Guru's Guide to Uploading Music to iPod nano

If you've been trying to figure out how to upload music to your new iPod nano, don't worry. We'll have you playing great songs on your iPod nano in no time. Of course, you might not be so interested in music. But maybe you bought your nanos to play videos or games. Well, good news! Once you're uploading music to your nano you'll know how to upload all the other goodies too.

1) Load the music files onto your computer

Where are your music files? For a lot of new nano owners the answer is "on my CDs." If so, you'll want to make the files available to your computer. Most people start by copying the files from CDs onto the computer's hard disk. Note: If you use iTunes and have selected "Copy files to iTunes music folder," it's enough to just have the CD in your computer's CD drive.

2) Import the music into your iPod manager

You'll use an "iPod manager" application to handle moving files to and from the iPod. Apple's free iTunes software is the iPod manager most of us use. You're welcome to look at the other options -- Wikipedia has a pretty good list. If you're new to iPods I suggest you start with iTunes. Once you know what you do and don't like about iTunes you'll be in a better position to decide whether you want to look for a different iPod manager.

By the way, using iTunes to manage iPod files does NOT keep you from buying music from other companies -- I buy music downloads from three different vendors but use iTunes to move them back and for from my iPod.

Quick tip: If you want iTunes to put a copy of the file in the main iTunes library directory, choose Edit, Preferences, Advanced from the menu and click the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library." I like to do this to make it easy to find my music files. I know that music files anywhere else on my hard drive aren't part of the iTunes library and can safely be deleted.

Wherever you got your music from, once it's on your computer you can import it into iTunes. You have a couple options. One way is to select (from the top menu) File, Add Folder to Library, and find the folder holding your music. Click "OK" and iTunes will now show the music in the Library music list. Another way is to use the Control & O keys. Navigate to the files' location and click on the files you want to add.

3) Connect up the iPod

If your iPod isn't already connected, get your USB cable (came with your iPod) out and connect the computer and iPod. The left-hand menu should show your iPod when it's successfully connected.

Now, decide if you want to let iTunes handle synchronizing with your iPod or if you want to handle things manually. I like the "manually manage" approach -- it lets me decide which files to move to my nano. It also lets me synch up different computers to just one iPod.

4) Now to upload music to that iPod nano

Are you going to let iTunes manage the uploads? If so, you're ready to start. Click your iPod's icon, select "Sync" in the lower right corner, and iTunes handles the rest.

Will you manage uploads manually? You'll need to do a quick, one-time setup. In iTunes, click the nano's icon and select "Manually manage music and videos" on the iTunes screen...

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