How do I sync old devices to a new iMac without our old iTunes library? Our orig iMac died with the library on it.

Our old iMac died and we got a new one. The problem is that our entire iTunes library was on the old iMac and all of our iPads and iPhones were synced to the old dead iMac. How do we sync the devices to the new iMac now?

Your i-device was not designed for unique storage of your media. It is not a backup device and media transfer was planned with you maintaining a master copy of your media on a computer which is itself independently backed up against loss.  To use a device with a new computer you transfer the content from the old computer (or its backup) directly to the new computer, not the device to the new computer. Media syncing is one way, computer to device, updating the device content to the content on the computer, not updating or restoring content on a computer. The exception is iTunes Store purchases which can be transferred to a computer.
iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848 - only purchases from iTunes Store
For transferring other items from an i-device to a computer you will have to use third party commercial software.  See this document by turingtest2: Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991

Similar Messages

  • How do i sync my iphone to a new computer without it deleting everything off of my phone?

    how can i sync my iphone to a new computer without it deleting eveything off of my phone?

    Migrate the iTunes library the phone is sync-ed to, to the new computer.
    Wouldn't you have done that anyway?

  • How do i sync my ipad to my new computer without losing all the apps on the ipad

    how do i sync my ipad to my new computer without losing all my apps that are on the ipad

    This should be a pretty good guide for setting up the iPad with a new computer and for keeping your content.
    Don't forget to authorize the new computer as well. Launch iTunes and go to Store>Authorize this Computer.
    This is the original thread.
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/11527201#11527201
    1) Without connecting your iPad to your laptop, start iTunes. Click on Edit. Click on Preferences. Click on Devices. Check the box next to "Prevent your iPod etc. from automatically syncing." Click OK.
    2) Now connect your iPad to your laptop and start iTunes.
    3) When iTunes starts, right click on your iPad under Devices in the left column. Select Transfer purchases etc.
    4) After it finishes transferring all your apps to your new laptop, right click on your iPad and select Backup your iPad.
    5) After it finishes backing up your iPad, right click on your iPad and select Restore etc.
    6) After it finishes restoring, left click on your iPad , then click on the Apps tab on top, and check the box next to Sync Apps, then click on Apply below.
    If everything on your iPad looks good after the sync, go back and click on Edit / Preferences / Devices and UN-check the box next to Prevent your iPod etc. The only other thing you may want to check is if your contacts, bookmarks, etc. are syncing correctly now. If not, go to the Info tab after connecting and make sure you indicate which features you want to sync with what sources.
    Make sure that you move your iTunes library from the old computer to the new one as well for all of your music.
    Here is an article that can help you with that.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527

  • How do I sync my iphone to a new mac without loosing the original data

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    You must first sync the iPhone with the old Mac as you normally do, then move the entire iTunes Library from the old Mac to the new one.
    An iPhone can only be synced with one computer at a time. When you first sync the iPhone with the new Mac, you will "erase and sync". This will erase the entire phone first, then sync it with the content you moved from the old Mac.
    This explains the procedure: iTunes: How to move your music from one computer to another

  • My laptop died along with its harddrive, how can I sync my iphone to a new computer without losing everything?

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    Any help appreciated
    Thanks
    C

    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141

  • How do you sync you iphone to a new computer without loosing your songs or apps

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    Hello CRFamily,
    This can be done by transferring your library to the new computer, as detailed in the article linked below.
    iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
    Cheers,
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  • How do I sync purchased ringtones to a new iPhone without the old iPhone

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  • How do I sync my iphone to a new computer without losing folders?

    I've found several "techniques" that attempt to solve this problem, but none of them work 100%.
    http://www.justinmontgomery.com/sync-ios-device-to-a-new-computer-you-are-screwe d
    I upgraded from a 3 year old HP laptop to a new MacBook Pro. I transfered my entire library (100GB or so with music, videos and apps) to the new Mac before trying to sync anything. When I moved/synced my iPad from the HP to the Mac, I lost all my folders, photos and app data, such as saved games etc. I "Transfered Purchases", then backed up the iPad and restored from that backup, but still lost most of the data (and spent the next few hours re-organizing apps into folders.)
    I'm glad I didn't try it on my iPhone first because the issue would have been much worse.
    I can't find ANYTHING in the Apple support docs that offers a reasonable way to move ALL my data to the new Mac. Does anyone know of a way to do this without losing data? I found a video that shows how to trick the iTunes Library files into making it work, but it's from PC to PC and I doubt it would work on the Mac.
    Please, Apple, fix this or make it easier.
    Thanks,
    J

