Authorizing songs in iTunes after performing an erase and install

Hi
This one should be a simple one for someone to solve.
I'm running Panther 10.3.9 - I've had to perform a 'erase and install', and now all the tunes I'ved purchased from iTunes are not authorised to play.
I understand this is because my iTunes account thinks my reformatted machine is 'new' but how can I get around this as I dont want to add another 'authorized machine' to my list on my iTunes account.
Anyone got any ideas?!
Jenny

If you have authorized five machines(the maximum) to play purchased music, you will be given the chance to deauthorize all the computers from your Account Information screen; otherwise, use this form to send a message to the people who can deauthorize your old system.
(11524)

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How to recover after performing an 'Erase' and then 'Partition' within Disk Utility of an External USB drive?

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thank you,
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Hello RalphR_MI,
Take a look at this page, which lists several articles. Please let me know if any of these help you restore your backup.
Also, take a look at this article, as well as this one.
I hope this helps. I'm not sure of a few things, so I'm sorry for sending you so much, but I'm confident it will give you something new to try.
Please let me know if this helps. Good luck!
↙-----------How do I give Kudos?| How do I mark a post as Solved? ----------------↓

Restore after OS X erase and install

I need to do a clean erase and reinstall of Yosemite and my apps. How do I preserve my iBooks CONTENT and SETTINGS after reinstalling?
I have books that I have downloaded from many sources and added to iBooks and I have collections etc.
When I login to my iCloud account, I do not see that app there, but I know it syncs with my iPad so I am wondering where the data is stored and if I just need to login to my apple account and all of that data will be there? Or is that just because it is on my Mac now?
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I was going to reinstall all of my apps individually rather than have the setup assistant install all of the applications (I thought it was an all or none). I have a Mac that has been through several Migration Assistants over many years from many Macs and it has been a slowoly getting worse problem and I have been adviced by Apple tech support to do this and I feel it is wise at this point. 9I have remnants of apps from OS9 on my Mac and lots of apps come and gone and some uninstalled improperly, etc.)
I have Time Machine and planned to copy over whatever files I need to, mostly from ~/Library/... but in the case of iBooks, I just don't know how that app works and where the data is and the settings are stored. And as I said, it may with this app be as simple as logging into my Apple account and it is all stored in the cloud somehow.

Recreating My Previous Set-up After Performing Erase and Install

Hi!
After long consideration, I want to perform an Erase and Install due to all sorts of system software issues. I have backed up my HD with Carbon Copy Cloner and Time Machine. I also have a .Mac account. Once the erase and install is complete, I want to reimport important files from the backups.
A few questions:
1) Does anyone have any tips on reimporting? Is there a preferred chronological order for re-install ing software or documents?
2) Of special concern is an applications like iCal where the program will be installed but the data may be buried someplace in the library. Will Time Machine help with this?
3) My previous system had three users. Will I need to create these same three users before I use Time Machine? Or will Time Machine create the users for me?
4) I have seen references to using Time Machine via the Leopard install disk. How does this work -- and why?
5) I figure it is fairly easy to copy simple documents from one hard drive to another and they will work the same as they always did. But are there some programs or files that need more extensive attention (like the aforementioned iCal)? When is it okay to simply copy a program to another HD and when is it necessary to actually reinstall it from scratch?
These are my first concerns. I would appreciate any assistance.
Thank you!

Time Machine isn't really meant to "restore settings." It's meant for one of two operations:
1) Recover a single file that you accidentally delete. (Or a single folder, etc).
2) Restore your entire hard disk in case of a catastrophic failure.
This means, for example, that you can't do a fresh install of Leopard (to fix any problems you're having) and then use Time Machine to restore all of your system preferences to the way you had them. You'll need to do that manually.
As for doing the install on your external drive and then cloning: No. I don't recommend that. Instead, back up everything and wipe your internal hard disk. Install Leopard fresh. Install all your applications fresh (Not from the Time Machine backup.) After that's done, then plug in your external hard disk and use the Finder to drag your Photos, Music, Videos, Documents and Calendars, Address Book Data, and Bookmarks to your freshly-redone internal drive.
That's the correct way to go about it. While your idea may work, it's not a good approach to wipe your backup drive. Then, if something goes wrong, you have no second copy of your data.

