3. Use Your iPod As A Disk On A PC, Continued

Earlier I alluded to the need to manually dismount your iPod before unplugging it from your computer. In iTunes, that's a simple matter of selecting your iPod in the Source list on the left side of the iTunes window, then clicking its eject icon, as shown below.

Figure 18

See where it says "Steven Sande's iPod"? That symbol to the right is the eject button.

Always click the eject icon before disconnecting your iPod from your PC!

When the "Do Not Disconnect" logo on your iPod screen disappears, make sure you've ejected the iPod as I've just explained, and then you may unplug it.

NOTE Sometimes clicking the eject icon won't stop the iPod connection to the PC. In this case, in the Windows system tray, click Safely Remove Hardware and choose "Safely remove USB Mass Storage Device - Drive (F:)" (your drive letter may vary...). Once "Do Not Disconnect" disappears from the screen on your iPod you're ready to disconnect it and hit the road.

TIP Any Windows user who wishes to get the maximum utility out of an iPod should purchase both iPodSync ($14l.95) and XPlay 2.0 ($29.95).

iPodSync can synchronize all the PDA-type functions of the iPod with Microsoft Outlook and perform some other magic, while XPlay makes exploring an iPod in Windows extremely easy. XPlay is also a must if you have both Windows and Macintosh computers and you wish to use a single iPod with both machines.