs in (well, actually, each time I log in, coz' it's not really applicable to other users). It syncs my work and home addressbooks and iCal calendars to one another.
I named it "sync". Then I read somewhere that if you wanted to make it double-clickable (to launch it from the Finder), I appended a ".command" filename extension (so it's now named "sync.command"). I also did a chmod 755 to that file so that it had execute privileges. Depending on whether you give each user their own copy of this thing, or keep a single copy in, say, the /Users/Shared directory, you may have to play around with chmod. Whatever, just so long as the user that has just logged in has execute permissions to the file, and to the entire path to the file, you should be good.
Then, in SysPrefs > Accounts > Login Items, I added that "sync.command" file to the list. So, really the only difference is I'm not wrapping mine inside an Automator script like you are.
I had tried adding it to ~/Library/LaunchAgents and make a launchd plist for it, that would kick it off at login. But I didn't get that to work. Don't know why. But just adding the double-clickable executable unix script to the Login Items list did the trick. Whether the plist has to hang out there with it, I don't know. I still have it there, though, in case I ever get motivated to figure out what's wrong with my launchd plist file. So, if just adding it to the Login Items list doesn't do it for you, you could try making a (functional?) launchd plist for it and plopping them both in ~/Library/LaunchAgents, too. That's how I am now, and, like I said, it launches at user login as that user's process (not as a root process like the above referenced article said how login hooks worked -- although, you may want it to run as root since you want this to work with multiple users...in which case, you might want to listen to Cole and not me...).

How can I have multiple users on iTunes (in order to connect to a shared office iPad)?

How can I have multiple users on iTunes (in order to connect to a shared office iPad)? Currently each of us has our own iTunes account, so I've made an "all office" Apple ID. However, I can't seem to get two different accounts (my personal and the office) to work on my machine. Even when I login as "the office", my personal library is still showing. Additionally, when I try to setup with a first-time use in iTunes, I get an error that I don't meet the minimum age requirement - no matter what birthdate I enter!

The library exists regardless of which user is logged in.
The only way around that is to create different user accounts on the computer.
There is no way to have 20 unique iTunes users access a shared iTunes under a single login on the computer.

Problem with iTunes and multiple user accounts in Windows

I am running iTunes on a PC (Windows XP) and have multiple user accounts. When I switch between user accounts and try to open iTunes, I get a message that tells me I can't open the program because another user is using it. Is it really true that I can only have iTunes open in one user account at a time on a PC with multiple user accounts ?!? If not, what am I doing wrong?

You are right, can only have one open. You have to log out of a user before logging in to another user to use iTunes. Do not use the fast user switching ability of Windows.

In trying to share music with multiple user accounts on one comp, I quit itunes, located my itunes media folder, moved it to a publicly accessible location. Problem is it didn't work and now I can't get it all back to the way it was.

In trying to share music with multiple users on one computer, I followed the directions on "iTunes:How to share music between different accounts on a single computer" (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1203). I did something wrong because i lost iTunes
Tried to put files back, but it is not the same. Plugged in my ipod and it is not recognizing my computer.
Can someone tell me where iTunes should be, and what sub files should be included with it. Thanks!

If you are seeing the "Connect to iTunes" logo, then your device is in Recovery Mode, and you will need to restore it:
If you can't update or restore your iOS device
iOS: Back up and restore your iOS device with iCloud or iTunes
Cheers,
GB

Can I use one itunes account for multiple users and multiple devices

Can I use one itunes account for multiple users and multiple devices?

The iTunes EULA, as I understand it (I'm not an attorney )for Apps is basically that one person can use an App multiple devices, or multiple people can use an App one device..so one to many or many to one, but not many to many....

Multiple users on a single iTunes account

I am wondering if anyone knows how one will be able to manage multiple users under a single account under the new iOS5. Let me explain. In my house my wife and children download content ( movies, music, app) under my itunes log in so we can decide to watch the movie on my computer or my sons iphone without running into DRM issues. With the automatic syncing of pictures with iCloud I dont want my pictures and hers being mixed up but would like to each have an account. The problem is that I dont want to loose the ability of having the same DRM account for different itunes account. In other words, is there a way to associate a couple of me.com (icloud) emails / accounts to be associated with one itune store purchase account to be able to take advantage of sharing content with in the family. My apologies for the long winded question but I couldn't explain it any other way.:)
Any insight is greatly appreciated. thanks

This is from a MobileMe page, so it may not fully apply, but it suggests you'll be able to use separate accounts for iCloud and iTunes.
http://www.apple.com/mobileme/transition.html
If I use different accounts for iTunes and MobileMe, can I merge them into a single account and use it with iCloud?
No. You cannot merge two accounts into one. However, you will be able to move your MobileMe account ([email protected]) to iCloud and, if you choose, you can continue to use a different iTunes account for store purchases and iTunes in the Cloud.

