Absolute Beginner's Guide to iPod and iTunes

Because the iPod is so very portable, you might use it with more than one computer especially when you use it as a portable drive, as you learned how to do in the previous two sections. And because iTunes is free, there is no reason you can't install it on every computer you use.

Using an iPod with more than one computer presents only one minor complication: When you configure an iPod to be automatically updated (either with the full automatic or the selected playlist option), you link it to the iTunes Library on the machine you configured the update on. When you connect the iPod to another machine that also has automatic updating set, you will see a warning prompt that explains that the iPod is linked to another iTunes Library (see Figure 11.11).

If you click Yes in this prompt, the music currently on the iPod will be replaced by the music stored on the computer to which the iPod is connected and the link will be changed to the current iTunes Library. If you don't want to replace the iPod's music, click No.

If you want to move music to the iPod from more than one iTunes Library, you'll need to select the Manual update option on each computer with which you use it. This option doesn't link the iPod to any Library, so you can move songs from multiple Libraries onto the same iPod.

If you just want to be able to use the iPod as a disk, choose one computer to link the iPod to for music. Each time you connect it to a different computer, just click No in the warning prompt to leave the music on the iPod alone. The iPod will be mounted on that computer and you can use it as a disk. You'll also be able to manually move music from that computer's iTunes music library onto the iPod.