Where To Put iTunes

dustywoodworker · 21 Oct 2011

One of my kids has decided that I need iTunes on my computer because my wife has expressed an interest in an iPod.

My question is this: Is there any great risk of loading iTunes and the associated music files on my C: drive along with the Windows 7 OS?

She (and I) loaded iTunes today and it wasn't until we were all done that I realized we had used C drive. I did not notice that we were given a choice but maybe that is because she is faster on the keyboard than I.

We only loaded 300MB so if I need to uninstall and redo to avoid the OS it is no big issue.

Space on the HDs is also not an issue. I have 100GB of free space on C drive and probably 60GB free on D drive.

**cluberti** · 21 Oct 2011

Usually I recommend programs on the OS volume, and user data on another disk or volume (just in case you need to reinstall Windows, for some reason - you're going to need to reinstall programs anyway, but no need to have to restore or recover data unnecessarily).

Just be aware that installing iTunes brings along with it a decent amount of Apple cruftware (apple updater, bonjour, potentially quicktime and it's updater, etc), that are not needed to actually run iTunes. You really only actually need iTunes and their removable devices (aka i-devices) service, but Apple seems to think you also need all of the other nonsense.

ignatzatsonic · 21 Oct 2011

Here is a good guide to installing only the necessary components. The method works well for version 10.5 also.

10.5 does NOT use Quicktime, so you can omit the steps in this guide that refer to Quicktime.

The unofficial guide to installing iTunes 10 without bloatware | ZDNet

Here is a guide on how to uninstall ALL remnants of I-Tunes if it gets cranky:

Removing and reinstalling iTunes, QuickTime, and other software components for Windows Vista or Windows 7

Bonjour is a particularly nasty critter to get rid of. You may have to go to a command prompt and/or turn off your anti-malware application.

I took a look at version 10.5 today and did not stay with it. It (and some earlier versions) insist on examining all files in your library for gapless playback. This is time-consuming and cannot be turned off. I have no interest in gapless playback. My antique version 4.9 from about 2004 has a switch to turn this off entirely, but Apple has apparently decided I have to have gapless playback.

noobvious · 22 Oct 2011

ignatzatsonic said:

I have no interest in gapless playback. My antique version 4.9 from about 2004 has a switch to turn this off entirely, but Apple has apparently decided I have to have gapless playback.

Gapless playback is a very popular feature.....I for one am glad it is there. It varies from person to person....some people have no music in their collection that even requires it. I never use iTunes as my media player on the computer, but I want my iPods to do gapless.

I do see what you mean about the time it takes to do the analysis though.....it wasn't a big deal for me because I don't have all of my music in my iTunes library, but if it was all in there I probably would have had to let it run over night.

ignatzatsonic · 22 Oct 2011

noobvious said:

....some people have no music in their collection that even requires it.

I do see what you mean about the time it takes to do the analysis though.....I probably would have had to let it run over night.

I am one of those with no such files. I have no "albums"---only single mp3s that I typically play in shuffle mode.

I reload my entire library (22,000 songs currently) every few weeks and would have to let the gapless playback evaluation run for hours every time.

The old version with the defeatable gapless playback loads all 22,000 songs in 6 minutes.

Why they would remove the switch to defeat the analysis is beyond me. This is progress?

dustywoodworker · 25 Oct 2011

ignatzatsonic said:

noobvious said:

....some people have no music in their collection that even requires it.

I do see what you mean about the time it takes to do the analysis though.....I probably would have had to let it run over night.

I am one of those with no such files. I have no "albums"---only single mp3s that I typically play in shuffle mode.

I reload my entire library (22,000 songs currently) every few weeks and would have to let the gapless playback evaluation run for hours every time.

The old version with the defeatable gapless playback loads all 22,000 songs in 6 minutes.

Why they would remove the switch to defeat the analysis is beyond me. This is progress?

WOW, 22,000 songs. I don't think I'll ever have that much.

Out of curiosity, how much storage space is consumed by 22,000 recordings? I only have 40GB set aside for music. I have more free HD space but didn't think I would need it for music.

noobvious · 25 Oct 2011

ignatzatsonic said:

noobvious said:

....some people have no music in their collection that even requires it.

I do see what you mean about the time it takes to do the analysis though.....I probably would have had to let it run over night.

I am one of those with no such files. I have no "albums"---only single mp3s that I typically play in shuffle mode.

I reload my entire library (22,000 songs currently) every few weeks and would have to let the gapless playback evaluation run for hours every time.

The old version with the defeatable gapless playback loads all 22,000 songs in 6 minutes.

Why they would remove the switch to defeat the analysis is beyond me. This is progress?

Why do you reload them every few weeks?

noobvious · 25 Oct 2011

dustywoodworker said:

WOW, 22,000 songs. I don't think I'll ever have that much.

Out of curiosity, how much storage space is consumed by 22,000 recordings? I only have 40GB set aside for music. I have more free HD space but didn't think I would need it for music.

I have roughly 14,500, and that takes up about 117GB. Of course, I have some of these also on my hard drive in lossless FLAC format, which takes up another 129GB....lol.

dustywoodworker · 25 Oct 2011

noobvious said:

dustywoodworker said:

WOW, 22,000 songs. I don't think I'll ever have that much.

Out of curiosity, how much storage space is consumed by 22,000 recordings? I only have 40GB set aside for music. I have more free HD space but didn't think I would need it for music.

I have roughly 14,500, and that takes up about 117GB. Of course, I have some of these also on my hard drive in lossless FLAC format, which takes up another 129GB....lol.

You are far more serious about this than I have time left to become.

I am 73 and have just recently gotten interested in what makes my computer work. It'll be a while before I can accumulate that much music (late I like). I suppose I could do it if I went on a down loading spree but then I can't afford to do that.

Thanks for your response though.

noobvious · 25 Oct 2011

dustywoodworker said:

You are far more serious about this than I have time left to become.

I am 73 and have just recently gotten interested in what makes my computer work. It'll be a while before I can accumulate that much music (late I like). I suppose I could do it if I went on a down loading spree but then I can't afford to do that.

Thanks for your response though.

I needed a non-destructive hobby after I gave up all my bad habits a few years back, and music and MP3 players became that hobby. As daunting as the size of my collection may sound to you, in reality, about half of the music is stuff I rarely listen to. I just can't bring myself to delete it though.

The 40GB you've set aside is enough space for you to have quite a bit of music that you like.:)