Chapter 25. Solving iTunes Music Store Problems

Recovering Music That Wasn't Downloaded Successfully

If the download process for music you purchased wasn't completed for some reason (for example, you lost your Internet connection in the middle of the process), you can restart the download process to recover music you have purchased but weren't able to download successfully.

Note

No, you can't use this technique to download music you have purchased to more than one computer. When you successfully download music, that music is marked as having been downloaded. The iTunes Music Store doesn't care to which computer you have downloaded it. When you buy music, you are entitled to download it once and only once.

To do this, choose Advanced, Check for Purchased Music (see Figure 25.1). You will be prompted to enter the user account and password for the account under which the music was purchased. Do so and then click Check.

Figure 25.1. You use the Check for Purchased Music command to recover music you have purchased but weren't able to download for some reason.

The music you have purchased will be checked against the music that has been successfully downloaded. If music is found that hasn't been downloaded successfully, you will be able to download it again. If you have successfully downloaded all the music you have purchased, you will see a message stating so (see Figure 25.2).

Figure 25.2. When you see this message, you have downloaded all the music you have purchased.

Note

If you use iTunes on only one computer, you never have to even think about authorization because it is handled for you automatically. If you use five or fewer computers, it still isn't a problem because after you sign in to your account on each machine, you don't have to bother with it again. Only when you use six or more computers to play music you have purchased from the iTunes Music Store do you need to concern yourself with this topic.

Solving the "Not Authorized to Play" Problem

As you learned in the previous chapter, you can play music you have purchased on up to five computers at the same time. If you try to play purchased music and see the "This Computer Is Not Authorized to Play This Music" message, you need to authorize the computer before you can play the purchased music. If you already have five computers authorized, you will need to deauthorize one before you can authorize another. (If you need help doing these tasks , see Chapter 25, "Working with Purchased Music.")

The challenge can sometimes be remembering how many and which computers you have authorized. The "how many" part is easy. Just access the Apple Account Information screen for your account. The Computer Authorizations section will tell you how many computers are currently authorized to play music for the account (to learn how to access this screen, see "Viewing the Music You Have Purchased" on page 359 ).

Caution

If you sell a computer or stop using it, make sure you deauthorize it first. Even if you wipe the machine's hard drive, it still counts as an authorized computer. If you no longer have access to an authorized computer, you will need to contact iTunes Music Store Customer Service to have that machine deauthorized.

The "which ones" part is a bit more difficult. The easiest way to tell is to try playing purchased music from each computer you might have authorized. If it plays, the computer is authorized.

Also remember that computers with which you are sharing music also count against the five-computer limit. If you are unable to play music because of authorization, make sure computers on the network aren't the cause of you being over your authorization limit.