Syncing my ipod to more than one computer

Question

My daughter has an ipod & was synced with our computer. Then she went to her friend's house & wanted to buy some music on her friend's itunes account. It erased all of the music & movies she'd bought on our computer & now it says if we try to sync it to our computer it will erase all the music she bought from her friend's account. I tried to set it up to sync with more than one computer but no luck. I used the Store-Authorize Computer function to no avail. I don't want to sync it back to our computer if she's going to lose everything she bought at her friend's, but I hate the thought of all this stuff she's bought here that now she can't reload, and if she loses what she bought there, so be it; more money was spent here than there. Any advice? Help will be appreciated. Thanks! sylvanchick

Answer 1

You can't "sync" that is automatically update an iPod from multiple libraries or computers. 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. In this mode 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
iPod 101: Fill 'er Up
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. In that case use Safely Remove Hardware icon in the Windows system tray on your desktop or check this link: Safely Disconnect IPod
You can use a keyboard command to prevent your iPod auto-syncing with iTunes. While connecting the iPod to the computer on Windows with iTunes 7.3 or later installed hold down the Shift + Ctrl keys together. This will stop the iPod from auto-syncing with iTunes and the iPod will appear in the source list. Wait until you are sure the iPod has mounted, and that it will not auto sync and then you can let the keys go. This may take between 20 to 30 seconds depending on your computer: iTunes 7.3 Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows
When your iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual. Once you are safely connected you can transfer the purchased songs to your computer. The transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. You'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod to a computer