Switching iPod Formats - PC to Mac

I am making a switch from PC to Mac. I was able to transfer my music to my Mac, but is there a way I can change the format of my iPod from PC to Mac, so I can be finished with the PC?

this seems ok, but I get a message that the restore won't work becasue files asre in use with another application. which would be what? you need iTunes open to do a restore.

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IPod formats PC to Mac

Btabz informed me (on another question) that
Mac-formatted iPods cannot be read by Windows, but it works the other way around.
I am wanting to transfer files routinely between a Mac and a PC. Currently I am using a Mac formatted iPod -so cannot transfer files (using iPod as a portable disk) to a PC. I am quite addicted to iCal (updates from my Mac) and transfer music Manually. Can anyone forsee any problems if I PC formatted my disk. Btabz has already mentioned that the iPod update will need to be done through the PC - but I can live with that.
thanks all

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Mac-formatted iPods cannot be read by Windows, but it works the other way around.
That is slightly correct...see, the iPod stays on a certain format depending on what type of computer you're using. Windows-formatted iPods can't read Mac iPods, and the same way around. But that doesn't really matter unless, for example, you have Boot Camp on your Mac computer (however, I have no knowledge of Boot Camp Beta because I do not own a Mac, I am simply making an educated guess on this subject) where you can switch back and forth between them (but you shouldn't have your iPod connected during the transition, I imagine it would majorly screw it up).
It takes a little energy to reformat your iPod every time you switch computers, so your best bet (which would be easier and wouldn't wear down your iPod as much) would be stay with one computer--I recommend you stay with the Mac, only because Macs have not even half as much trouble as it does with a PC, if any at all--so you won't cause any wearing troubles with your iPod.
I am quite addicted to iCal (updates from my Mac)
That's another good reason to stay with a Mac--it has easier information to get to the iPod than it does in Disk Mode with a PC...Outlook Express is ****
Besides, if you switch between them, it would wipe your entire library on your iPod and eventually start taking up space regardless of the fact that it's gone, because HDDs never really delete the entire file.
And I'm pretty sure you can update your iPod through Mac, I'm not sure what btabz meant by that...unless there's some knowledge I'm unaware of :\
Hope this helped your decision
rjl

HT1335 Getting music off ipod formatted with a Mac

How do I get music off an ipod that has been formatted on a mac and transfer it to my windows computer?

That may be difficult. The reverse would be easier because Macs can read the Windows disk format (FAT32) used on iPods. Windows cannot read the disk format used by Macs, without additional (not free) software. Here is one such product
http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive
If you can make your Windows PC access the iPod's disk, you can probably use one of the third-party methods or utilities for transferring song files from iPod to computer. You cannot use iTunes for transferring song files from iPod to computer (except for songs purchased from the iTunes Store). An Internet search on something like "ipod transfer" should provide some links.
Once the song files from the iPod are on your computer's drive, you can add them to the iTunes library and then re-sync the iPod as desired.

Loading pc info into ipod formatted in apple mac

my brother loaded his itune library (apple mac) onto my new ipod. I unfortunatley have a hp pc and my ipod does not show up when i plug it into my computer. the prompt tells me to reformat the ipod and remove al the tunes from it. is there any way to convert all those tunes to pc format? and then restore the ipod in pc format?
hp pavilion Windows XP

An iPod formatted for Mac won't run natively on a PC because the Windows OS does not support the HFS Plus file system and therefore will not see the drive. You can reformat your iPod on Windows if you want to use it on both platforms as Macs can read Windows formatting I've seen posts on the forum where there have been problems but these would be the exception). Alternatively there are third party programs that will allow you to use a Mac formatted iPod on Windows, XPlay for instance will allow you to play your songs on a PC and even copy them to the computer: XPlay 2

