Article
Ask iLounge 5-22-09
Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.
How do I copy music from my iPod onto my computer?
Click here for the answer.
How do I put DVDs on my iPod?
For converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and home movies to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV, we have a three-part series outlining the best formats, settings, and various tools to use for converting all types of video content for use on these devices.
The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)
The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Windows)
Q: What are the best speakers to use with my iPod? (15, 76-79, and 90-92)
Q: What are the best headphones to use with my iPod? (10, 72-75, and 90-92)
Q: I really want to get a nice case for my iPod. Do you have any suggestions? (36-37, 54-67, and 90-92)
Q: How can I connect my iPod to my car stereo? (14, 32-35, 68-71, and 90-92)
Q: Are there any batteries that I can use to extend my iPod's battery life? (82-83 and 90-92)
A: Answers to these and many other questions can be found in two places. Our Free iPod Book 3.3 provides a complete report card to all of the iPod accessories we've reviewed as of summer 2007, as well as over 125 iTunes and iPod tips & tricks. Further, our new 2008 iPod & iPhone Buyers' Guide has accessory tutorials at the page numbers listed in parentheses above. These and other publications in our Library are free downloads, developed by the editors of iLounge!
Q:
How can you sync iTunes content between computers? It would be awfully nice if iTunes could treat another Mac as a special iPod. I have an iPhone, iPod Nano and Apple TV. Each is synced to my master database on a MacBook Pro. My iPhone gets a hefty assortment of songs, my most recent 500 purchases and several podcasts. My iPod nano gets a group of high energy excercise songs. My Apple TV gets almost everything. I would like to get a MacBook Air (or a mythical Mac Netbook) but treat it like an iPod. It would get a healthy dose of new and favorite music. However, I don’t think you can do that. It doesn’t have the storage for everything. How do you auto-sync a partial iTunes database to another mac?
- Jim
A:This is definitely a feature that many of us wish that iTunes would include in a future version. Unfortunately, at this point there isn’t really any simple way to handle this within iTunes itself.
There are some AppleScripts that can be found at Doug’s AppleScripts for iTunes site (http://www.dougsscripts.com) such as the Remote Management Scripts package that can be used to transfer tracks from a remote iTunes library via the built-in iTunes Sharing protocols. This script uses Remote Apple Events to permit you to copy down and import tracks from the remote library to your local iTunes library. Unfortunately, it’s largely a one-way affair - tracks are copied but metadata is not synced.
A more sophisticated solution can be found in third-party applications such as Syncopation ($25, trial available) or TuneRanger ($30, trial available). These apps run separately from iTunes itself and can be used to sync your iTunes media content between more than one iTunes library, either in whole or based on specific playlists. Metadata such as last played date and play count is even synced between iTunes libraries. Other than the cost of the software, the only downside is that this doesn’t occur within iTunes itself, so you have to load up and run the Syncopation or TuneRanger applications separately, and it’s not as transparent or simple to configure as an iPod or Apple TV sync would be.
The free live album from Coldplay appears to have been downloaded to my computer as a ZIP file of nine MP3 music files. My computer has Windows XP so I created a new folder in my “Coldplay” folder, which is in my “iTunes Music” folder. I moved the nine MP3 music files to the new folder. After closing all these folders, I waited a few minutes before opening iTunes. After opening iTunes, I didn’t see the nine MP3 music files in my iTunes library. What is the step-by-step procedure for getting
them into my iTunes library?
- Chris
A:Unlike other applications such as Windows Media Player, iTunes does not support any kind of automatic import from an external folder. iTunes will only import tracks that you specifically tell it to import, regardless of where you place these tracks.
The simplest way to import music into your iTunes library is just to drag the files from the Windows Explorer window into your iTunes window and iTunes will automatically import them into your iTunes library. Alternatively, you can also browse for files to add right from within iTunes by choosing File, Add to Library from the iTunes menu.
Depending upon your iTunes preferences, files you import into iTunes using either of the above methods may or may not be actually copied into your iTunes Music folder. You can confirm this by opening your iTunes preferences from the Edit, Preferences menu option in iTunes, and selecting the “General” tab:

In addition to displaying the current location of your iTunes Music folder, you will see an option here titled Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library. This option determines whether tracks you import are copied into your iTunes Music folder automatically, or whether iTunes simply references them from their original location. Of course, if you copy the files into your iTunes Music folder manually, as you’ve already done, you can still just as easily import them from that location, in which case this setting has no specific effect as the files are already in your iTunes Music folder anyway.
I was using Windows XP on my laptop with my iPod touch and recently restored and installed Windows 7. I then installed iTunes without a hitch, and since I was already on manual syncing, I figured I was good to go. Then I realized that apps didn’t work that way, and sync automatically. It now seems that iTunes is going to delete my apps and reinstall them just to make it’s linked to this version of Windows. I really don’t want to lose my data in my my apps, is there a way to sync with this computer without loosing my data?
- Faisal
A:The good news is that you’re unlikely to lose any data in this situation, provided that you have already authorized your new Windows 7 installed for the iTunes Store account that was used to purchase these applications in the first place. You can ensure your computer is authorized for your iTunes Store account by choosing Store, Authorize Computer from the iTunes menu.
If you have the applications themselves already in your iTunes library, iTunes will simply “link up” the applications from your iTunes library with those already on your iPod touch. Nothing is reinstalled and therefore no data is lost in this situation.

Further, even if you don’t already have all of the same applications in your iTunes library, iTunes will recognize that there are purchased applications on your device which are not present in your iTunes library and offer to transfer these back for you.

