Getting tunes OFF an ipod, onto new computer - is it 'easy'?

[LordPanofthePeaks]

Must be a familiar story. Boy meets laptop. Boy and laptop share lots of music together on an ipod. Boy loses laptop in a crash. Boy left heartbroken, with a half full ipod. Boy meets new laptop.

Apple staff tell me it can be done but they are not allowed to say how. I googled it and have read a few accounts - some involve d/load softwear, some not so.

Has anyone on MN actually done it? I am not techie, and my uber techie friend is on hols - and besides which I would like to 'impress him' with a project success! Any pointers dear posters??

Yes have done it(this was a case of girl loses computer with her music on in split with ex). Dh done it several times for dss. Are you looking to reload on an apple or a PC ?

And dh out but will Get him to do instructions later- I think he downloaded a programme
To do it(cost about 10 quid).

its a laptop with Windows XP - not an apple - - have put on a new itunes library had hovering over how to proceed next...

Apple's story is that they have sold you the music and it is up to you to look after it. Like anything else, if you lose it you have to buy a replacement.

Apple DID show me how to recover the music you actually purchased from the store and they can trace it by way of payment cards. But this is only a fraction of my ipod music.

Not done it myself... but this theory looks good:

Plug your iPod or iPhone into your computer.
From the Desktop, go to My Computer and find the iPod (usually designated by a drive letter. i e. E: or F:)
Open it.
Go to Tools > Folder Options > View (the tab) > scroll to Show Hidden Files and Folders and click it.
Click OK.
Go back to your iPod folder/drive, there you will find a new folder called iPod_Control
Open it.
The Music folder in it will have a bunch of folders named F00, F01 and so on. THEY HAVE YOUR MP3s AND VIDEOS. Look through the folders to find your stuff.
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.

yes nanny - some of the articles spoke of hidden files and such like. Am going to keep your advice - and thank you very much for it - in mind as I risk stuff and proceed later today. Do you mind if I myther you again later? One pointer is that the information on the music in the hidden folders will be all gobbledy gook and need unravelling. Will def. try this later. >

poppy - thank you for your post. I am much more tempted to do it sans software intervention.

and let's face it - if I lose all of the music it isn't that a big deal. no-one is getting killed or seriously injured are they??

I have a Mac but have done this for years. I use an application called Podworks but there are loads of them around if you look. It is definitely doable and easy, if longwinded. My iPod is 160GB, it takes forever!

Assistance required!!

I have copied and saved the music files to "My Documents" on my laptop - this is new so these files are the only content of My Docs.

I have opened itunes - File - Add Folder. Selected My Docs and it is doing nothing about it. Just stubbornly refuses ot jump magically inot my new library. I bet there is an easy answer to this????

Have you tried adding a file individually to see if it is really a music file?

How about playing with other software, not iTunes... does that work?

I used software called Mediawidget, it cost about £20 iirc. It's quite slow but does the job easily.

Hi,

thanks a lot for helping me get this far!!

yes, it is all music files, though how the podcasts and photos went straight across I have noo idea.

There are 50 folders, F00 to F49, and I have been opening each file with itunes which drops it into the library. Takes about 8 mins per folder, and have done 11 of them so far. I suspect this is the software bit that would do this for me. But hey, there is no rush,and I am just happy that I am getting all of my tunes inot the library, and I have done a bit of techie stuff that looking at I thought was beyond me!!

nanny - in my research I looked at "toolbox.com" and a guide there was more or less an expansive version of your good theory. Your theory I held open in another window whilst I did it. So thank you thank you thank you enormously. . If you ever want someone to do some modest, non-techie task doing let me know.

Good to hear you have started getting the result you want. I expect the software automates the process... making it a lot easier. Pity it won't do it by folder. Could take a very long time if you have lots of files.

Well, I don't mind nanny, in the broad view of life. It also makes me realise I have such a lot of crap on there! But naturally I don't know this until itunes converts it to a tune, and names it and I think 'gawd'! But thanks again for taking the time.

also...if you google this issue now, this thread pops up half way down!! I ahve directed a friend of mine to it who has a new laptop and she is fretting. More than a bit.