iPod says restore. Can I recover? How to prevent repeat!

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Level 1

11 points

iPod says restore. Can I recover? How to prevent repeat!

I've had my iPod touch 16GB for about 18 months and have been enjoying it... until now. I decided to update my music library and download the new stuff to the already 1000+ songs. I also have (or had) several movies and videos. Things were going well and when the iPod screen went blank after synchronizing, I went back to iTunes and it said “iTunes cannot read… Restore to restore this iPod to factory settings.” As suspected, this will erase all of my data. I suppose also all of the photos which are still on the ipod. My questions are:
1. is there some way to recover the data and restore my library back to the iPod?
2. If the answer to 1. is no, How can I prevent this from happening again! I’m using version 1.1.5 – haven’t upgraded since my philosophy is if it ain’t broke, don’t fix.
3. while searching this forum I see a lot of negative comments about 3.0. Is there a stable version that will be least likely to crash again. I was satisfied with my older version and don’t need more bells & whistles.
4. Is there some way to backup the iPod if I recharge all my songs, artwork, and video.

I am very discouraged but still an iPod junkie. I just want to restore with the least continuance of this nightmare and especially don’t want it to happen again if I spend hours reloading my stuff.

Dell Inspiron 530, Windows Vista

Posted on Jul 20, 2009 5:24 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 20, 2009 5:49 PM in response to lbeck

1. There are 3rd party applications that can recover data on your Touch, but if it is corrupted then that may not work. Try one of the free applications for doing this (e.g. Music Rescu) to see if you can recover anything.

2. How to prevent this in the future? Easy, always keep your media on your computer. If your only storage is your Touch, that is a disaster waiting to happen (as you've seen). If your computer doesn't have enough space, invest in a larger drive or get an external drive.

3. There have been some problems with 3.0, but most aren't the 'crashing' type. From what I've seen, the biggest 3.0 issue has been wi-fi problems, but some of that can be attributed to the users' other hardware.

4. You backup your iTunes library, not your iPod. Your iPod should be thought of as a temporary image of your iTunes library, not the main source of your media. Increase your storage capacity on your computer if you need to, then establish an automatic (and reliable) backup routine of your computer. That is how its done.

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Answer 2

lbeck Author

Level 1

11 points

Jul 20, 2009 6:11 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

Okay - I think that you have given me some hope. Based on your responses I might be all right if I have my iTunes library up-to-date? Or I may not have described my concerns clearly enough.

I do have my MP3 files up-to-date and on a separate location from my iTunes library. I have over a TB of storage space on several drives. In fact, that may have contributed to the confusion of my iPod. I changed locations of my music files from an external drive to the C:\ Music location because I got tired of re-establishing the location of my songs so that iTunes could find them.

My question/problem is that I’m assuming that if I do a restore (I haven’t yet) that my iPod gets restored back to factory condition and I have no settings or data. If that’s the case, are you saying that the first time I connect to iTunes it synchronizes (moves) my library back onto my iPod? If so, 73.8% of my concerns are mitigated. I’ll still need to reload my photos and videos, and maybe my settings, but it’s mostly my music that I was worried about.

Let me know before I push the reset button.

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Answer 3

Jul 20, 2009 7:08 PM in response to lbeck

When you restore a Touch, you're given the option to re-load your last backup or restore the Touch as a new iPod.

If you re-install your last backup, that includes not only your contacts, game data, web links, and Touch setup preferences, it also attempts to establish the last sync mode you had.

If you auto-sync the Touch (doesn't sound like you do) then iTunes will attempt to reload all your media from locations that were used in your last auto-sync. If the locations of your native files has changed, the iTunes won't load any items whose location has changed since the last auto-sync.

If you manually manage the Touch, then you'll have to manually select the media you want on your Touch (iTunes won't remember what you manually dragged over to the Touch). Of course, your library must "know" where all the native files reside, even with manual management.

If you restore your Touch as a new iPod, then you're basically starting completely from scratch, i.e. you have to re-do your Touch settings, web links, etc., plus re-load all your media.

Your best bet is to keep a "clean" library and don't muck with the underlying media files. Beyond that, just establish a reliable backup routine.

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Answer 4

lbeck Author

Level 1

11 points

Jul 20, 2009 7:28 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

But the window after I hit “OK” says “Are you sure… all of your media and other data will be erased. After this process is complete, you will have the option to restore your contacts, calendars, text messages and other settings” It doesn’t say anything about restoring your music.

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Answer 5

Jul 20, 2009 7:46 PM in response to lbeck

Well, anytime you restore your iPod you have to re-load it. The fact that it doesn't that that you'll have the option to restore your music doesn't mean you can't. You've already ssid that you have all your native files, so the only thing you'll be out is the time to re-select which items you want on the Touch, and any clean-up that you may need to do in your library if you've moved the native files around.

Put it this way, if you auto-sync, then iTunes can re-load the exact media items that you last auto-sync'd to. If you manually manage your iPod, you have to do the work to pick and choose what you want on the iPod (iTunes won't remember what you manually added).

If you're hesitant about erasing the contents of your Touch, are you more concerned about not having some things in your library that are on your Touch, or the work to get it re-loaded, or both?

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Answer 6

lbeck Author

Level 1

11 points

Jul 20, 2009 7:52 PM in response to rockmyplimsoul

Okay. I'm learning - and a lot happier than I was a few hours ago. I did the reset and have restored the bulk of my music and see that I can get my movies back. The photos and videos have been moved from their original locations, but they are old and I'm not concerned about them.

Thanks for hanging with me on this. The warnings are incomplete and not accurate to my thinking. I was assuming that a restore was like a reformat and that everything would be irrevocably lost.

I've learned a good lesson, though. I'm going to figure out how to keep my library of music, photos, videos, etc. up-to-date in my iPod library.

Thanks again.

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