Program installation after erase and install of Mac OS X.

Good day to you all,
A quick question to you Mac experts and enthusiasts. I am going to perform an erase and install on my 24" Aluminum iMac. I have numerous programs on my HD. If i copy them to an external drive and complete the erase and install, will I be able to just copy them back to my HD after, or will I need to reinstall them from the discs and .dmg files? Any help would be much appreciated on this topic. Thanks to all in advance for your time and input!
N8
Message was edited by: Nathan Barton

Nathan Barton wrote:
A quick question to you Mac experts and enthusiasts. I am going to perform an erase and install on my 24" Aluminum iMac. I have numerous programs on my HD. If i copy them to an external drive and complete the erase and install, will I be able to just copy them back to my HD after, or will I need to reinstall them from the discs and .dmg files? Any help would be much appreciated on this topic. Thanks to all in advance for your time and input!
*Hi Nathan, Welcome (Back)* to Apple's Users Help Users Forums.
Maybe I missed something—wouldn't be the 1st time—cuz I am surprised no one has suggesting making a clone prior to the E&I. You could then clone back your apps.
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
Purchase at $27.95 will allow smart backups that look at the bu files and only move over new ones. It's quick at ~7 mins to change ~1 gig out of 20.
Be sure to test that the clone boots and apps behave properly.
Here are other popular cloners.
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
http://www.prosoftengineering.com/products/drivegeniusinfo.php?PHPSESSID=909c070fb2e13b35097fa9cc1340bfc0
Good Luck, JP

Missing HD Space even after Erase and Install

Ok, so I own a 2.4GHz MBP, 200GB HD 7,200RPM, 4GB of memory... Penryn model that my brother purchased for the each of us back in about August of last year (2008). So recently my brother upgraded to the Unibody and gave me his MBP so that I can give it to my wife. So now, I have 2 of the same exact MBP's.
So the problem that I'm having is that when I did a Erase and Install on the MBP that was given to me, it didn't have the same amount of HD space as the one I originally had. I only know this, because I recently did an Erase and Install on my original MBP and because I wanted a fresh MBP. When I did the Erase and Install on my original MBP, I noticed that it had about 174GB of HD space left.
Now with the MBP that I just received, I did the same exact Erase and Install to my new MBP and it only has 171.71GB of HD space.
Also, I notice after doing the Erase and Install again on the new MBP. I noticed that when I did the Customize portion it stated that I am going to be need 9.2GB of available space and that I have 185GB of available space. So after I did the Erase and Install, shouldn't it have about 174GB of space like my original MBP. And that's why I know my new MBP is missing HD space.
So my question is that, why am I missing HD space on my new MBP after Erase and Install and what can I do to get it right. Why wouldn't have the two computers have the same specs after Erase and Install has been done exactly the same way? (The only reason I did the Erase and Install on the new MBP is so that I can configure it for my wife with her login and info.)
Sorry for the long read... but here are the cliff notes.
1. I have 2 MBP that are exactly the same.
2. I did an Erase and Install on both MBP.
3. After Erase and Install, one of them has about 3GB less HD space.
If anyone can help me, please let me know. I will post replies here as well.
Otherwise, I will be taking it back to Apple since it's still under warranty.
Thanks

