i own an ipod mini. i want to buy  one for my brother and give him an
ipod which has been preloaded with my own itunes library.  the
software seems to be individualized to the ipod unit itself, so i
don't know if he has to transfer my music collection from my computer
to his computer before downloading into the 'new' ipod.

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Clarification of Question by mdpa173-ga on 16 Aug 2004 12:38 PDT

thank you very much,  p.c, windows xp home.  are you saying to install
the software from the second ipod on to a different user on my
computer, then share the music?  does make sense

Hi mdpa173,

I run Windows XP also, and I've found that there's no need to create
another user in order to have two iPods working from one computer.
When you connect the new iPod to the computer, the computer will
detect that it's a different iPod, and ask you to insert the CD that
came with the new iPod.

Just follow the directions on the CD, and make sure to give your iPod
a name (ours are Mr Pod and Clicky). You'll find that a new version of
iTunes will be installed, and that both iPods are able to download
from the library.

If you and your brother have different taste in music, just make sure
you turn off the Auto Sync feature before you connect his iPod! I
learned this the hard way ;).

In summation: Connect your iPod to the computer, and put in the iPod
CD when you're asked. Follow the directions, and Bob *should* be your
uncle. Before I got my iPod I had no experience using them or iTunes,
and I had no major problems. Do let us know if you need any more
assistance, though!

Best wishes,

Shananigans-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by mdpa173-ga on 17 Aug 2004 12:37 PDT

thanks,  i assume that it was relatively easy to reload the second
ipod with different music after the erroneous auto-sync, by
deselecting all the songs and re-synching.  is this correct?

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Clarification of Answer by shananigans-ga on 17 Aug 2004 16:55 PDT

Hi pdpa173,

Your assumption that it's relatively easy to reload new songs is
absolutely correct!

"To remove a song from your iPod, select the iPod in the Source list.
Then select the song in the iTunes window and press the Delete key." -
from 'iTunes and Music Store Help - Using iPod - Managing files on
your iPod' (it's also in the Help menu).

I've got Clicky connected now, so let's see how this goes...

1. Right-click on the iPod icon (it's in the source list on the left)
and select 'iPod Options'. If you don't want to Auto-Sync your iPod
with the iTunes Library, make sure to uncheck the 'all' option and
choose either 'selected playlists' or 'manual'.

2. Now, single click on the iPod icon to access its songs. 

3. Open a playlist by single-clicking on its name. Select song(s) in
the song list (press Ctrl+a to select all), and hit the delete key to
remove them. Alternatively, you can delete a whole playlist by
selecting it in the source list and hitting the delete key (iTunes
will ask you whether you *really* want to delete the selection, so
don't worry if you do this accidentally).

4. Once you've got rid of the music you don't want, add new tracks by
opening the Library, selecting tracks and 'dragging' them on to your
iPod. You can drag them in to a playlist if you like, or just drag
them to the iPod icon they'll be stored by artist and album title.

5. Don't forget to eject your iPod by using the Controls menu ('Eject
iPod' is the last option).

I don't mean to alarm you, but I suggest that if you use multiple
computers to update your iPod (of if a friend will be using your
computer as well as their own) you should definitely turn off the
Auto-Sync feature and use manual update.

Imagine that we're calling your computer A and your friend's computer
B. You've just installed all the songs from A's iTunes library on to
your iPod, when your friend tells you he has some great songs you'd
enjoy listening to. You connect your iPod to computer B, only to
discover that the automatic synchronisation has *removed* all the
songs from the iPod that are *not* on B, and added all of B's Library.
This can be mightily inconvenient and it's happened to me, so I hope
you and your iPod will benefit from my experience.

I know it can be a little scary learning to use a new device,
especially something as fantastic as iPod (assuming you love yours as
much as I love mine ;-) ). Don't be scared to try things out with it,
and remember that almost anything is reversible - some things just
take more time than others to fix.

Please let me know if you require further clarification,

Shananigans-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by mdpa173-ga on 18 Aug 2004 17:51 PDT

if i download my computer's songs into a brand new second ipod,  can
that second ipod then be used to transfer all of it's songs to a
second computer which contains no songs?

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Clarification of Answer by shananigans-ga on 19 Aug 2004 00:06 PDT

Hi mdpa173,

Firstly, I'd like to say thankyou for the tip! 

The short answer to your question is unfortunately 'no'! iTunes
doesn't allow 'backwards' copying from iPod to iTunes.

What you could do, however, is set up a LAN connection between the two
computers - or upload the files to an FTP server - and transfer them
that way, just like you would any other kind of file.

You'll need 3rd party software in order to do this, and I suggest you
take a look at iPod Lounge (ipodlounge.com) for some recommendations.
These people know *everything* about iPods and more!

Hope this helped,

Shananigans-ga

thank you, very informative and congenial

Do you have a PC or Mac. For a Mac, the iTunes library is
user-centric, so all you need to do:
1) Share your current iTunes library folder
2) If you have another user, log onto that account, OR create a new temporary user
3) From the new user's account, copy all of the music files from your
main user to the new user
4) Sync the iPod.

This should work similar with the windows OS. Keep in mind, that the
new iPod will not be able to have the songs synced to another computer
that does not have the songs already installed - Apple prohibits it.
But, there are freeware applications on versiontracker.com which will
allow you to do this. One more thing. If the 2nd iPod is to be used on
a different OS (mac or Windows) than what you are loading the ipod
with, this will NOT work.

tyvm   pc, windows xp home.very helpful comment.  will i install the
software from the new ipod on to a different user on my puter? thanks

You might want to sign up as a member for the iPodlounge Forums
[http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/], I have been a user there for
quite a while, they will answer the most complex iPod related
questions at lightning speed. With 27,000+ members just talking iPod,
that's the place to be.

(Don't get me wrong, I still encourage asking questions on Google Answers.)

thank you very much.