CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

Long story , but i will give you all the facts to help understand my problem(s)

-My iPod touch stopped working , and just gives me the Apple icon on the screen
-My iTunes was installed on my old PC but i stopped using it as the PC was soooooooo slow !
- I heard that my iPod just needs a software update , so........
- I installed iTunes onto my laptop.

Problem 1 - How do i get all my songs back into my iTunes ? It has my account details and purchaces , but none of my tracks are in the media player/folders.

Problem 2 - How do i update my iPod software if it wont "connect" to my laptop and just has the Apple icon up.

Thanks in advance for any help , and keep it simple (step by step) as i literally never use iTunes , its my daughters !

Markus

You would need to grab software to get the music and playlists from the device back into iTunes as it will not let you copy music from the device. It's Apple's form of copy protection, so you cannot simply plug your friends iDevice into your machine and rip the music from their device, you can only sync the iPod with a specific machine. If you tried then it would overwrite the iPod with whatever is in iTunes.

That is getting a bit ahead of things, as if the iPod isn't doing anything at present, you won't be able to get anything off it. Have a read of this and see if that gets it back to a living state. If so, you will need an app to get music from it, a quick search on here should throw up some results.

If none of those things work, then it's probably not too happy. If you have an Apple store near you then you could drop by and see if they can do anything with it, but it could mean it's time for a replacement, and yes, all music and playlists will be lost if they replace it.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

i will have a look at that later thanks.

But whats the point off iTunes if when you buy a new device (coz your old one isnt working) you loose all your purchases ? And visa versa , if u buy a new laptop and download iTunes does it need to connect to my ipod before i can find all the tracks i bought from them ? I assumed that iTunes was like a memory bank so if i got a new device i just synced it with iTunes and all my tracks were remembered as paid for.They are in my purchase history , but thats all.
- assume i am this senario -
i just bought a laptop , but my ipod has stoped working. I buy a new ipod and want to set it up on my new laptop. Do i loose all my music ?

Markus

If you purchased in iTunes then the songs will be there. If you purchased on the device, then you should be able to go to iTunes and download those purchases. I know I've purchased items at home and can sign into my account at work and download them, as it's keyed to the account.

Fire up iTunes, then click on the iTunes Store item, then look at quick links and you will see a "Purchased" item (currently has a blue 'new' label on it). This will show all music purchased through iTunes, and you should be able to download it, providing the machine is authorized for your account and you're signed into your iTunes account.

The confusing thing is that the Purchase list on the left of the iTunes screen is basically a playlist. I you purchase items they *are* added to this list, but you can delete them form the list, however, they will always be on the other purchased list in the Store, and you can download them again from there.

If you get a new computer then, in theory, you authorize it via iTunes and it will allow you to download your purchases, at which point you can copy them onto your new / old iPod.

The other thing here is that if you backup your machine, which you should do, if you get a new machine, you should be able to restore iTunes, or more specifically the Music folder it uses and thus get your existing music on the machine ans then copy it onto the new iPod.

When it comes to music that isn't purchased via iTunes, if the Music folder on the computer wasn't backed up, or it was copied onto the iPod without using iTunes and the iPod is now dead, you won't have those files

Hope that makes sense.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

its a 80/20 % mix , the 20% being purchased in iTunes. I have the 80% (cds) backed up on a hard-drive , but was trying to get iTunes set up to try and update system on iPod first and foremost. Is there anything on the iTunes page to update (could only update iTunes , but i just got the latest version). I am guessing it wont let me until i get it connected.
Basically i asked in a shop and he said he can update it for me but i would loose data. I just want to make sure i can get purchases back on after he wipes it (and maybe try to do it myself instead)

Markus

You can check if you can get purchases back by firing up iTunes, clicking iTunes Store, then clicking Purchased item in the Quick Links list on the right of the page. If the files are there, you should be able to download them, I'd certainly try downloading them anyway.

Updates for the devices aren't usually listed as separate updates as they can only be installed by iTunes, so yes, you'd need to connect it to iTunes before it'll see wether there is an update and then give you the opportunity to update.

Unless the guy in the shop is going to do it as a freebie I wouldn't bother, all he is going to do is connect it to iTunes and hit the "Restore" button, which will reset the device back to factory defaults. You can do exactly the same thing if you connect the iPod to iTunes.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

got it sorted mate (well , its doing it now)
-First i had to hold the "home" and "power" buttons till it switched off.
-Then had to hold the home button in while connecting the USB until it connected. (took a few tries)
-Then a pop-up told me i needed a software update (i already new that) and promted me through.
-when it updated , it then loaded firmware etc. (loading bar on the iPod which was a welcome sign)
-then i went to the "purchase history" in iTunes and clicked "download all" (cloud symbol) It was treated as if i had bought a new device.

It is currently going through downloading all those tracks , and when its finished i will load all her cds from my hard-drive onto her laptop on Windows Media Player , and hopefully sync them to the Ipod. Though its been that long she doesn't even like half of it any more !

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction (although i was already in the help pages before you linked me there) i just like a real person to reassure me before i start wiping stuff !

JackClark

Why Windows Media Player.

Markus

Possibly because iTunes on the PC is rather horrific. I believe the OP mentioned that it previously had been rather slow and cumbersome.

It is a valid point though, if you're going to put them on an iPod then you might as well import using iTunes, as you'll need that to put the files on the iPod.