How to Put Videos Off Your iPod Onto Your Computer

Whether to preserve copyright or prevent users from using their devices in unintended ways, iTunes limits how users can interact with the files on their iPods. iTunes software does not give users the option to move video files from their iPods to their computer. In order to move video files from an iPod to a computer, the user must work around the design features of iTunes which prevent such file manipulation. Windows 7 offers a couple of tricks for uncovering the video files stored on an iPod.

Things You'll Need

• iTunes 10.2
• Windows 7

Instructions

1. Run iTunes, hold down the Shift and Control (Ctrl) keys and then plug in the iPod. The keyboard shortcut Shift+Ctrl prevents iTunes from automatically syncing with the device. Select the iPod in the left-hand column of iTunes and then select "Manually manage music and videos" followed by "Enable disk use." The disk use option allows the user to manipulate files on the iPod in Windows.

2. Click the Windows icon from the Windows Desktop and then open Control Panel. Click the arrow next to "Control Panel" in the address bar and then select "All Control Panel Items." Click "Folder Options" and then click the View tab. Click the circle next to "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" to reveal the hidden video files on the iPod.

3. Open the Start menu and click "Computer." Select the iPod from the list in the left-hand side of the window. Click "iPod_Control" and then open the Music folder. Files uploaded to an iPod through iTunes are stored in the Music folder, whether they are audio or video.

4. Open the folders of the Music directory. Files stored on an iPod have four capital letters as names and appear saved in no particular order. Right-click "Name" in the file list and then make sure a check appears next to "Type." Browse each folder and search for all video files by looking at their file type. Videos downloaded through iTunes bear the label "MPEG-4 Movie."

5. Right-click a video file and then select "Cut." Open a directory on the computer, right-click a blank part of the Windows Explorer window and then select "Copy" to save the video from the iPod to the computer.

Tips & Warnings

• iPod files carry ID3 tags so you can identify them when you play them in another media player.

• Syncing an iPod with iTunes after manually moving files can cause errors, or prompt iTunes to erase the file from its library.

References

• Apple; iPod touch Features Guide
• Apple; Managing content manually on iPhone, iPad, and iPod; May 2010