I need an Ipod expert

[AliceLover]

So, I got my Ipod in 2005. Everything went great for about a year and a half. It was doing everything it was suppose to, updating itself with songs, ect. But last year our computer was getting ridiculously slow so we called Geek Sqaud. He said our hardrive was torched so he gave a us a new one. Which was great, internet came back to fast speeds ect.. But we couldn't get Itunes to work. Then as he was about to leave, songs started to load, but the songs loading were the songs on my old hard drive that were on WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER and not the Itunes songs. So they all went in, my Ipod recognized the files and put them all in.....The Ipod now will not update itself. It won't add any new songs. I went to the Itunes website and tried all of their suggestions. I uninstalled and reinstalled Itunes ect. ect. I even put in the old version that came with the Ipod when I bought it. Also, after this happened, my mothers shuffle stopped responding to Itunes as well. I really do not know what to do and I am at the end of my rope with ITunes.

This seems to be a big problem because they have a message board on the trouble shoot site and no one seems to be able to fix this problem.....

Very sad...

So...I can't get Itunes to recognize my Ipod. It is recognized on Windows in the C drive as Jimmys Ipod, but not in Itunes...

[JazmenFlowers]

wow. that's a tough one and I wish I could help. since I use a Mac, I'm not too familiar with using an iPod with a Windows machine.

but, if it recognized songs in Windows Media Player, are there any songs in iTunes at all? this may be dumb on my part, but like I said, I don't know much about Windows and iTunes.

[AliceLover]

wow. that's a tough one and I wish I could help. since I use a Mac, I'm not too familiar with using an iPod with a Windows machine.

but, if it recognized songs in Windows Media Player, are there any songs in iTunes at all? this may be dumb on my part, but like I said, I don't know much about Windows and iTunes.

It recognized only WMP songs and put them all into Itunes. It won't sync anything now...

I got rid of Itunes completely. I think I am going to the apple store tomorrow and see what they can do.

[trackaghost]

Have you tried holding the menu button and the centre button on the iPod down at the same time (for about 20 seconds I think) to reboot it?
The apple logo should come up on the screen when it has rebooted.

[AliceLover]

Have you tried holding the menu button and the centre button on the iPod down at the same time (for about 20 seconds I think) to reboot it?
The apple logo should come up on the screen when it has rebooted.

With ITunes open or not open? The Ipod works, it just won't get recognized in Itunes.

[carrie721]

With ITunes open or not open? The Ipod works, it just won't get recognized in Itunes.

you have to do that when your ipod isn't plugged into the computer. doing it should reset your ipod, as sharon said. :woohoo:

[AliceLover]

you have to do that when your ipod isn't plugged into the computer. doing it should reset your ipod, as sharon said. :woohoo:

So, if I turn it on and hold down the middle and down button for 20 seconds, it will erase all the music on the Ipod?

[carrie721]

So, if I turn it on and hold down the middle and down button for 20 seconds, it will erase all the music on the Ipod?

it should. but as long as you've still got everything on your computer, you should be fine.

[AliceLover]

it should. but as long as you've still got everything on your computer, you should be fine.

Thanks Carrie for the advice. I just don't think that its gunna work. I think it has to do more with the computer not being able to recognize the Ipod. Thank god I am getting a lab top soon....

[carrie721]

Thanks Carrie for the advice. I just don't think that its gunna work. I think it has to do more with the computer not being able to recognize the Ipod. Thank god I am getting a lab top soon....

no problem. it may be worth a try, tho :shrug: especially since you said it's itunes that isn't recognizing it, while the computer reads it as jimmy's ipod. another option is to plug in your ipod and run the ipod updater software and choose "restore factory settings" (i think that's what it says).

[AliceLover]

no problem. it may be worth a try, tho :shrug: especially since you said it's itunes that isn't recognizing it, while the computer reads it as jimmy's ipod. another option is to plug in your ipod and run the ipod updater software and choose "restore factory settings" (i think that's what it says).

I will definitely try it when I get home from work! Thanks so much!

Thats another great tip, thanks so much!

[carrie721]

no prob jimmy. lemme know how it works out!

[AliceLover]

no prob jimmy. lemme know how it works out!

Well, holding down the menu and center button did nothing. It did re-boot, but all the songs were still on there. I have to download Itunes again...

