How To Share iPod Music with Another Computer

For quite some time I hoped for a way to share my iPod music with friends on other computers than my own.

I came across an interesting article that went into great detail about how to use your iPod as a storage device or other drive. This turned out to be disastrous.

I knew the concept was a good one, so I searched for a program that would do it all for me.

I came across the 100% free program - SharePod.

Before beginning this tutorial, there are a few things you need to know:

• SharePod does not work with the iPod Touch.
• You will need Microsoft .NET 2 Framework for it to work (most Windows systems have this already).
• .m4p files are copy-protected, so they can't be played by unauthorized users at all. Virtually all of the .m4p files nowadays are bought from iTunes. If you want to put .m4p files on your iPod without using iTunes (and exercise your fair-use rights!), you can use Hymn to convert the files to standard .m4a format (which can then be imported by SharePod).

With those facts stated, let's begin.

1. Create a folder on your computer called "iPod Music" or whatever you would like to call it.
2. Download SharePod. It's free and comes as a .zip file. Save the file. DO NOT CHOOSE OPEN FILE or RUN!
3. Plug in your iPod to the USB port and if iTunes does not open automatically you will want to open it now. Click on the iPod symbol and make sure that the "Open iTunes when iPod is connected" is NOT checked. Eject and disconnect your iPod.
4. Close iTunes.
5. Plug your iPod back into the USB port. It will be recognized as new hardware (Mass Storage Device). Allow it to install itself as such.
6. If you go to "My Computer" you should see that your iPod has been recognized as a drive.
7. Find the SharePod .zip file that you downloaded and unzip it to your iPod's drive letter. SharePod is now installed on your iPod! That is where you want it to be.
8. Go to the drive letter representing your iPod (mine is My Computer > Marks iPod (F:) and click on it.
9. Go to the SharePod folder and click to open it.
10. Double click on the SharePod program file (icon looks like an iPod). This will open the program.
11. Choose which songs you would like to transfer to your PC. To choose all of them click on the first one, scroll down and holding the SHIFT key click once on the last file. This should select all files.
12. Choose TRANSFER TO PC from the main menu and choose to copy into the "iPod Music" folder you created earlier.

    IMPORTANT: When choosing the folder you are copying to, make sure that on the same screen you choose to save files as: [Artist]-[Title]. Otherwise file names may be too long to import into another iPod.

13. Click OK and the copying will begin. This can take some time depending on how much music you have.
14. Once the copying has finished be sure to use the EJECT IPOD button at the top of your screen before disconnecting your iPod.

Occasionally SharePod appears to crash after it closes, but this is safe to ignore; everything is saved and your iPod is disconnected by this time anyway.

Your music is now in the file "iPod Music" and on your iPod!

Now that you have done this on your own computer, you have the know-how to share your music or transfer it to another computer.

There are help files and instructions on the SharePod site. However, I ran into some problems using it the first couple of times and wrote this to help make it simple and pain-free for you.

If you have any difficulty with the help pages on SharePod's site, feel free to contact me.

Last Note: While I was writing this I successfully transferred 2556 songs from my iPod to my laptop.