In this case, simply select the “Transfer” option and iTunes will copy these applications back from your iPod touch to your computer. As with purchasing an application on the iPod touch itself, no data is lost, as nothing is reinstalled - the app is simply copied back to your iTunes library.
Be careful, however, since selecting the “Don’t Transfer” option in this scenario will remove the application and all of its data from your iPod touch.
I recently purchased a 16 GB iPod touch. We currently have two older model iPods (80 GB video and 8 GB nano). It appears as if the iPod touch is not supported on the speaker systems we have (Apple iPod Hi-Fi and iHome). Is there some type or converter that will allow this to work?
- Jim
A:Some older speaker systems and other Dock Connector based accessories do not provide charging capability with the newer iPod models due to some changes in the charging standards. Specifically, with the iPhone 3G, fourth-generation iPod nano and second-generation iPod touch, the 12V FireWire charging that was used by many older accessories is no longer supported.
Note that these speaker systems should continue to play content from your iPod touch without any issues - the device simply won’t charge while you are using it for playback. Whether this is a problem or not would depend largely upon how frequently you use your iPod for playback in these devices and for how long, since you should still be able to get several hours of playback from a single battery charge.
If you do need to charge your iPod touch while playing it back from these speakers, there are accessories available that can provide the necessary power conversion. Two such options are Griffin’s Charge Converter (iLounge rating: B+) and Scosche’s PassPort Charging Adapter (iLounge rating: B).
I bought the power adapter for the first-generation iPod nano and it works great, but I need to know if it is compatible with the fourth generation iPod nano.
- Juan
A:As noted above, some older charging accessories are no longer compatible with the current iPod models, including the fourth-generation iPod. Whether or not your specific power adapter is compatible with the fourth-generation iPod will depend largely upon which one you purchased.
If you’ve purchased the official Apple power adapter for the first-generation iPod nano, then this will work fine. All Apple iPod power adapters manufactured since 2005 use 5V USB charging and will therefore work fine. In fact this applies to almost all of Apple’s recent accessories, with the iPod Hi-Fi speaker system being the only notable exception.
If you purchased a third-party power adapter, then this may be a more hit-and-miss proposition. Most third-party power adapters sold specifically for the iPod also use the 5V USB charging, but there are some that still use the older 12V FireWire charging method. However, if your charger is a two-piece model that uses an actual USB connector, then you can be fairly confident that this uses the 5V USB charging method. Some chargers, for example, simply provide a power plug adapter that connects to your existing iPod-to-USB cable. These chargers will likely work just fine with any current model of iPod.
I tried to create a second iTunes library on my computer by pushing the SHIFT key as I openned my iTunes and selected new iTunes. After doing this, my previous iTunes library disappeared (with all my selected songs and purchases) and now I have a new empty iTunes library without songs from my old iTunes. Is it at all possible to get back my old iTunes library? My iPod has songs from the previous iTunes and don’t want to loses it, not to mention I spent a fair bit of time creating the old iTunes library.
- Anonymous
A:Chances are that your original iTunes library is still in its original location. When you created a new iTunes library by holding down the SHIFT key and starting iTunes, you would have been prompted for a path in which to create the new iTunes library, and iTunes would then default to using this location from then on.
To get back to your original iTunes library, simply shut down iTunes and then start it up while again holding the SHIFT key, and this time select the “Choose Library” option from the dialog box that appears.

iTunes will then ask you for the location of the library you would like to use. By default, your original iTunes library should be located in a folder named “iTunes” under your “My Music” folder (Windows) or your “Music” folder (Mac). Simply select this “iTunes” folder, click OK, and iTunes should open your original library database back up again. Once you have set iTunes back to using the original library database, it will continue to use this by default unless you change it again by repeating the above process.
Ask iLounge Archives:
11-20-09: Sharing iTunes libraries between two user accounts, Enlarging text on iPhone 3GS, Transferring an iPod to a new user, iPhone shuffles when walking, New 8GB iPod touch models, Transferring purchases from a remote iTunes library
11-13-09: Syncing different contact info with two iPhones on the same computer, iPod shows no content, Syncing music and videos in playlists, Exclamation marks next to tracks in iTunes, Playing podcasts on 3G iPod shuffle.
11-6-09: Storing iPod software updates, Playing an iPod continuously, Transferring play counts to a new iTunes library, iPhone backups, Klipsch S4i earphones
10-30-09: Authorization problems with iPod touch, Changing Grid View background in iTunes, iTunes library and Music Folder are different sizes, Older iPods and firmware updates, Reconciling two different iTunes libraries, Syncing multiple devices to one iTunes library
10-23-09: Using a laptop with an iTunes library on an external hard drive, Transferring YouTube videos to iPod, iPod touch accessibility settings, Disabling Shake to Shuffle on iPod nano, Purchased songs fail to download from iTunes Store, Charging and powering off iPhone
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1
I created an itunes account and loaded around 400 songs off various pre ecorded cd in to it i noticed it had taken up over 8.2 gigs on the desk top itunes account as i have inly an 8 gig ipod touch which i got second hand off my daughter( this had over 800 songs which had only taken up just under 4gig of space on the ipod touch) I decidec to deelte the songs off and add my own which after updating the ipod to the latest software version i could not load any songs because i had exceeded the available storage capacity i then manually attempted to load up the songs after unchecking those i did not want it took approximately 15 minutes to load 7 songs on to the ipod - what have i done wrong #1 with the amount of space the songs have taken up on itunes on my desktop and #2 the time it took to load up the songs
Posted by Steve on May 26, 2009 at 7:56 AM (PDT)