Multiple ipods users and one computer

Our household has several iPods but use one computer. I just purchased a new iPod and when I connected to the computer (Windows XP) it allowed me to identify my ipod but sunced the other ipod user's music. I'm lost - how can I or can I maintain 2 different syncs?

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): Loading songs onto iPod automatically - Windows
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: Loading songs onto 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 Shift key (or the Option key on a Mac) 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

Similar Messages

Multiple Ipod users for one computer

How do you set up Itunes for 2 Ipods running through one computer/Itunes?
Thanks!

If both iPods have all the same music in their iTunes libraries (or if they're using the exact same iTunes Library) and both have the option selected to Sync All Selected Songs ... then they'll both have everything on them.
If you go by the two user accounts method, make sure the iPod is set to sync only selected songs/videos/etc, and then that ONLY the songs, etc, they want are selected.
If you use the playlists method, make sure that each iPod is set up to sync only the playlists they want. Personally, I'm using the playlist method for my two iPods. The other iPod's in the house use yet another method that is much more complicated and involves creating multiple iTunes libraries for the same account.
To answer the question of the "Privaledges" question, I think you were trying to go by the two accounts method. If so, the account installing iTunes has to have Administration rights. But once it's installed once, you can RUN it from multiple accounts without installing it again. Just browse to the iTunes.exe file and run it in the other account. When it runs, iTunes will probably load with an empty Library.
This happens because iTunes just created a new library file in the new account's "My Music\iTunes\" folder. That's a good thing. Then if you go to iTunes Preferences and change the location of the iTunes library to where all the music is, and let iTunes manage your music folders, it will add everything to the new library file.
Now, both accounts have the exact same files added to their independent Libraries. From here, they can Un-click or delete the songs they don't want in their library--just make sure to let the users/kids know NOT to Click "Move to the Recycle Bin". That will delete the file so that neither account can access it. When they delete files the other user may want, they'll have to select "Keep File(s)".
But then, they should have their own private music libraries WITHOUT actually having the music stored in two separate locations, possibly making lots of duplicates and wasting hard drive space. I'm pretty sure in both Windows XP and Windows Vista you can change the permissions of user accounts to where they CAN'T delete files, and that may actually be something you'll want to try if you think they'll just end up deleting each other's music permanently.

Multiple iPod users on one computer, one iTunes

Need help.
We have 3 iPod 5th generation using one computer and each of us have different tastes in music/movies/games etc. I just spent 6 hours redoing my personal setting to resync my iPod after my son reset it for his tastes. Is there any way of setting up preferences within iTunes for each iPod to prevent or elivate this total waste of time. When adding new music, audiobooks, and/or movies it should be a no-brainer to resync them but it is a total pain-in-the-arse.
Thank you

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 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 iPod users with one computer?

I am the mom who knows nothing, the 21 yr old is at college and started all the ipod stuff on the computer - regular old ipod and the old shuffle. The 18 year old lost his 2006 x-mas present U2 ipod (it was stolen and he can't look at another ipod as he hasn't gotten over the loss). The 12 year old whose b-day it is today rec'd the 2gb nano (the silver $149.00) for her gift and is upset and frustrated as it is the end of her b-day and we can't load one song! We upgraded to the latest version of itunes, we selected the songs from existing library-somewhere between 25 and 50 songs, we plugged in her brand new nano that should take 500 songs and rec'd errors that the songs require a little over 2gb and there's only 1.73gb space on the ipod. I know there's lots of info out there...the 800 number is open from 6am to 6pm, i've looked at the website for 3 hours now...can someone at least point me in a good direction to find out how to load songs on the 3rd ipod in the house? Can she share the songs in the library on the computer from her brothers'? We even added songs from her audio cd's today to the library and couldn't get those on the ipod either.

This link should get you & the birthday girl started.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304424
Post back if you need further help. Please tell your daughter Happy Birthday!
I just thought of something else when it comes to the message about not having enough room. It sounds like some of those songs you tried to sync are in an uncompressed format with very large file sizes. Right click on any of those songs, then "get info". At that point you will find what format & bitrate those songs were imported with, it will say something like mp3 or AAC@128kbps, the number can be different. Post back with that information. When Apple quotes a specific capacity for any iPod, that is based on the average 4 minute song imported in AAC format at 128kbps. AAC@128 to import your daughter's CD's should be fine, so use those import settings when "ripping" her CD's into the iTunes library.
Message was edited by: StarDeb55
Message was edited by: StarDeb55

Two Different Generation IPod Nanos and one Computer

Okay so my boyfriend and I have two different geneeration IPod Nanos and one computer.. does it affect either device's performance ? and is it possible to have itunes setup so that he can have he's music sync to he's Ipod and vice ver sa without having any hassle? .. does this make any sence?

In your case it is most likely a drive letter confusion issue. Take a look at the following article and see if the steps help fix your issue:
Windows confuses iPod with network drive or hard drive and may keep iPod from mounting or songs may seem to disappear

How do I set up multiple IPOD's on one computer?

Hi I have 2 IPOD (kids) and one IPAD (mine). How do I set them up where I can control the content that get's loaded on them independantly? Eg. Some songs I only want on IPAD or vice versa. I currently have all devices linked to one account.

There are a couple of ways you can do this. The following article will help you with whichever way you choose to use:
How to use multiple iPods, iPads, or iPhones with one computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1495

Two ipod users on one computer

Does anyone have any info on how to set up different iTunes for two different users? My wife and I both now have nanos, and very different tastes in music. How best to handle? Two different iTunes on one computer? Thoughts?

