Copy from iPod to Computer
How to Copy your Music Library from your iPod back to your computer
You should know that iTunes (after version 7) will automatically moved purchased music from iPod to computer. Details provided in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod to a computer
This article covers the rest of your music, the CDs you ripped etc. which iTunes will not automatically copy back to your computer. You will need 3rd party software to do that.
Connect your iPod to your computer. If it is set to update automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all your songs etc, press "Cancel". Please note: Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably delete all your music from your iPod. Your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list from where you can change the update setting to manual and use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it.
When using these 3rd party utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button: Managing content manually on iPod
You can also use a keyboard command to prevent your iPod auto-syncing with iTunes. Once connected you can change your settings: iTunes - Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows
The transfer of content from other sources such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. Review each of the following since some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward.
You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here: Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
iPodRip Mac & Windows
YamiPod Mac and Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
iPodCopy Mac and Windows
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TuneJack Windows Only
iPod2PC Windows Only
iGadget Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
SharePod Windows Only
Keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and are happy with your results then you can return it to auto-sync.
It may be wise to consider purchasing a hard disk as a back up to your music library - they're inexpensive now and worth it if you have an extensive music collection.
Please use comments for any information you have on these or other 3rd party software used for music recovery or copying from iPod to computer. If you have questions post those at the forum. Thanks - editor
One of the likely reasons for
One of the likely reasons for Apple to have taken such a restrictive approach to this is to combat piracy and thereby maintain good relations with the music labels that are currently selling their content via Apple’s iTunes Store. In reality, however, there are any number of legitimate reasons why a user may want to copy music from their iPod back to their computer, 70-646 such as recovering from a catastrophic system failure, or easily transferring a large iTunes library over to a new computer.Unfortunately, with the exception of tracks purchased from the iTunes Store, which 70-647 we’ll discuss further later in this article, iTunes provides no method for transferring your music and other media content from your iPod back to your computer. It has therefore fallen to third-party developers to pick up where iTunes left off in this regard, and there are today a number of very robust and full-featured utilities that will do everything from basic copying of media content back to your hard drive all the way through to rebuilding your entire iTunes library using the information on your iPod, complete with playlists, ratings, and play count information.In this tutorial, we will begin with a background on how music is stored on the iPod in the first place, and then look at the options available for copying music and other media 70-290 exam files from the iPod back to your computer, both on an individual basis and en masse for a complete disaster-recovery scenario.It should be noted that the information in this article applies to all past and current models of iPod, including the iPod nano, iPod mini, the iPod shuffle, and now even the iPod touch and iPhone. However, there is no guarantee that future generations of iPod will continue to support these methods. Further, this information does not apply to content stored on the Apple TV, since despite its integration with iTunes, a different synchronization technology is used for this device and there are presently no methods to recover content from the Apple TV without hacking into or physically disassembling the unit.