Itunes !

Originally posted by [url=http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/ipodsupport/copyoff/index.shtmlMethodshop.com[/url]]

Has a virus or hard drive crash wiped out your entire music collection on your computer? No problem. Here's how to copy music off your iPod and back onto your computer.

Requirements:

Any iPod, except the iPod Shuffle, with firmware 2.1 or later
A computer with iTunes installed and enough hard drive space to store all the music from your iPod

Imagine that you have a HUGE music library and all of it is kept on your trusty PC or Mac. You of course have a fantastic speaker system, to listen to that music in the highest quality, and an iPod, so that you can listen to your music wherever you go. Now imagine that one day, your computer's hard drive crashes, and that music library is now gone. All of the music imported off of CD's which you might have lost by now, all of the music downloaded off of free-music web sites, and most importantly, all that money spent on the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) has just vanished!

You then remember that all your music is still on your iPod, Safe and intact. You plug it in, you mount it to the OS, and then you realize that iTunes only allows the downloading of music from iTunes to iPod, not iPod to iTunes. (This is to prevent the stealing of music, says Apple). Do you really want to spend hours re-importing music, and repurchasing music from the iTMS? We didn't think so.

Luckily for you, there are several alternatives.

Option #1:
Yes you can "rip" music off any iPod. There are several applications that make this task very easy. A good program to try is Tune Transfer. Any feature packed application like Tune Transfer will cost about $20.

Option #2:
If you are cheap and want a free solution, you have several options. However please keep in mind that this option is the "hard way" and won't be very easy for the average computer user. If you aren't super savvy with computers, then please try option #1. There are many free applications for both Mac and PC that will copy the music off your iPod. Mac users can use iPod Viewer or iPodRip. UNIX Savvy Macintosh and Linux users can use command line to pull the music off their iPod. PC users should look for applications like iPOD AGENT, PodUtil or CopyTrans.

No matter what program you use, this is the general "ripping" procedure for copying the music off your iPod:

With a Helper Application:
1. Download a "ripping" program (PodUtil, PodWorks, etc.) and install it on your computer.
2. Make a new folder somewhere on your computer that will have enough hard drive space to hold all the music files from your iPod.
3. Using the ripping application you purchased or downloaded, copy all the music off your iPod and put it into that folder.
4. It's a good idea to archive your music at this point. Burn all your music onto CDs, DVD-ROMs, or copy them onto an external Firewire or USB hard drive.
5. Drag that folder into the main iTunes window. You music will then import into iTunes. This make take several minutes depending on the amount of songs and your computer's processing power.

Without a Helper Application:
Here's a way to quickly get files off a PC iPod without any extra software.
1. Plug in your iPod.
2. From the Desktop, go to My Computer and find the iPod (usually designated by a drive letter. i e. E: or F: )
3. Open the damn thing.
4. Go to Tools > Folder Options > View (the tab) > scroll to Show Hidden Files and Folders and click it.
5. Click OK
6. Go back to your iPod folder/drive, there you will find a new folder called iPod_Control
7. Open it.
8. The Music folder in it will have a bunch of folders named F00, F01 and so on. THEY HAVE YOUR MP3s. Look through the folders to find your stuff.

NERD NOTE: You can also use the Search utility in Windows and search for a particular audio file on your iPod. Just make sure you specify to search in Hidden Files or Folders. There, a solution that requires no extra software, just a few extra brain cells.

Why Apple prevents you from easily copying music off your iPod:

The problem is, the ability to copy music off your iPod can be used for good or bad purposes. Ripping music off your iPod is an excellent last resort when you've lost music off your computer. However, being able to copy music off your iPod also makes it frightenly easy to steal thousands songs in a matter of minutes. With fast Firewire and USB 2.0 speeds, stealing a whole music library could take as little as 5 minutes. To help appease the record companies, Apple has disabled the ability to easily copy music off your iPod.

NERD NOTE: Macs can read both Mac and PC disks (including iPods). So both Mac and PC iPods can be used on Mac computers.

Originally posted by MartyWhat the hell ?

I wasn't here for about 10 days (sure yon noticed) , because I had problems with my computer.

So now I pluged my screen and my board on my dads old laptopt. ANd I dowloaded Itunes from It.

But I can't put my Ipod music on this new Itunes.

HELP ME , please

thanks !

Originally posted by paolom3APPLE GEEK TO THE RESCUE!!!

I am studying to work at the apple store so I know the answer.

Sorry to inform you but it is IMPOSABLE to unload music or files from the ipod unless it was set to "file transport mode". When you plug your ipod in you WILL loose ALL of your files, you need to back up the ones on your old computer first and then bring them over to the new one.

Reason: your ipod needs the exact files to be uploaded, the only solution is buying a new ipod and starting over and keeping your current one and NEVER putting it in a computer again. thats of coarse if you can't back up your old computer.

-Apple Tech guide

Originally posted by paolom3only in "file holder" mode, you have to set it to that on itunes when its plugged in, they leave that part out..notice

Originally posted by djrlewis
If you can tell me this (plus your OS) then I, and Drew etc, will be able to sort it for you.

Originally posted by germcevoyI think I read somewhere that it can be set to disc mode manually. Dans post above though shows that it is not impossible but the nice fellas at apple probably didn't tell you that. They would love it if you had to re-purchase all your music.

and Apple will give you a receipt of what you bought if you tell them you lost everything, so you can re-buy them, hey i didnt make the rules

Originally posted by paolom3Sorry to inform you but it is IMPOSABLE to unload music or files from the ipod unless it was set to "file transport mode". When you plug your ipod in you WILL loose ALL of your files, you need to back up the ones on your old computer first and then bring them over to the new one.

Reason: your ipod needs the exact files to be uploaded, the only solution is buying a new ipod and starting over and keeping your current one and NEVER putting it in a computer again. thats of coarse if you can't back up your old computer.