Transferring *PART* of iTunes Library w/ an iPod: Can this be done?

Question

Hi there:
Before I ask the question, here's the summary of the basic sitaution. I've got iTunes 7.71 on my MacBook Pro and I've got a huge music library (approx 256 GB) that I keep on an external firewire drive. (In case it affects things, the overwhelming majority of stuff in the library consists of MP3 rips from my CD collection-- very little is from the iTunes store).
I also have a 60 GB color display iPod that I use to listen to tunes when I'm at the gym, on planes, etc. Since my whole iTunes library does NOT fit on that, I don't try to sync my whole library to the iPod, but just a few selected playlists (which I keep in a playlist folder called "iPod playlists"), which total about 50 GB of songs.
OK, got that? Now: here's the challenge:
I just started work at a new job and I would really like to be able to transfer the iPod part of my library only to the (Windows) machine I have there... the songs/playlists, etc. (I don't want/need all 256 GB of my library there... and in fact, I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be enough room on the machine for it. Also, I don't want to just plug in my iPod or an iPod dock and play from that, as I really like all the additional sorting functionality that iTunes offers, and frankly, I just know I'd be forgetting and leaving my iPod at work half the time if I did that, and be kicking myself later when I had nothing to listen to at the gym..)
So: Can I do this? If so how?
I searched around among the support documents and found very detailed instructions on how one can use an iPod to transfer a WHOLE library from one computer to another (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1329). But that's not what I want to do here-- and the size of my main library precludes it anyway. I ONLY want to transfer the part of my library that I put on my iPod to my work machine.
There ought to be an easy way to do this, I think-- but I can't seem to find it. Or is it impossible? Can anyone out there please point me to info on how this can be done? Or just tell me? Thanks!
Message was edited by: Jim Chokey

Answer 1

Thanks for a clear explanation of your situation. You should be able to use your iPod to do this...
There is one issue. If you currently sync the iPod to a Mac, it will be formatted for Mac (Mac OS Extended aka HFS+). Windows PCs cannot read the Mac format. However, Macs can read and write the Windows format (FAT32). So that is part of the solution.
In order to use the iPod as the means of transferring the files, you'll have to connect it to the PC and Restore it in iTunes. This should erase and initialize the iPod, and change the format to Windows. Don't put any songs on it. You should enable disk use and set not to start iTunes when connected.
Now connect it to your Mac. If iTunes does start and asks if you want to sync it to the Mac, say Cancel or No. Quit iTunes. Hopefully, the iPod appears on your Desktop as an external hard drive. Since you did not load any iTunes songs on it, most of the hard drive's space should be available. Create a new folder at the top level to hold your +to be transferred+ files. You can name it Transfer (or whatever you want). Have a Finder window open so that you can see this folder (or see into the folder).
Start iTunes. Select that "iPod playlist" playlist in the sidebar so the main pane in the iTunes window shows the songs you want to transfer. Do a +Select All+ so that all the songs get selected. Drag all the songs from the iTunes window and drop them onto the Transfer folder. iTunes and Finder should work together to make a copy of all the song files onto the iPod. They will be visible, because you are using the iPod as a hard drive.
Connect the iPod to the PC and use Windows Explorer or My Computer to copy the files off the iPod. If you use the default settings in iTunes, namely the preference (on the Advanced tab) to +Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library+, you can actually run iTunes and drag/drop the whole transfer folder icon from the iPod to the open iTunes window. iTunes should copy the files to the iTunes Music library, and organize based on artist and album. You'll be copying the files and adding the songs to the iTunes library at the same time...!
Once you are done, Restore it in iTunes on the Mac to put it back to the proper Mac format.
You can, of course, substitute a regular external hard drive (formatted on the PC as FAT32) and not have to mess with your iPod's formatting. That would make things a bit easier.