How do I have multiple users on one itunes?

I have one computer and 3 ipods. I pay for all the downloads on my childrens ipods, but I am having difficulty on connecting and using all 3 ipods. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to do this?

When the iPods belong to different people, there are basically three ways of using multiple iPods on a computer and these involve:
a) Sharing a single iTunes library
b) Creating Multiple Libraries in a single user account
c) Creating multiple user accounts.
Note: When you are sharing an iTunes library, you don't have to set each iPod to update in the same manner, you can mix and match from the options below as each iPod has it's own update settings
Sharing a Library and/or User Account
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): iPod - Syncing Music
Choosing the update option "Sync Music - Selected playlists" allows you to create a playlist specifically for the 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 some other time if you choose. You can read more about playlists at these links:
iTunes: Creating playlists of your favorite songs
How to create a Smart Playlist with iTunes
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
Loading the iPod shuffle differs slightly but it can still be used with the others, for details have a look at this page:
Adding songs to iPod shuffle - Windows
Multiple Libraries
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:
Using Windows XP User Accounts

Multiple users on a itunes account how do I avoid eveyone getting my information on icloud

I have multiple users on our itunes account. If I switch to mountain lion and utilize icloud how do I avoid the other phones my kids and husband from getting all my stuff on their phones. I am the primary account holder when we first upgraded the phones all my contacts went to their phones and wiped out all of theirs it was a night mare so we just shut it off. It sounds like a cool idea but I dont want to mess up their contacts and information.

You can keep everyone on your iTunes account all you have to do is have everyone create there own iCloud account. Me, my wife, and my son all have our own iCloud for our own use. I have my 3 devices linked to mine, my son has 2 linked to his and my wife has 2 also. For some reason by default the iDevice will ask you to use your iTunes account but you don't have to. You can create it right from the device itself if you want a @me account which is the way to go IMO. you can also go to iCloud.com and create it there too. We have a total of 8 devices linked to one iTunes account for purchases and everything works like a champ. Hope this helps.

How to share itunes library with multiple users, and keep organised

Hi,
I'm using iTunes (v12) on Windows 7 and am trying to set myself up so that multiple users on this PC are sharing the same library. I've followed the guidance mentioned on a couple of other threads, and put the library in the Users\Public\Music location, and on each user account have pointed iTunes to this location. This has worked OK, as both users can see all the music.
However, problems arise when User A deletes a couple of files (duplicates for example) - User B logs in, and the song is still listed in the library, but with an alert stating the original file cannot be located. They then have to go through the library and also delete these entries. Equally, if User B adds some music files (as opposed to iTunes downloads), they are not visible to User A until they "Add file to library..."
Are there any further steps that I can take to keep both users views of the library identical, without manual intervention by the second user whenever the first makes a change?
Cheers,
Matt

The way you've set it up each user has a distinct library, but is accessing a common set of media files and folders. To accomplish what you want, you need to have a complete iTunes library (database + media) in a common location - typically this would be C:\Users\Public\Music\iTunes. See turingtest2's notes on Make a split library portable for the steps that may be needed to bring your library into a suitable structure. Based on your description, you'll need to select one user's library (C:\Users\username\Music\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl) to act as the shared "master" and move this to the Public folders.
Then, for each user, hold down SHIFT while starting iTunes - when you get this prompt:
click on Choose Library..., navigate to C:\Users\Public\Music\iTunes, select the iTunes Library.itl file you'll find there, and click Open (you'll only need to do this once for each user account).
Note, though, that iTunes is inherently a single-user application - any attempts to run iTunes at the same time will cause errors (and, in the worst case, possible corruption). For this reason, its a good idea to disable fast user switching in Windows so that only one user can be logged in, and running iTunes, at the same time.

