10-15-2006, 07:21 AM

I have aquired an ipod 3rd generation from someone which is formated for mac, however they need it formatted for windows and for some reason they couldnt/wouldnt do it. Anyway i have a slight problem in doing this i know how to do it using windows. But unfortunatly i dont have any working computers running windows. So is there a way to do this using mac?

10-15-2006, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by peas

I have aquired an ipod 3rd generation from someone which is formated for mac, however they need it formatted for windows and for some reason they couldnt/wouldnt do it. Anyway i have a slight problem in doing this i know how to do it using windows. But unfortunatly i dont have any working computers running windows. So is there a way to do this using mac?

I found this info:

http://macs.about.com/od/ipod/a/mac2pc_ipod.htm

As I have no direct experience with this procedure, please read all instructions carefully and make sure your iTunes songs are backed-up before following any of the info in the link.

~Marty

10-16-2006, 03:42 PM

i thought the IPOD would use the same format for both, i though fat32 or something with both OS's can easily read from...

10-19-2006, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by Mathiau

i thought the IPOD would use the same format for both, i though fat32 or something with both OS's can easily read from...

Macs can use ipods formatted for windows with no problems. That's how mine is after switching. I prefer it this way because I can download large files at work on my Windows system and take them home to my Mac via the Ipod.

But, if you have to do a restore from a Mac, it will be formatted with Mac's file system, not fat32.

10-20-2006, 05:32 AM

Originally Posted by jc1350

Macs can use ipods formatted for windows with no problems. That's how mine is after switching. I prefer it this way because I can download large files at work on my Windows system and take them home to my Mac via the Ipod.

But, if you have to do a restore from a Mac, it will be formatted with Mac's file system, not fat32.

I have just made the switch and am nervous about syncing with my iMac for the first time (especially after the crazy "gapless" analysis). Would you mind letting me know how it went when you had to do it for the first time?

Thanks,

Jack.

10-20-2006, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by Jackcu

I have just made the switch and am nervous about syncing with my iMac for the first time (especially after the crazy "gapless" analysis). Would you mind letting me know how it went when you had to do it for the first time?

Thanks,

Jack.

When I switched I used itunes 6, but I don't think that matters. What I did do was

1 - started ituns on the mac so it would create the library directory. This allowed me to find it as I was not sure of where exactly it would store it. I compared that directory to the one on windows and found the structure to be the same.

2 - deleted the newly created itunes directory from "music" on the mac

3 - copied the entire iTunes directory from "my music" on Windows to the music directory
on the mac

4. started itunes on the mac and all was there. I still had to "authenicate" (the up to 5 computers feature) the mac so that it could play the DRM'ed files, but all my songs, play lists, etc were there.

I had zero problems.

I never use the auto sync with the ipod because I don't put everything in the library on the ipod. the library has all the songs from CDs I imported, for example. But the ipod has only the songs I like from those albums.