Transferring from a Mac 10.2.8 iTunes 6 to WinXP iTunes 7

Question

I need to transfer my Mac-formatted iPod from a Mac running OS 10.2.8 with iTunes 6 to WindowsXP with iTunes 7 as well as all my music and audiobooks from my Mac iTunes library to my PC.
All of the documentation I can find says that they both have to have iTunes 7, but the Mac does not meet the system requirements for iTunes 7.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can accomplish this? What steps must I take and in what order?
Thanks for your help!
iPod mini Mac OS X (10.2.x) to WinXP Pro

Answer 1

OK first thing is, are all the songs that are on your iPod still in your iTunes library? And second, do you plan on still using the iPod with the Mac after you move everything to the Windows machine?
If all your songs are safe on the Mac, then what we want to do first is format the iPod in Windows format. Because, Windows can not read your Mac formatted iPod, but once in DOS format, both computers can read the iPod.
But I don't think we want to format the iPod with iTunes 7 because it may also update the firmware to where you can not read it on the Mac's iTunes. I am not sure of this, though. But if you don't need to use iTunes on the Mac anymore, I don't think it matters.
If you need to use the Mac iTunes still, Did your iPod mini come with a CD? If so, does the CD have both Windows and Mac stuff on it? If so, it likely has a restore/updater program on it for Windows. So insert the CD into the Windows machine and install the updater program. When done, plug your iPod into the Windows machine. Say no when it asks you if you want to change it to windows. Exit iTunes.
Now run the stand alone updater/restorer program. If it works correctly this should reformat the Mini to Windows format and put it back into the condition it was when you bought it. Eject it.
If on the other hand you don't need to use it on the Mac anymore for iTunes, then restore it with iTunes7 on the Windows machine. After it is done, enable Disk Mode on the iPod from the Summary page. Eject the iPod
Plug it into the Mac. Your Mac should now be able to read it. But you don't want to sync/update to it.
If we are keeping it Mac iTunes compatible then we want to put the iPod into disk mode (preferences -> iPod -> Enable Disk Mode). Exit iTunes. Otherwise you are already in disk mode.
iPod should be on the desktop. You can now drag and drop your iTunes stuff onto it...
How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer using iTunes6
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304304
How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer using iTunes7
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173
assuming you have enough room. You may need to do it in several chunks. Eject the iPod, move it to the Windows machine, copy the iTunes stuff onto the Windows machine.
Once you get it all on there, eject the iPod. Open iTunes. Now if everything is back in the same folder structure, I think in order to keep playlists and stuff you want to Recreate our iTunes library. See these instructions...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313
If that doesn't work, then you can always simply do a File -> Add to Library and select the iTunes folder which will add everything but then you lose play counts, playlists, etc.
Disclaimer: I haven't actually done the process as outlined above, so I am making assumptions on how things work. The above may not be completely correct.
Patrick