Chapter 12. Protecting Your Investment


IN THIS CHAPTER:

94 Back Up Your Music to CD or DVD

95 Back Up Your Music Using .Mac Backup (Mac Only)

96 Restore Your Music from Backup

97 Restore Your Music Library Database from a Backup Copy

98 Copy Your Music from the iPod Back to iTunes

99 Update Your iPod's Software

100 Restore Your iPod to Factory Settings

101 Turn a Scratched iPod into a Brushed-Metal iPod

The rapidly growing popularity of the iTunes Music Store brings with it not just new versatility in how we enjoy our music, but also a whole set of new problems that had never existed before. If what you bought is not a physical product you can hold in your hands, but a data file on your computer's hard disk, what exactly is it that you "own"? How do you reassure yourself that you have actual possession of this valuable item? What does it mean for consumer ethics if you can make an exact duplicate of a song file that you bought, even if software prevents it from being playable on someone else's computer? And most importantly, what recourses are there if you lose your purchased music because of one of the inevitable glitches we've become used to in computing, such as a hard drive crash?

After a few months using the iTunes Music Store , you might find that you've sunk hundreds of dollars into downloaded music filesand if you own an iPod, that's so many hundreds more. You need a way to be sure that this investment isn't put at risk of loss, any more so than a collection of physical CDs would be.

The iTunes Music Store support staff stresses the great importance of backing up your music files to a permanent medium such as CDs or DVDs. If you don't, you might be able to cajole the support staff into letting you download your music again; but you can't count on this because Apple's official position is that once you've successfully downloaded your music, you'd better back it upif it's lost, it's lost for good.

NOTE

See 22 Check for Purchased Music for information on how iTunes can recover an incompletely downloaded music file; this is also the method used when the iTunes Music Store support staff gives you access to re-download a track.


The tasks in this chapter describe techniques for backing up your musicand restoring it to working conditionso that you won't ever have to go to the support staff with your hat in your hand and a plate of cookies, pleading with them to bring your music back to life. With the right precautions , you'll always be able to restore your iTunes Library from scratch even after a catastrophic hardware failure.

This chapter also discusses ways to keep your iPod in tip-top working condition, updating its software when new features or bug fixes are released by Apple, or restoring it to its factory configuration if that becomes necessary. You can even take an iPod whose shiny back has become depressingly scratched and breathe new life into it, ensuring that it'll retain its good looks as long as it provides the soundtrack to your life.



iPod + iTunes for Windows and Mac in a Snap
iPod + iTunes for Windows and Mac in a Snap (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0672328992
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 152
Authors: Brian Tiemann

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