Charging/syncing 3rd generation iPod on Windows 7

Question

I have a third generation iPod that I wanted to change which song are stored on it but discovered that it will not keep a charge long enough to sync.

I normally listen to it through the iPod connector which supplies power to it just fine but the battery no longer keeps a charge long enough to sync it any more. It only allows charging through firewire and not USB but my Windows 7 computer doesn't have FireWire (four USB ports instead).

Is there any way I could use a FireWire to USB adapter, or an alternative way to sync my iPod without replacing the battery or using a computer with a FireWire port?

Answer 1

You need to find a firewire/USB cable (like this). Basically, it has a iPod connector, a firewire connector and a USB connector. The firewire connector goes to the power supply that came with your iPod, the USB cable goes to your computer, and the iPod connector goes to your iPod, and everything just works.

By way of more explanation (May 2011): Older iPods (at least up to the 3rd generation, possibly one or two more) needed a Firewire connection that used to be standard on every Mac (and not a small number of PCs). The Firewire connection provided high speed data transfer in the days of USB 1.1, and the amount of power available on the Firewire is much higher than that available over a USB connection (Firewire provides 12 volts at something like 1 amp, while USB provides 5 volts at 500 milliamps). As power requirements improved (better batteries, lower power storage devices, displays, etc) and as USB transfer speeds come up to higher levels (USB 2.0), Apple switched from using Firewire (which was never super-popular on PCs anyway) to USB.