UPDATE I have closed the comments for this post. I followed instructions elsewhere and shared my experience of doing so. It worked for me on my configuration. There are many variables - versions of iPods, Windows and iTunes, so I am in no position to guarantee that it will work for you nor am I able to assist you if it doesn’t. The instructions here are ‘as is’. All the best!
As you may have read, my hard disk died some time back. I got most things installed, updated and running. One thing remained: getting my music collection off my iPod to the computer. iPod owners know that this is not possible without third-party software. Well, the new version of iTunes allows you to do it, but it’s a multi-step process. I got the instructions from jkOnTheRun.
jk’s instructions are excellent, but I still felt unsure about going through with it. Some of the people who left comments didn’t seem to have success. I decided to bite the bullet and go through with it.
Assumptions:
- You have an iPod with music on it.
- You have no access to the source music files. (e.g. my hard disk which stored the music crashed).
- You have a new computer/hard disk and you want to get songs from your iPod to the computer.
- You are running a PC with Windows XP.
- You already have iTunes 7.x installed.
Note
I merely was following jkOnTheRun’s instructions, detailing what I saw as I did this. I am not a computer/Windows/iTunes/iPod expert. These instructions are provided as is. If they don’t work for you, or you have a different set up, I’m sorry, I can’t be of further help.
1. Connect iPod to computer. Assuming iTunes is in its default settings, it will attempt to connect with the iPod. (This might take a while.)
2. A pop-up message will ask if you want to erase this iPod and sync with the iTunes library. Click Cancel.
3. On the iPod Options, check Enable disk use.
4. Exit iTunes. (You do not eject the iPod as you will be copying from it in a while.)
5. Go to your iTunes music directory. (The default is My Documents > My Music > iTunes.) Delete the XML and ITL files.
6. From My Computer, go to Tools > Folder Options > “View” tab > In Advanced settings, under Files and Folders, click Show hidden files and folders > Click OK.
7. From My Computer, navigate to your iPod. It will be listed as one of the disk drives. Find the iPod_Control folder.
8. Copy the iPod_Control folder to anywhere on your computer. (I created and copied iPod_Control to a temporary folder in My Documents.)
9. Once copied, unhide the newly created iPod_Control folder on your computer (not the one on your iPod) by right-clicking it. Properties > Uncheck the Hidden attribute. A pop-up will ask if you want this to apply to this folder, subfolders and files. Choose this option and click OK. (I couldn’t add the folder in Step 13, until I did this.)
10. Open iTunes. Note that your iPod is still connected to the computer. You will get the same pop-up in step 2 (assuming you did not choose “Do not ask me again”). Click Cancel.
11. (Optional, but I did it, just in case.) Eject iPod. Exit iTunes. Carry out Step 5 again. Restart iTunes.
12. From Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab > Check Keep iTunes Music folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library. (You can do this earlier at any point when iTunes was open.)
13. Add the temporary iPod_Control folder. From iTunes > File > Add Folder to Library > Navigate to iPod_Control folder > Click OK.
14. Have a break while the files copy into the iTunes library. You can browse your iPod and start copying down - yes, pen and paper - your previous manual playlists. (You’ll lose the playlists the first time you sync.)
15. You should see the iTunes library filled with music from your iPod.
16. Connect your iPod and sync! (It will erase your iPod first, but that doesn’t matter ‘cos your songs are now on your hard disk.)
17. Have another break!
18. Once done, breathe big sigh of relief. =)
Notes:
- You will lose all playlists, play counts, ratings, etc.
- If you’ve subscribed to podcasts, they will appear in the podcast section. If you’ve marked some “Do not delete” previously, you have to mark them for non-deletion once again. Otherwise new podcasts will overwrite the previous ones, assuming you have not chosen the “Keep all podcasts” option.
- You can delete the temporary iPod_Control folder once you’re done recreating the music library on the computer and syncing the iPod.
- Some of your song titles might appear as random letters and numbers. This is probably due to a corrupt database. I don’t have any solutions other than to listen to the songs and relabel them… one by one. =(
- The instructions here are as is. I am not an expert in these matters. I merely shared my experience of trying to solve a very specific problem. Please do not ask me about potentially illegal uses of method.
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gosh… so complicated
i heard from the grapevine that ipod rip is good
You mean iTunes ripping, right?
nope… it’s called ipod rip and from my friend’s comp, it was a matter of seeing what stuff u want on itunes, clicking and dragging to designated folder etc
this guy is a genius it saved me 25 dollars not having to buy a program that probeby wont work thanks
I just took what James Kendrick wrote and made it more visual.
This worked amazingly well. I’m so glad that I didn’t give up and erase and sync all of the music on my iPod!
Thanks dude! You really saved my life!
Haven’t tried this yet but thinking this is the way i’m gonna go. But have a question first. I download music at work and want to copy it to my home PC. so my question is will i have to repeat this process every time i put new music on my ipod at work or will my home PC copy the updqted music from my ipod?
But yes, this procedure is meant to be a one-time recovery of music from the iPod. You’ll have to repeat the process every time if you want to keep both PCs updated.
