Authorizing computer to play bought music

I bought a song from itunes from my laptop at work, and when i authorised it to play on that machine, it said i had used 2 of my 5 computers... when i moved it over to my desktop at work and authorised it, it said i had used 4 of my 5. I had only authorized it for 2.
Now this morning, i started up itunes at home, and started playing an album i bought from this computer and resides ONLY on this computer. I was asked for my password and it came back saying i had used 4 of my 5 computers.
Where is apple getting these arbitrary numbers and how can get back some of the authorizations they say i'm using but havn't??

Have any of the computers you are currently using had any major repairs such as a motherboard replacement? Have any of them ever had an OS re-install? If so, iTunes will view this as a new computer requiring authorization. You may do a "deauthorize all" once per year, so I wouldn't worry about it until you are told that you have 5 authorized systems, then "deauthorize all", reauthorize only the ones you need.

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Re authorizing computer to play purchased music?

SO, ive bought a few things from itunes, and then my computer was having problems so we backed everything up and then wiped it and re installed everything like it was new. When i put the music back on it said i had to authorize my computer to play the music ive purchased on my account, and i did but then it told me i had authorized 2 of the 5 computers im allowed to authorize. Is there any way i can fix that? cus really this is the same computer, so when i get a new one ill be on my third "authorization" and thats not quite right...

ohhh ok so i can only fix it once im up to my full 5 computers? alright well now ill rememeber to un authorize this one before i get rid of it. So in the case taht your computer just completely crashes before you can do antyhing you just have to wait till youre up to your full 5 authorizations to do anything about it?

This an IPOD I bought used. Everything else works fine. It syncs to my computer and plays my music but will not connect to the USB interface in my car. My wife's IPOD, which seems to be identical, works fine. Any ideas?

This an IPOD I bought used. Everything else works fine. It syncs to my computer and plays my music but will not connect to the USB interface in my car. My wife's IPOD, which seems to be identical, works fine. I should say it connects but then immediately disconnects. Any ideas?

Then my last suggestion is to Reset it, while connected to the BMW Audio.
Toggle the Hold switch, make sure you dont see the red mark when you do the next step
Reset the iPod -> Press Menu and Center button simultaneously for about 10 secs or till the Apple Logo comes ON
Then release the buttons
Select your preferred language.
Here is the Apple support Article on the 5Rs
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/classic/
Good Luck!

Authorizing computer to play music from old account

I am trying to access music purchased on an old account, but no one remembers the password and the email address associated with the account no longer exists. How can I authorize my computer to play this music?

You need to contact Apple; to do this, either click here and fill out the form or contact the Account Security team.
(121738)

Downloaded my itunes music to my new HP computer, I see all my music in library but when I try to play it says my computer isn't authorized to play the music. How do I authorize my computer to play the music?

How do I authorize my computer to play my Itunes music? I downloaded Itunes on my pc but when I try to play my songs in my library it says my computer is not authorized ..... Why not? These are songs I have had for a long time. This is a new HP computer I just bought. Help please.

You're welcome.
tt2

I authorized my new computer to play old music but it doesn't work...

Got a new computer, imported my library, then was asked to authorize new computer to play a song. I did, and it said 'Success!' but when I click play, it brings up the dialog box again telling me to authorize the computer. When I enter my info in again, it says it's already authorized. So I press play and it brings up the dialog box again. What now?

If you've go the latest version of iTunes (you need at least version 10.2), and you've tried rebooting your pc, then there is troubleshooting help here : http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538

IPod Touch 4G won't sync new apps on 2nd authorized computer, but WILL sync music, podcasts, etc.

