try to sink my ipod but itunes says everything will be erased

I'm trying to sync up my ipod touch to itunes to transfer all the music/photos ect. ect. over to my new (current) computer. My other computer was stolen unfortunately and everything was stored on that computer with itunes. When I hit "sync music" it says, and I quote, "Are you sure you want to sync music? All existing songs and playlists on the iPod 'iPod touch' will be replaced with songs and playlists from your iTunes library." I have nothing in my library though so I hit cancel, but have no way to get my music to itunes now :/ any help would be greatly appreciated

iPod touch, iOS 4.1

Posted on May 7, 2012 12:47 PM

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5 replies

May 7, 2012 12:49 PM in response to rjhubs

Your iPod can only be synced with one computer at a time. If you try to sync it with a new computer/iTunes library, it will replace the contents of the iPod with whatever is in the new library. You should probably disable the autosync functionality first by going to Edit -> Preferences, clicking the Devices tab, and enabling the prevent iPods,iPhones, and iPads from automatically syncing option.


Before doing anything else, authorize the new computer with your iTunes Account. In iTunes, choose Store -> Authorize This Computer and enter in the correct credentials. Either copy a backup file from your old computer to your new one or create a new backup of your iPod in iTunes before letting it sync.


Then right->click on your iPod Touch from under the Devices section in the left hand pane of iTunes and choose Backup. You might also want to take a look at this article to see what it all included in the backup.

iOS: How to back up


Now onto synced content such as music, videos, photos, etc. For iTunes purchases you can copy them back into iTunes by choosing File -> Transfer Purchases. For all other nonpurchased iTunes content, see this older post from another forum member Zevoneer covering different software available to assist you with this task.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?start=0&tstart=0


Once the backup has been made and all other synced content such as music, videos, and photos are back in your iTunes library, restore your iPod from that backup you made earlier. Here is more on backing up and restoring your iPod.

iTunes: Backing up, updating, and restoring iOS software


If you do happen to lose any purchased content, you can always redownload it from the iTunes Store again at no cost via iCloud. See this article for information.

Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store


B-rock

May 7, 2012 12:51 PM in response to rjhubs

Sync transfer is one way only, computer to ipod, with the exception of purchased music. This is why one makes backups of both the ipod and the computer. You may be able to transfer some items throuugh iCloud.


iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848 - only media purchased from iTunes Store


Sync transfer is one way, computer to device, matching the device content to the content on the computer (except purchased content as mentioned above). For transferring other items from an i-device to a computer you have to use third party commercial software. Examples (check the web for others; this is not an exhaustive listing, nor do I have any idea if they are any good):


- Senuti - http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/

- Phoneview - http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/

- MusicRescue - http://www.kennettnet.co.uk/products/musicrescue/ - Mac & Windows

- Sharepod (free) - http://download.cnet.com/SharePod/3000-2141_4-10794489.html?tag=mncol;2 - Windows

- Snowfox/iMedia - http://www.mac-videoconverter.com/imedia-transfer-mac.html - Mac & PC

- Yamipod (free) - http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/downloads/ - PC, Linux, Mac [Still updated for use on newer devices? No edits to site since 2010.]

- Post by Zevoneer: iPod media recovery options - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?answerId=11624224022#11624224022 - this is an older post and many of the links are also for old posts, so bear this in mind when reading them.


Syncing to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141 - dates from 2008 and some outdated information now.


Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide - http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/copying-music-from-ipod-to-co mputer/ - Information about use in disk mode pertains only to older model iPods.


Do not regard your i-device as a reliable unique storage for your media. It is not a backup device and everything is structured around you maintaining your media on a computer which is itself backed up.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

try to sink my ipod but itunes says everything will be erased

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