iPod Help

[blueeyes]

Spencer was given an iPod for his b-day back in July. It has Grandpa's music on it which some of it he likes and the rest he would like to take off. For x-mas I bought him a $30 card for iTunes.

Well we are just now getting around to loading iTunes on one of our laptops. (Can I just say I HATE iPODS!!!!)

I heard that if you just plug the iPod in it erases music. So I googled and sure enough if you are not careful the dam thing is erased.

Did a bit more searching found a program iRip that recovers the songs to your iTunes. Download for free and use BUT there is a catch it only lets you recover so many albums and then you have to buy it. Grrrrrr

Did I mention yet that I hate this iPod... I was thinking of buying one last week. Decided to stick with Sansa GAWD I am glad I did.

So do any of you Apple lovers have any suggestions??? Is there a program that is free that will back up the music to iTunes. Or am I going to have to buy some program to make it work???

Thanks for any help. Sorry if you are an Apple lover and my lack of affection for iPod offends but for as much hype as the iPod gets it is not user friendly compared to drag and drop your music on the device and go. But my son and I would greatly appreciate help!

[jman]

yeshh...itunes is such a pain to use, and not to mention VERY bloated. It takes a while to load up and the DRM just ruins everyone's day.

It is true, if you plug it in into another computer or whatever, it will delete your songs.



Is there a program that is free that will back up the music to iTunes

Do you mean having the songs ALREADY on the ipod and not delete those songs when you plug in the ipod (like I mentioned above)? If so, there is a simple way, and it doesn't involve itunes. yay!

I have not used iRip before so I can't say if its great or not - but a free alternative is CopyTrans. Check out the link here: http://www.copytrans.net/copytransmanager.php

and tell me if that's what you need or not. I like the program, because, first, I can keep it on the Ipod itself and use when I travel around. Second, it's not itunes and I can easily transfer songs on and off (drag and drop) without DRM and having Itunes delete the ipod library. Third, it's free. Fourth, it's simple and easy to use. And Last of all, as many ipods or iphones can use it without it interfering with each other, etc.

Good luck!

[rover]

When you plug the ipod into a computer with an itunes library you haven't used before, it will bring up a popup window with the option to automatically sync the ipod with the itunes library or to transfer songs manually. Choose Manual! If you don't, "poof" and your music is gone. As far as getting songs from an ipod into your itunes library, ipod rip works fine, you shouldn't need to do it more than one time anyway(the original time to transfer all the music you currently have on the ipod to your computer.)
I like Apple, but this truly is ridiculous.

[stefan]

Thanks for any help. Sorry if you are an Apple lover and my lack of affection for iPod offends but for as much hype as the iPod gets it is not user friendly compared to drag and drop your music on the device and go.

on an ipod "manual mode" = "drag and drop"

[jman]

Yes, drag and drop in manual mode does work. BUT, it only works the ipod/iphone was enabled to do that before you plug it in OR it will ask to delete all songs the ipod library first to sync with the itunes library.

So before you press the manual button, download the copytrans software, and retrieve all your songs off it, first (otherwise they will be deleted when you select "manual mode"). Next, select the Manual mode button, and then add all your songs into itunes and everything will work just fine.

But if manual mode is already checked when you plug in the ipod, then you can add the songs and delete them without any issue.

When I've restored my music and added the songs by syncing, not my manual - and then switching to manual mode - it will delete all the songs off it, then I have to reload the songs on it. Had to learn my lesson 2x on that one.

[stefan]

When I've restored my music and added the songs by syncing, not my manual - and then switching to manual mode - it will delete all the songs off it, then I have to reload the songs on it. Had to learn my lesson 2x on that one.

syncing playlists seems a safe/simple way to sync music to an ipod and preserve that set of tracks for future use/reference