    Not simple enough. Please read the original concern.
    The issue is not "getting music to the new machine" or "authorizing the new machine" or "transferring purchases from an idevice". The issue is that after doing all those things, even creating a backup using the new iTunes/Mac, syncing my device with the new library erases all the app data from the iPhone, as well as folder structure and page layout. Music is expendable in this situation as it's just a matter of moving the files around. (Which I did before I ever started this exercise.)
    The problem is that everything from email accounts to folders are lost when I sync the device with a new computer. I tried this on my iPad first and spent a good deal of time re-arranging everything and getting all the data back. The pictures are just gone. Good thing I backed them up on the old PC.
    It won't be as simple on my iPhone as I have a ton of stuff on it and can't afford to lose anything. Some of the data is gave saves and such, but other things are more important. And I don't want to lose those game saves either.

  • How can I sync my Iphone to my new macbook without losing all my music on my Iphone music library if it's not from iTunes?

    How can I sync my Iphone to my new mac book without losing all my music on my Iphone without losing all my music if the music isn't from Itunes?

    If you do not have access to the iTunes Library on your Old computer... or its Backup...
    See these 2 Links...
    Syncing to a New Computer...
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141
    Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991
    If you do have access... See Here...
    From your OLD computer...
    Copy your ENTIRE iTunes FOLDER to an External Drive... and then from the External Drive to your New Computer..
    Full Details Here  >  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
    More Info here...
    iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer

  • How to delete multiple old ITUNES LIBRARY files safely ?

    I'd like to clean up my Itunes LIBRARY files, but don't know what's safe to do and not to do. (I have Itunes 8.1 / OSX10.4.11)
    MY QUESTION IS TWOFOLD :
    (1) how do I create a new Itunes library file now with today's date; and
    (2) how do I delete multiple (old) Itunes library files, without risking the loss of what I've got ?
    This all stems from exploring Itunes as a result of a problem I had today... when trying to import mp3's from my terrabyte drive, after about 150 successful mp3 track imports, Itunes froze and everything else on my MAC froze as well (constant spinning colored wheel). After many failed attempts to force quit Itunes, I turned off my MBPro. On restarting, Itunes tooks ages to "import" files. Eventually Itunes opened but with only half of my original tunes (1500+ songs 8.11GB) and had nothing from today's import.
    I found a post suggesting to hold down OPTION while starting Itunes. Then I selected a file from my hard drive > me > music > Itunes > "Itune library" with the most recent date and shezam, Itunes once again has all my songs, as before. Nothing I imported from the terrabyte drive today appears however, but no matter.
    In my "Itunes" file there appear MULTIPLE Itunes libraries ! such as Itunes library, Itunes Library (damaged), and as well a folder called "Previous Itunes Libraries" which itself contains multiple Itunes Library files and multiple "previous Itunes Library files" with dates back to 2007. These I want to clean up and delete .... should I ? ... Can I ?
    I really could use some words of wisdom from the wise ! Thanks in advance

    Whenever you install a new version of iTunes and run it teh first time, iTunes will create a backup of the current iTunes library file and copy it into \Music\iTunes\Previous iTunes libraries, then update the iTunes library file in \Music\iTunes\ for the current version of iTunes.

  • How do I sync my iPhone to a new computer without having to erase and sync?

    Hi, i have an iPhone 4s that i have been syncing with my old windows computer. I now have a macbook air and obviously i want to start syncing my iPhone on my mac instead of windows.
    I DO have a backup of my iPhone on my windows if that makes a difference. I want to be able to use the mac iTunes for syncing and putting music from mac to iPhone but i don't want to loose any of the music, data, apps, notes, photos, contacts, messages etc...
    what would be the steps in doing this? do i have to move all my music from my old comp to mac or is there a way to address my problem by moving the library file to mac? 
    Ps i know this has been asked heaps but i dont understand the answers according to my specific situation, and btw i would like to do this without other apps or programs if possible, definetly no jailbreaking please

    Move your Entire iTunes Library from the PC to the Mac.
    NickMacAir wrote:
    Hi, i have an iPhone 4s that i have been syncing with my old windows computer. I now have a macbook air and obviously i want to start syncing my iPhone on my mac instead of windows
    Move iTunes Library from PC to MAC
    http://www.macworld.com/article/146958/2010/03/move_itunes_windows_mac.html

  • How do I sync my iPhone to a new computer without losing all my data?

