How to Share iTunes Music Across Accounts in Vista
If you live in a household with more than one music lover, you are surely eager to share and enjoy your iTunes music libraries. Fortunately, thanks to features new to iTunes 9, you can do this quickly and easily if you want to share music among accounts on the same computer.
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Instructions
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1
Close iTunes if it is currently running on your computer and locate your iTunes Music folder. By default, this is located in Windows Vista in Users\username\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music.
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2
Open a new Windows Explorer window and locate the publicly accessible music folder. By default, this is located in Windows Vista in Users\Public\Public Music.
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3
Click and hold down your left mouse button on the iTunes Music folder icon, and then drag the folder to the Public Music folder. Be prepared to wait a few moments to several minutes for the folder and all of its files to transfer. The more music files in the folder, the longer it will take to transfer.
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4
Open iTunes. Open the Edit menu at the top of the window, and select "Preferences" from the drop-down menu. In the Preferences window, click "Advanced" followed by "Change."
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In the Change Music Folder Location window, locate your Public Music file, click to highlight it, and then click "OK." Repeat this in each Windows Vista account that will be sharing music.
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Select "Preferences" from the Edit menu. Click "Advanced" in the Preferences window, and then click to remove the checkmark in the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library file" box. Click "OK" to save your changes and close the window.
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From the File menu, select the "Add File to Library" option. In the window that appears, locate the Public Music file, open it, select the music you want to add to your library and click "Open." Repeat this for each file you want to add.
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Tips & Warnings
Be sure to move only the iTunes Music folder, and not the entire iTunes folder, as the latter contains important files that should not be moved.
Before sharing music, make sure the Public Music folder does not contain the same music, imported by another user, as this will result in duplicate files.
