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Moving kids accounts from my computer to theirs...

Kids are growing up and I'm giving them their own computers, but their iTunes accounts, iPhones, etc., are still on my computer. I'd like to move these accounts and all associated music, iOS apss, and other media permanently to their own computers. I moved the oldest boy's account to his MacBook a few years ago -- don't remember how we did that, but it seems to have worked. Last year, I move all the middle boy's music and apps to his MacBook Air, but his iPhone, iPad, and iTunes account still show up on my computer and every time I try to associate them, his MacBook Air wants to wipe the iPhone/iPad and restore them to factory settings. He doesn't want to lose all the data from games, etc., on his iOS devices.


I'd like to simply move the iTunes backups from my computer to his, but something tells me that wouldn't work.


Is there an easy way to disassociate iPhones, iPads, and iTunes accounts on one computer and move the media, backups, and settings to another computer without losing any of the data?


Thanks!

Posted on Feb 2, 2013 3:33 AM

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6 replies

Feb 2, 2013 7:45 AM in response to Steve Porritt

In iTunes under "Store" click "Deauthorize this computer". Then on your kid's computer, open iTunes and under the same menu "Authorize this computer" with their account.


You can also keep both computers authorized to your kid's account, then use Home Sharing to transfer their media, when done DeAuthorize their account on your computer and your iTies will be severed.

Feb 2, 2013 7:52 AM in response to verbcrunch

Also - if you want your kid's iStuff to sync to their computer instead of yours, ejpre is correct that you could use Migration Assistant, but a cleaner way would be to simply copy your entire iTunes library to their computer. When you launch iTunes, hold down the "option" key and direct it to open the copied library.


Your kids will be able to sync their devices on their computers instead of yours.


The problem with Migration Assistant is it copies all your applications, email & browser settings, there's no way to constrain what it migrates - it basically clones your computer. But if you just copy the iTunes library (the whole folder - including media, XML and itl files inside) nothing else is affected.

Feb 2, 2013 11:29 PM in response to Steve Porritt

Wow, lots of ideas! Thanks! To clarify matters, my kids do not have user accounts on my computer, just iTunes accounts, so Migration Assistant would be massive overkill and probably wouldn't even work for the purpose I have in mind.


On the other hand, my middle kid's MacBook Air has 128 GB of storage -- only have free at the moment -- and my iTunes library is over 268 GB, so copying the entire iTunes folder ain't gonna work, either.


Just had a talk with said middle kid and he insists that he is backing up his iPhone/iPad to his computer and has all his music and apps already there. But my iTunes still lists his iPhone/iPad and wants to update his iOS system from 5.1.1 to 6.1. With his permission, I erased his iPhone backup from iTunes on my computer, but his iPhone still appears in the sidebar.


So how do I simply "de-list" his "de-vices" from my iTunes?


Love to figure this out now, as there is a daughter with an iPhone also in my iTunes who will be getting a Mac in the next year or so. (Her music/music video/iOS app collection probably makes up a good half of the iTunes library at the moment!)

Moving kids accounts from my computer to theirs...

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