You can use your iPod as a drive (hard drive or flash drive depending on your iPod) to store and transfer data files on (also known as disk mode).

Tip: To transfer music files to iPod, use iTunes. You can't see the songs iTunes copies to your iPod in the Finder or My Computer/Computer. If you copy music files to iPod using the Finder or an Explorer window, iPod won't be able to play them.

Using iPod as a drive

1. Connect iPod to your computer.
2. Open iTunes if it doesn't automatically open.
3. Select the iPod icon in the Source pane.
4. Click the Summary tab.
5. For most iPod models (except iPod shuffle):
Select "Enable disk use" or "Manually manage songs and playlists". Either one will allow you to use iPod as a drive. If you select "Manually manage songs and playlists", iTunes won't automatically update iPod with the iTunes library. If you want iTunes to automatically update your iPod, select "Enable disk use" instead.



For iPod shuffle:
Click the "Enable disk use" checkbox and set the Storage Allocation slider to indicate the amount you want to be used by audio files and the amount you want to be used for data files.



1. The iPod disk icon appears on the desktop and in Finder windows, and in My Computer/Computer in Windows. Double-click the icon and drag files to or from iPod's window to copy them.
2. Make sure to eject iPod before disconnecting it from your computer. Tip: The iPod display will say "Do Not Disconnect" when disk use is enabled (iPod shuffle's status light will continue to blink orange until after it is ejected). These are reminders for you to eject iPod first.


Copying songs from your iPod to your computer

The iTunes library on your computer holds all the media (music, videos, podcasts, etc.) you've encoded from your CD collection or purchased from the iTunes Store. With default settings, iTunes automatically copies the media in your library to your iPod. When you use your iPod as a hard disk, you can't see the media iTunes copies to your iPod in the Finder or My Computer. This is normal. Using the Finder or My Computer, you can't copy these media files from your iPod back to iTunes or to any other computer. The synchronization between your iPod and your computer is one way: from iTunes to iPod. The exception is the transfer Purchases feature, which allows you to restore purchased iTunes content to your computer from your iPod.

If you've erased the iTunes library on your computer, there's no way to use the Finder or My Computer/Computer to copy the media from your iPod to reconstitute the library on your computer. One solution is to encode the songs from your CD collection again, then sync your new library with iPod. If you purchased content from the iTunes Store and didn't back them up, there's no way to download them again. You'll have to buy new copies of the content. This is why backing up your media files in iTunes is important.

So what if you have some songs on one computer and you want to—legally—copy them to another. Can you use iPod's hard disk for that? Sure. See "How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer" for steps to use your iPod to move music to another computer.
Troubleshooting

If you plan to connect iPod to another computer, make sure not to sync it with the iTunes library on the other computer. This will only happen if you selected the Enable Disk Use option instead of Manually Manage Music and Videos.



Note: If you take your iPod shuffle (or an iPod you selected Enable Disk Use for) to another computer, you will need to eject the iPod from My Computer/Computer or a Finder window since it will not appear in iTunes.



Right-click (or Control-click on Mac) on the iPod and choose Eject from the shortcut menu.

If you use your iPod as a disk with a Windows PC, keep in mind that the FAT32 file system can only accommodate files that are smaller than 4 gigabytes. No matter how much free space there is on your iPod, you can't copy files that are larger than that.

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Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

Also, note that if you don't already use iTunes, you don't need to install it to enable disk use. I use third party software. Also, if you have a Mac-formatted iPod, this won't work on a PC - consider "XPlay" which will work with Mac iPods.

I think this is going to be an increasing trend in using portable technology. Imagine have something a little larger than your ipod or iphone with large data storage capicity, that you can carry on the road with you. Or plug it into a keyboard/monitor docking station at your work desk...when done unplug it and take it with home. At home you could have a similar arrangement. Mr. Jobs has got a leg up on the competition using this sort of technology. The days of the desktop could fast be disappearing to be replace by smarter smaller appliance devices.

Thank you for the tips, and I saved them for the future. I use my iPod to read documents while I am out and about. So it is helpful to have it to do the little things.

Thanks for the read. That's good to know as I'm planning to get an iPod in the next few months and every little bit of functionality that I can squeeze out of it will help me to rationalize spending the money. It'd be great to be able to use the iPod for more than just compiling playlists of mp3s.