Computer crashed but iTunes doesn't recognize old songs on iPod

[Kathi]

How do I get the iTunes to upload the songs on my iPod?

I recently bought an iPod and installed iTunes and loaded my mp3 files into
iTunes and then downloaded those mp3 songs to the iPod and all was well.

Then, my Windows XP computer crashed and had to be rebuilt (yes, I should
have bought a Mac). Nonetheless, now I have the same operating system and
the same computer but all new applications, including iTunes 6.0.5.

When I install iTunes, I add the SAME serial number to the iPod but iTunes
doesn't upload the mp3 songs in the iPod into the iTunes library. I hope I
don't have to start all over from scratch, organizing all my mp3 files and
then loading them into iTuntes.

Can't I just upload my mp3 files back into the iTunes library?

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

How do I get the iTunes to upload the songs on my iPod?

Here is the message I get when I re-installed iTunes.

"The iPod 'kathi' is linked to another iTunes music library.
Do you want to change the link to this iTunes music library
and replace all existing songs and playlists on this iPod
with those from this library?"

Hmmmmmmmm.... Is iTunes _that_ stupid or is it me?
Not only is it the same computer, the same iPod, and the same iTunes
software that was reloaded on the new hard disk, but there are ZERO songs
in the "new" library so does this imply saying "Yes" will wipe out all the
songs on my iPod.

Can Apple be that stupid or is it me?
I am stymied at this point because saying "no" does nothing and saying
"yes" apparently wipes out my iPod.

What is a girl to do?
Please help quick!

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

iTunes will not transfer music from the iPod to your computer, only
from your computer to an iPod.

Ouch. I didn't realize that. From an intuitive standpoint, I never would
have considered that the iPod couldn't resynchronize again to the original
computer song library after I had Windows reinstalled. Especially since all
the songs were downloaded into the iPod. I guess it was me who was
'stupid'!

For Windows users, iPod->Folder 1.2 is a well-regarded freeware solution
and CopyPod 7.63 is a good shareware solution.

Thanks to your hint, I found the ipod to pc folder programs below:
ipod2pc at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/43952
ipod->folder at http://www.techspot.com/downloads/717-ipod-folder.html
ipod->folder at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/35148

Be sure to set your iPod preferences to "Manual Update",
at least until after you've reconstructed everything.

Hmmmmmmmmm.... How do I do that? Can you advise me?

The iPod links to a Music Library, not a computer.

I had no idea. I just intuitively thought the "computer" was what the iPod
linked to, especially as I used the same serial number for the original
install and the re-install of iTunes 6.0.5 after the disk crashed.

Pray tell ... how do I set my iPod to "manual update"?
Is that setting in the iTunes software or in the iPod hardware?

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

There is a lot that is not at all obvious about the software

Hi Do-Ray-Me,

Yes, for example, it was (wrongfully) "obvious" to me that, since my songs
were safe and sound inside my iPod, that when I had my Windows OS rebuilt
(yes, I know ... I should've bought a Mac) on the new hard disk, that the
iTunes software would just realize that the same iPod serial number must be
the same iPod. Why wouldn't it be the same iPod?

I would be happy for the iPod to work like a disk and you drag
what you want there pure and simple.

I'm with you! I drag my pictures off my SecureDigital (SD) and CompactFlash
(CF) cards all the time. I never install the Nikon or Cannon or Kodak
garbage software, nor do I even unpack the cords that come with the digital
camera. I just drag and drop pictures from the card to the hard disk and
vice versa (if desired). What could be simpler & more intuitive than that?

I am a bit dismayed that Apple, whom I absolutely revere for their
intuitive user interface, would have sunk to the levels of Microsoft in
obscuring the user interface and actually designing a harder-to-use system
than it otherwise could be. If that persists, what would be the difference
between Apple and Microsoft over time? Nothing. It must be the Marketing
folks forcing the Engineers to design iTunes beyond their convictions.

