Sharing iTunes Libraries - does the library location matter?

(Reposting to correct section...)
I have iTunes installed on several (Windows) machines on my local network and have enabled sharing for each of them.
One of them (the one with the main library, alas) doesn't appear and doesn't see the others. It seems that the problem may be that the music library on this machine is not in the default location (c:\documents and settings\username\My Documents/My Music/iTunes (etc). That's the only substantive difference among the machines and installations, so when I set up a new machine, I tried putting the iTunes library somewhere else. When I did that, I couldn't see any other shared libraries and no other machines could see this new one. But when I changed that library to the "standard" location, it was visible and that machine could see the other libraries.
Can anyone confirm if this is the case or if there is something else I should be looking at? I'd rather not move the library, but I will if necessary. Seems like a strange restriction.

Sorry, didn't notice I had posted in the wrong section. Will repost. In reply to the 2nd reply, I'm reasonably certain there aren't any networking or firewall issues because all these machines are on my local net behind my hardware router. All the other networking I do among the among the machines works with no problems. The only IP port forwarding I do is from the router inbound so shouldn't effect communication among the machines (though as far as I know I'm not using any ports that iTunes uses).

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Hi there Br0x,
You may want to try rebuilding the iTunes library as an initial troubleshooting step. Take a look at the article below for more information.
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451
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Workaround for Sharing iTunes Libraries

I've experimented with a solution for sharing my iTunes Library between my iMac and MBP. It isn't perfect, but it has the benefit of not requiring any smoke and mirrors, and you can take it with you. It does require an Airport Drive.
BACK EVERYTHING UP USING A COMBINATION OF TIME MACHINE AND CARBON COPY CLONER BEFORE PROCEEDING...
I'll just use "iMac" and "MBP" in this description but of course they can be anything...
Let's assume you are starting with your iTunes library on your iMac and your iTunes Media folder is in the default position within /Users/[x]/Music/iTunes.
(1) I have an Airport Extreme, and so I connected a drive to it. It is worth nothing that I have a USB hub connected to my AE with a printer and two drives connected to it; the other drive is for TM.
(2) On drive you just connected, create a folder called iTunes Media.
(3) In iTunes on the iMac, go the Preferences>Advanced and set your iTunes Media folder location to the one on the Airport Drive. You also likely want Copy Files to iTunes Media Folder When Added checked on the iMac.
(4) Now go to File>Library/Organize Library... and consolidate your files. If you have not already updated your file organization, you probably want to as well. This can take quite some time depending on the size of your media library.
At this point, everything should still work fine. You ought to be able to play your music and see all artwork. If you Get Info on a song, you ought to see that it is on the Airport drive. No magic yet.
Now...
(5) On your iMac, the iTunes Media folder is still within the iTunes folder (when iTunes consolidated, it didn't delete it). Move that folder to a safe place outside of the iTunes folder; in my case, I moved it to a folder that TM does not back up.
(6) Delete the /user/[x]/Music/iTunes folder on your MBP, and replace it with the iTunes folder on your iMac; I did this wirelessly with File Sharing. It can take some time if you have artwork, but likely just a few minutes.
(7) Bring up iTunes on your MBP (no problem keeping iTunes up on your iMac). iTunes will check the library (pretty quick) and then bring up your library, complete with artwork.
(8) To be on the safe side, go to Preferences>Advanced and uncheck Copy Files to iTunes Media folder (that's a restriction with this scheme; you can only add files on your iMac).
Still, no magic. iTunes on your iMac is set up completely normally with everything in its media folder, whereas iTunes on your MBP is set up with nothing in its media folder.
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BE SURE TO USE CCC TO BACKUP YOUR NEW ITUNES MEDIA AIRPORT DISK
Hope this helps.
SC
Message was edited by: NewYorkYogi
Message was edited by: NewYorkYogi

This is the most simple way to share between your snow leapord and bootcamp windows 7. i deem this method the 'safest & correct method' of adding ' literally sharing' your library between different OSs.
part 1
1. on itunes software under bootcamp windows 7, go to edit > perferences.
2. go to under advance tab, look at itunes media folder location.
3. change it to: e:\users\username\music\itunes\itunes media.
4. uncheck keep itunes media folder organized.
5. uncheck copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library.
6. hit ok.
part 1 easily completed!
final part =D
7. on itunes software under bootcamp windows 7, go to file > library > import playlist
8. point your default itunes software under snowleapord playlist: e:\users\username\music\itunes\itunes music library.xml
9. now just sit back and wait while it imports the library!
final part easily completed!
enjoy!

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Is there just no answer to what should be a simple setting change?? No matter what I do, Itunes insists on changing my library location the instant there's any problem talking to my network share where all of my music is. This is absolutely ridiculous because this is on a laptop and there are times when the network connection is just not up yet, or whatever. Then it takes 10 minutes for me to change it back and let it figure everything out again. Has anyone ever been able to resolve this? I'd rather Itunes just return an error that tells me it can't read my library than to change it on me....

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but: Used to introduce something contrasting with what has already been mentioned
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I've had my iTunes media on an external HDD for years. Let's call this drive B.
My iTunes library and xml file reside on my Mac HDD.
I decided that I wanted to buy a bigger HDD and move all of the media to it. Last night I copied all of the media files to the new HDD (let's call it P) from B. I also copied the iTunes folder from my Mac HDD to P and directed iTunes to look for the media in the Advanced settings.
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Thank you both for the information.
It sounds like I did something out of sequence based upon reading the split library information, thinking I was doing the right thing.
This is exactly what I did
I copied the folder with all the media from B to P
I copied the entire iTunes folder from the Mac HDD to P
I option click started iTunes and connected to the library file and when iTunes opened it was OK - and looked like it normally does when I was still using B as the storage
I connected to P
When it didn't work, I tried to create a new library and did the same exact things.
So let me ask this:
Should I hook up P again and delete everything off of it except for the folders that have the media in them and then copy the current iTunes folder over onto P again - and then copy all of the media from it's current location into the iTunes Media folder inside of the iTunes folder I copy over from the Mac and then try to connect and consolidate everything?
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Thanks

Home Sharing lets you stream or copy media from one library to another. If you stream media only the source computer has a copy of the data. If that machine died you would lose the data. If you copy the media across then you have a backup. I don't offhand know if Home Sharing lets you copy ripped CDs as well as store purchases as I've never used it.
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tt2

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MSGTN wrote:
Is it possible to put two iTunes libraries on the same computer?
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To move the iTunes music see this article -
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder
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Best,
Brett L

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Followed the instructions at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
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Sharing iTunes Libraries - does the library location matter?

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