The best way to have completely different iTunes libraries would be to set up separate accounts in Windows for each of you. That way you can each maintain completely separate music libraries.
If you just want to have different sets of music on your iPods, set them either for manual updating or to update only selected playlists, then keep individual playlists for each of your iPods.

Two Different iPod's and One Computer

My sister and i both have iPods and i need to know how to keep our songs separate so we dont end up with all of eachothers songs. it would be helpful!!! is there any way to have two iTunes accounts on 1 computer or am i screwed!!

Well, get this - our family has 3 iPods (all different models, too) and we have a way of keeping unwanted songs out of our iPods. If you have Windows XP, create a new section for every iPod user. If you use one log-in for non-iPod/iTunes business, you can still use it, but keep the others for the iPods only. After, upload your library onto each log-in and just delete the songs that are not yours. Don't worry - your iPod's songs won't be erased because someone deleted them from their iTunes library.
Or Try This...
Create Playlists for each other. When you go to plug in your iPod, got to "Edit", "Preferences", then "Update." click on the box that says to update selected playlists. Every time you update, just change the selected list.
Hope this helps

Help with two ipod users on one computer???

Ok heres a quick rundown of the problem. My girlfriend and i both have ipod minis and i am having difficulty getting I tunes to work for me. Her I tunes works fine for her I pod, but when i try to add music files to my ipod using her I tunes, it keeps telling me that my ipod is attached to another music library, then it asks me if i want to erase the music on the ipod and download her music. I thought that maybe i was doing something wrong so i decided to install my copy of itunes to remedy the problem. I tried to install my ipods i tune disc onto the computer, everything looks like it installs well but for some reason its seems as though you can't have two versions of itunes on one computer. Can someone help me? Is there an easy way to fix this?

OH good lord! Go into your start up menu and find Tour Windows XP and it will show you how. OR GO into your Control Panel, click on USER ACCOUNTS and go from there...its not rocket science, trust me

Multiple iPods / libraries on one computer

Hi All and thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
Until recently I have had three ipods with three different libraries all managed through one computer running Windows XP. I accessed the different libraries by clicking onto iTunes and holding the shift key choosing the required library when the option came up.
I have now bought a new computer running Windows 7 and just can't seem to get the same system running. Basically I can get one library up and running but each time I create a second library and import that one it just overwrites the first library leaving only the second library available.
When opening iTunes in the same way (holding down shift) I get a clear option to 'Create new library' but this always seems to superseed the existing library rather than running seperately.
It's now driving me nuts so any help to solve the problem would be fantastic. Plain English answers would be greatlt appreciated as i'm certainly no expert in this field!
Thanks again!

Wow guys, 276 responses, thanks to all.
Unfortunately with such a huge response I haven't been able to go through them all as yet but i'm sure somebody will have come up with the soltion I need.
Thanks again.

Multiple iPod Nano's one computer?

I have 3 Nano's in my houshold and each owner has different music interests. What is the best way to manage all 3 using one computer?
Dell Windows XP

Hello,
You can create a playlist for each person. Everybodys music will still be in the library. But this way each playlist will display only the music they want. You can manually or auto sync each iPod to a specific playlist. I have a playlist I update manually for my nano and its pretty easy to search through the library to find want you want.
Hope this helps!

More than 1 ipod user on one computer

We have only one family computer, but 3 ipod NANO users.
How does each ipod user create their own music library?
Once the first ipod user was set up with their music, the
second ipod user started getting the music automatically downloaded, which was not wanted.

Try the instructions in this article.
(9689)

Multiple iPod's on one computer

Their are three people in my house that have iPod's,and I was wondering how you can have separate library's for each person? I read somewhere that if you each have a separate iTunes account that it should work that way,but each person has a separate account on iTunes,and it still just shows all the songs that are in my account. Any help would be great.

Create separate Windows XP user accounts, or follow the instructions in this article.
(27350)

Major problem involving multiple ipod use on one computer.

hey,
i was just uploading some songs for my dad onto his ipod and when i finished, i switched to my ipod to upload an album. about a minute later i realized that i had to change something on my dad's ipod but when i plugged it in that time itunes recognized the ipod as my ipod and then proceeded to replace all of the names of his artists, albums, and tracks with those of mine.
the thing that makes me hopeful about fixing this is that his ipod still has the same amount of GB on it; it's not like itunes replaced the actual files, but rather the names of them.
when i try to play a song on his ipod it will just keep skipping to the next track because the ipod can't locate it.
i need to know how to 1. get my dad's computer to recognize his ipod as his, and not mine; and 2. get the proper names for his files.
help?

??

Can multiple iPods exist on one computer

I know I am a loser asking such a simple question... But if I get my hubby a new iPod, can he access all the songs (share) that we have already purchased? If so, how would I set that up with the New iPod ? He currently uses mine, but we ave some different taste in music so I would like A) to be able to use mine while we are both working out, and B) to set up his own playlists with songs that I have already purchased on MY iTunes acct. and put them on his playlist.
This all just confuses the heck out of me... But I was born before 1980!!
Any help would be so greatly appreciated... I want to buy him his own for Christmas... But NOT at the cost of rebuying so any songs!!!!
THANKS!!
Suz

So I can make a playlist and then sync it to his "new" iPod... I think.
Thank you So much foe taking the time ... Don't know why this confuses the heck out if me.
Sue
PS. For him to buy music... We can use the same iTunes acct?

Multiple ipods users and one computer

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for