Overview

OK, so you lost your iTunes library, and now any attempt to transfer data between your iPod or iOS device and the current iTunes will result in an unwanted sync that will delete the contents from the device. What do you do? That’s easy. You use TouchCopy iPod Transfer, a software designed to help you in situations like these and let you transfer media files between iPod/iOS devices without the use of iTunes.

Installation

Running the setup package will open the installation wizard, which guides you through all the necessary steps to complete the installation of TouchCopy. They aren’t many and none of them has advanced settings you need to configure.

Program is clean from malicious software, or any additional items for that matter.

Supported operating systems are Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 (32/64-bit versions).

Interface

The slick interface of TouchCopy is perfect for its use, as it’s not too complicated and resembles the style of iTunes. There are 4 buttons at the top right corner (Play, Next, Copy to PC and Backup), a couple of others at the top left corner (Options and Help), and between them is an area with information about the current song playing (title, artist, time elapsed, progress bar, etc.). The main area of the program is split into a pane located on the left-hand side containing different categories for your files, and the rest of the window, where the actual contents of each category are displayed. There are also some buttons at the bottom of the window, such as Eject iPod, Clear History, Shuffle Play, etc.

Pros

It’s very easy to transfer the files from your device to your computer. Just select the items you wish to copy and click on the “Copy to PC” button on the top left. A window will appear asking you to browse for a destination folder, so pick one and let the copy process begin. If you want to save all your music, playlists and videos you can click on the “Back Up” option instead and proceed in a similar way.

Not only files, but song data like ratings, play counts and album arts will be transferred too.

If you’re hesitating to connect your device with your computer because iTunes will try to sync it with your library and consequently delete the device’s contents, then don’t worry. TouchCopy will prevent iTunes from attempting to do this.

Cons

While testing the program we found a couple of graphical glitches, where sometimes the lists with the media files would just disappear and wouldn't appear unless you clicked in another category from the pane (and then back to the category you were). But that was just a very minor bug that should be fixed in future versions.

Alternatives

CopyTrans (paid), SharePod (paid) and iDump Classic Pro (paid) are all alternatives to TouchCopy, with more or less the same features. Out of those 3, CopyTrans is probably the best.

Conclusion

If you ever find yourself in the desperate situation where your iTunes library gets deleted and you need to bring it back, then TouchCopy is the best solution.