I believe there is software to sync music between two PCs and an iPod. Google is your friend.
yayyyyyy it worked, thank you!!!! and not as complicated as it first looks, fool proof with the pictures, so thank you for taking the time to do this
And I thought I’d never find a way to fix this without having to download a million software. Haha, I wish I could remember all this once I move out and get my own computer.
Thanks a lot, I would have been a wreck without my music. : )
And there’s the loss of images… another story entirely haha.
i have an ipod with a sad icon which according to Singapore ipod service center is a dead hard disk. is there a way i still can get those 12GB of music inside? it took me almost a year to compile and rip all those cd’s i have and from my friends. hElP
This means you have two problems:
1. Reviving your hard disk, and
2. Transferring your songs back to your computer.
I’m no expert on hard disk revival but anecdotal evidence says that you can try freezing it overnight, then try to see if it will work.
The theory is that the read/write head and disk platters will contract, thus preventing them from coming into contact (which is usually the cause of hard disk failure). Even if this works, you’ll have a very small window before the hard disk heats up and it crashes again.
Try Googling for the solution.
Even if that somehow works, I’m not sure if my instructions will work for you. You seem to have an old iPod. (12GB??)
Good luck!
Thank you sooooo much. My hard drive crashed and i thought i would have to get the songs all over again. Thank you soo soo sooo much. Now i can add my new CD. Thanks a million times
I am only reposting this as my address so i can find it later my computer has to be fixed again.
This was so easy to follow and worked perfectly. I agonized over this for weeks after my hard drive crashed. My kids kept asking when I would fix the problem. Other ideas were not working but this did! Thanks for sharing your wisdom!
yaaaaaaay, my ipod has had around 300 tunes (that ive bin starting to get bored of) for ages cos my computer broke n i thought you couldnt do this!! thanks acroamatic!! more tunes 4 me!
ok so i did it, and a few songs don’t transfer over right, they are still in “code” each hour letters and have no artist, do you know hwo to fix that?
Glad I could help!
[quote comment="16805"]thanks acroamatic!! more tunes 4 me![/quote]
You’re welcome! =)
[quote comment="16806"]ok so i did it, and a few songs don’t transfer over right, they are still in “code” each hour letters and have no artist, do you know hwo to fix that?[/quote]
I encountered this with a few songs too. I just keyed in the information manually in iTunes.
but its like 125 songs…how many song did that to you?
I love this thing it helped me twice. Now i have all my songs plus more thank you so much
Works like a charm. Thank you.
OMG!!!!! if you were here i would kiss you I’m so happy this worked i was sooo scarred that it wouldnt but it did YES!!!
thank you thank you thank you
uhhhh how come my songs show up as letters and numbers and how can i change them cause it happened to alotta them?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any other solution. As I mentioned, I just read someone else’s instructions, tried it out and made it easier to follow. I have no idea about the mechanics of the transfer.. sorry.
Ok i know i prolly sound really stupid but my itunes wont let me re-name them how do i do this ???
i did not get the option Enable disk use.
instead i have all other options
eject
open
new playlist
sync
transfer purchase
reset warnings
Apologies, I’m not sure where you are seeing those options. Perhaps you have an earlier version of iTunes? These instructions are valid for iTunes 7.x
This info is very helpful! But I have a question - would it work to get someone ELSE’S songs off their iPod? I mean, could I take my friend’s iPod and use your steps to put their songs on my computer? (I would just burn them, but some friends have thousands of songs!)
Thanks.
Also, would it work between different iPods? (like video, nano, classic, etc.)
thanks for everthing, with the song thing i really feel stupid, but thanks again without this idk what i would do so thank you thank you thank you
..::{Adrienne Ann }::..
Okay, I tried it and it worked! Thanks for the website, it’s awesome! (Also, all of the song titles came up fine)
Thanks again
wow. who knew it was so difficult to have an i-Pod.
i feel bad for the ppl who are lacking in the computer department, lol.
im pretty damn good with computers myself, but i would have never figured this one out. ever!
thankyou so so much.
these instructions were crystal clear, and the pictures were a terrific addition.
lovely job!
now i just need to get a bigger iPod to put all these old songs plus my new ones on!
haha.
thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou again.
=]
oh, and vicky, yes.
im using my best friends ipod and adding his songs onto my computer.
he has a video and i have a mini.
big difference, but still works.
what if you have songs already on your itunes … will this delete those ?
DelahSoul: I’m not sure what you mean. This procedure helps to get songs from your iPod to your computer in the event that you have somehow lost your songs on the computer.
I am attempting to follow your instructions using VISTA. Its taking a while to figure out in Vista. Any ideas? I really hope it works!
Thanks alot!!!! you have helped us all for free. thank u!!!
Hi!
I have two ipods. A nano and a regular ipod but i want to put the all the songs from the nano to my ipod and give the nano to my dad. Can I put all the songs from my nano and ipod in one library and place them all in the ipod?