Hello.
Everywhere I've read about apps not syncing to the iPod touch while using iTunes on a second authorized computer have mentioned that they could sync nothing to the device. Yet I have a different problem, one where I have no problem syncing new music, podcasts, pictures, etc., and only new apps refuse to sync to the device.
I recently purchased a new iPod Touch 4G. My computer being away for repairs at the time that I bought it, I synced only podcasts, apps, pictures, and video to the device using a friend's computer under a different Apple ID. When I first synced it, I authorized that computer with the device, and it mentioned you could sync the device with up to 5 computers, so I figured I would have no problem when I got my own computer back.
Having now received my computer back, I connected my new iPod touch to my own iTunes under my Apple ID and authorized my computer as the second authorized computer. These are the only two computers I have ever synced the device with.
I copied my music library, more pictures, and more podcasts to the device with no problems, and they play/show on the device no problem. Also, I can still access and use all the content previously on my iPod.
I have downloaded a few new free apps that I wanted to sync to my iPod using my computer, but when I go to sync them to my iPod, they won't sync to the device. I have downloaded all the apps I had originally put on my iPod using my friends computer so that I would receive updates for the apps automatically. I have not tried to sync these, though I have (or iTunes at least is telling me I have) synced any updates that have since come up for the apps already on my iPod.
I have tried clicking and dragging the new apps from the apps tab over to the device tab, and iTunes shows them syncing, and to the best of my knowledge, shows that it has finished syncing them. It also shows that it has completely synced all the new apps when I try syncing on the apps tab under the device tab (the one that shows up when you click on the tab for your iPod, and is next to Summary, Pictures, Video, etc.). I have all the boxes checked off, and the boxes next to all the apps are checked off as if they're on my iPod, but they don't show up on the screen display next to it. When I click and drag the new apps over so they appear and click "apply," iTunes shows that it has completed the syncing process, but the apps won't show up on my iPod, and disappear from the sceen display on the device apps tab the next time I sync my iPod.
I have the latest version of iTunes, and have downloaded all updates for it. My iPod's less than a month old, so I don't think there's any updates for the iPod itself.
I also currently don't have the ability to sync over wi-fi, or have wi-fi access on my iPod at home, though I could set it up if it would fix the problem. Right now, I'm only syncing my iPod using usb and iTunes.
I would prefer, if possible, not to have to restore the iPod to factory settings, and begin anew. However, if this is necessary, any help on how to restore the iPod and back it up would be much appreciated.
Any help you can give is awesome.
Thank you for your time.

Hey, I'm probably too late and you may have already solved it but here's a solution. In iTunes go to Edit then preferences and then click on reset dialog warnings. What happens is when you first sync your ipod, you receive a message saying something like transfer?and you've probably selected "Do not show this message again". I don't really know why but iTunes assumes that the apps on your iPod are already on your computer and therefore need no transferring.
After you've reset it, the same message should pop up about transferring. As long as you don't click don't show, you should be good to go.

Can´t play bought music!!

Hello,
I have a problem with my iTunes. If I want to play music which I bought by iTunes Store I got the message that I have to acivate my PC. I did this and got the message that all is o.k. and 1 of 5 computers are activated. Now if I want to play the song I got the message again, that I have to activate the computer - then I acitivate it again and again...
Where´s the problem?
My english is not perfect, but I hope you can help me.
Thanks and Bye from Germany.

Jan, you only need to authorize computers to play your music in iTunes, you do not need to authorize an iPod to play the music. As long as iTunes is authorized on your computer, you should be able to transfer them to an unlimited number of iPods and of course they should play. As far as I know, if your computer isn't authorized, iTunes will not even transfer the song anyway so ...
If your iPod is new, have your tried calling Apple phone support (90 days free for a single incident) ?

Updated my bios, and I had to authorize my computer to play purchased music

did updating bios (in a dell inspiron 5150) change my Computer's identity or something? Thank goodness I had one spot left of computers to authorize.
Is there a way I can make it so this is (again) my primary machine?

I'm not sure what you mean by "primary machine"; the iTunes Music Store doesn't keep any sort of heirarchy of authorized systems. But this may help with the extra authorization:
One computer using multiple iTunes Music Store authorizations
And if you've reached five authorizations for your iTMS account, there will be a button in your iTunes Music Store account information that will allow you to deauthorize all systems associated with that account. Log into your iTMS account and you should see it. You can then reauthorize the computers you're using now.

