New hard drive on laptop

Question

I had to install a new hard drive, so naturally I lost all my songs; they're still on my iPod mini, and I know that I can't upload them onto the new hard drive. My question is this: if I plug my mini into my laptop and open iTunes, will it sync and download "nothing" over what I already have on my mini? (in other words, will I lose everything if I sync with an iTunes library that doesn't have anything in it?)
Also, can't find a **** phone number for tech support anywhere on this site! grr

Answer 1

Do not connect a full iPod to an empty iTunes!! You will erase the iPod.
These links will give you several methods of recovering whatever songs remain on your iPod; some free, some third-party software, some more comprehensive for restoring Playlists, Ratings, Play Counts, etc. Read them and their associated links before deciding on a strategy that works for you. There are many various third-party software programs that will offer a more robust process, or an easier GUI. Do a Google search for them if the links below leave you wanting…
Don King Resurrected: Deleted files from hard drive (free user steps – music recovery only)
MacMuse: Computer Crashed (free user steps – music recovery only)
Copying music from iPod to computer (a primer on various methods and software)
Copying Songs from Your iPod to a Mac or PC (resource for 3rd party software)
iPodRip Software
PodUtil Software
Senuti (Mac OS X v10.3 or higher Recovery Utility)
XPlay (Software For Music Recovery &/or Cross-Platform Functionality)
XPlay Photo Browser (For recovering Photos)
Extremely Simple Method:
1 - Open iTunes
2 - Edit=>Preferences=>’Advanced/General’ tab
2a --- ‘Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library’: checked
2b --- ‘Keep iTunes Music folder organized’: checked
2c --- Click OK
3 - Attach your iPod to the PC and hold down the ‘Shift+Ctrl’ keys until the iPod is fully recognized (this will defeat the auto-sync process)
4 - If you get a dialog box to link the Library, decline this option
5 - File=>Add Folder
6 - Browse to and open ‘My Computer’ and select the iPod
7 - Click OK
8 - The music files should start to transfer back into iTunes
No Playlists, or Ratings, Last Played, & Play Count attributes will be transferred from the iPod to iTunes using this method
After recovering your song files, strongly consider developing a thorough backup strategy for just this type of situation (and many other potential disasters).
You need at least two full sets of your music, not including what is on the iPod:
-- One full set on the PC within iTunes (on internal HD or ExHD)
-- One full set on an separate external backup medium (CD/DVD/ExHD/other)
-- One (full or partial) set on the iPod
Music files on just the iPod and only one other medium is not considered having any backup.
If you cannot store your complete music files on the computer’s internal HD, then create and maintain at least two external sets (any multiple combinations of ExHDs, DVDs, CDs).
Backup both the music files and the Library database file (iTunes Library.itl). What are the iTunes Library files?
Here is a post on developing a thorough backup strategy:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=1498152