Transfer music from iPod touch to computer

Question

I know there are programs I can download to do this but I have done it before without them. After about an hour of searching I still can't find how I did it. I have Hidden files enabled. "Enable Disk Use" is not available as it is an iPod touch. And while I can transfer purchases most of my music is not purchased from iTunes.

I could have sworn there was a way to do this. I vaguely remember there being lots of folders I had to go through to pull all the music files. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

Use DeTune :)

http://download.cnet.com/DeTune/3000-2141_4-75289028.html

This way you can transfer music from all iPod, iPhone.

Answer 2

All the answers so far seem to lead to some 35 dollar purchase - for what is all probably the same software in different wrappers....

It can be done for free, quite simply & easily.

• Get Documents Free from the iTunes store. This can enable disk use on an iPod Touch. [untested, as I don't have a Touch, but well documented, established software & 4* in the store]

• Disable syncing. Press and hold the Command+Option keys while you plug in your iPod. Don't release the keys until you see the iPod display in your iTunes.

• Make the hidden folders visible. Launch Terminal, which is located at /Applications/Utilities. Type or copy and paste the following commands. Press the return key after you enter each line.
  defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder
• Enable your iPod for disk use. In iTunes, select your iPod and select the Summary tab. Make sure "disk use" has been enabled for the iPod. This will allow you to view the iPod's media files from within the Finder. Note: if you have an iPod Touch or an iPhone, you will need third party software to put your device into disk use mode in order to copy your music straight into iTunes.
• Using the Finder, copy your iPod's media files to your computer.
  1. In the Finder, locate your iPod's media files. To do this, double-click the iPod icon. Open the iPod Control folder. Open the Music folder.
  2. Create a new folder on the desktop to hold the music files. To create the folder, right-click a blank area of your desktop and select "New Folder" from the pop-up menu. Give the new folder a name.
  3. Copy the music from your iPod by dragging the Music folder from your iPod to your newly created folder. The file copying process could take an hour or longer, depending on how much music is stored.
• Configure iTunes preferences. Go to the iTunes menu and select Preferences. Select the Advanced tab. Place check marks next to "Keep iTunes Music folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library." Click the OK button.
• Add to library. Select Add to Library... from the iTunes File menu. Browse to the folder that contains your recovered iPod music. Click the Open button. iTunes will now copy the files to its library. If the step above did not work: your music files may still be in a hidden folder. Although you can see the hidden folders in the finder (they appear as greyed out folders), they are not visible to iTunes during the "Add to library" step above. To fix this issue, simply drag your music files out of the hidden folder into a new folder you create.
• Restore your settings/folders to normal. Delete the music folder you created, if desired. You may delete the music folder you imported into iTunes since by default the "Add to Library" step makes a copy of your music into the iTunes library folder. If you wish to make the hidden files and folders invisible again (restore the default setting), type or copy and paste the following commands into terminal. Press the return key after you enter each line.
  defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder

Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Copy-Music-from-Your-iPod-to-Your-Computer