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"This computer not authorized"

I have iTunes stored on an external drive. I recently bought a new computer and when I sync my iPod, it gives me a message that says something like "This computer not authorized" and it does not sync the items I've downloaded from the store. How do I tell iTunes that this computer is the one now?

Dell Inspiron 1525, Windows Vista

Posted on Dec 20, 2008 6:15 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Dec 20, 2008 6:18 PM

How do I tell iTunes that this computer is the one now?


Choose Authorize Computer from the Store menu in iTunes.

(38976)
30 replies

Dec 20, 2008 6:30 PM in response to ub-ak

Actually I mis-stated the case in the original question. The computer is authorized but some of the content (which is only stuff I've downloaded from the store) does not transfer and the message says "(Song name) was not transferred to (iPod) because you are not authorized to play it on this computer". Also, the only game I've downloaded (Pac Man) no longer appears anywhere.

Dec 20, 2008 8:46 PM in response to Niel

You can authorize up to 5 different computers to play your files, and if you decide that you no longer want a particular computer to be able to play your files, you can de-authorize any particular computer, and authorize another computer if you wish. Like I said you can have any 5 computers authorized to play your files at a time.

Dec 21, 2008 11:06 PM in response to ub-ak

I am getting the same issue. It is not on all songs ... but it appears that it was on an older account. I am in an infinite loop as it tells me to authorize it ... then I do ... then it give me the message "This computer is not authorize to play "Name of Song" ... ". Then I enter the password and repeat the process all over again. I already tried to de-authorize and re-authorize and still the same. And no, I don't remember my old account ... although when it gives me the message, it has the account name(e-mail address) already filled in ... any suggestions?

Dec 22, 2008 5:17 AM in response to lightpainter4ever

I am getting the same issue.
My hard drive failed on my MacBook Air and it was replaced by our local Apple Store (in Sydney, AUS) under warranty. Rather than doing a full restore I re-installed many apps and changed the account names. I re-linked to my Music/Movie library, which I keep on an external drive. I thought all was okay.

First problem I noticed was that I got an Authorisation error when I tried to synch my iPhone. Tried all the usual de-authorise and re-authorise to no success. I then discovered that many of the tunes that I had purchased I could not play. I got the dialogue box asking asking for me to authorise. This I did, getting a box stating that the computer was already authorised. This cycle I repeated a few times.

I took the Mac back to the Apple Store and got them to try but to no success. So I am stuck with a nice new hard drive, some music I cannot play, an iPhone I cannot sync and iPhone Apps that I cannot update.

HELP PLEASE!!!!

Dec 22, 2008 5:38 AM in response to lightpainter4ever

That's the problem with having multiple itunes accounts - you will forever need to remember the login credentials for all of those accounts.



When you buy a song from itunes, the account ID/user name is embedded into each file. Just right-click on a purchased item and Get Info - it's there on the summary tab.



See if this page helps, with the "iForgot" tool, if you don't remember the password
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/store/password/


Did you *sign out* between each account and then authorize the PC?

Dec 22, 2008 12:23 PM in response to Katrina S.

Sorry, to clarify, I only have one iTunes account. The account mentioned above was the User account on my laptop. It was this account that I renamed.
Checking other details I noticed that since the new hard drive was installed the names in the permissions do seem to have changed. I have given all Read & Write access but with benefit.

Dec 24, 2008 11:25 PM in response to Katrina S.

Well, after checking the info on the songs in which I get that message, the account is the same, so I have to clarify this. What I don't understand further is that after entering the password it tells me that "this computer is already authorized" and of course after trying to play it again, it ask me for the password again. An infinite loop ... BTW, this is in my Windows machine. I will try to see if the same happens in my Mac ...

Dec 29, 2008 1:56 AM in response to princesadorkess

Hi All, I was contacted directly by iTunes support who asked me to reinstall iTunes and Quicktime after downloading them from Apple. I was sceptical as I do have the most current versions installed and always update.

However, I am pleased to say this fixed my problem. For completeness I did de-authorise my Mac and sign-out of iTunes before I undertook the re-install.

Dec 30, 2008 12:40 AM in response to Tunbers

Tunbers,
Try your solution and did not work. Furthermore, while installing Quicktime I got the following error: "This package installs a version of QuickTime that is not intended for your computer". This was "QuickTime755_Leopard" ... wierd! Having said that, I tried to re-install iTunes and I de-authorized the computer before the re-install and re-authorized after re-install. Same infinite loop! I am sure I am not the only one. This happens to me also on my MacBook Pro now in addition to Windows. Is anyone from Apple reading this threads????

Dec 30, 2008 11:56 PM in response to ub-ak

I seem to have a similar "Computer is not authorized" problem. I have 2 Dell computers on a home network both with iTunes ver 8 open with sharing each others Music Library. However, on computer #2 when I try to play a selection from Computer #1's library, a dialog comes up asking to "AUTHORIZE THIS COMPUTER". I entered the Apple password and another dialog comes up saying, "This computer is already authorized". I'm confused and so is the iTunes software. Suggestions?

Dec 31, 2008 8:17 AM in response to Hep Papa Pete

Hello, Ihave the same problem. I opened a new apple account (my first) with the imac of my parents. I buyed some TV - films and i could watch them on the mac of my parents. Going back to my home I burned the m4v file to a DVD dirctly from the iTunes folder. Beeing back at home i installed iTunes on my Windows XP System and aktivated this computer with my apple account i used at my parents home. Then i imported the files from the DVD but trying to play them failed by asking to acivate the computer. Again I entered my apple login and password but trying to start the movie ended up in again asking to activate my computer. Every time I did this in the cycle iTunes responded that the computer was allredy activated and that there are 2 activated computers out of 5.
Even buying a new movie with the apple account on the windows machine ended up that i could buy the movie and download it to my windows computer but again could not play it because not beeing authorizied.

Any suggestions?

greetings and a nice New Year

Dec 31, 2008 10:32 AM in response to Tunbers

I have a somewhat similar problem. I think! My old computer with all my music crashed. I removed the hard drive and installed it in a external USB Hard Drive Enclosure. (The hard drive still works.) I just want to move the music from the old hard drive to my new computer. I reinstalled the iTunes Software but can't get iTunes to locate the music and movies on the old hard drive. Suggestions? Thanks.

"This computer not authorized"

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