YamiPod

[ukpuffy]

I recently had a Hard Drive failure on my Laptop and lost everything, including my iTunes and all the tracks on it. I've been recommended to use a programme called Yamipod on my new hard drive to take my tracks from my ipod back to my hard drive. Is Yamipod a version of itunes?, after using Yamipod can I transfer all the data into itunes?

[fo3nix]

no, yamipod is a completely separate program to iTunes, basically made out of necessity as iTunes doesn't do much with moving from iPod to computer (only the other way round).

http://www.yamipod.com

Basically you can just open it up, let it detect your iPod (if iTunes pops up first and asks if you want to associate your iPod with the new, blank, iTunes library, click NO), and you'll be able to see all your music on the iPod.

Then just goto file -> select all, file -> copy, and copy it to your my music\itunes\itunes music folder (the folder that it setup within itunes; that's the default).

once that's done, go back into iTunes and you should be able to play all your music. ok? if so, goto advanced -> consolidate library. that'll sort them all nicely for you.

then dock your iPod again so that it pops up in iTunes, and this time click YES to associate it to this new itunes library.

[you can also do the same thing with your playlists, by going playlists->export.. in yamipod]

[vehelpfulguy]

I suggest you buy an external hard drive to plug in the USB of your laptop.

Then you can "back up" files to this external drive, and if your laptop hard drive fails again you will have not lost everything.

[ukpuffy]

Thanks fo3nix, are your instructions what I can follow without downloading yamipod, just installing iTunes and using iTunes to recover my tracks from my iPod?

[fo3nix]

no, you need yamipod.

as I say, iTunes cannot recover songs from iPod all too easily.