Windows 98/ME Support

This page explains how to get Anapod Explorer working with your iPod on Windows 98 and Windows ME. The Apple software that comes with the iPod does not run on Windows 98 and ME, so we have provided drivers and utilities to make iPod use possible on these versions of Windows.

All Anapod Explorer needs to communicate with your iPod is for Windows to recognize it as a drive letter under My Computer. In order for this to happen, Windows needs what is called a mass storage USB driver.

• Windows 98: Windows 98 does not include an appropriate driver. You download one here. Simply download and run it, which will place the driver files on your computer. However, the driver is not not fully installed yet. When you plug in your iPod, Windows will ask where to find the driver files. Specify the folder where the driver installer placed its files. The default location is "C:\Program Files\iPod".
  
  
• Windows ME: Fortunately, Windows ME already has an appropriate driver built in, so it should recognize your iPod as a drive letter as soon as you plug it in.

Once your iPod is recognized as a drive letter, you may still need to format and intialize it's drive for iPod use.

If your iPod has been previously used on a Windows 2000 or XP computer, it may already be formatted and initialized. At this point, you can try connecting to your iPod in Anapod. If it works, you are done with this page and ready to go.

If Anapod complains that it could not find your iPod, then you probably need to format and initialize the drive. Normally you could do this with the Apple Updater utility, but because it does not run on Windows 98/ME, we provide an alternative called Anapod Reinitializer that runs on all versions of Windows.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have a brand new iPod that has never been connected to a computer before, Anapod Reinitializer may not, on its own, be able to fully set up your iPod. If you run the Reinitializer on a brand-new iPod and the iPod shows a folder-with-exclamation-point icon when you unplug it from the computer, that means it is not fully set up. You will need to find a friend with a Windows 2000 or Windows XP computer where you can run the Apple Updater at least once to get your iPod configured for the first time. Thereafter, you should be able to use both Anapod Reinitializer and Anapod Explorer to enjoy your iPod on Windows 98 and ME.

After you download and install Anapod Reinitializer, run it, and select the drive letter of your iPod. You can then format and initialize it. Once that is complete, Anapod Explorer should be able to connect to your iPod and begin loading music. Please note that the format and initialization process necessarily removes all existing content from your iPod, if there was any.