Help! New computer, trying to transfer from iphone/ipod to computer!

Please can someone help me, my hard drive on my old computer is gone, we had a power surge and it blew and they told me that all my documents, pics and music is gone. I now have a new computer and I am trying to transfer all of my photos and music to my new computer but I can't sync my phone (I havent tried my ipod yet). It keeps saying that I have no record of a previous backup. I was using my iphone and ipod as storge and back up of all pics and songs. I managed to transfer all my purchased songs to my new itunes, but how do I transfer stuff from my iphone/ipod to my computer like playlists, photos, and music that was not purchased through itunes!! Is this possible? I would appreciate any help! Thanks.