iPod 5G iPod+Best Buy/Geek Squad servicing=no music!

[J.D.M.]

Ahhh....this is frustrating. So I took my 5G iPod to Best Buy to be serviced and I just got it back. Turns out that they completely erased EVERYTHING...looks like they might have done a factory reset. I wasn't terribly pleased with this...but at least I was able to load up everything that I bought on iTunes without a problem.

But the thing is this: I got the majority of my music from my friends' music collections.I picked and chose the songs I like. I really don't want to go through that again. It took a while.

Luckily, when my sister got a Zune (it has its pros and cons...overall, I think it's pretty cool--but that's not what this discussion is about), I scoured the Internet to find a way to get the music off of my iPod and onto her Zune. I found a way to do this. It was a really weird way to do it, but it involved copying the music onto my computer's hard drive. Only the Zune's software is recognizing it.

So my question is this: is there a way to force iTunes to recognize my music and sync it with my iPod? If it makes a difference, I'm on a computer running Windows XP. If you need me to answer any questions or clarify anything so you can help me, please ask!

Thanks a million in advance.

 

[archesdevil]

You lost me at zune is pretty cool

 

[WildCowboy]

Can you just look for the directory where the music is being stored, drag it to iTunes to add it to the iTunes Library, and then sync your iPod?

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Force iTunes to recognize your music? What music? I though Best Buy erased it all. How much did that cost anyway, cause I wouldn't let Best Buy anywhere near my computer much rather my iPod. I was ready to shout out get Senuti and you're all set, but on an XP machine I don't know but figure there are a million things out there. www.versiontracker.com perhaps?
I'm really not sure what you're asking for, or maybe I don't understand where your music exists or what was wrong with your iPod to begin with before you let Best Buy have it.

 

[J.D.M.]

Force iTunes to recognize your music? What music? I though Best Buy erased it all. How much did that cost anyway, cause I wouldn't let Best Buy anywhere near my computer much rather my iPod. I was ready to shout out get Senuti and you're all set, but on an XP machine I don't know but figure there are a million things out there. www.versiontracker.com perhaps?
I'm really not sure what you're asking for, or maybe I don't understand where your music exists or what was wrong with your iPod to begin with before you let Best Buy have it.

Luckily, it didn't cost me anything in addition to the protection plan thingy I bought when I got my iPod at Best Buy.

Okay, sorry. I knew that things would get a tad confusing. Thanks for bringing up these questions/uncertainties. I brought my iPod in because the headphone jack was getting messed up and sound would only play through one earbud--no matter which set of earbuds or headphones I put in there. It wasn't anything related to the iPod's disk or anything. But I have a back-up of my music on my computer's hard drive; I just can't get iTunes to recognize it for some reason. I never have. I might have to check out versiontracker.

 

[archesdevil]

Do you have time machine?

 

[J.D.M.]

You lost me at zune is pretty cool

Sorry. There are only a couple of things I like about the Zune more than my iPod. The main thing is its built-in FM radio. At the end of the day, I'd still pick my iPod, though.

Can you just look for the directory where the music is being stored, drag it to iTunes to add it to the iTunes Library, and then sync your iPod?

That's right...one thing I forgot to mention is that, when I got my music from my iPod and put it on my computer's hard drive, it divided my music collection into blocks and gave each block a really weird name. It'll be tough finding it again. I'll probably have to just run a Google search, find the website I got the instructions from, and see if I can find any information on their file naming system.

Do you have time machine?

I wish! I do have an iMac now, but when I got my iPod, we only had computers running Windows. As was the case, I set everything up on my Sony laptop. I will be getting a MacBook or MacBook Pro before I head off to college in the fall, though.

 

[J.D.M.]

Situation resolved! I did the Google search and found out the naming convention to look for (turns out that my blocks of music were divided into folders named F00, F01, and so forth). It'll be a pain to get it all back, but I figured out how to get iTunes to recognize it. I should've been able to do this for myself, but oh well. Thanks for your time!