iTunes question

BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

This is kinda health related… it’s driving me nuts at the moment, :)

I want to free up some space on my computer. I have a good size library of music/podcasts/etc. in iTunes on my computer that I downloaded to my iPod.

The dilemma (da dada da): Can I delete stuff on my computer that I have already downloaded to my iPod without effecting what is on my iPod? If so, how do I protect the stuff on my iPod that has been deleted from my computer? Then, how do I download new stuff without deleting stuff on my iPod that I deleted on my computer?

Thank you in advance. :)

Comments

  • heathermarsbombheathermarsbomb Raw Newbie

    as long as it is on your ipod it will stay there, regardless if you delete stuff from your itunes library. I do it all the time :) hope this helps…

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Thank you healthermarsbomb~ Do you set iTunes to manually sync then? Currently I have it on auto-sync. What are those check marks for? Ugh! I guess I should just try deleting a cd I have a copy of and just see what happens… Where’s an understandable manual for this thang? LOL

  • DelphineDelphine Raw Newbie

    Hi Bluedolfin,

    I agree with heathermarsbomb.I do it all the time too.

    re: Do you set iTunes to manually sinc then Yes ! This will save what is on your Ipod.

    re: What are those check marks for? Those check marks allow you to choose which songs to listen to & which ones to skip as you prefer.

    May this be helpful.

  • jenny2052jenny2052 Raw Newbie

    Manual sync is the best!

    Bluedolfin, just FYI, the songs that are kept on iPods only move in one direction—from the computer to the iPod. So once you’ve deleted something from your computer, you can’t upload it back to the computer from your iPod (unless you are an experienced hacker of some sort). And if something goes wrong with your iPod, the first thing they will tell you to do is to “restore” it, which means that they wipe all the information off it. If you’ve already deleted the music from your computer, this means you will lose everything unless you have backup copies. Not to be too gloom and doom, but it has happened to me twice. :(

    So depending on the size of your music library, you might consider purchasing a cheap external hard drive on which to keep copies of your music. You’ll free up space on your main computer, but you’ll also have a reliable backup in case something happens to your iPod. Staff at any tech store should be able to help you find an economical external hard drive that will work with your computer, and they are very easy to use.

    Anyway, this is just a suggestion! If you have a small music library that wouldn’t be a hassle to rebuild or if you already have the CDs for most of your music, it isn’t such a big problem. But having lost thousands of songs more than once (I learn lessons slowly), I don’t want anyone else to have to go through that unnecessarily!

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Delphine & jenny~ Thank you so much for the info! I think I have one more question…

    When I delete music on my computer, it deletes it from a playlist (I have created playlists so same types of songs/podcasts are easily accessible on the iPod). Does the playlist on the iPod then doesn’t have the song in the playlist eventhough it is still on the iPod.

    Anyone know of a clear source of information about the ins and outs of an iPod?

    For some reason, this whole process with the iPod just doesn’t seem intuitive to me. However, y’all’s assistance is soooo valuable! My hope is that this information is also valuable to others. Thank you for your contributions!

  • kandacekandace Raw Newbie

    Apple has quite a few tutorials, etc on their website (http://www.apple.com/itunes/). I use them all of the time.

    I tend to think of the iPod as an easily transportable copy of my music library – definitely not a permanent storage. So, I’d second jenny’s caution about deleting your music from your computer before saving it to a secondary drive or burning to a disk. I’ve heard of many friends loosing music by keeping them on their iPod only and then erasing their iPod or accidentally auto-syncing.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Thank you kandace~ I’ll head over to the link you provided. I have looked at other documentation for the iPod/iTunes and was frustrated by it. Usually I can figure stuff out ok even if the docs were a bit wrong… 8)

  • DelphineDelphine Raw Newbie

    You are quite welcome Bluedolfin : )

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Ok.. and the iTunes/iPod saga continues, not to mention the frustration.

    I highlighted a few songs as a trial that I have on CD (incase I were to lose them). I clicked <delete>. A warning message displayed saying “Are you sure you want to remove the selected songs from your iTunes Library? These songs will also be removed from any iPod which synchronizes with your iTune Library.”

    What am I doing wrong? What setting needs to be changed? What? What? What? UGH!!!!

  • jenny2052jenny2052 Raw Newbie

    -Open iTunes with your iPod disconnected.
    -Go to the iTunes drop down menu and select “Preferences.”
    -In the pop-up window that appears, click on the “Syncing” icon (on the far right of the line of icons).
    -Click the checkbox next to “Disable automatic syncing for all ipods and iphones”
    -You should be all set!

    If something shows up that doesn’t look like the above, you may need to update your itunes software.

    And thank you for the opportunity to share some technological insights! I’m in a family of techno-geniuses and I am not particularly technically inclined, so that is a very rare occurrence for me. (In fact, the only reason I know any of this is because of my former ipod issues!)

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Thank YOU Jenny~

    Those are really clear directions and I was so excited when I read them. You done good! I had been looking for that wormy little checkbox for awhile. So… I clicked on the box. Closed window. Tried to delete a song. Wah! I got the same

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