How to get your music back off IPOD

[scustalow]

Is there any free programs what will work for this?

[dphirschler]

This is a prime example of why DRM sucks. You should be able to just connect it and copy your files, but I suppose it involves some complicated licensing rules and stuff.


Darryl

[ixyk]

Assuming that most of your files are not in a protected format (which according to Steve Jobs' figures is very likely), then the easiest thing to do is to install the latest version of Winamp. (Don't forget to make sure you tell Winamp to install this particular feature during installation.)

For transferring files off of your iPod, go to the the Media Library view in Winamp and you will see a label in the tree on the left that says "Portables". Under that branch you will see your iPod (or other portable device) show up when it is connected, and you will be able to browse and play the files on your iPod within Winamp by clicking on that location. In order to transfer the file(s) off of your iPod all you have to do now is to select the file(s) you want, right-click on the selected file(s), and select "Copy to Local Media". This should copy the selected files to your default watch folder, and place them all in named folders. There doesn't appear to be a way to configure exactly how files and folders are named, but it's usually easy enough to rename them manually as you see fit.

Sending files to your iPod via Winamp is also extremely easy. All you have to do is right-click on the file(s) you want to transfer to your iPod, highlight "Send to:", and select the name of your device from the drop-down menu. You can also configure Winamp to use an auto-fill feature, and to transcode files when transferring as well, in addition to a few other settings. These settings are available in the "Winamp Preferences" area under the heading of "Media Library --> Portables --> (device)", where device is the name of your device--this will only be shown when your device is connected.


I personally only have less than 1% of my music in a protected format, and never buy music from iTunes or other protected content providers, so I don't even know if this method would work in those instances. I suspect you will need to seek out another solution if it is protected files you're trying to transfer though.

Good luck!

[fatbloke88]

I use anapod explorer, its not free but works great,they have a trial version which might do the trick for you.

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/trial.php

[Dr. DOS]

I didn't know that about Winamp... very cool stuff. You can also try Copypod
http://www.copypod.net/

[Ai Haibara]

This is a prime example of why DRM sucks. You should be able to just connect it and copy your files, but I suppose it involves some complicated licensing rules and stuff.


Darryl

It doesn't exactly have much to do with DRM. It's a side result of it. You can indeed connect your iPod to a computer and copy files directly to and from it; it's just that it's stored in the subdirectories of a hidden folder and - due to the way iTunes' library sorts its files, all those files and directories are given 'random' names.

Of course, since you can also use your iPod as a hard drive, you can copy a file to and from it without worrying about that. The iPod won't see it in the library, but...

For Macs, there are a handful of programs that'll do the trick. I've only used (and recommend) Senuti.

For Windows, there seems to be less of a choice. As recommended above, I know Winamp is supposed to be able to allow you to copy files off the iPod. I'm not sure about Anapod, Ephpod, or any of the other iPod managers, as I haven't tried any of them - or programs which claim to do the same, like sharepod and iDump. I therefore couldn't say whether or not they work, or how well, or how well they support Unicode, which I need for song information.

[jonas more]

I haven't tried it but there's a freeware program called iPod->Folder 1.2 from longfingers.com

http://www.longfingers.com/ipodfolder/

Anthony

[jonas more]

I just gave iPod->Folder a try and it works just fine.

iPod->Folder instructions: http://www.longfingers.com/support.php

Another (more selective) way to get the music off your iPod...

Once you have connected your iPod to your computer you will find it listed under "Devices with Removable Storage" in My Computer.

Mine is Drive (G) so I double click on Drive (G) and then select 'Tools' then 'Folder Options' from the drop down menu. Select the 'View' tab then select 'Show hidden Files and Folders' then 'OK'.

Double click on the 'iPod_Control' folder and then double click on the 'Music' folder. You will now find multiple folders containing the music and video files that are on your iPod.

Now you can copy and paste the files you want to transfer over to your computer.

Anthony

[kevo777]

Never used it myself, but you may also want to try http://www.ephpod.com/.

[Dragonsf]

I can't get the latest WinAMP version to transfer iPod files to the Harddrive. I think the iPod plugin was changed???

[Ai Haibara]

It claims to be able to do it - the default Winamp PMP plugin for the iPod, anyway. Are you using the default Winamp plugin, or ml_ipod? And if you've installed ml_iPod, have you since installed a newer version of Winamp? (Just asking, because I'm not sure if that'd reset Winamp back to using its own iPod plugin.)

[Dragonsf]

Yes, I'm using ml_ipod and the newer version of Winamp!The previous version (5.1) worked flawlessly.
But with my Video iPod WinAmp doesn't work anyway, as it dstroys all the video information in the mp4/mv4 files, so that they can't be played as video anymore. (What a pity, as I like WinAmp. iTunes is not reliable, as it also sometimes drops the video ability!

[Ai Haibara]

Have you tried reinstalling ml_iPod? (And, are you running the latest version (2.01)?)

[Dragonsf]

It's 1.21 (which is working). I can try to install the latest version.

[Dragonsf]

Have you tried reinstalling ml_iPod? (And, are you running the latest version (2.01)?)

I tried both WinAMP 5.32 and ml_iPod 2.01 and it's working again. Thanks. But still no Video support

[theewizard]

what are specs for Ipod video, fps ,codec, video bitrate

have you tried using 'SUPER'

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To list few examples:

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o Mobile phone 3GP converter Convert any input video format to 3GP. Convert a 3GP file to any other video format.
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The rendered iPod/5.5G files are created using the most advanced video codecs H.264/AVC and MPEG-4 format.
To copy a DVD (that you legally purchased) into a valid iPod/5.5G format, we recommend that you also use the best
available DVDDecrypter to decrypt the entire DVD and copy the VOB files to your HardDisk in order to encode
them with SUPER ©. Note that DVDDecrypter is also a Freeware.

http://www.erightsoft.net/SUPER.html

CLICK the download and use link, then scroll to the bottom of the page

for the downloads

[Ai Haibara]

I tried both WinAMP 5.32 and ml_iPod 2.01 and it's working again. Thanks. But still no Video support

I think I've read that most iPod programs/utilities on the PC end don't really support video or transfer of video files to the iPod all that well, and that your best bet for that is still iTunes. I could be wrong, though. (I only have a regular 4G iPod. My sister's the one with a video iPod, but she uses iTunes, anyway.)