How to Copy the Contents of One MP3 Player to Another MP3 Player (25 Steps)

By Christina Shaffer

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Whether your original portable media player is an iPod, a Sansa MP3 player or a Coby MP3 player, you can transfer your music collection to a new device by using your PC. With the exception of the iPod, most MP3 players allow you to copy music to a PC using Windows Explorer. If you want to transfer music from an iPod, use a free third-party desktop application such as MediaMonkey or SharePod.

Using Windows Explorer

Step 1

Create a new folder on the desktop by right-clicking an empty space on the screen, highlighting the “New” option and selecting “Folder.” Creating a new folder makes it easier for you to locate and transfer the music files stored on the main MP3 player.

Step 2

Connect the MP3 player that contains the music you want to transfer to the computer using the device’s USB cable.

Step 3

Select the “Open device to view files using Windows Explorer” option in the AutoPlay window.

Step 4

Double-click the MP3 player icon and then open the Music folder.

Step 5

Select each song you want to transfer to the computer. To select all of the files in the Music folder, press “CTRL-A” on the keyboard.

Step 6

Drag the selected songs to the folder you created on the desktop. The songs copy to the folder automatically.

Step 7

Disconnect the MP3 player from the PC and then connect the MP3 player to which you want to transfer the music.

Step 8

Click the “Open device to view files using Windows Explorer" option in the AutoPlay dialog box and then double-click the MP3 player icon.

Step 9

Open the desktop folder that contains the music you want to sync to the device. Select your preferred songs and drag them to the Music folder in the Windows Explorer window. The selected tracks will be copied to the device automatically.

Using MediaMonkey

Step 1

Create a new folder on the desktop, which will be used to transfer the songs from the original MP3 player to the second MP3 player.

Step 2

Download and install MediaMonkey (see Resources). The media player is compatible with many portable media players, including the iPod and Sansa MP3 player. Launch the application when the installation process is complete.

Step 3

Connect the MP3 player to the PC using the device’s USB cable.

Step 4

Select your MP3 player in the MediaMonkey Media Tree and then click the Music folder to view the songs stored on the device.

Step 5

Press “CTRL-A” to select all of the songs on the device. If you want to transfer select songs, hold down the “CTRL” button and use the mouse to select your preferred tracks.

Step 6

Right-click the highlighted tracks and select “Auto-Organize Files.” Check the box next to the “Copy files to new destination based on file tags” option in the Auto-Organize dialog box and then select the desktop folder as the output folder for the copied tracks. Click “OK” to copy the tracks from the MP3 player to the desktop folder.

Step 7

Disconnect the portable media player from the PC and then connect the second MP3 player.

Step 8

Open the desktop folder in the Media Tree and select all the songs you want to copy to the new MP3 player.

Step 9

Drag the highlighted tracks to your MP3 player in the Media Tree. The songs copy to the device automatically.

Using SharePod

Step 1

Create a new desktop folder to store the transferred contents from the original MP3 player.

Step 2

Download and install SharePod to transfer media files stored on an iPod (see Resources).

Step 3

Connect the iPod to the PC and then launch SharePod. The contents of the iPod will appear on the screen.

Step 4

Select the files you want to copy from the iPod to the PC or press “CTRL-A” to select all of the files. Click the “Copy to Computer” button on the toolbar.

Step 5

Click the “…” button in the Copy to Computer dialog box and select the desktop folder you created. Click “OK” to copy the files to the PC.

Step 6

Disconnect the iPod and then connect the second iPod to the PC.

Step 7

Click the "Copy to iPod" button on the toolbar. Click the “Add Folder” button in the dialog box and then select the desktop folder that contains the songs you want to transfer. Click “OK” to sync the files automatically.

References

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