But my problem is right after the same exact Erase and Install on both, they have different free space.
How could you possibly know this without using the drives? IOW, how & when are you checking the drives' capacity & the used & available space of each?
Again, I've noticed that the HD space specifies that it has 185.99GB of available space after the OS, but once you add certain things, it specifies that it will be using 9.2GB of the available 185.99GB.
What do you mean by "185.99GB of available space after the OS"? What are the "certain things" & what is the "it" that specifies 9.2GB will be used?
If you really mean each drive is showing a *total capacity* of 185.99 GB (before or after installing anything), this is right for a "200 GB" drive. That is because the drive capacity specification is given in decimal based gigabytes but the computer reports capacity in binary based ones. (See paragraph 3 in my post at http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9389432&#9389432 or search this forum for the word "gibibyte" for more about that.) This number should not change when something is installed -- it is the total capacity of the drive.
If the "certain thing" that says 9.2 GB (or whatever) is the installer application, be advised that it is telling you +the free space needed for the installation+, which is not that same thing as +the space used by the installed files+ once the process is complete. This is because the installer requires temporary file space to assemble the files it will install, hold the results of pre- & post- installation checks, & so on. This temporary space is eventually freed up once the files are in place. In part because of this, the reported space needed is only an estimate, & is always more than the space used by the installed files. (IOW, if it says 9.2 GB are needed for the installation, you should always see less than this used by the sum of all the files installed.)
Thus, as I have already explained as best as I know how, you need to look not just at the free space of each drive but at the total capacity, the number of files & folders used on each volume, & the partition map if you want to make a meaningful comparison of the two drives. I have already explained how to do this using Disk Utility. If you are not willing to do that but instead rely on what appear to be flawed inferences from other things, I can't help you any more than I already have.

.Mac Sync and Erase and Install

I have .Mac set to sync my keychain items, calendars, contacts, bookmarks, mail accounts and rules, and Yojimbo notes. If I perform an Erase and Install of Leopard, and add my .Mac account information and sync the same items, will those items be restored on my computer, or wiped out on .Mac since they would all be empty after an Erase and Install?

Hey there,
As long as you have authorized your computer and erased and synced with your new library, then you should be ok. Just be 100% sure that all your original music and files that were on your iPod are in your new iTunes library. Then, go ahead and "Erase and Sync." Hope this helps.
B-rock

No "erase and install" option only "customize"

I want to perform an "erase and install" but it won't give me the option to.
It only says "Customize"
Where did it go?

i think u may be right. which may also be why it doesn't allow me to log in. (just freezes whenever i put the RIGHT name/password in, if it's the wrong one it only allows me to try again)
Although, the iBook currently had 10.3.9.
there's also no "erase and install" option on my iMac that I'm trying to re-install. MAYBE cuz Tiger's already installed on there?? I'm using the disc that it came with.

Archive/Erase and Install fail

I hate to add my own sob story here, but I'm at a loss here.
I'd had lingering minor problems with my Tiger installation, so I figured that when I got Leopard, I'd wipe my hard drive and start fresh. So I pop in the disc and 24 hours later, I've had no success. At first, I thought my problems might be the result of a bad DVD, so I returned it to the CambridgeSide store today and obtained a replacement, which fails exactly as before.
I've tried using both "Archive and Install" and "Erase and Install", with several extras or just the base system; it always terminates with a message about how the Installer could not validate the contents of the "Essentials" package. At one point, after a botched Erase and Install I tried an Archive and Install for kicks, and it seemed to get farther along before terminating in another Install Failed, this time telling me that it could not install files to my hard drive.
I've run Verify Disk in Disk Utility on my hard drive twice, and it hasn't found anything wrong. Anyone have any idea what's going on?

Larry V. wrote:
I The Genius I worked with told me it was likely a bug (albeit a major one) in the install program.
Well there's one Genius whom I can respect.
I think this is the conclusion many of us are reaching. I wonder if it might be related to the DVD being double-layered? It might simply demand a tad too much from an older or slightly out-of-kilter optical drive.
I know for a fact that the ultra-thin optical drives in the MBPs have been a headache for Apple.
Eventually this will all be sorted out. My disks shipped today. I am already an expert in what not to do, but only the doing on my own machines will tell how well I have learned my lessons. I have two MBPs and one G5 to Leopardize. I will have a house full of backups for each before I even start

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Every few months or so I wipe my HD clean and reinstall WinXP to keep everything fresh.
Doing this blows out my purchased folder on iTunes.
Is there any soft of designation within iTunes that would alert me to purchased music after my library has been rebuilt ?

