ITunes on Windows gone due to crash. Switched to an iMac. Now what?
Brother-in-law lost his iTunes library due to Windoze machine dying. He switched to an iMac. Still has his iPods but no associated iTunes library with it now due to the crash (and no backup).
What can he do in this situation to get his library back and working on his iMac?
1). Connect the iPod to the computer. If it is set to sync automatically you'll get a message that it is linked to a different library and asking if you want to link to this one and replace all the songs etc, press "Cancel". Pressing "Erase and Sync" will irretrievably remove all the songs from the iPod.
2). When when the iPod appears in the iTunes source list change the update setting to manual, that will let you continue to use the iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default: Managing content manually on iPod and iPhone
3). Once you are connected and the iPod is safely in manual mode there are a few things you can do to restore an iTunes library from the iPod. iTunes itself will only give you the option to copy iTunes Store purchases directly from an iPod to the computer, you'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
For everything else (music from CDs, other downloads and including iTunes purchased songs and in some cases, videos and games) there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from an iPod. I use Senuti but have a look at the web pages and documentation for the others too. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here (you'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos and games as well):
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
A selection of iPod to iTunes utilities:
Senuti Mac Only (iPod Touch & iPhone compatible)
expod Mac Only (iPod Touch & iPhone compatible)
PodView Mac Only
PodWorks Mac Only
TuneAid Mac only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
YamiPod Mac & Windows
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPodRip Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
Floola Mac & Windows
Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide
4). Keep the iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync.
5). I would also advise that your brother-in-law gets himself an external hard drive and backs up his stuff up, relying on an iPod as a sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days, you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay: Back up your iTunes library by copying to an external hard drive
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http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1717
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