Switched iPod format from PC to Mac OSX.5 - Album Art Missing in some songs

Has anyone else seen this problem? I am meticulous about adding art to albums I like, especially, so I know it was there before.
I switched from a Windows system to Macbook recently, and everything else seems great, but there is definitely some artwork missing. There is no consistency to what's missing - some I added myself by adding a .jpg to the folder where the songs were (auto-created by iTunes when I imported the song in), and some were brought in when I imported a CD.
Can I get iTunes (and my iPod) to find them again, or will I just have to re-add them?
Also - My music is all on an external USB drive which is plugged in to a G5 and I'm accessing it from my MacBook over wireless network. Would that make a difference? When I go on the G5, I see a folder I created on the PC for miscellaneous album art. From the MacBook, I cannot see that folder. I can see all the music folders around it, but just not that folder. ***? Why is that?

see doing the following helps
For Mac computer
1. Open the disk utility, hope your iPod appears there (left hand side), highlight it
2. Go to Tab “Partition”, click either “Delete” or “Partition”, if fails, skip this step and go to 3
3. Go to Tab “Erase” , choose Volume Format as “MAC OS Extended (Journaled), and click Erase, again if fails, skip it and go to 4
4. Same as step 3, but open the “Security Options....” and choose “Zero Out Data” before click Erase. It will take 1 to 2 hours to complete.
5. Eject your iPod and do a Reset
6. Open the iTunes 7 and click “Restore”
seems it could be some bad sectors on the HD of your iPod, if the above does not solve, then do a Restore with a PC, and see what happen

Switching Ipod from PC to MAC format

Hi All,
When I first purchased my Ipod I used it with a PC. I have made the move to a Mac (a Macbook) and would like to use that to sync my Ipod. Currently the Ipod is formatted for Windows. What do I have to do to get it to work with the mac? is it as simple as just plugging it into the mac or do I have to do something else? Thanks in advance!!!

Macs can read Windows formatting so you should have no problem connecting your iPod to your Macbook. One proviso is that up until now Apple has only fully supported using the iPod shuffle in FAT32 format on Mac. What this means effectively is that if you need to apply a firmware update for your iPod and you wanted to maintain the Windows format you would have to do it on a PC. If you were to try and update a Windows based iPod on a Mac it would be restored and reformatted to the Mac file system and have the Mac firmware installed. if you want to reformat the iPod for Mac you just need to restore it in iTunes for Mac.
Just be aware that restoring will erase and reformat the iPod's hard drive, reload the software with the Mac version and put it back to default settings, so if you have songs on your iPod that aren't on iTunes you will lose them if you have no back up. Once the restore is complete follow the on screen instructions to name the iPod and automatically sync your songs and videos onto the fresh installation. Press Done and the iPod will appear in iTunes and start to sync. If you want to update manually or using selected playlists uncheck the box beside the sync automatically instruction and press Done, it will default to manual mode and you can choose whatever setting you like: Restoring iPod to factory settings with iTunes 7

Switching ipod from windows to mac

I have a windows computer and i am switching my ipod to my powebook but i can't update it and cannot put songs onto my ipod or get them from my ipod, i want to make it mac formatted. my ipod doesn't work on my windows computer anymore either which isn't a problem but i can't use that computer to fix the problem. thanks

Welcome to Apple Discussions.
If you want to make your iPod Mac formatted, you need to download the Mac version of iPod software updater and install it on your Powerbook. Then run it and connect the iPod when told. Choose to restore. This will convert the iPod to Mac format which will erase everything on it.
Make sure your iPod is fully charged first.

Switch ipod from windows to mac

I'm a novice. pls help...I set up my ipod for use with my pc and now want to switch it to use it with my mac laptop. How do I proceed? Thanks.

Well it isn't absolutely necessary because a Windows formatted iPod will work just fine on a Mac.
The major drawback to this is should you ever want to update the iPod software, you'll need to do this on a Windows PC.
If you want to format the iPod right now, just connect to your Mac and restore it.
See: How to restore the iPod to factory settings.

Ipod formatted on intel Mac can't be read when connected to G4 w/ 10.3.9

Is there anyway to add music to an iPod (from iTunes) running on a an older G4 Mac with OS X 10.3.9 if the iPod has been formatted on a newer intel based Mac running Lepord? The error I get on my G4 says that the disc I've inserted has volumes on it that can't be read by my Mac OS software.
Message was edited by: thewinnman

Is there anyway to add music to an iPod (from iTunes) running on a an older G4 Mac with OS X 10.3.9 if the iPod has been formatted on a newer intel based Mac running Lepord?
The iPod needs to be formatted using the APM partition format if the Disk Utility is used to erase it. Mac OS X 10.3 and earlier will not access GUID formatted drives.
(32733)

Switching ipod from PC to Mac

I recently converted back over to Mac from PC with the newest Intel MacBook Pro. Can anyone advise me on converting my iPod back to Mac? Should I reformat my video iPod to Mac format or leave it? How do I move purchased songs and library from Windows iTunes to Mac iTunes?

