Old computer died - can only get recently purchased music on ipod nano

Question

Hi,
My old laptop packed in suddenly, had no back up, my fault.  I downloaded itunes on my new laptop and was happy to see that although cd's I had put on my old computer were gone, I still had music which I had purchased from itunes.  However, when plugging my ipod nano in (2nd generation), the only music which it gives me the option of putting on is music which I have recently purchased, using my new laptop.
On looking at a few other forums I thought I should restore my nano and then maybe I could transfer all music, not just the new items, but no.  Still only comes up with the 28 songs…even though in my itunes library I have several more.  So now I have next to no music as everything got deleted when I restored the nano.  I have clicked the “sync music” and “entire music library” to no avail.  Still only the recent songs.  Please help me.  I know I’ll have to put my cds back on (and will back up this time)..but surely I should be able to get the music I have already paid for through itunes?
Any help appreciated, hope this is enough info,
Cheers
KC

Answer 1

Got the info from this link (also pasted the answer for you directly below): http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60920#faq5
Question: I have a computer at home and one at work. Can I update my iPod music collection from more than one computer?
Answer: Yes. When you first connect iPod to your computer, iPod recognizes that computer as its "home" computer. Each time you connect, iPod automatically downloads the music library stored on it. When you connect iPod to a different computer, iTunes will inform you that iPod is linked to a different iTunes library and will ask whether you wish to erase iPod's contents and sync with the new computer's library. If you will be connecting to multiple computers frequently, configure your iPod to manually manage music. This will allow you to selectively drag songs, albums, or playlists from the second computer to your iPod without compromising the existing music.
Synchronization generally occurs only in one direction, from your computer to your iPod. This means you typically cannot transfer music, automatically or manually, from your iPod to a computer, and you cannot use iPod to copy a music library from one computer to another. An exception to this is the transfer purchases feature which allows you to restore purchased iTunes content to your computer from your iPod. Additionally, if you legally are allowed to copy music or other media files, you can configure your iPod as a storage drive to move media files.