However... one thing iTunes and iPod (and the Mac OS at least) is
not, is completely stupid. It is devilishly stupid and clever at
the same time, it is not just dumb! To entertain you, may I tell
you this:

Go on....

iTunes ... is not dumb, it has ears out for all sorts of things.

I see that my "intuitive" assumption, that drag-and-drop of MP3 songs from
the hard disk to iTunes and that simple uploading songs from the iPod to
the PC via iTunes were naive assumptions on my part. Were I an Apple
engineer (whom I hold the utmost regard for), that's how I would design the
software. But, as I said, the Marketing team may have unduly swayed the
purist engineers away from making life easy for the consumer.

I have to wonder though, if these two most-basic-of-all-my-assumptions are
proven to be so very patently false, what other most-basic-of-assumptions
are also to be dashed against the rocks of Marketing, shattering the
engineering dreams of the masses?

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

Don't do this until you have rebuilt your library with a previously made
backup.

Thanks. I was wondering if I should hit "yes" or "no".

Luckily, I have all the songs, scattered about on a half dozen CD's and on
a backup external hard drive and some on USB sticks. It was a pain in the
first place getting them into iTunes (I had expected a simple drag and drop
and was severely dismayed to find Apple neglected to provide that most
basic of all intuitive user interfaces their engineers pioneered and the
marketing folks took advantage of years ago).

What I'll do, I think, is use one of the dozen suggested programs (so far)
which purport to upload the songs currently in my iPod to my Windows PC
......
1. ephPod at http://www.ephpod.com/
2. ipod>folder at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/35148
3. ipod2pc at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/43952
4. ipodrip http://www.thelittleappfactory.com/application.php?app=iPodRip
5. podutil at http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/software/podutil.php
6. ipod music liberator http://www.zeleksoftware.com/products.htm
7. ipod access http://www.drewfindley.com/findleydesigns/
8. anapod explorer at http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod
9. copypod at http://www.copypod.net/index.php
10. xplay at http://www.mediafour.com/products/xplay/
11. ipodagent at http://www.ipodsoft.com/index.php?/software/ipodagent
12. sharepod
http://www.sturm.net.nz/website.php?Section=iPod+Programs&Page=SharePod

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

Did you know when you install Windows, your system is given an unique ID
#? That number isn't the same when you reinstall Windows, so iTunes
thinks you're trying to install on a separate machine. Have you brought
this issue up on a Windows newsgroup? They might be able to help with
reauthorizing your machine after the reload.

Hmmmmmmmm.... maybe the answer is to "trick" Windows XP into using the same
GUID that the original machine had (it's the same machine, just with the
operating system rebuilt from the recovery disks due to the disk crash).

Does anyone on the expanded CC list know how to change the GUID of the
Windows XP machine back to what it was? Maybe then, my iPod would upload
the songs back into the PC (everything else, including the iPod is exactly
the same as it was before the Windows crash).

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

Yes but maybe not with iTunes. There are some other programs out there
that can be used to move music on/off the iPod in just such a situation.
ephPod, sharePod and anaPod are three that come to mind.

Thank you for the advice. It seems, based only on this thread and the
pointers in the suggested article
http://macs.about.com/od/ipod/a/copy_from_ipod.htm that there are at least
a dozen potential solutions for uploading the songs from my iPod back to my
PC.

1. ephPod at http://www.ephpod.com/
2. ipod>folder at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/35148
3. ipod2pc at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/43952
4. ipodrip http://www.thelittleappfactory.com/application.php?app=iPodRip
5. podutil at http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/software/podutil.php
6. ipod music liberator http://www.zeleksoftware.com/products.htm
7. ipod access http://www.drewfindley.com/findleydesigns/
8. anapod explorer at http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod
9. copypod at http://www.copypod.net/index.php
10. xplay at http://www.mediafour.com/products/xplay/
11. ipodagent at http://www.ipodsoft.com/index.php?/software/ipodagent
12. sharepod
http://www.sturm.net.nz/website.php?Section=iPod+Programs&Page=SharePod

Another option I learned is to change my Windows GUID back to what it was
before the crash (I wonder how I determine that). If that works to allow
the songs to upload back into iTunes, that would be the simplest method of
all!

