All of my photos are gone from my iPod after syncing. Please help?

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Level 1

9 points

All of my photos are gone from my iPod after syncing. Please help?

So yesterday i had my laptop memory is low and i decide to move (backup) all the photos that i had on my laptop to my empty ipod touch 4 by syncing pictures from itunes for windows. after syncing, all of my photos has been moved to my ipod pictures library (total pict files: 500 photos). and i deleted all of my photos on my laptop to recycle bin and deleted them permanently. after that, i just realized i forgot to move one more picture folder from my laptop to the ipod. so i try to sync another photo (200 files) from the same folder (but the another photos had already deleted permanently bcs i think my photos are already on my ipod so yeah) and.... no way. after syncing, all of my previous backup photos are gone. there are just 200 photos instead of 500 photos. i was really panic. my 500 are gone from my ipod and the original photos from my laptop are already deleted permanently from recycle bin. then i try to restore my last backup and it's still the same. it won't go back 😟 i know this is my bad.. but can anyone help me? thank you

iPod touch, iOS 6.1.6

Posted on Jan 5, 2015 8:15 PM

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Answer 1

roaminggnome

Level 10

106,401 points

Jan 5, 2015 8:25 PM in response to nandyajoe

The iPod is not a backup/storage device. It simply mirrors the selected content of the computer to which you sync.

If you removed the pics from your computer, then they would be removed from the iPod when synced.

The pics synced to your computer are not part of the iTunes backup at all, as you should be storing everything on your computer, the iPhone simply allows your computers content to be portable.

Have you failed to maintain a backup copy of your computer?

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Answer 2

nandyajoe Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 6, 2015 6:04 AM in response to roaminggnome

Thank you for your answer. ohh... i see, now i know it, that's why all of my photos gone. and i haven't set my backup on windows yet, anyway. i should set the backup before deleting them permanently actually. 😟 really regret it. i will never use my ipod as backup device anymore then. this is totally my bad haha but it's okay, i just downloaded photos recovery program for windows even it won't give my old deleted photos 100% back. once again thank you for your answer 🙂

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Answer 3

Jan 6, 2015 6:35 AM in response to nandyajoe

I've had a similar problem for the 1st time ever. I've been with iTunes since 2004. I have four 1GB iPods. All are used to store various genres of music. Today I plugged one into my PC and thus into my iTunes library to add a few more songs. My whole song collection was instantly erased. Fool that I am, I plugged a secondary iPod in, and once again, full content erased. What earth happened?

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

278,187 points

Jan 8, 2015 5:04 AM in response to BOJANGLED

If a device is set up for manual management, and it is not an iPhone, you can connect to any iTunes library and drag & drop content to it. That said even if you do manually manage your device you are advised to keep all of your content in your iTunes library, and back that up, as devices can be lost, stolen, damaged, or need restoring.

Each iTunes library contains an internal ID. When automatically syncing your device the ID is compared with the library that device last synced with. If they are the same you can go ahead and sync. If different you would normally get a warning asking if you want to erase the current content on the device and replace it with what is in the library.

Each item in the library gets a LibraryPersistentID. This lets iTunes work out which items have changed since the last sync and only update the items it needs to. If you clear out the library and then add back the content the items will have new LibraryPersistentIDs which breaks down this mechanism.

Ideally you would maintain a single library, keep it backed up, and manage all of your devices by syncing each with a selection of playlists. Taking any other approach is more likely to lead to data loss sooner or later.

tt2

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

278,187 points

Jan 6, 2015 6:57 AM in response to BOJANGLED

See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash. If you synced a device with an empty library then the content would have been removed.

tt2

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Answer 6

Jan 8, 2015 3:55 AM in response to turingtest2

My library wasn't empty, but I'd recently cleared it and put fresh tracks on. I've never had a problem with my older iPods. Does that mean that no matter what, I must keep my same library forever????

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