vPod

Free Windows iPod Music Transfer Software
by Jason von Nieda




vPod is a program for transferring music to your iPod from Windows. It presents a unified view of all of your music and lets you see what is and what is not already on your iPod. I think that it’s a much more intuitive interface for managing what is available on your iPod than the existing solutions.vPod is free software. It is licensed under the Free BSD license so that as many people as possible
can benefit from it.Please feel free to contact me with any questions,
problems, bugs, feedback or anything else. I want to know what you think!


News

IMPORTANT: vPod Doesn’t Work With iTunes 7.3+ iPods

With many of the recent versions of the iPod firmware, which iTunes automatically installs for you, vPod will no longer work with most iPods. This is especially the case if you have used iTunes 7.3 with your iPod.

I am working on a new version of vPod that supports all new iPods and firmwares but my time is limited and I cannot say when it will be released. Check back now and then.

iPod Shuffle Now Supported!

Thanks to Ken Hausam who graciously donated an iPod Shuffle to the vPod cause, vPod now supports the iPod Shuffle! It’s not fancy but if you like the way vPod has always worked and you want to use it with your Shuffle, now you can. I do 🙂

Download version 0.60, try it out, at your own risk of course, and let me know how it works!

Windows 95, 98 and ME Users Please Read Below

Windows 98 and ME does not come with the drivers you need to access your iPod. Happily, Red Chair Software, the makers of Anapod Explorer are making on available that will let you use your iPod in Windows 98 or ME. Please visit Red Chair Software to get the driver, and check out their Anapod Explorer. I don’t like to advertise for the competetion too much, but it really is a great product.
Unfortunatly, the latest versions of vPod don’t work with Windows 98, but there has been some interest in porting it so look for that in the future. For the mean time you can use EphPod or the 0.03 Beta version of vPod found at the bottom of this page.



DonateIf you like vPod you can donate a few bucks to let me know. I’m powered by pizza and beer and money keeps them coming in! (You can also donate pizza and beer, but it’s a little more complex.) If you donate $10 or more I’ll give you access to vPod’s source code. What a deal!



Downloads

Version
0.60 Beta
Updated: 06/15/2005
Executable Installer for Windows NT, 2000, XPSource Code

Release 0.60 Added support for the iPod Shuffle.

0.53 Beta
Updated: 10/06/2003
Executable Installer for Windows NT, 2000, XPRelease 0.53 Small bug fix release for some tag loading problems. If you were fine before, don’t bother upgrading.

  • Changed tag loader to look at file extensions.
  • Incremented local database version. You’ll need to re-add all your files.
  • 0.52 Beta
    Updated: 09/30/2003
    Executable Installer for Windows NT, 2000, XPSource Code

    Release 0.52 Lots of small changes in this release. See the ReadMe.txt for the full list.This will probably be the last release for a while. I don’t intend to do another release until I finish
    the much requested tag editor and playlist editor. My time to work on vPod has been limited recently
    so this could be a while.This is the first version of vPod where I have released the source code. If you have received a username and password from me before for source code access you can use it to download the source above. If you would like access to the source and do not yet have it all you have to do is donate $10 or more to me for vPod and I’ll send you a username and password.

  • Fixed Album view to show compilation albums properly.
  • Changed codepage for Unicode character conversion. Hopefully this fixes the problems with Japanese and Chinese characters. You will need to re-add your files to vPod to see the changes.
  • 0.51 Beta
    Updated: 08/14/2003
    Executable Installer for Windows NT, 2000, XPRelease 0.51 This is a bug fix release. If you were fine before, you can probably skip it.

  • Fixed a MP4 tag parsing problem.
  • Changed the max length of copied filenames to 31 characters. This should make vPod play nicer with XPlay.
  • 0.50 Beta
    Updated: 08/13/2003
    Executable Installer for Windows NT, 2000, XPRelease 0.50 Major changes to vPod this version. Check the bottom of the included ReadMe.txt for the details.