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

You can move a copy of your backup of your music library over to your new
setup. Point iTunes at this new library, and your songs will appear in
iTunes again.

If you don't have a backup of the iTunes library, then you will probably
have to start from scratch.

I have all the original MP3 files scattered all over the place (much to my
dismay and chagrin).

For the future, when I painstakingly rebuild my library, is there an easy
way to back up the entire library out of iTunes onto the hard disk?

Kathi

 

[Kathi]

iTunes doesn't let you copy songs off the iPod (probably to appease the
RIAA gods). To do that, you'll need a third party utility:
http://macs.about.com/od/ipod/a/copy_from_ipod.htm

Hi Steve,

Thank you for the advice. It seems your suggested article
http://macs.about.com/od/ipod/a/copy_from_ipod.htm lists at least a dozen
potential Windows solutions to copy songs from my iPod back to the PC to
re-create my original mixmash song library.

1. ephPod at http://www.ephpod.com/
2. ipod>folder at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/35148
3. ipod2pc at http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/43952
4. ipodrip http://www.thelittleappfactory.com/application.php?app=iPodRip
5. podutil at http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/software/podutil.php
6. ipod music liberator http://www.zeleksoftware.com/products.htm
7. ipod access http://www.drewfindley.com/findleydesigns/
8. anapod explorer at http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod
9. copypod at http://www.copypod.net/index.php
10. xplay at http://www.mediafour.com/products/xplay/
11. ipodagent at http://www.ipodsoft.com/index.php?/software/ipodagent
12. sharepod
http://www.sturm.net.nz/website.php?Section=iPod+Programs&Page=SharePod

The problem now, is figuring out WHICH program is the simplest, easiest,
cheapest, and therefore the best program to try first to do the job!

Kathi

 

[inaequitas]

Hi Do-Ray-Me,

Yes, for example, it was (wrongfully) "obvious" to me that, since my songs
were safe and sound inside my iPod, that when I had my Windows OS rebuilt
(yes, I know ... I should've bought a Mac) on the new hard disk, that the
iTunes software would just realize that the same iPod serial number must be
the same iPod. Why wouldn't it be the same iPod?

As mentioned, the issue is with what Windows reports to iTunes, not the

I'm with you! I drag my pictures off my SecureDigital (SD) and CompactFlash
(CF) cards all the time. I never install the Nikon or Cannon or Kodak
garbage software, nor do I even unpack the cords that come with the digital
camera. I just drag and drop pictures from the card to the hard disk and
vice versa (if desired). What could be simpler & more intuitive than that?

Kathi

Drag and drop does not work on the iPod due to piracy concerns. For
Apple to be able to offer the iTunes Music Store and maintain a decent
relationship with the RIAA, they needed to also employ some basic
'protection' to not allow people to copy music back form the iPod. That
will allow people to share their tunes with everyone and that's Bad[©
RIAA] On a Linux or Mac system it is quite easy to circumvent this
protection for someone that's more or less capable of using a Terminal.
The file names are obfuscated and the mp3s themselves are hidden away
in a .Music folder [which is 'hidden' in Linux/Mac, not sure on the
behaviour in windows]

Also drag and drop would strip the iPod of some features such as stats,
ratings, pictures etc because iTunes actually creates a DB file that
the firmware will 'talk' to. If you would rather use drag-and-drop for
your mp3 player there are quite a few out there to satisfy your needs.
Some will allow only to copy the music on the player [ex-gf's Panasonic
wouldn't let me copy anything back], others are completely friendly -
like some Creative players - and will let you do whatever you want.

Yes, this is a provision to keep Apple out of legal trouble, but
they've done the minimum amount of work so as to not make it impossible
but just sufficiently hard to copy music out of the iPod. The Panasonic
firmware, for example, would actively corrupt songs when you tried to
copy them out of the player [I/O timeout errors] so Apple could've done
worse.

Cheers and good luck!