how to i get non i-tunes music from my computer to i-pod?

[julie b]

help please! i've bought an i-pod and want to transfer the music i have in the 'my music' folder on my computer to my i-pod. it is a mixture of pre recorded cd's that i've saved and music downloaded from the net but not from i-tunes. i also have audiobooks that i'd like to put on the i-pod. i did manage to get the music from cds onto the ipod but it doesn't recognise the artist/track. i notice that it says on i-tunes that if you make it your default music player, it will delete music that's not available from them.
many thanks for any answers-i'm off on holiday in aweek and would like to be able to use the ipod!

[souldriver]

locate the music on you hard drive, right cick on it and select - open with > itunes, if itunes is not in the list then select the choose program option and then select itunes.

[fo3nix]

Either have iTunes find your music as it starts up, or goto:

file->add folder to library...

choose the folder where all your music is, and press ok. it'll be added to iTunes for you.