Thank you for taking the time to lay out these very clear instructions. Over the course of a week my computer hard drive died (everything was backed up fortunately) and my ipod screen died, so even though the music was all on the ipod it’s not easy to navigate! I knew that this was possible, but was trying to bumble through it on my. Now I have all of my music back, in a navigable fashion!
I gotta says thanks so much for this free and very useful information. My hard drive died and I bought this program called IPOD Copy for $20 hoping to fix the problem. This program didn’t work. Most of my songs kept getting something called a “failed transfer error.” Needless to say, I requested a refund on that program.
I tried this solution, followed the instructions to a tee and, wow! I couldn’t believe how well it worked. All my music came back to I-tunes and I didn’t have any of those errors others have spoken of. Praise God! I got my music back. Thanks again!
Is there a way I can make this work for Microsoft Vista? I got lost at Step 6 becuase this oriented towards Microsoft XP.
@ ND Apologies, ND. I wrote out these instructions as I performed them on my computer. That means that the instructions are highly specific to my setup at the time. As I do not use Windows Vista, I have no idea what the differences would be.
YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was horrified when I accessed itunes and there was not a single song to be found……nothing was there……….the information you provided was very easy to follow and I loved the screen snapshots which made it a simple step by step process. You have stopped a huge heartache from happening. I can’t thank you enough.
OMG!
You are my hero!
This is so easy to follow
I thought I was gonna have to get all my music again and I was gonna be so upset!
But you like saved my life!
the songs on my ipod are corrupt and when i try and restore them to my computer an error pops up i have used a program called idump which copied about 460 songs but for some reason it has started ‘not responding’ which is very annoying. any advice or help about corrupted files would be greatly appreciated !!!!
@ Chuck Sorry, Chuck. As I have mentioned in the post and the comments, I was merely making someone else’s instructions more clear. But for what it’s worth, it sounds like your iPod’s hard disk is on the fritz. I can’t think of any solutions.
ok thanks anyway dude! i will keep trying to find a solution somehow. i dont even mind if i have to download the other half of it anyway. i will tell you if i find a way to sort it. see ya !
Hey, me again. Just dropping by to say happy holidays! I have bookmarked this page and referred it to countless people on Yahoo!Answers, and several of them have commented on how easy and helpful this info was! =)
Thanks for this! I got my first iPod for Christmas (being the late bloomer that I am), and I was wondering about what I would do in the event of a computer crash or any other loss of iTunes files. If and when (surely) this does happen, I’ll be ready. Cheers and Merry Christmas.
hi there…
Will this work for an imac G5 as well…
WOW
You are an actual LIFE SAVER
THANKYOU SO MUCH
never been so stressed an worried thinking i might lose all of my 495 songs!!!!
thanks to you, all my songs copied successfully and i can start updating my ipod again!!
YAY!
THANKS!!!!!!!!!
x
Wow! Really, you deserve a huge round of applause! You are a true lifesaver! I thought I was going to lose all of my 651 songs, but thanks to you and jkontherun, I haven’t and I can upload more and more music on my iPod, without having to download all of this on it again. Thanks so much!
=]
AANSHIKA
@ shelly Sorry, I do not know about that. As I have stated in the post, the instructions are provided as is. I have no idea how this will work on any other configuration.
@ Gemma and Aanshika You’re most welcome! Glad these instructions came in handy.
just a question,
how do i keep my pictures on my ipod whilst doing all of that???
Hi,
When I am copying ipod_control to another folder, in step 8, I am getting a “Cannot copy ILUW: The file or directory is corrupted and unredable” sign after about a minute.
Im sorry but Im not really good with computers, just love my music to much to throw them all away
Am i doing something completely wrong? stupid?
Any help would be brilliant.
Thanks
Paul.
I am attempting this on a Vista PC, where I would like eveything to go. Everytime I delete the .xml and .itl files, I have to close iTunes to do so. This is because it is telling me I can’t delete the file because it is being used by another program. The problem is, is that once I reopen iTunes to head to the next step, it automatically kicks those two files right back to where they were. Any thoughts here?
Should I just do this whole process on my other Windows XP PC, then back-up the files, and then transfer everything over to the Vista PC via a thumbdrive? Would this work?
Hi
I’ve followed all the steps in your guide though i’m having a problem with step 13.
When i attempt to copy a folder nothing happens,Though
I can copy an file to my library though i dont fancy doing this 3800 times! Can you help?
OMG, what a life saver. It was super easy to do and the screenshots definitely helped. I tried doing it before with instructions from another site and only half of my songs would play.
This one works 100%!!!
Thanks so much!
This worked the first time. I’ve added music since and I haven’t been able to do it a second time. None of the new songs show up.
I followed all of the steps with vista and its not working. When I add iPod_Control folder to the library nothing happens. Then I look back and see that the XML and ITL files have pop back up. every time I delete them they come back.
I have a problom it says my ipod seems to be corupted and i need to restore it to use it with Windows and when i click restore it says are you sure you want to Restore to its old settings. if you do all of your songs and data will be erased from your ipod:(
WHAT DO I DO!!! HELP PLEASE!!!
mr. acroamatic, i don’t believe this works with newer itunes programs. if there is a new way, someone please email me how.
thax u so much