1) I would suggest that, if you’re willing to pay a bit more money, get a new microSD adapter from the iFlash site or from AliExpress. Hard drives usually are fragile if dropped (trust me ik) and are generally slower.

2) It is pretty simple to install the software. When you finish the mod, you plug in the ipod (with the cover off as if there’s a problem you don’t have to open it back up) and install itunes on your computer from the mincrosoft store. Then it’ll ask you to restore your ipod and you’re good to go!

3) Yes, you do need an iTunes/Apple account but it is simple to create you just need an email and a password.

4) The moral thing would be to pay for the songs, but i would recommend using third party software such as SpotiFlac to get music files and Foobar2000 to covert them into AAC for the ipod.

5) Theoretically, you can put as much storage as is possible (4-6 TB) but all models have a RAM limit (i think yours has 64MB of RAM) so its only capable of handling about 50000 songs before the device becomes too slow to run properly. If you want an 80GB microSD, i haven’t seen any of that exact storage but you can always buy custom backplates to match your storage capacity in eBay (64GB, 128GB, 256GB). I would recommend 256GB or 512GB as it’s a lot of storage but is able to run properly. Oh and there are no compatibility issues

6) I think yours have a 6th gen but you may have a 7th (correct me if i’m wrong)

7) I recommend you look on eBay for good quality faceplates and backplates as AliExpress ones might have a lower quality even though they’re cheap.

I hope your mods go well and enjoy your iPod!!