I'm an iPod n00b

December 7, 2007 1:39 AM

Probably easy iPod question: my iPod has more available memory than my computer does. How do I use all the space on my iPod without maxing out my computer's hard drive?

I have recently purchased my first iPod--an 80 Gig Classic. Most of what will be on it is music I already have in CD form. I'm copying my favorite albums onto it. Here's my question. My computer also has 80 Gigs of memory. Clearly, I can't hold my entire library on it as well, or it will run out of memory space. So far, I've been converting my CD's with iTunes and the music is on both the computer and the iPod. But my hard drive is getting too full, and I need to clear up some space. So:

What happens if I delete an album from my iTunes library? Will it be deleted from my iPod at the next sync? Or can I rip some CD's, sync them to my iPod, then delete them from the computer, and still have them permanently on the iPod?

Am I missing something obvious? I can't be the only person to have dealt with this. How do you move your CD's to your iPod without overloading your computer?

posted by Pater Aletheias to Technology (19 answers total)

Just be sure to turn off automatic syncing in the iTunes preferences and it will leave your mp3's on your iPod alone if you delete them from your HD.
posted by dendrite at 2:51 AM on December 7, 2007

So in iTunes 7.4, you'd click your iPod and in the summary tab you'd make sure that "Manually manage music on this iPod" was checked - and any changes to the file structure on either iPod or Hard Drive are independent of one another.

Also, I believe you can then even play songs through your computer by selecting them in the song list while your iPod is connected. But I'm not 100% positive.
posted by dendrite at 2:56 AM on December 7, 2007

Also, I believe you can then even play songs through your computer by selecting them in the song list while your iPod is connected. But I'm not 100% positive.

Yes.
posted by adiabat at 3:01 AM on December 7, 2007

I'd add a second drive to the computer, or use an external drive for iTunes. Storage is just so cheap nowadays that it can't be worth faffing about moving and deleting files (and re-ripping them all if your iPod goes wrong).
posted by malevolent at 3:34 AM on December 7, 2007

I second getting an external hard drive. It's going to take you a long time to rip all of your CDs, so having a backup will save you a lot of hassle if your iPod ever gets lost or stolen.

Also, if you're going to be ripping a ton of CDs at once, in iTunes go to Preferences>Advanced>Importing and choose "Import CD and Eject" from the "On CD Insert" menu. That'll make the process of ripping all of those CDs a little bit faster.
posted by buriedpaul at 4:34 AM on December 7, 2007

Unless the songs which are iPod only are all on CD or some other location I would get a second hard drive. iPods occasionally need to be reformatted and lose all their contents. They are not as bullet proof as iMacs. Even if you do have the CDs do you want to reload them if this occurs?
posted by caddis at 4:41 AM on December 7, 2007

You actually can't do what you want to do with iTunes. Everytime you sync, your ipod and iTunes libraries will, well, sync. Which means you'll lose the songs you've deleted from your library. There are other pieces of software you can use, though. I've used ephpod for this type of thing in the past. It's not terribly efficient, but it can work.

Nthing getting an additional hard drive, though. Backups are really nice to have. And it will make your life way easier to just be able to sync libraries with iTunes.
posted by General Malaise at 6:46 AM on December 7, 2007

You actually can't do what you want to do with iTunes. Everytime you sync, your ipod and iTunes libraries will, well, sync. Which means you'll lose the songs you've deleted from your library.

No problem. After loading a library which will be iPod only onto your iPod, just don't sync that library again. (I think this will work, but I haven't actually tried it.)
posted by caddis at 6:50 AM on December 7, 2007

General Malaise, that just isn't true. I have a ton of stuff on my iPod that was only on a computer that was stolen from me some two years back. It's still on my iPod because I don't sync automatically. I also have gotten songs off my sister's computer, which is Windows, and reattached my iPod to my Mac, and seen the songs, and had everything be hunky-dory, as recently as last week, so I'm close to guaranteeing you'll be able to do the same this week if that's what floats your boat.
posted by crinklebat at 6:52 AM on December 7, 2007

I bought an external hard drive and keep my music collection on it. That has worked quite well for me.
posted by Silvertree at 7:01 AM on December 7, 2007

Yes, as long as you turn off the auto-sync, you can load songs onto the ipod and keep them there even if they are no longer on the computer. There's a field in Itunes that you can add to the display that shows when songs were uploaded to your computer, which helps with keeping track of the manual sync.
posted by yarrow at 7:49 AM on December 7, 2007

Best answer: nthing an external drive - you can get a terabyte of space for less than $300, or, if that's too much to spend, 500GB for about $130. It's truly the easiest way to go. That frees up your 80g for documents and stuff, and gives you a ton of space for movies.

If you go that route, there's a good tutorial on how to move songs you've saved on your internal drive to a new external drive here. It's really quite simple.
posted by pdb at 8:04 AM on December 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

When I say "a ton of space for movies" I mean of course "a ton of space for music". Movies, obviously, take up more space, but if you go all out and get a terabyte you won't have to worry for a while.
posted by pdb at 8:05 AM on December 7, 2007

Having only a single copy of somethnig you covet, like a music collection, will only lead to tears when the inevitable happens. Nthing the second hard drive recommendations.

My player is much, much smaller than my rather large collection, so I keep two entire copies of the collection on my PC. One on an internal drive, the other on an external.
posted by utsutsu at 8:07 AM on December 7, 2007

To clarify: I think what the OP wants to do is add songs, delete them from their computer, then add more songs. (Am I correct?) If that's the case, then when you try to add new songs, the ipod will also delete whatever is no longer in your library (hence syncing). I understand that if you just want to add a bunch of songs and delete them from your hard drive, it is totally easy to do (just don't sync anymore). But adding songs, videos, etc. later will take additional software.
posted by General Malaise at 9:35 AM on December 7, 2007

Response by poster: Gerenal Malaise--Yes that's it. I really don't care that much whether the songs are on my computer. I have them all on CD's, and just need to get them to my iPod and keep them there. But, all things considered, it seems like the external hard drive solution will be worth the investment so I don't have to mess with multiple libraries or manually syncing or additional software. My laziness and my frugality are competing forces in this matter.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:04 AM on December 7, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks, pdb! That tutorial was extremely helpful. I went ahead a picked up a 500 Gig HD and and am moving the iTunes library there now. I think that'll be the best solution in the long run. And thanks to everyone else who chimed in!
posted by Pater Aletheias at 1:16 PM on December 7, 2007

Stay away from the Western Digital externals if you go that way, they're crippled by the manufacturer in response to media industry pressure. Yes, this is only if you use their service, but is still pretty crappy.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 2:02 PM on December 8, 2007

i have this same problem, and don't have the cash for an external drive. General Malaise is wrong and the others who are telling you to check the preference for manual management of songs are correct. i upload several hundred songs. move them to the iPod. then delete the songs from iTunes. repeat as needed. as long as you have checked/clicked the box for manual management, this is not an issue.
posted by RedEmma at 5:15 PM on December 8, 2007