Switching OS

Follow the instructions in this article; you will either need to restore the iPod on the PC prior to transferring the music or install an application such as MacDrive on the PC.

(17738)

so there's no means of accessing my music on a windows machine through the ipod? i don't care if anything is copied or not, i just want to plug my ipod into a machine with speakers, and if the only thing around is my parents' comp with xp, it's unfortunate that it won't work

FoohoonPie,
I would like to know the answer to this too! I just received my 5gen iPod after work yesterday and promptly hooked it up to my iBook and plopped my entire library on there (gift suggestion: if you have access to the recipient's library, pre-load that puppy! waiting is the hardest part!).

I work on a PC at work and was excited to listen to my tunes at long last through iTunes here. I've got the iPod connected, but iTunes is asking me to "restore" the iPod. Will this erase my entire library from the iPod?

And if I do restore, will i have to do it again when i get back home to the iBook? How will my iBook's iTunes react to a Windows formatted iPod. {I would feel so dirty having a windows formatted iPod.}

thx,
b

I work on a PC at work and was excited to listen to my tunes at long last through iTunes here. I've got the iPod connected, but iTunes is asking me to "restore" the iPod. Will this erase my entire library from the iPod?

Yes. Restoring an iPod will erase everything on it.

And if I do restore, will i have to do it again when i get back home to the iBook?

iTunes on the Mac can sync with a Windows formatted iPod, but it cannot update the firmware of a Windows formatted iPod other than the iPod shuffle without restoring the iPod.

(17772)

I see. Thanks, Niel, for your response. Being able to upgrade the firmware with Software Updates seems important. When you upgrade firmware, is a restore required?

I wonder if this is an issue that could be resolved if Windows could recognize an HFS formatted drive. Then a Mac Formatted iPod might be more eager to travel from Mc-home to PC-work. Maybe in Vista, eh? (what am i saying - by the time my workplace upgrades to Vista, the iPod will be holographic). iTunes on Windows could keep up with a Mac formated iPod if Windows recognized the file system - this recognition is on the OS level and probably can't be controlled by iTunes (this is a semi-educated guess).

When you upgrade firmware, is a restore required?

Not with an iPod shuffle, or when you are updating a Mac formatted iPod on a Mac, or a PC formatted iPod on a PC.

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so to clarify: there's no way to access your mac-formatted ipod music via iTunes on a PC without using something like macdrive?

No, there isn't. Windows does not contain the necessary software to enable it to access Mac formatted disks.

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Could it work the other way? If say, I restored my iPod on a windows machine, and put songs on that. Would I be able to access it via the Mac?

Do Macs contain the necessary software to access windows formatted disks?

1. Yes. You cannot update the firmware of a Windows formatted iPod other than the iPod shuffle on a Mac without restoring the iPod; synchronization of songs and other content will work.

2. Yes.

(17866)

hmmm, if that's the case then maybe i can do this after all. will just have to change where i initially hold the songs

thanks for the replies, been very helpful

Since Neil has obviously helped you out with your issues, perhaps you wouldn't mind marking which particular posts of Neils were helpful or solved your issue by pressing the 'Helpful' or 'Solved' button on them.

This will make it easier for other viewers with similar issues to identify the helpful content.

You might also consider marking your initial question as 'Answered' as well.

Thanks!