Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Transferring songs from old nano to new?

My old ipod nano broke (buttons dont work, but still shows up on computer) i bought a new ipod nano, and new computer and no longer have access to old library. How can i transfer songs from old ipod to new library?
Thank you

Windows XP

Posted on Jan 8, 2008 4:40 AM

Reply
5 replies

Jan 17, 2008 12:33 PM in response to blackice96

Hey, there are 2 different methods of doing this, I would reccoment the manual way, without downloading one of the programs. 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". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs 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. Also when using most of the 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

Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you have any iTunes Music Store purchases the transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. You'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod to a computer

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. However there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and 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 of some of them here: Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes

TuneJack Windows Only
iPod2PC Windows Only
iGadget Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
SharePod Windows Only
iRepo Mac and Windows
iPodRip Mac & Windows
YamiPod Mac and Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
iPodCopy Mac and Windows

There is also a manual method of accessing the iPod's hard drive and copying songs back to iTunes on Windows or a Mac. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available at this link: Two-way Street: Moving Music Off the iPod

Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync. Maybe you should consider getting an external hard drive, and keeping all your music files on this, which makes it easier to move them about.

Finally, connect your new ipod after installing all the relevant software, and then just sync it.

Good luck,
Ruarigh =)

Message was edited by: RodrigoThornton

Transferring songs from old nano to new?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.