Tech Q&A: Getting Tunes Off of an iPod
A reader writes: "Help! My Mac recently bit the dust and required a new hard drive. I had most of my data backed up – everything except my iTunes library. I've got all my songs on my iPod, but no way to get them back onto my hard drive. Is there a way to get them off so I don't have to re-rip and re-buy everything?"Hey reader: Fortunately, this can easily be done, and without having to download a hack program. The first thing to do is to connect your iPod to your Mac. Once iTunes detects your iPod, it'll ask you if you want to sync up with your iTunes library. You don't. This is a fresh install of iTunes with no library, so doing this will delete all of your jams. Go to 'iTunes Preferences,' 'iPod Options' and check the 'Enable Disk Use' box. Under 'Advanced,' check the 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized' and 'Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library' boxes.
Next, you want to open the Terminal program located in the 'Utilities' folder under 'Applications.' Terminal is a way of accessing the underlying operating system that powers OSX. In Terminal, type, "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE" and press return. Next, type, "killall Finder" and press return. The first command displays your computer's hidden system files that work in the background, but have no real use to you (or, that Apple doesn't want you touching). The second command closes all open Finder windows so that the next one you open will have the hidden files displayed.
Now, click the iPod icon on your desktop and find the previously invisible 'Music' folder. Inside that are some strangely named folders holding strangely named music files. These are your tunes. Copy the 'Music' folder onto your desktop and rename it something like, 'Pod Recover.' Now, simply go through each of these folders and drag its contents into iTunes. iTunes will automatically change the funky names back to something more recognizable like, 'The Humpty Dance.'
The last bit of cleanup is to tell OSX to return to hiding hidden files. Back in Terminal, type, "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE" and press return. Next, type, "killall Finder" and press return. It's as simple as that!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Shanti @ May 15th 2007 10:32AM
Is there anyway to put your songs from your ipod to your PC???
Adam @ May 18th 2007 11:11AM
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