Copying from iPod to Computer threads...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5044027&#5044027
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=893334&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=797432&#797432
Also these useful internet articles...
http://www.engadget.com/2004/11/02/how-to-get-music-off-your-ipod/
http://playlistmag.com/secrets/2006/12/twowaystreet20/index.php
http://playlistmag.com/help/2005/01/2waystreet/
Patrick

Switching Ipod from windows to mac without losing all data

Please help. I set up my Ipod last year with windows computer, downloaded most of my CD's and lots of other music, last month laptop was stolen and I decided to buy a macbook as replacment.
I would like to transfer all songs from IPOD to new itunes library, which requires converting IPod to hard disk, but in mac I am not allowed this function, or I can't find it. The tick box is not shown in the summar page
Can someone give me an idiots guide, the instructions in various mac help sites are not getting me anywhere!

First, please note that your iPod previously formatted on a PC, should be able to read by your Mac, but not the other way round. You can copy the music files from your iPod to the iTunes on your Mac by download and install a 3rd party software
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1020963&tstart=0

Problems With An iPod Formatted For a Mac

I have a 30GB 5G iPod and i formatted it for my mac but now i can't use it as a portable drive to move files from my pc to my mac, do i have to reformat it for a pc to use it to transfer files?

Hi Anthony,
As you have found out, Windows does not have any native support for Mac formatted drives so your freshly Mac formatted iPod will not be readable on a Windows machine.
However Macs can read Windows formatted iPods just fine, so to answer your question, if you reformat back to DOS (Fat32) format using a Windows machine and iTunes loaded on the Windows machine to perform the "Restore" which will reformat it, you can then plug it into your Mac and sync it to your Mac library, the iPod will remain Windows formatted, and if you enable Disk Mode on the iPod it can be used as an external drive on both Mac and Windows systems.
The only other solution I know of is paying for software to run on the Windows machine to be able to read Mac formats.
Patrick

Switch iPod from PC to Mac

Just switched from PC to iMac and had all of our data swapped over (music, photos, documents, etc.). It appears all of the music we had in iTunes on the PC carried over, just not any of the playlists. When I connect my iPod Classic and iPad, I receive messages that both are still "tethered" to another computer, and that if I want to sych them with our new one I have to essentially wipe them clean. How to I "untether" both from our old, disconnected PC to our new iMac without losing everything on each device?

Plug it back into the PC and then change the setting for the iPod from Auto Update to Manual update. Eject and plug into Mac...
Using iPod with multiple computers
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61675
Managing content manually on iPod
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61148
iPod: Frequently Asked Questions
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60920
Patrick

IPod Format - PC Vs. Mac

I am genuinely not trying to start a fight but which format is better for my pod. I have both Macs and PC's. I am aware that the Mac formatted pod can not be seen by a PC. However I am find that the PC formatted pod is very slow on my Mac (and to be honest pretty slow onthe PC hence I generally only Sync with the Mac).
Is there any benefits/disadvantages to either format as I am giving real consideration to formatting it back to Mac format as I now spend the majority of my time on the mac! (The way it should be as PC's are dirty!)

Ok explain this to me? I have formatted the pod from PC to Mac, put all my songs and movies on it, but I now have lots more free space? PC formatted it had 7.6gb free now I have 13.6gb free with it mac formatted? Any ideas. (Everything has definatley copied ok too!)

I want to back up my IPOD music on to my PC, but IPOD is formatted for my MAC, how do I do it?

Can anyone help me back up my IPOD music to my Laptop PC? I have my IPOD formatted for my MAC and can't back it up on PC......Help!

Install software on your PC such as MediaFour's MacDrive to enable it to read/write Mac formatted disks.

Switching iPod Formats - PC to Mac

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