While it is pretty easy to copy music onto an iPod or iPhone, Apple restricts its customers from downloading music from an iPod/iPhone to a PC. Once the files are on the device, they are stuck—unless you decode the Apple file structure and rename all the garbled files, which is a great amount of work. Instead, a free program called SharePod can copy music files directly from the Apple device onto a PC with just a few clicks.

After downloading and extracting the SharePod software from GetSharePod.com, plug the iPhone or iPod into your computer using the standard connector cable. If iTunes starts, close it. SharePod cannot run at the same time as iTunes.

In the folder where you extracted SharePod, click SharePod.exe. If you do not see the .exe extension, look for a file called SharePod that Windows labels as an application.

Sharepod will open and automatically detect the iPhone or iPod connected to the computer. After a few seconds the entire list of songs available on the device will display in the big window on the right. Playlists found on the device display on the left.

If you only want to copy one song, just select the desired file click and the Copy to PC button in the upper left corner of the computer screen. Select a location to save the file and click OK.

If you want to copy everything on the list to a folder on your PC, click CTRL + A to select all songs in the list, then click the Copy to PC button. Select a location where the files should be copied and click OK.

To back up the entire collection, complete with playlists, click the Backup iPod button (third icon from the left). Choose a location and click OK.

Within minutes, your music collection will be available on your PC. By default, SharePod adds the songs to your iTunes library, which is handy if you need to add the songs onto another iPod.

SharePod works great for transferring music. It is also designed to transfer videos and photos, but these features did not work with the iPhone we used to test it. Photos are easy to transfer from Apple devices anyway, so this is not a big deal.

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