[DeadliestPoison]

So, if I turn it on and hold down the middle and down button for 20 seconds, it will erase all the music on the Ipod?
Sharon's idea is good, but it's not all you need to do.

Turn on the hold function, then turn it off.
Press the center and Menu buttons (separate fingers, ideally) for 5-10 seconds until the Apple logo comes up.

It won't erase your music. I've done this a few times before when my iPod freezes up on me, and everything's there when you come back. What it does is it resets the software loaded onto the iPod to fix any problems that might have happened due to usage, disconnecting the iPod prematurely, etc. Re-connect the iPod to your computer and see if it solved the problem.

Now if you reset your iPod to factory settings through iTunes, THAT will erase all your music. On the other hand, it should fix whatever problem(s) have arised. I'd say this route is the best to go.

Hopefully the problem gets worked out!

[AliceLover]

Sharon's idea is good, but it's not all you need to do.

Turn on the hold function, then turn it off.
Press the center and Menu buttons (separate fingers, ideally) for 5-10 seconds until the Apple logo comes up.

It won't erase your music. I've done this a few times before when my iPod freezes up on me, and everything's there when you come back. What it does is it resets the software loaded onto the iPod to fix any problems that might have happened due to usage, disconnecting the iPod prematurely, etc. Re-connect the iPod to your computer and see if it solved the problem.

Now if you reset your iPod to factory settings through iTunes, THAT will erase all your music. On the other hand, it should fix whatever problem(s) have arised. I'd say this route is the best to go.

Hopefully the problem gets worked out!

Hey thanks for the advice...

I tried the first idea...still nothing is happening. Just continues to say "Do Not Disconnect"...although in the initial plug in something about autoplay came up and all my folders flew by.

Question, do you think if i cut all my music files from Itunes to another folder and then restore the settings, will the music still stay on my computer? I have windows media and all the files can be played on there too. How do I get to this option to restore to the factory settings??

thanks again!

[carrie721]

to do the factory restore on a pc, i believe there is a program in your start menu for it. i would try to be more specific but i don't have access to my family's PC right now, and my computer is a mac.

[DeadliestPoison]

Question, do you think if i cut all my music files from Itunes to another folder and then restore the settings, will the music still stay on my computer? I have windows media and all the files can be played on there too. How do I get to this option to restore to the factory settings??

thanks again!
Your music should stay on your computer regardless of what you try. iTunes only indexes it to one place and links the title, etc in the window to the file. For example, uninstalling iTunes doesn't take the music with it; they're separate entities.

Here's a screenshot of my iTunes window when I plug in my iPod, Neely:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v666/daretheghost/itunes.png

The part in the red box is the restore function. Keep your iPod plugged in when you do it. It'll wipe all the music off your iPod (but not your computer). It looked exactly the same when I was on my Windows computer a while back (this is iTunes 7.1.1 with the latest iPod updates installed).

[carrie721]

^ itunes isn't recognizing the ipod, tho, so he won't be able to do it through itunes. he'll have to go through the start menu to get to the ipod updater.

[DeadliestPoison]

^ itunes isn't recognizing the ipod, tho, so he won't be able to do it through itunes. he'll have to go through the start menu to get to the ipod updater.

Ooooh, that's right. My bad!

I don't have a Windows computer anymore, so I can't help you there. Sorry!

[carrie721]

Ooooh, that's right. My bad!

I don't have a Windows computer anymore, so I can't help you there. Sorry!

i know, same here. i can only give vague info ... hopefully it'll help :laugh:

[AliceLover]

This is just getting worse and worse...

I am using the Itunes FAQ to help me out here. They are telling me to try these things. I installed this one program to help clean up stuff that might be effecting the Ipod. It ended up deleting Itunes all together. So I did a system Restore to Tuesday and now I can't even get Itunes to download!!!!

This just blows. I cannot wait to get my mac...

[Richard B]

I cannot wait to get my mac...

You're doing the right thing.
Make haste.

[AliceLover]

You're doing the right thing.
Make haste.

I feel bad though, because my mom's Ipod won't work either. She has a shuffle and used to just plug hers right in and I would choose the songs she wanted.

Maybe if I create another account on my computer???

[carrie721]

jimmy, have you tried this?

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304434

[Richard B]

jimmy, have you tried this?

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304434

Very good tip/article, Carrie.

[carrie721]

Very good tip/article, Carrie.

thanks. i hope it works for jimmy!

