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My sister and I are going to have to share Itunes...

M

MFoogle

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 2, 2006
8
0
I already have an Ipod and my sister is probably going to get one for her birthday/Christmas, and we will have to share a computer which means we will have to share Itunes. Is there any way to put a code on the Itunes so that when you activate it, it will only open up to your itunes, or anything like that?
 
One simple solution is to set up separate playlists for you and your sister – when you're listening to music on your computer you can play the songs only in your playlist, and you can set it up so your iPod will only load and play the songs you've selected for your library. This is the system me and my girlfriend use and it works fine – we each have our own music on our own iPods, and I can be sure I won't accidentally end up listening to any of her stuff. ;)
 
Do you have individual accounts on the computer? If so, you will just use the system as you have been. If you share a single-user account, then there will only be one version of iTunes. Each iPod can be individually synched to the iTunes library, however you like.


Jaffa Cake said:
...and I can be sure I won't accidentally end up listening to any of her stuff. ;)
Click to expand...
And she won't end up with any New Kids on the Block ;)
 
Why not set up separate user accounts on the machine? That way all your stuff would be separated, not just your tunes.

Edit: right, what gauchogolfer said...
 
gauchogolfer said:
Do you have individual accounts on the computer? If so, you will just use the system as you have been. If you share a single-user account, then there will only be one version of iTunes. Each iPod can be individually synched to the iTunes library, however you like.



And she won't end up with any New Kids on the Block ;)
Click to expand...


how do I set up different accounts on my computer? my family has never done that.
 
For a mac system preferences, accounts and than on the left it will show qll th3 accounts, hit the little plus arrown and than you will more or less be guided through a setup process. If you plus arrow is gray clcik the lock and type in your familys password.
For PC:
Start, contorol panel, user accounts, create a user account. Good luck
 
thanks, but the computer that we will have to share is a windows (98 i think...) we have one thats a Mac, but ironically its not the one we use for itunes...
 
no you dont need separated user accounts. it is simpler to set separated sets of playlists for each ipod. and that should be the way it works.

imagine if i have 1 ipod video and 1 ipod nano, and everytime i want to update them, i'll have to login separated user accounts? no way, that's just a pain in the ass.
 
eh, well my sister doesnt get on that computer much, and when we're done we have to turn the computer off anyway (unless someone else wants on that computer, which rarely happens) so it wont be too much of a pain.
 
dur?

phuong said:
so if i have 5 siblings, i'll make 5 user accounts on my computer? come on!
Click to expand...

Um, yeah. Just move the iTunes Music folder to the shared folder on the same level as your user folders.

Life is MUCH easier when each person has their own account.
 
If you hold down the "shift" key while you launch iTunes 7 for Windows, it will ask you which library you want to use. You can set up different iTunes libraries for you and your sister.

You just have to remember to launch the program with the "shift" key pressed. I don't know if there is a command line switch you can use to force iTunes to ask for the library. I'll try and find out. If there is, you could create a shortcut with the extra switch that automatically brought up the library selection dialog.
 
It's easy just make a few accounts. It's easy to manage and easy to keep files, iTunes libraries seperate.
 
phuong said:
no you dont need separated user accounts. it is simpler to set separated sets of playlists for each ipod. and that should be the way it works.

imagine if i have 1 ipod video and 1 ipod nano, and everytime i want to update them, i'll have to login separated user accounts? no way, that's just a pain in the ass.
Click to expand...
Fast user switching anyone?
 
MFoogle said:
thanks, but the computer that we will have to share is a windows (98 i think...) we have one thats a Mac, but ironically its not the one we use for itunes...
Click to expand...
iTunes only works on Windows 2000 or XP, so if you have iTunes running in your PC, it's one of those two. Either way, 2k/XP support multiple users, so you can setup a different account for your sister.
 
MFoogle said:
thanks, but the computer that we will have to share is a windows (98 i think...) we have one thats a Mac, but ironically its not the one we use for itunes...
Click to expand...

iTunes only works on Windows 2000 and XP, so you have one of those. I suspect it is Windows 2000 (since that looks the most like Windows 98), in which case just go to 'Users and Passwords' in Control Panels to set up a new user account.
 
ah, yah, i meant XP (this computer is new so im not used to sayin XP)
 
my suggestion will not help much, but it could help in the long run.

transfer all your music to the mac. use iTunes on that mac.

create 2 different accounts.

enjoy the mac. enjoy your music. love each other.
 
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