Your purchased playlist in iTunes can be rebuilt using a Smart playlist.
Click File > New Smart Playlist
Match the following Rule:
Kind contains Protected
Kind contains Purchased
Select 'live updating' and leave the other 2 unchecked
Click OK
This creates a dark purple smart playlist in the playlist section of your source pane (left-hand column). If you wish to have these appear with the green purchased icon under store, make a purchase from iTunes after rebuilding your library, and then drag the purple smart playlist to the newly created green playlist.
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CG

Merging Itunes Libraries after erase and install of Tiger

Hello all,
If someone can point me in the right direction. i have searched and read a lot of postings about merging libraries. i'm not sure if i fall into any of these categories.
here is what i did:
1. all my itunes music is on an external maxtor 300 gb hard drive.
2. upgraded to tiger - had errors, so needed to do an erase and install.
3. the maxtor external hard drive was disconnected during the upgrade.
4. itunes was installed during the upgrade with none of my current playlists or purchased music since the external drive was not connected (found this out from reading a post).
5. my girlfriend downloaded music that was waiting to be downloaded so now i have music in my new itunes library.
and the questions is:
i would like to combine the new library with the existing library so that all my purchased music is in one folder and i reclaim all my old playlists (the current itunes setup has no playlists yet).
so is there anything i need to do special in this instance?
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regards,
ron - nyc

Thanks for your questions. Actually, I did two Archive and Installs and one Erase and Install. In every instance by the time I got the OS up to 10.4.11 (via one combined update) things started acting funky. iPhoto wouldn't work — to get it running required an overwrite install via iLife 05, Appleworks 6 won't open and, as mentioned Mail never worked from the get-go.
I have tried reinstalling only Mail. But as yet no luck getting it to work.
I have been trolling around the forums and have noted a lot of problems regarding Mail in 10.4. When I have time, I will try some of the simpler, albeit arcance, suggested solutions.

Backed up my songs from itunes onto a hard drive and now my playlists in itunes are gone! How do I retrieve them back to the way it was before?

Help! My husband backed up my songs from itunes onto a hard drive and now my playlists in itunes are gone from my library! How do I retrieve them back to the way it was before?

Hello Nataroo007,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!
There is a file in the iTunes library folder that contains your playlist information is the iTunes Library.xml file.
Try and find the file, usually located in one of these locations depending on your OS:
Operating System
Default location of iTunes Folder
Mac OS X
/Users/[your username]/Music
Microsoft Windows XP
\Documents and Settings\[your username]\My Documents\My Music\
Microsoft Windows Vista
\Users\[your username]\Music\
Microsoft Windows 7
\Users\[your username]\My Music\
Then you can import this file to your iTunes Library like this:
1. Choose File > Library > Import Playlist.
2. Navigate to the "iTunes Library.xml" file
3. Windows users: Click Open.
If your Podcasts list in iTunes is empty after following these steps, learn how to add them back into iTunes.
Note: information in this post comes from article:
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451
Cheers,
Sterling