Re-authorizing computer to play purchased content (movies)

Hi guys,
I am having a hard time with itunes and re-authorizing my computer to play purchased videos on my macbook pro currently running lion and the latest version of itunes. The problem is that i am repeatedly asked to authorize my computer to play the movies that i have purchased from the itunes store. i have done this about 30 times already and i should only have to do it once. I wouldnt care if i had to do it once it a while, but i get frustrated with it when i am traveling and do not have the ability to re-authorize (like on a plane). i wanted to buy the movies on itunes so i could have them available when i travel. i contacted itunes support and they told me that i should sign out of itunes on all my devices (macbook pro, ipod touch 4th, and iphone 4) which i did with no luck. please help me to resolve this problem. any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks!

anybody out there have an idea? still experiencing the problem and i did not get any solutions from the apple support.

Can't authorize new computer to play my music or download them onto my ipod

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum. I seem to be having trouble authorizing my new computer to play my songs, and to also download them onto my ipod. It will download some but not all. The problem that I am having is: when I try to play a song, the authorization pops up and asks me to authorize using my old email address, and password. Well since I can't remember my old password and I no longer use my old email address, I can't authorize my new computer to play songs. So someone Please come to my rescue. I have tried everything.
Kimbers_66

See how to change the ID and password.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93020

My computer wants me to authorize even though it's authorized; can't play my music

I'm using a mac mini with Lion 7.1. Suddenly, tunes I've been playing for years won't play. They say to authorize my computer, I authorize it and they still won't play. It's not all songs, just some I bought years ago. Songs before and after play fine.
HELP.

And now, the Apple Support person who said he was going to call me, didn't. He won't return my emails. I'm out a couple of hundred dollars of purchased music I was able to play until recently.
I've authorized, unauthorized … sent in every computer serial number I used to purchase music and the music gets stuck in a loop that asks me to authorize something that's already authorized. This is obviously an Apple CRM nightmare that iTunes simply refuses to fix.
I also have hours of my valuable time gone dealing with Apple's mess. I really need help and Apple is turning a blind eye.
Why would I ever buy any music from iTunes again? I've never had this issue with Amazon or CD Baby.
Can someone help me, or will I just get ignored.

HT1918 Authorizing computer to play music purchased with Apple ID

I accidentally unauthorized my computer, ipad, and iphone to play music purchased with my apple ID. How do I undo this?

ipads and iphones are not authorized at all.
ONLY computers are authorized.
Click Store>Authorize

Can I authorise a computer to play bought shows that ISN'T linked to iTunes

I recently bought a TV series from iTunes, and wanted to copy it to another computer of mine that isn't connected to the internet, so therefore isn't connected to the iTunes store. I used a memory stick to copy it, as it isn't able to be burned to a CD. It doesn't allow me to authorise this TV show when I try to play it as it needs to be linked to the iTunes store. I was wondering if there was a way around this problem, as it would be a big help to me.

Sorry, no. Any computer needs to be authorized to play purchased content. This will require the computer to be connected to the internet long enough to get it authorized.

Authorizing computers and playing purchased music

Hi,
I think I do not understand what authorizing is.
What I would like to do is to be able to play music I have purchased on multiple computers -- it seems like I can't download the music a second and third time, so I assume that I would have to put songs on a flash drive or email them to myself to put them on another computer.
So then do I need to authorize those other computers in order to play those transferred songs? Is that how this works?
Thanks,
Matt

If those other computers are not authorized, you won't be able to play them in their original form anyway. Burn them as an audio CD & import them that way. You can have 5 computers authorized.
See these documents:
About iTunes Music Store authorization and deauthorization
Some of my iTunes Music Store purchases won't play in iTunes

Authorizing computer to play bought music

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