Windows 2000 doesn't see iPod nano

[dan_aka_jack]

Hi there,

I bought my Dad a 3rd Generation iPod Nano for his birthday. I knew he used iTunes but unfortunately I didn't know that his laptop runs Windows 2000 SP4 (and he can't upgrade because it's a work laptop and it's administered by work).

Apparently, Windows should see the iPod nano as a USB hard disk. But Windows doesn't recognise the iPod when it's plugged in. There's no mention of the iPod in Device Manager and there's no mention of the iPod in the list of disk drives under "My Computer". Day says that his computer did say "New Device Found" when he first plugged in his iPod but it hasn't registered the iPod at all since then. ephPod refuses to load because it says it can't find an attached iPod.

Does anyone have any clues as to how to get Windows 2000 to see the iPod as a USB disk?!

(as an aside: Dad can't use iTunes to sync with his iPod because the 3rd gen iPod nano requires iTunes 7.4 BUT iTunes 7.4 wont install on Windows 2000. So we're hoping to use ephPod to sync his iTunes library with his iPod. If only we could get Windows 2000 to recognise his iPod!).

Many thanks,
Jack

 

[Tute]

I don't know if using ephPod will work as I think Apple locked the Touch, Phone, and Nano 3rd gen to iTunes only. Using another program will just corrupt the filesystem.

I'm not sure why it won't see it as a device though - you have all the latest drivers and updates installed?

 

[dan_aka_jack]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I don't know if using ephPod will work as I think Apple locked the Touch, Phone, and Nano 3rd gen to iTunes only. Using another program will just corrupt the filesystem.

There definitely are some people who are successfully using the 3rd gen iPod Nano with Windows 2000 using WinAmp or MediaMonkey. Here's a thread over on Apple's forum where some Windows 2000 users state that they are using the 3rd gen iPod nano with success:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5625308

I'm not sure why it won't see it as a device though - you have all the latest drivers and updates installed?

I'm pretty sure his laptop is as up-to-date as a Windows 2000 laptop can be!

 

[Kipper67]

Don't Apple now bundle what used to be the separate "ipod software and updater" in with itunes?

Can't you download itunes 7.4 , then use something like winzip to extract the individual program setup files and see if the actual ipod stuff will install on its own without itunes?

I'm sure I've seen someone on here say that they do it that way to avoid using itunes - whether it still works with 7.4 I couldn't say , there have been a fair few changes to itunes in the last few releases to support appletv and the iphone.

 

[dan_aka_jack]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Unpacking the "iTunes7.4" download and trying to install just the iPod stuff is an interesting idea.

Does the iPod REQUIRE the host machine to have iPod software installed just to see the iPod as a USB disk? What would happen if you plugged an iPod nano into a machine without iTunes installed? Would it be recognised as a USB disk?

Thanks,
Jack

 

[Kipper67]

Hmm not really sure - I seem to recall there's an option actually in the ipod software(now incorporated into itunes) that is something like "enable disk use" and a slider to allocate space .

I seem to recall my old ipod wasn't recognised as anything without installing the ipod part of the software and was only seen as an ipod as I never found the need to use it as a disk drive by activating the option.