IMac still broken after 10.5.7 problems and Erase and Install

I had written the following at the end of a "solved" post when it was suggested that I start a new post instead. So here is what I had...
Ok. I think my iMac was turned into a giant paper weight by 10.5.7.
Here's what happened with the Archive and Install. The screen said "Calculating Time Remaining" and stayed there for over an hour. I searched the boards and found that I should try to create a partition with Disk Utility and then try again.
So, I hard reset the computer and reboot off the Leopard DVD. I tried to make the partition but couldn't figure out how. Turns out I needed to click on the actual hard drive icon, not the existing Volume icon (which I discovered later). So, I checked the drive for repairs and it still checked out ok. I decided to erase the drive and go from there.
While tinkering in the Utilities I noticed the Restore from Backup option. So, I plugged in my Firewire Time Machine drive and began a restore from the last time my System was using 10.5.6. The restore completed successfully and I was hopeful that things would be ok.
I restarted the machine and it immediately went in to Open Firmware and the fans start spinning at full. So, I shake my head and decide to reset NVRAM. It tries to reboot and I have to hard restart it 3 or 4 times (as usual lately) and was able to reboot again off the Leopard install DVD.
That's it, I thought. I'm going to erase and install OS X.
I go back to Disk Utility and figure out how to partition the drive. I create a single partition and begin the process of Install OS X. It says starts fine and in about 40 minutes it is complete.
Restart with fingers crossed! New OS, wiped drive... it HAS to work, right?
Nope.
Same problems... freezing on boot, fans loud, etc. I reset PRAM and SMU(SMC).
Luckily I don't have any pressing work on my computer - someone who did would be quite angry with Apple that this was happening.
For my part... I now have a wiped hard drive... all iTunes content, iPhoto content, all my apps, games, docs... GONE. I do have the Time Machine backup... but did it really have to come to this? I suppose my hard drive could be failing... but wouldn't the multiple disk checks have shown something?
If there are any suggestions I'm all ears. I have reached the limits of my troubleshooting knowledge.
Thanks,
Jon
Follow-up:
After the computer had been off for several hours over night I decided to start it up again to see what would happen. At first it looked encouraging... got the startup chime, the Apple logo, the progress wheel.... then kernel panic.
Several hard restarts later (to get the Leopard DVD out of the drive) and the iMac now sits, packed in it's original box, ready to go to the Apple Store.
My question is this... does anyone think this might be a power supply issue?
The reason I ask is that I exhausted ALL troubleshooting procedures that I can think of. These include:
Replacing RAM, both DIMMs
Reset PRAM and NVRAM and SMC
Check hard drive using install DVD - OK
Restore 10.5.6 from Time Machine drive - did not resolve issues
Erase and Install OS X - did not resolve issue
Plug iMac in to wall outlet versus power strip
Removed all peripherals
etc, etc
I just can't believe that upgrading to 10.5.7 would hose my hardware. The iMac was working fine until 10.5.7 except the occasional crash of Halo on the larger maps.
Totally stumped.
Thanks,
Jon

Hello Joanne:
A suggestion - reset the SMU:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767
If that does not help, let me try to answer your questions.
Wondering if I should roll back to 10.5.4 which is what I had, and, if so, how to do it?
If you have Time Machine, use that (a copy before the problem). If you do not have TM (or a bootable clone) the way to go back is to do an archive and install:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1710
Also, I've downloaded the Safari update, which I know won't run on that, so would I even be able to get the old Safari back?
The archive and install will do that. By the by, Safari 4 should run just fine on your system. It is faster than Safari 3.
Barry

Leopard 10.5.7 refuses to launch applications after "erase and install"

I have an older iMac G5 (1.6Mhz PPC, 2 Gb RAM) born with Panther OS. I wanted to update some applications so I could have a secure browser and other apps. I upgraded the RAM to 2 Gb as a first step. The additional RAM really perked up the old iMac so the next step was to update the OS to 10.5.6 using a DVD that was printed in Jan '09 and sold as part of a bundle pack with the new iLife 09 and iWork 09.
I thought I could get away with an overwrite installation and I knew there were risks in doing that. The result was a really bugey computer with frequent terminal views, kernel panics and even hard shut downs. Apple issued the 10.5.7 update and that helped stabilize the system somewhat.
I still had problems with instablility of the OS and with Safari 3.2.3, Firefox 3 and other applications. I decided to reinstall Leopard using the archive and install procedure. The 2nd install stabilized the OS but I still had problems with browsers and Open Office refusing to launch.
I did lots of troubleshooting using Onyx, MemTest OSX, repair permissions in the Disk Utility, etc. I created a new user account and the problems persisted. I decided to try a third install of the OS using the Erase and Install procedure.
The system now has Safari 4.0.1 but after a few page views Safari crashed and now it crashes as soon as you launch it. A freshly downloaded Camino browser does the same thing. iTunes, System Profiler and a fresh download of Onyx also refuse to launch. All of them crash while launching.
I can launch an ancient version of IE and Firefox 3 from the desktop.
After the last OS X install, I noticed the system did not accept the first attempts at downloading the Leopard updates and the Safari update. A second attempt was successful for both. I am reluctanct to proceed with installing anymore applications until I can fix what I believe is a problem with the OS. The OS worked well after the archive and install procedure and I am thinking it should be able to work at least as well after the erase and install.
I live in a rural area and the nearest Apple "genius" counter is about a 5 hour round trip. Is there anyone out there that has encountered this problem?

