inTuneMusic

Your dilemma: You have an iPod filled with songs you want to transfer to a computer. You’re afraid that connecting it to the computer will erase all of the songs on either the iPod or the computer, so you don’t want to. You want to know how to get the iPod’s songs onto your computer, stress and worry free.

If you’re in this situation, then follow this illustrated, step-by-step simple guide to transfer all the music from your iPod to your computer without any hassle or worry. This guide can easily be followed by someone inexperienced with computer operations.

There are many programs that you can download to automate this process, but this guide is designed to save you the trouble of these programs. Many programs found online are expensive and some contain spyware and viruses. This guide will solve your problems for FREE and without spyware.

Step 1: Plug your iPod into your computer, as normal. However, do not open iTunes.

Step 2: Open “My Computer”. Click “Tools” -> “Folder Options…”. This will open a new window. Choose the “View” tab and then click “Show hidden files and folders”. Press “OK” to exit the window.

Step 3: Open your “C Drive”; you want to create the folder, “mp3_ipod_restore” in your “C:\” directory. The path should be “C:\mp3_ipod_restore”; leave this window open, and then open My Computer once again in a new window.

Step 4: You should see your iPod listed next to your hard drive, CD drive, and other devices listed in “My Computer”. Open your iPod as you would any other folder.

Step 5: Navigate through your folders. Click “iPod_Control” and then “Music”; you should see a list of folders named “F01″, “F02″, etc. These cryptic folders hold all your songs.

Step 6: Open “F01″ or any of the folders, and you’ll notice your songs are there. However, their filenames are going to be cryptic: for example, a file named “GXHR.mp3″ could actually be The Blues Brothers – “Gimme Some Lovin’” (as it is in the illustrated example). Don’t worry if you don’t see your artist or song title; we’ll get to that in a moment.

Step 7: Navigate backwards, to the “iPod_Control” folder. You’ll see the “Music” folder sitting there. Drag “Music” into the “mp3_ipod_restore” folder you created earlier.

Step 8: Depending on how music you’re copying to your hard drive, this could take some time. When it finishes, you’ll now have a folder called “Music” sitting at “C:\mp3_ipod_restore\Music”. Congratulations, your music is now backed up and safe!

Step 9: Now, you’ll want to be able to LISTEN to that music in iTunes. (I’ll describe the basic solution, but there are many ways to accomplish this step, depending on your solution.) Open iTunes. Your music library is blank, so you need to add those copied songs. Choose “File” -> “Add Folder To Library…” and then choose the “C:\mp3_ipod_restore\Music” folder.

Step 10: Sit back and watch iTunes add all of your music back to iTunes, complete with correct song titles, artists, and any other information you had on your songs. Again, depending on how much music is being added to the library, the process could take some time. Enjoy.

If you need additional help, please post a comment below and I will respond as soon as possible.