  • MP4/M4A Support!
  • Unmount iPod from vPod.
  • Shows copy speed and time remaining during sync.
  • Major changes to the unicode support. Should be much more robust and stable now.
  • 0.04 Beta
    Updated: 08/03/2003
    Executable Installer for Windows NT, 2000, XPRelease 0.04 Lots of changes in this release. See the bottom of the ReadMe.txt
    for the full list. The big ones are window resizing, unicode support and tabs for Artists, Albums and Playlists. Lots of bug fixes and should be much more stable for non United States users.Since this release includes Unicode it will no longer work on Windows 95, 98 or Me. If you use one of these operating systems with your iPod, please email me and let me know. If there is a need for a version that works with these operating systems I will make one, but my web logs suggest most of you are using Windows XP 🙂
    0.03 Beta
    Updated: 07/28/2003
    Executable Installer for Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XPGoing Public I think vPod is ready for the masses. This is a cleaned up release and I am announcing the program
    on some of the popular iPod websites. Good luck vPod!
    Updated Icons This release is simply to replace the icons that I was using as placeholders. The new icons are by Kwanza Humphrey and to put it bluntly, totally kick ass.First Beta Released The first version of vPod has been released. This is beta software and is not guaranteed to work. Please read the ENTIRE ReadMe.txt before using it.




    Source CodeSource code is only neccesary if you want to change vPod. If you are not a computer programmer it’s probably not useful to you. If you just want to use vPod please go to the Downloads section and download it for free.

    vPod is licensed under the FreeBSD License with a twist. I charge $10 if you want to download it from me. If you happen to know someone else who has the source feel free to get it from them but if you want to download it from here please donate $10 or more and I’ll set up an account for you.
    I do this for various reasons, not the least of which is that I like money. But the main reason is that more often than not, when someone downloads the source code they’ll have questions. I normally try to answer them all. That takes time and time, as they say, is money.

    vPod 0.60 Source Code

    vPod 0.52 Source Code

    Win32 Common Utilities Source Code You’ll need to this to compile everything else.

    55 thoughts on “vPod”

    1. shot bru!
      It is a usefull program hey, i need it for my ipod as i put music on my ipod before formatted my pc..

    2. i love vpod but i’m waiting (semipatiently!) and anticipating a new release because my ipod got updated firmware and it doesn’t work with vpod anymore like you said. thanks!

    3. please hurry with the new vpod. itunes updated my firmware and it won’t work with my ipod now and my ipod is my life. but keep up work. and save my ipod

    4. hey, i was just wondering if someone could get back to me on how to check your itunes version, i want to make sure that i just have the wrong version of itunes firmware and not somthing else wrong

    5. I have just downloaded and used your software, I “backed up” my ipod and it has completely wiped my ipod, all my playlists and every single last song. The reason I downloaded your software was to retrieve a playlist not lose it! I’m extremely dissapointed.

    6. I actually have kept a few copies of my itunesDB of a vpod compatible version.

      This way, if/when I have to do a restore on my 4g ipod, I can then copy back my old itunesDB and vola, vpod works.

      Although I still cannot wait for the newer vpod version to come out!!!!

    7. The way i got my 2g nano to work with vPod was; to restore the firmware using itunes, but when it said “The iPod is now restarting, leave it plugged in and it will be opened by iTunes. This message will disappear in 15 seconds.” unplug it and uninstall itunes (and restart). Then vPod will recognise it!

      Hope this helps!

    8. People here who are saying crap about your software are degenerates.

      You sir, Have created an absolutely AWESOME software. It’s easy as hell and i can’t thank you enough for it.

      If i had a credit card, I’d donate a handsome amount to your cause. Since i don’t have one right now, I’ll wait. And when i do, More pizza’s and beer’s for you sir.

      Keep up the great work!
      Nauman

    9. Hi I was wondering if you could help, when I sync, the music goes onto my ipod, but my ipod always thinks nothing is there, even though I can see it and my ipod sees a reduction in disk size, can you help at all?