The Internet Explorer came with the iMac and I never used it. I had it on a disk so I put it on the desktop to get a download of Camino after Safari failed. It's so old that most websites can't render for it unless they have some html default page.
Here is what the Crash Reporter log had. The iTunes was on the OS X install disk. The Camino browser was downloaded from Caminobrowser.org.
Process: iTunes [275]
Path: /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunes
Identifier: com.apple.iTunes
Version: ??? (???)
Build Info: iTunes-8202301~15
Code Type: PPC (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [67]
Date/Time: 2009-07-04 21:34:25.644 -0700
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.7 (9J61)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: 17FE9D2E-ED3C-44C8-BD16-23C937CA83AE
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000008fe0105c
Crashed Thread: 0
Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: __ZN7WebCore11RenderLayer18gAlignCenterAlwaysE
Referenced from: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/WebKit
Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/WebCore.frame work/Versions/A/WebCore
Process: Safari [118]
Path: /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari
Identifier: com.apple.Safari
Version: ??? (???)
Build Info: WebBrowser-55301800~1
Code Type: PPC (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [67]
Date/Time: 2009-07-04 21:14:45.039 -0700
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.7 (9J61)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: 17FE9D2E-ED3C-44C8-BD16-23C937CA83AE
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000008fe0105c
Crashed Thread: 0
Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: __ZN7WebCore11RenderLayer18gAlignCenterAlwaysE
Referenced from: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/WebKit
Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/WebCore.frame work/Versions/A/WebCore
Process: Camino [361]
Path: /Volumes/Camino/Camino.app/Contents/MacOS/Camino
Identifier: org.mozilla.camino
Version: ??? (???)
Code Type: PPC (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [67]
Date/Time: 2009-07-04 22:14:43.753 -0700
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.7 (9J61)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: 17FE9D2E-ED3C-44C8-BD16-23C937CA83AE
Exception Type: EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000001, 0x000000008fe0105c
Crashed Thread: 0
Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: __ZN7WebCore11RenderLayer18gAlignCenterAlwaysE
Referenced from: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/WebKit
Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/WebCore.frame work/Versions/A/WebCore

Can't access Time Machine backups after erase and install

Had iMac checked by Apple Authorized Service Provider after experiencing multiple problems I couldn't fix. No hardware problem. He did an erase and install of 10.5.8. The machine accesses my Time Machine backup, but in Time Machine/ iMacHome/ Sharing & Permissions says, "You can only read." If I access a folder in Home, like Desktop or Documents, it says,"You have no access." Permissions are locked and grayed out.
I spent over two hours on the phone with tech support last evening, and he finally said he'd have to turn it over to Apple engineers, which would take a few days.
Migration assistant only allows "all or nothing" migration, and I need to select just certain folders; I do not want to restore anything that might be corrupted.
Is it possible I could have an undetected hardware problem? Has anyone else done an erase and install and been able to use Time Machine backups to pick and choose what they wanted to restore?

Thank you for your reply. The apple support tech should have known this, but he didn't. However, in the course of our two hour discussion he said "Maybe it's because the computer name is different." I hadn't reached the new-set-up stage where I had changed the name of the computer from Apple's default, so I did that. My short name home folder I had already named the same as before, iMacHome.
But changing the computer name didn't help. After reading your reply, I unlocked the preferences (which were locked and grayed out in TM) to my home folder in the finder and assigned read and write to all folders within for everyone. Back in TM, preferences were no longer grayed out, but changing privileges was. I added iMacHome to the names in addition to staff read & write and everyone read and write. But ImacHome(Me) allows read only, options gray, and even though everyone is read and write, it says "You can only read" and I still cannot access Desktop, Documents, etc...
Fortunately I have a SuperDuper user file backup that I am restoring from, so all is not lost. But it seems to me TM backups should be readily available, and I want to solve this problem. I may still want to go back to a previous month to recover something. But mostly I'd just like to know that TM is a functional backup. It certainly isn't in my case right now.
Don't want to migrate the entire home folder. Too risky. Risky enough to bring over Mail and selected Application Support folders and keychains.
Thanks again. I think your answer is right on, but there must still be something else. I know I have those names correct because I see the old computer name on the sparse bundle, and the old home name in the TM backups. (Haven't read the tips yet. Will do so.)

Authorizing songs in iTunes after performing an erase and install

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