Sharing iTunes on a single computer with multiple users

Greetings,
I have been troubleshooting a problem sharing iTunes on a single computer with multiple users that cropped up a few weeks ago and have not had very good luck.
Several months ago I successfully set up my wife’s G4 Laptop (PowerPC processor) so that we could share iTunes on that computer. I had just gotten her an “My Book” external hard drive (Western Digital). The iTunes Library will go on this new unit because the internal drive was running out of room. I successfully set the privileges, moved the entire library onto a “Share” directory and everything worked fine.
In this way, when I got a new CD I could add it to iTunes (under my login, administrator privileges) and she could access it (under her login) to listen to while working on the computer or using her iPod. This arrangement went well for quite awhile.
About a month and a half ago, when I tried to launch iTunes from my login I received this message:
“The iTunes Library file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have write permission for this file.”
I think the permissions must have changed when there was an update because my wife is pretty careful about what she does on her computer. Updates were the only thing I could think of that had changed since I had set her computer up. I also noticed that some of the iTunes defaults were different from the last time I had used it to add a CD.
So, I did some reading and went back through the motions of trying to set it up again. I re-formatted the My Book hard drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) added the files back to the external, reset permissions on the external hard drive. (Owners: System, Access: read and write - Group: wheel, Access: read and write – Others: read and write).
When I now launch iTunes under my login I get this message:
“The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items.”
What gives? I am the original owner and have always had top-level privileges.
Can someone point me to any articles or clues as to how I need to set-up iTunes on a single computer to be shared by more than one user? Also, I am considering upgrading to the newer system in a few weeks, so if a solution for OS X 10.5 is available, that would work too.
Tim

Was your wife logged into the libray at the time you tried to log in? I have had a similar problem and it was because another user was logged into the library when I attempted to. I got the permission denied banner.

Question/Problem Sharing iTunes Library between multiple users

Hello all,
I have a question (potential problem) regarding sharing an iTunes Library between multiple users.
In the past, I had placed the iTunes folder in /Users/Shared, and created an alias to it in the "Music" folder of each user, and it worked fine. However, with a recent upgrade to Mac OS 10.5, only the Home user account can access the library.
I read the Apple Support Document http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1203 uner Mac OS X which specifically states *not* to move the iTunes folder, just the iTunes Media folder (which I don't have, would that be iTunes Music?).
Any recommendations? Should I delete the different alias, move the iTunes folder back to the home user, and then follow the instructions in the support document?
We're also looking to sync music purchsed on our iPod touches, as well as apps (which weren't supported in our privous Mac OS X version.
Any advice is appreiciated.

David Guay wrote:
... iTunes Media folder (which I don't have, would that be iTunes Music?).
yes.
specifically states *not* to move the iTunes folder
*do* keep the entire iTunes folder in /users/shared, however, instead of creating aliases, launch iTunes while holding the option (⌥) key, click choose library when prompted, and select the iTunes folder in /users/shared.
obviously, only one iTunes at a time can access the library !

New Mac User: iTunes Auth with multiple user accounts

With a Mac with multiple user accounts, does EACH user account need to have iTunes authorized, or is iTunes authorized for an entire mac machine?

So then I assume that iTunes will know then if each of the computer's user accounts has a different iTunes account?
When you authorize an iTunes account on your computer, the authorization info is stored in \Users\Shared\. When you run iTunes, it looks there to see if it can play purchases. The purchase account info is embedded into each purchased file.

ITunes library synchronization across multiple users on one computer

I've got a PC running MS XP/Home, with a separate user account for each family member. I also repointed all the iTunes library file pointers to the SAME file on the "D" hard drive (taking all that pressure off the "C" drive, which is filling up!)--so each iTunes incarnation for each user points to the same (master) file.
But when I download music from the Music Store into the library from my user account, it doesn't show up in the iTunes library listing when my daughter logs in using her account--and she can't download it to her iPod.
Why? I bought it for her; why should she have to download it? It's all on one computer!
Is it that iTunes really can't handle multiple users on one computer??????? I don't get it...this isn't any copyright or license issue.
I'd appreciate any tips to get the iTunes on one user's account to "restudy" the library to see if it's been changed by another user. We're all one family on our one computer!
--DaveTh
VAIO Windows XP
VAIO Windows XP

See this thread for answers: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1285867#1285867
Post back here with questions if you have any.

ITunes, XP, multiple users, mirrored iTunes?

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