What to do when iTunes does not recognize your iPod.

So you received your new iPod and you are so excited to use it. You plug the USB cord in the computer and plug the other end into your iPod. Now you encounter a problem. For some reason iTunes is not detecting your iPod. You might think this is a problem with your iPod. The reality is that it is most likely just iTunes. This step by step guide details what you will need to do in order to correct this problem.

Step 1: Finding My Computer.

The easiest way to find out if the problem is the iPod or your iTunes is to look in My Computer. To get to My Computer click on start. Then click on My Computer on the right hand side as shown to the left.

Comments

[tito_023]

hi i am getting so frustrated with my ipod. it is an oldish 80 gb video ipod that came out in '07. i have done everything in this tutorial but when i get to the last step, it does not let me chose "FAT32" or "default allocation size" there are only blanks there. Please help, i am running itunes 9 on a PC

[iRepairSquad]

If it leaves those blank then you have one of 3 problems. They will go in order of most likely.

Hard drive has gone bad. When you power up the ipod put your ear to the back and listen for a clicking noise. If you hear nothing you might be lucky, and it could be the cable. If you hear a clicking noise the read arm is jammed and the drive is bad.

If no sound is heard the hard drive cable could be bad or need to be reset. Only open and do this if you have some electronics experience. Try popping the connecters and replugging them back in this might fix it.

Sometimes very rarely the board will just stop recognizing a hard drive. Again very rarely does this happen. Only way to prove this is to test the hard drive in another ipod.

Wish I could help you further but doubt i can unless you find yourself near Peoria Illinois.

[R0MA]

I also have an older model 80gb. So, if the iPod clicks it's the hard drive? Is there a way to restore it or will I need to buy a new one.

[jyoung33]

what do i do if i cannot select "FAT32"?

[monkeemel]

Dear Instructable Irepair chap or chappette
THANK YOU. I've been in tears of frustration trying to fix this problem after downloading itunes version 10.something.something today. Thought I would lose everything.
You have made my life better. I love you all. You deserve chocolate immediately.
THANKS MILLIONS
monkee mel xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[begert]

ok so i have 2 laptops and 2 ipods. one ipod is synced to one laptop and i just bought a new ipod for the other laptop. when i plug in either ipod to the 2nd laptop they dont give me those options there is just the options to explore and open. what do i do then????

[Daniele1969]

Just like "thatringokid", my ipod does not show up in My Computer. When I connect my ipod, my computer does make the "sound" that it is attaching, but It's not in My computer...

What do i do now?

[svinton-purdey]

I have two ipod touchs in my house and they both are brand new. They both hook up to my laptop just fine but when i hook them up to our desktop, its says that "This ipod cannot be used because the required software is not installed. Run the itunes installer to remove itunes, then install itunes again" but I have done this several times, I dont have any problems with hooking up ipod nanos, and I was able to hook up my ipod touch before, then it started doing this after i updated to the new itunes. please help if you can.

[thatringokid]

WHat if it isn't in there?

[mr.burrito]

i went to my computer and all it says is "apple ipod" under scanner and cameras because i just got the 4g one what do i do?

[dibo0201]

Hi, I tried to format my ipod nano 3G, but I couldn't even get to the right click menu. It stalls. I'd just get an hourglass until I'd finally give up and do something else. What do I do? Please help.

[abbiewalker]

What do you do when your iPod is not recognised by My computer?! Help me please- this happened at xmas when i first got it- rang Apple, and it wasnt solved, then suddenly one day it just started working. I was a very very happy person! But now, the problem has started again. And now I am unhappy again. Please help if you can! :)

[HCMC]

I just received a used 30GB iPod classic from my brother. Everytime I plug it into my computer the screen flashed with a red crossed out circle and reads do not disconnect. My iTunes does not register said iPod but it does show up in My Computer, In your step three you said to Right Click the iPod in My Computer, when I did this it did not look like what you showed on your picture. Please help!

[rhiannonedwards]

 oh my days. this is the only thing that has worked. Last time I spent a fortune ringing up the helpline for apple ipods, and i have actually always had this problem, actually having to buy a new one because i thought it was the only option. thankyou so much! Signed up now, and I will use your site whenever I have a problem! This is brilliant guys, anyone reading this, just seriously try it!
Signed up to write this comment ;)
xxxxx

[iRepairSquad]

Its nice to see this is still helping people. iRepairSquad has changed from what it was. We no longer do customer repairs we only handle wholesale contracts. I can still help people with their problems if you leave a comment here though.

[emilyanna]

Oh my goodness, you did it. Thank you so much.  I have been using my ipod for 3 years, and have dodged a lot of bullets.  This one stumped me.  Thanks for making it reasonable to follow, especially for us visual people.  So, so grateful!

[rfrazao]

I was looking for this support in several pages, searching in Google for several days, the only solution was this explanation here, thanks a lot, this last step solved my problem. My brother bought the IPod four months ago, and he hasn't usei it yet. Thanks !

[RetroTechno]

I think you would have to have "disk mode" enabled on an iPod to get it to show up in Explorer like that. I don't think you will be able to do these things otherwise.

[dmclaugh1]

I accidentally told my computer to stop recognizing my iPod. When I plug it in, i hear the "USB connected tones" followed immediately by a new tone (for what its worth, it goes "dunk! dunk! dunk!") There is no indication whatsoever anywhere on my machine that an iPod - or anything for that matter - is even plugged in...How can I trick my computer back into recognizing my iPod?

[GorillazMiko]

Cool! I like the way you edited the images. Nice job, I might need to do this... happening recently..

[nightninja87]

i have a different way when my ipod is not reconized by itunes i unplug it replug it if that dosent work i go into disc mode wich u press menu and select the middle button then when it restarts and the apple symbol shows i hold onto select and play then it goes into disc mode and i reconnect it to the computer it usually works for me great instructables

[othertonywilson]

I am own a small business that repairs iPods. I am going to link your instructable to my website, so I don't get emails asking me what to do every day...