iDump 2.1

iDump is a small Windows tool from the click-wheel iPod era that copies songs from an iPod back onto your PC.

It is no longer developed, and the developer's website no longer loads, so nothing here will be fixed for newer iPhones or Windows versions.

If you still have an older iPod and a music library you lost from your computer, it can help, but most readers today will get further with a maintained manager such as SharePod.

What iDump Actually Does

An iPod does not store songs the way your music folder does. The files sit in hidden folders under short random names, so copying them by hand gives you a pile of unlabelled tracks.

iDump reads the iPod's own song list, shows your tracks with artist and album, and copies the ones you pick to a folder on your PC. You choose the folder and how the files are named, and it can export playlists as M3U files that almost any music player opens.

It also has a search box and an unattended mode for big iPods, which deals with songs that already exist in the destination folder without stopping to ask. The interface comes in English, German and Spanish.

Which File to Pick

The download page carries three files under the 2.1 headline. Two of them, an installer and a zip, are the older iDump 1.1.2.31, and the third is the iDump 2.1 installer.

Older write-ups that describe copying iDump onto the iPod and running it from there refer to the 1.1 builds. If one version will not detect your iPod, try the other before giving up.

Who Can Still Use It

• Owners of an older iPod that shows up as a drive letter in File Explorer when you plug it in.
• Anyone whose PC died and whose only copy of the music library is still on that iPod.
• People on an older Windows PC who want a small tool rather than a full phone manager.

The tell that it is the wrong tool is simple. The documented iDump builds do not support the iPod touch or the iPhone, and we could not confirm that 2.1 changed that, so if your device appears as an Apple iPhone with no drive letter, skip straight to the alternatives below.

Songs bought from the iTunes Store before 2009 may carry Apple's copy protection. Copying them to a PC does not remove it, so those tracks will still only play in Apple's own software.

What to Use Instead

These maintained tools from our listings copy music off an iPhone, iPad or iPod and onto a Windows PC:

• SharePod - built around music, it copies songs, playlists and album art from an iPod, iPhone or iPad to your computer and back.
• 3uTools - a free all-in-one iPhone and iPad manager that moves music, photos, contacts and documents without iTunes or an Apple ID.
• CopyTrans Filey - a simple file mover between iOS devices and Windows, handy for music files and documents alike.
• Sync iOS - transfers music, video and photos, and converts songs into iPhone ringtones.

Once the songs are on your PC, MusicBee or MediaMonkey will turn the folder into a proper library again.

If some tracks arrive with missing artist or album names, Mp3tag fixes them in batches. More tools for phones and music players live in our Mobile Devices category.

Quick questions

Download iDump 2.1 if you still need it, or tell us what you used it for if you have history with it.