iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition

iTunes Blues

The iPod and iTunes were designed to work hand-in-hand to manage your music, but occasionally, certain things may come between them. Here are a few of the common issues and problems that may interfere with that good old syncing feeling.

I Just Bought This iPod and It’s Already Giving Me Grief

You’ve just taken your iPod out of its box, charged it up, and connected it to your Windows computer for the first time. But then, when you try to use the iPod, you see the disheartening Folder-With-An-Exclamation-Mark icon (Section 12.3.5.1). If this is happening, you probably skipped the setup step in which you install the software that came on the iPod CD. Even if you already have iTunes installed on your computer, you need to run the program on the iPod CD to get all of the necessary iPod files on there as well.

Install the iPod software on the CD before connecting the iPod. If it’s too late for that and you can’t find your CD, download the latest version of the iPod updater from Apple’s Web site (http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/) and follow the instructions for installing it on Section 12.10.2.

If your software is up to date, make sure the iPod’s battery is charged up before connecting it to the computer.

I Can’t Get the Software to Install on Windows

The trio of iTunes, QuickTime, and the iPod’s software can send some Windows PCs into a tizzy when you try to install the programs to use with your new iPod. There are a vast number of reasons why this could be happening and at ...