How do I get the music from my mac-formatted ipod onto my new windows computer?
September 21, 2010 8:29 AM Subscribe
How do I get the music from my mac-formatted ipod onto my new windows computer?
My old ibook is still running, so I do have access to that library. I just want to use my ipod to move my music onto my new thinkpad.
When I plug in the ipod, a box pops up that says "itunes has detected a macintosh-formatted ipod. you must restore this ipod before you can use it on windows." and another box with a bunch of options that says "format removable disk."
But if I restore it to the defaults, all of my music will be lost. How do I bring over the music from my old library?
My old ibook is still running, so I do have access to that library. I just want to use my ipod to move my music onto my new thinkpad.
When I plug in the ipod, a box pops up that says "itunes has detected a macintosh-formatted ipod. you must restore this ipod before you can use it on windows." and another box with a bunch of options that says "format removable disk."
But if I restore it to the defaults, all of my music will be lost. How do I bring over the music from my old library?
And this explains a little bit of the why:
You can absolutely set up your iPod to work with both a Mac and a PC. The problem is that while PC-formatted drives (FAT32) can generally be used by both Mac and PC, Mac formatted drives (HFS+) can only be read by Macs. To complicate things, iPods by default will only work with one iTunes library. Making your iPod capable of syncing to both a Mac and a PC requires formatting the iPod as a PC drive, and tweaking its settings to make it compatible with multiple iTunes libraries. Before doing any of this, be sure you have the contents of your iPod backed up somewhere. Reformatting will completely erase the contents of your iPod.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11290_7-6776655-1.html
posted by royalsong at 8:38 AM on September 21, 2010
You can absolutely set up your iPod to work with both a Mac and a PC. The problem is that while PC-formatted drives (FAT32) can generally be used by both Mac and PC, Mac formatted drives (HFS+) can only be read by Macs. To complicate things, iPods by default will only work with one iTunes library. Making your iPod capable of syncing to both a Mac and a PC requires formatting the iPod as a PC drive, and tweaking its settings to make it compatible with multiple iTunes libraries. Before doing any of this, be sure you have the contents of your iPod backed up somewhere. Reformatting will completely erase the contents of your iPod.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11290_7-6776655-1.html
posted by royalsong at 8:38 AM on September 21, 2010
You could use Yamipod on the Mac to pull off whatever is missing on the Mac.
You can then move the songs across the network to the PC (faster than USB).
posted by ijoyner at 9:06 AM on September 21, 2010
You can then move the songs across the network to the PC (faster than USB).
posted by ijoyner at 9:06 AM on September 21, 2010
I'm going to just pipe in and say that an ethernet cable between your iBook and Thinkpad is going to do this far better, easier and faster.
posted by General Malaise at 10:57 AM on September 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by General Malaise at 10:57 AM on September 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Windows can't read a ipod that was formatted with a mac. No software can touch the data on your ipod.
You will have to sync your ipod with your mac to back up all your data. Then take it to the windows computer and have it format it. This will delete everything on the ipod.
Once it's formatted for the windows version of itunes, you should be able to use it interchangeably between mac and pc.
posted by royalsong at 8:36 AM on September 21, 2010