    10. Hello,

      I have an important question. I don’t know if you have answered it already but if it is possible could you please reply to me via email. I am having a slight problem with getting some songs onto my ipod. They just don’t show up. Most songs do however some cd’s I try to add simply don’t show up like I didn’t add them to the library but I tried repeatedly and they just never showed up. For instance I had gotten a near complete discography of Radiohead. Most everything showed up accept for Ok Computer, Kid A, and Hail to the thief.

      I looked at the file properties of the files that did get on and the ones that did not. They are nearly identical, but there is a difference on the summary page under the audio section. The files that did not make it on all have a bit rate of 128kbps where as the ones that did make it on had a bit rate of 192kbps. The ones that did not make it on also had an extra display under the audio section called Audio sample size, and it was 16 bit. The ones that made it on did not have that option. Everything I looked at was exactly the same, they are both winamp media files. Are those differences why they don’t show up? is it another reason? Can this be fixed? Is there a way to get those songs to show up on my ipod? Please any help would be great and thank you for taking the time to read this.

      NicklezBe

    11. I did what Louise suggested to get the newest firmware off my 4gB Nano. It works now perfectly with vPod. Great software, very simple to use, no useless bells and whistles. Thanx!

    12. i tried adding a new set of mp3 songs to my ipod mini. it did the job successfully. But, I am unable to rename the album which was added. It has added as “Unknown”.

      Any pointers to change the name of the album.

    13. Dear Jason,
      i am happy that I found your website!! I am planning to add an ipod as mp3 storage to my car´s alpine radio. It will be my first ipod and I do not like to install itunes software with its limitations to slow down my pc.
      So I am very curious wheter it will work.
      I will inform you and others when i have finished installation testing .
      Kind regards,
      Chris

    14. this indformation was really helpful, but my problem is two-fold. i just bought a mac that i am trying to restore the musc on my pc-formatted ipod to. i understand the programs that open up the ipod for copying, but havent come across anything that solves the difference in formatting issue.

      any suggestions?

    15. Ok Dude,

      I have heard so much about you and vpod that I’m dying to see it work. Do you know when you might be releasing a version that works with itunes v7.6+

    16. Hey,

      I’m trying v0.60 with my brand new ipod shuffle 1Go and … it doesn’t seem to work actually. Or maybe I’m doing something wrong?

      I’m using winXP. I just plug the ipod in, it creates a new drive (“IPOD O:” in this case) and I can write and read files from the device.

      Yet if I select the drive (O:) in vPod it keeps on saying “iPod is not connected”…

      What should I do?

      Thanks in advance!

    17. Hi I have not updated my iPod’s firmware in quite a while. I have a 5.5 Gen iPod with firmware version 1.2.1. Will vPod work? Thanks in advance.

    18. I HAVE AN IPOD CLASSIC MODEL MB 145 VERSION 1.1.1PC I WOULDLIKE TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF SOFTWARE I SHOULD DOWNLOAD????? THANKS

    19. Hey Jason!
      I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love your software! This is the only piece of software that works properly AND the way I want it to work! Thanks a lot for making my iPod enjoyable again.

      I hope you keep working on this amazing piece of awesome.

      Greets,
      Tom.

    20. Hey

      i have got an ipod mini. this program didn’t work and i was wondering if there was one that could work thanks
      Thanks

    21. hi
      my ipod nano (2d generation) refused to detect by the program …

      its status in the program is “ipod not connected” …

      do I have to install the itunes program in every computer that runs with vpod ? cuase i didnt installed it in other computers .

    22. I did love to use this program being able to put songs onto my ipod from any computer but i also made the mistake of connecting it to a pc with itunes aka the worst program ever created by man or god…. I do have experience with programming and would love to help you develop this program as i desperately want it to work on my ipod again. Email me if you are interested and we will go from there.

