Manually manage music option - keep what's on my iPhone already

Sorry if this has been asked and answered before but some of the reposonses here seem to contradict each other. I have tried reading the supporting documentation (other posts and links to the Apple knowledgebase) but can't see a clear response.
I have an iPhone 4S (runing O/S 5.1.1) and am using iTunes (v10.6.3.25) on a PC. When I first got my iPhone (a couple of months ago), I set it to "Manually manage music and video" before putting any content on it. All was fine until my laptop died and was replaced - now when I attach my iPhone to my new laptop (or any other device running iTunes), I see that this option is not ticked. If I try to select this option, a dialogue box is presented informing me that if I apply, all the content currently on my iPhone will be erased - obviously this is not the effect I'm trying to acheive. So I guess my questions are:
Is there any way of setting my iPhone to be able to manually manage music and video WITHOUT first erasing all the current content?
Is it possible to have another device (like my PC at work, for example) recognise that the iPhone has this setting checked when I attach it?
If anyone has the time, patience and inclination to let me know, I'd be very grateful! Thank you in advance!

millou_ wrote:
Oh - I can get the data back, that's not the real problem. It's the several hours of my life required to do it!
That's a relief...
All I really want is to be able to attach my iPhone to my laptop at home AND my PC at work where in both cases my iPhone can be manually managed so that I can add content MANUALLY from either location onto my one, lovely iPhone.
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 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 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.
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 behaviour 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 entires and import the local content you have on that box.
tt2

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Hello there, Jenks855.
When wanting to manually manage content on your iOS device, the Knowledge Base article you were referred from provides some great information and practical steps for troubleshooting:
Manage content manually on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod - Apple Support
Manually add items to your device
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Open iTunes. Make sure that you have the latest version.
Choose the content that you want to add to your device from your iTunes library.
Drag the content to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod. A panel should appear. Locate your device.
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Manually Manage Music And Keep Ringtones?

How can i do this i really hate iTunes right now
i made some ringtones with audacity but i cant sync them manually i have to make it so my iPhone only syncs with my iTunes like automaticaly which i dont like cause i don't save music to my mac i just add it to my iPad iPod iPhone etc and delete the music from my laptop
is there anyway around this?
i really dont like keeping music on my macbook pro and the ringtones are korean so i cant buy them from the store -_-
thx

If you manually manage music, to get ringtones on your phone, you have to drag them to the "actual iphone icon" in the device pane window, on the left side in itunes.
FYI:
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rwmccar wrote:
...If anyone has any ideas on how I can get it back I'd be very grateful!
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From http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4913:
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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 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 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.
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Perhaps the reason you were able to add music from more than one computer in the past is that you had done something similar by accident rather than design...
tt2

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Well, without a backup, you're gonna have to use third party software to first put your content into itunes BEFORE you sync. You can transfer purchased content, as I've said: File>Transfer Purchases. Music you ripped on your own will have to be transfered by third party software:
http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/
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xmendez009 wrote:
For what I know. Managing the music manually is just for iPods and iPads. Even if you tick Manually manage for iPhones it won't work.
Maunally managing music on iPhones works just fine.

Manually manage music on 2 different computers

I have different music libraries on my home iMac and work Mac Pro. Before, when I have the "manually manage music" check off, I am able to dump music from my home computer... and then when I get to work, I am able to delete music and dump music from my work computer to my iPhone.
But it seems that ever since I updated itunes to 10.6, it wont let me dump music from my home and work computer. When I'm at work, and check off the "manually manage music", it erases my library on the iPhone. So I dumped stuff from my work comp to the iPhone. But then when I get home, and check off "manually manage music", itunes erases my work music. I'm not able to just add on music, unlike before where I could do that.
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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, e.g. Carbon Copy Cloner. 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, e.g. MusicFolder Files Not Added and Super Remove Dead Tracks.
As long as your media is organised 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 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.
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 behaviour 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 entires and import the local content you have on that box.
tt2

ITunes Manually Manage Music

Hi, I am wondering if I have an iPod and so does my boyfriend and he has a CD of his that he ripped to his iTunes and I want it, is there a way for me to select the Manually Manage Music option and add just that CD from his iTunes in stead of having to rip it to my computer too and still have it be synced with my library on my computer? or will it erase the CD that I added off from his when I go back to mine? Please help me out!

Hi glfprtFL,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
This link from the iTunes User Guide for Mac shows you how to customize the views:
iTunes Help: Customize the iTunes window
http://help.apple.com/itunes/mac/11.1/#itns0c1999db
Cheers,
- Judy

How can I back up and restore my manually managed music from an old iphone to a new one?

At present, when I go to restore from a previous back up, my music is never transferred to the new device. I assume this is because I have the manually manage music option selected.
Is there a way to back up and add the same music and playlists etc from old iPhone to new iPhone without selecting the box that transfers everything from itunes?
As I have far more music than my iphone could ever take and I only want a selection. So if there is no way of doing this then I have to do it manually everytime? A very long winded task to go through entire itunes library picking it all out again!?!
Any help would be appriciated!?

Thanks very much!
Although I had to add everything again to the playlist, at least I can just copy it over in future!

What does manually manage music and videos mean

What does this do or not do?

I didn't find this very helpful. While the manual technically states what it means, these types of questions are typically looking for context, helpful hints about WHY you would use it and potential issues you might have if you used it or didn't use it. Your snarkiness doesn't help either. Some of us are looking for actual help with the entire feature. So I've pasted what I found in the manual link you posted showed (for iPad 8.1) as well as a better answer I found on Yahoo.
You can also choose to manually manage content from iTunes by selecting that option in the iPad Summary pane. Then you can drag songs or videos from your iTunes library to iPad in iTunes. This is useful if your iTunes library contains more items than can fit on your iPad. Note: If you use iTunes Match, you can manually manage only video.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080210005100AA4pJ6G
It is the best and easiest way to use your ipod. When you manually manage your music you choose what to add and delete from the ipod. You dont have to sync your ipod. When it is on manual you can use your ipod on as many computers and itunes libraries as you want without losing any music off your ipod. You just drag and drop the songs, videos and playlists you want from the itunes library to the ipods name. Right click and delete what you dont want from the main playlists under the ipods name.
Nothing will ever be deleted or added until you direct it and you can safely use it on any computer. If you click manually manage music nothing will change on your ipod as it is now until you physically add or delete things. If you resync with an itunes library later, though, you have to be careful because anything not in that itunes library will be deleted off the ipod. I always keep my ipod manually managed because I use it on several diff computers.
or you just highlight the 20 songs together and drag them in one action...some people are so lazy, lol. Think if it this way If it is manually managed and you go to your friends house you can use her itunes library which means basically getting music from any other itunes library you want. Not just your own.

Manually manage music option - keep what's on my iPhone already

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