Help? iTunes Deleted All of My Music Off My iPod

I am beyond frustrated & angry right now.   My old computer died, & I got a new PC with Windows 7.  So, after downloading iTunes, I tried to take what was salvaged from my dead computer to rebuild my music library, but it had only my old music for some reason, so that was a bust.  Now, I have an external hard drive, but I wasn't backing up to it regularly, so I know this is my fault, & I'm stupid.  I have an iPod Nano, that had my entire music collection on it, intact & well-organized.  So, I figured I could use one of the many "transfer music from an iPod to an iTunes Library" tutorials.  I tried using this one: , but when I plugged my iPod in, it did not show up in the list of devices.  At that point - stupid me - I should have quit while I was ahead.  But no, like an idiot, I fiddled with it, trying to get it to show up, messing with iTunes settings...& it started syncing.  In seconds, all of my meticulously organized music was lost, & now I am beyond depressed that it's all gone.

 

So, my first question is, is there any way to salvage my files off the iPod once it's been synced with the wrong library?

 

Second question: Is there an easy way to make a copy of your entire iTunes library, WITH SETTINGS (album art, correct track names, lyrics, etc.) so that this never happens again?  I'm at a loss, & I don't want to lose my music again if the same thing happens.

This is a hard lesson...

 

There is no way to get your music back unless you can revive your old HDD.

 

Here is the link on how to back up iTunes to an external drive

 

The reality is Apple are monetizing and punishing the users with inflexibility in a nearsighted attempt to protect their 'rights'.

 

One might even consider never using iTunes again and just downloading songs you want from providers that provide the actual content, unlocked and free for you to use as you see fit. After all, you did pay for it.

If the music was erased from the IPod you may be able to recover it using something like PhotoRec (http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec).  It would be worth a try.  I have used it before to recover deleted images and videos from SD cards.

 

I got a new PC with Windows 7.  So, after downloading iTunes,

This happened to me a few years ago. Luckily all my music was backed up to external USB HDD, I put the art work eg album covers into the same folder as the album, That way when I import the album into a device the album cover is there and most music players see it.

As far as I understand it your Ipod is owned by the Itunes on your pc, If I was to plug my Ipod into your PC the same thing would happen.

This is to prevent say me copying music from my ipod via itunes to you PC.

 

Top 10 Alternatives to iTunes | iTunes Replacement

 

 

 

 

As far as I understand it your Ipod is owned by the Itunes on your pc, If I was to plug my Ipod into your PC the same thing would happen.

Actually, it will depend on how you have iTunes setup. There is a setting in iTunes that will prevent ANY and ALL iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically. Here are some instructions on how to engage that setting (it is the second set of instructions):

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12320?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

I will note that in addition you used to be able to hold down a key combination when plugging in the iPod/iPhone/iPad that would prevent syncing. The combination on a Windows machine was Shift + Control (on Mac it was Command + Option). I honestly don't know if this still works or not as I have not needed to use it in a LONG, LONG time.

This is to prevent say me copying music from my ipod via itunes to you PC.

Actually, I believe it was meant for easy of use…i.e. the syncing just works when you plug it in. They likely did not intentionally do it to make copying music more difficult…of course, it likely was a nice side benefit in their eyes.

The part that is deliberate on their part is that there is not a built-in way in iTunes to copy/sync non-iTunes Store purchased music (i.e. music you ripped from CDs or got from other sources, legal or illegal) from an iPod, iPhone, or iPads to the computer. THAT is their method to prevent you from copying music…something that they have actually acknowledged in the past if memory serves. You basically have to use a third party program to do that. There are some iPod versions that allow you to mount the iPod as a disk and then you could potentially find and copy the music. FWIW, you CAN copy/transfer music purchased through the iTunes Store on an iOS device (i.e. iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad) to a computer using iTunes. I forget if it requires you to be logged into your iTunes account in iTunes or not.

You only have to restore the lost data from iPod, otherwise , you have not chance to get them any more,

but it is difficult to say , if the deleted data has been erased with some new files on iPod , you still can not recover them back,

You only have to restore lost data from iPod, otherwise , you have not chance to get them any more,

but it is difficult to say , if the deleted data has been erased with some new files on iPod , you still can not recover them back,

 

Without iTunes or iCloud backup files that you can recover from, I think it is a good method to try recovery tool.

Edited by Panillters, 13 April 2017 - 07:23 PM.

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