    23. Hi jason,
      I have an ipod shuffle and i was not able to copy songs into it through vpod 0.60.. should we wait until another release or is there any work around or patch available..?
      Thanks

    24. a great thank you for your program…. i was looking for a simple program that allow me to transfer mp3 as simplky as possible…don t care much for itune or similar programs that mess my mp3 folder style of arrangements. The only sad news is that my wife connected my mini ipod to her laptop and her itune upgraded the software without even asking or letting users know about this….. WTF, talk about Apple becoming BIG Brother… any, i disgress… can t wait to see a much needed upgrade of your software. (hopefully, you will still find some time in the futur to work on this… bIg Thank you)

    25. i have got a big problem. After using VPOd for my ipod classic 80GB my ITunes could not find the IPOd anylonger, so that i had to set my IPOd back.The problem is that i fault, called 1436 appeaered when i wanted to set my IPOd back. I cannot look into the files via explorer. Someone knows how to set back my IPod manually or solve the problem please send mail to calliabe@gmx.de

    26. i have installed version 0.6 to use for my new ipod shuffle. it does not seem able to connect the device. i have used vpod for my ipod 80gb video with no probs at all. am i doing something wrong with my shuffle

    27. Hey thanks so much for the program. It is great. It’s simple and straight forward. I hate using iTunes. You made my day a lot brighter when I found your software.

    28. Hey, if you want to be able to use vPod, goto this site and download the iPod Updater version 2005-09-23. Roll back your iPod to this version and your set.

    29. Eureka!
      vPod WILL indeed work with newest vesion of iTunes, but vPod will have to be the exclusive program. Just restore the ipod with iTunes, have vPod running, and once iTunes updates the iPod, it will restart and at that time vPod will pick it up. Just use vpod to write the first database and it will work from there on but only with vPod. I have kids who each have nanos and mine is a 5.5, all running the newest software and using vPod to transfer.

      Woohoo!

    30. how do i get music on my ipod without haveing itunes or even downloading a program is there a online syncer or something?

    31. Thanks! I really appreciate you sharing your software! I needed a program to load my own recordings onto an ipod, and this is perfect.

    32. I downloaded everything you said and i just bought a ipod shuffle 1GB and for some reason it says that my ipod is not connected.

    33. Hi was great while it lasted …sure would be nice to have new version that also works with iphone:) Thanks

    34. Hi,

      Thank you for the ware. I was able to transfer new music to my ipod classic (80 gigs) however, after I’m done transferring and eject my ipod, it shows no music. When I plug it back in, it shows my playlists and music. Eject it again, nothing shows up on the ipod. Could anyone who had similar issues help me out please? Would appreciate it.

      Thanks in advance.

    35. Hi

      I jus bought the new ipod shuffle adn after downloading vpod latest version – 0.60 Beta
      Updated: 06/15/2005 Executable Installer for Windows NT, 2000, Release 0.60 Added support for the iPod Shuffle.

      I still get an error saying this version of software is not supported by vopds version, and I was asked to write an email to Jason….pls help!!!!

    36. Hi
      Pleas PLease
      release the new version I am waiting My Ipod Doesnt work with this vpod please
      please haurry upppppppppppp
      thaannnnnnkkkkksssss

    37. jason,
      can you suggest a program to pull music out of an I-pod touch and load it back into a pc..? (lost a hard drive, and all my music…)
      thanks,
      Michael

    38. is there any program out there to take DVD and turn it to IPOD, I didn’t realise that I can’t look at my DVD on the IPOD and so have a lot of movies I’m missing. Also is there a way of taking movies downloaded from ITUNES and burning to disk for use on DVD, I bought a few movies from ITUNES which are now trapped on the IPOD.

    39. Is er een softwareprogramma, waarmee ik muziek van mijn Ipod, opgenomen met een Apple machine over kan zetten op mijn computer met Windows Vista

    40. can you please update your project

      it has many fans; but as you know it’s not working anymore…

    41. please update your project

      it has many fans, but since it’s not working anymore, it would be great to have a new version or at least a FAQ on how to make it work ( e.g. downgrade etc )

    42. Hey dude, can you help – I have a iphones 3gs with ios 5.0.1, I installed v0.6.0 – added my music to the library but the software does not recognise my iphone – it sees it but wont select it – any ideas?

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