    I hooked up my iPhone to my new computer and was able to transfer songs etc to my iPhone with no problems, just clicked and dragged like normal. Suddenly it wont let me do so, wont let me drag a song or anything over to my device. I noticed that the "manually manage music and video" check box was unchecked, so I clicked it and got the prompt to restore my iPhone and delete all the data on it. Obviously I clicked cancel. I have read a few other discussions about this issue but am confused and need a dummies approach please as most people seem to be referring to certain things, for example they are worried about losing their applications, or just their music....I want to be able to sync my iPhone to my new computer, without ANYTHING changing. I dont want to lose any music, apps photos, contacts, purchases....anything....
    Please help. Thank you!

    By design, the iphone will sync itunes content with one computer at a time. Any attempt to sync such content with a second computer will result in ALL itunes content being first erased from her phone & then replaced with the content from the second computer. This is a design feature and cannot be overridden. Because you are replacing your computer, your phone will see this computer as a "new" computer. The itunes content sync is one way: computer to phone. If you have photos that were synced to your phone or music ripped on her own that were not backed up, you will first have to extract them from your phone using third party software, before you do anything else, as Apple makes no provision to do so:
    http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/index.php
    Once you've done that, do the following in the order specified:
    1. Disable auto sync when an iPod/iPhone is connected under Preferences>Devices in itunes(under the edit menu if using Windows).
    2. Make sure you have one contact & one event in the supported applications(Outlook, Windows Address Book) on your computer. These entries can be fake, doesn't matter, the important point is that these programs not be empty.
    3. Connect her phone, iTunes running, do not sync at this point.
    4. Store>Authorize this computer.
    5. File>Transfer Purchases(To make sure all purchased content on your phone will be in your itunes library).
    6. Right click in the device pane & select reset warnings.
    7. Right click again and select backup.
    8. Right click again & select restore from backup, select the backup you just made. When prompted to create another backup, decline.
    9. This MUST be followed by a sync to restore your itunes content, which you select from the various tabs, You'll get a popup regarding her contacts & calendars asking to merge or replace, select merge.
    You should be good to go.

  • I have just changed my computer as my old one died... but now cannot access my old itunes account so i have set up a new one with another email address. how can I sync my ipod to my new computer without wiping all my music ?

    I have just tried to sync my ipod to a new computer as my old one died but as I cannot remember my previous log in I created a new itunes account. I now want to sync but it says it will wipe my music off my ipod. Does anyone know how I can do this now ?

    If you have purchases on your iPod Shuffle that you want to sync back to iTunes, but are under the Apple ID you no longer have access to, you'll need to reset that account information. You can use this link to reset your password.
    https://iforgot.apple.com/
    If that doesn' work or help, you'll need to contact iTunes support and have them walk you through the process of resetting the older account information.  Once you know the email and password again, you can authorize your new computer and transfer any purchases from this account back to iTunes.
    For all non-iTunes purchased content, you'll need to the assistance of some sort of third party software that is not supported by Apple. See this older post from another forum member Zevoneer covering the different methods and software available to assist you with the task of copying content from your iPod back to your PC and into iTunes.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?start=0&tstart=0
    B-rock
    B-rock

  • My old computer has crashed, i got a new one, how do i sync my iPhone to my new computer without lost any of my data?, my old computer has crashed, i got a new one, how do i sync my iPhone to my new computer without lost any of my data?

    is there a way doing that without any complications?

    You will not be able to transfer music not purchased from iTunes from your phone to your computer, or any photos that you may have transferred to your phone from your computer (i.e., Photo Library photos) without using 3rd party software such as Touch Copy.  (You may want to re-rip your CDs to your new iTunes library and use an app like PhotoSync to transfer Photo Library photos as a more cost-effective solution.)  After dealing with that, the procedure to follow to establish syncing with your new computer without losing other date is outlined here: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141.

  • How do I sync my iphone to a new laptop without losing my information?

    Hi,  I have an older macbook pro that I have been syncing my iphone, and three ipods to for a long time.  I have a new macbook pro and want to use it for the sync instead.  How do I do that without it erasing my devices?
    Thanks for your help.

    See these 2 Links...
    iPhone User Tip: Syncing to a New Computer...
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3141
    Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991
    Another way if you still have access to your Old Mac...
    Copy your ENTIRE iTunes FOLDER to an External Drive... and then from the External Drive to your New Computer..
    Backup iTunes to an External Drive
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
    An Added Bonus is that you will have a Backup of iTunes.

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