[Richard B]

thanks. i hope it works for jimmy!

Me too.

..........

[AliceLover]

.....................................About to smash head off keyboard

Didn't work Carrie. I can't believe I have been working on this for three hours. This is ridiculous!!! Ive been to that page, but Ive never seen that before. Thanks for the tip!

[JazmenFlowers]

This just blows. I cannot wait to get my mac...
smartest move ever. I often wonder what took me so long...

once you go Mac, you never go back.

[MoonChilde]

Just a thought...but since you had computer reformatted?? You might have to authorize Itunes to recongize your Ipod..It is very frustrating for sure...I am trying to get mine to update on Windows Vista ....grrrr..

[JazmenFlowers]

^^^
oh, that's a good point. I forgot about that.

[michelle2677]

Your music should stay on your computer regardless of what you try. iTunes only indexes it to one place and links the title, etc in the window to the file. For example, uninstalling iTunes doesn't take the music with it; they're separate entities.

Here's a screenshot of my iTunes window when I plug in my iPod, Neely:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v666/daretheghost/itunes.png

The part in the red box is the restore function. Keep your iPod plugged in when you do it. It'll wipe all the music off your iPod (but not your computer). It looked exactly the same when I was on my Windows computer a while back (this is iTunes 7.1.1 with the latest iPod updates installed).


o.k. can you please tell me what the "other" **** is in orange?? I have something on mine that takes up a ton of space and I have no idea what it is :mad:


and I still have not figured out how to play videos and actually have volume. someone else (maybe ryan?? ) brought that up awhile back. did it ever get resolved because mine isn't.

[MoonChilde]

o.k. can you please tell me what the "other" **** is in orange?? I have something on mine that takes up a ton of space and I have no idea what it is :mad:


and I still have not figured out how to play videos and actually have volume. someone else (maybe ryan?? ) brought that up awhile back. did it ever get resolved because mine isn't.

lol well I believe the other "****" is like your contacts and photos and any files you want to store on your ipod...
As far as your videos..are you converting them into the proper format ?? what convertor program are you using?..

[DeadliestPoison]

o.k. can you please tell me what the "other" **** is in orange?? I have something on mine that takes up a ton of space and I have no idea what it is :mad:
I'm pretty sure it's made up of the iPod software, album artwork, etc.

[michelle2677]

lol well I believe the other "****" is like your contacts and photos and any files you want to store on your ipod...
As far as your videos..are you converting them into the proper format ?? what convertor program are you using?..


see how his is just taking up a small space? mine takes up a ton. not sure how much exactly, but almost as much as my music and I have 2500 songs on there :shocked:

I've looked around on my ipod and I dont' have any pics on there. I cannot find anwhere on my ipod where I have thigns other than songs/videos.

as far as the videos, I have no clue. which converter should I be using?? how do I know what the correct format is?

[AliceLover]

Just a thought...but since you had computer reformatted?? You might have to authorize Itunes to recongize your Ipod..It is very frustrating for sure...I am trying to get mine to update on Windows Vista ....grrrr..

Any idea how to go about doing that? :o

[MoonChilde]

Any idea how to go about doing that? :o

Did you register with I-tunes when you first got your Ipod??If so you will need your user name and password...go into I-tunes and go up top to store...click on store and a list will pop down.you should see authorize computer and also deauthorize computer..You need to authorize computer in order for you I pod to be recongized...and for it to update...Hope this helps...

[MoonChilde]

see how his is just taking up a small space? mine takes up a ton. not sure how much exactly, but almost as much as my music and I have 2500 songs on there :shocked:

I've looked around on my ipod and I dont' have any pics on there. I cannot find anwhere on my ipod where I have thigns other than songs/videos.

as far as the videos, I have no clue. which converter should I be using?? how do I know what the correct format is?

you haven;t put any art work or contacts or pixs on your Ipod?? hmmm not sure why just your music would be taking up so much space...I have about 90 videos plus 150 photos not including my music and still have quite a bit of space..??:shrug:
there are a couple good convertor programs on the web...LOL I am not sure what format ...will have to look on my other computer on Monday..I just downloaded the program and let it do the work for me...I believe on is called So think Ipod video convertor... you can get the trial version online..I have used it quite a bit...If you want to remind me on Monday I will get the other programs name and instructions for you then...Hope you have some luck..I know how frustrating I-tunes can be..