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6 Replies Last post: Aug 8, 2004 2:01 PM by dcipjr

pmptg

46 posts since
Nov 12, 2001

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Aug 7, 2004 7:21 AM

Windows ipod conversion

My wife's boss finally got an ipod that I had recommended to him. After a week on windows he now says he wants to do the switch to a mac. Is there a way to reset the ipod so it will work with a mac, or once it's configured for a PC there is no turning back?

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sebimeyer

405 posts since
Apr 4, 2001

1. Aug 7, 2004 7:49 AM

in response to: pmptg

Re: Windows ipod conversion

If it is formatted for the PC it will work out of the box on a Mac. The other way round you'd have to reformat it with the utility that comes with it. No big deal either way.

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pmptg

46 posts since
Nov 12, 2001

2. Aug 7, 2004 8:19 AM

in response to: sebimeyer

Re: Windows ipod conversion

Thanks - I should have known.

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Weather_Squid

36 posts since
Jan 14, 2002

3. Aug 7, 2004 1:05 PM

in response to: pmptg

Re: Windows ipod conversion

Is there a way to do this for the 1G 5GB iPod? I just bought a 4G 20GB for use in my car (a MINI - going to use the iPod to MINI/BMW Connector) and they would like it to play with. What does switching it from Mac to Win require? Oh, and the odds of me switching my parents from Win to Mac is next to zero right now...

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carlcombs

24 posts since
Aug 22, 2003

4. Aug 7, 2004 8:27 PM

in response to: sebimeyer

Re: Windows ipod conversion

I have a 2G iPod that was formatted for my Mac. I just bought one of the new 4Gs and am planning on passing the old one on to my brother. How difficult is it to re-format it for Windows? Do I just need the original software? And after it is reformatted, do I just need to get an adapter so it will work with his USB ports? Thanks.

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RonAnnArbor

576 posts since
Sep 20, 2003

5. Aug 8, 2004 1:31 PM

in response to: carlcombs

Re: Windows ipod conversion

OK...correct me if I am wrong on this one, or maybe I misunderstood the question...but if you go from a PC formatted iPOD to a mac-formatted iPOD you do indeed lose all your data and need to read it in again on the mac because the software/firmware (not sure what it is in this case) can NOT be used interchangeably on PC and Mac....

I would have switched my music (hundreds of albums) over from my PC to my mac a long time ago if I could have. It is the only reason I still have a PC at home, to sync my iPOD, and I have no intention of burning all those albums to my apple all over again...

So -- let's clarify...

If you want to switch from using your PC to your Mac the iPOD will adjust just fine -- but if you want to keep the songs you already have on it, I believe that is a no go and you will need to reburn (or at least copy over all the music from your PC to your Apple computer) to your Mac.

If someone knows otherwise, please advise of course - but it was pretty clearly explained to me that you can not use the iPOD on both systems - one or the other - and switching from one to the other, in either direction, requires reformatting your iPOD via the updater.

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dcipjr

1,194 posts since
Jan 9, 2001

6. Aug 8, 2004 2:04 PM

in response to: RonAnnArbor

Re: Windows ipod conversion

In reply to:<hr />
OK...correct me if I am wrong on this one, or maybe I misunderstood the question...but if you go from a PC formatted iPOD to a mac-formatted iPOD you do indeed lose all your data and need to read it in again on the mac because the software/firmware (not sure what it is in this case) can NOT be used interchangeably on PC and Mac....

<hr />

Well, someone explained it to you wrong, I guess. A Mac can read a PC-formatted iPod. Not the other way around. My iPod is formatted in Windows format, because my Windows computer has a bigger hard drive and thus stores the music and manages the library. However, I can plug my iPod into my Mac and have my Mac read the contents of the disk, do an iSync, even copy music files in Manual mode. The iPod shows up under the iTunes source list just as a Mac formatted iPod would.

The only difference is that the iPod does not have an iPod icon when mounted on the desktop. It's the icon for a generic drive.

In short, a PC iPod will work fine on a Mac. Not the other way around, though -- a Mac-formatted iPod will not be able to be read on the PC because the PC won't know how to deal with the HFS filesystem. To get a Mac-formatted iPod to be read on a PC, the PC will have to convert it, thus losing the data on the iPod. No such conversion is necessary when going from PC iPod to Mac, but if you'll be syncing a PC iPod regularly with a Mac, it may be a good idea to format it as a Mac iPod. I read that you'll get slightly better performance this way.

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