computer authorizations HELP!

[cheerup347]

hi,

sibnce i first started downloading from the ituens store, ive had to wipe my hard drive (saving all my music on backup) 4 times.

ive now authrized my computer for my itunes account 4 times and it says that i have authorised 4 out of 5 machines.

is there anyway to de-authorize all the computers and start again with this one?

ive only used 1 computer but it says ive used 4...andway to wipe it all out then just authorize this one?

thanks

[snowdog99]

There is an option to de-authorise all computers on the "Your Account" page of the iTunes store (click "View my account" on the store menu in iTunes), but you can't use it till you have 5 authorised. Also you can only use it once a year.

iTunes counts any new installation as a different machine - if possible you should always de-authorise a computer before re-formatting.

[honeybee1236]

The only way to do it now is to contact customer support and have them do it for you. Just explain what happened.

[cheerup347]

im confused, which one of you is right?

i dont need to do it NOW, but i need to know i can if i end up using all 5 authorizations.

thanks

[snowdog99]

Both right.

You can de-authorise all 5 (once you get there) the way I said. The only way to do it before you have used up 5 authorisations is via customer support.

[jhollington]

....however, if you haven't used up all five authorizations, there's probably no need to call customer support, as you still have one authorization left. When you reach the limit of five, you'll be able to use the "Deauthorize All" button as long as you haven't done this in the past year.

If you have done this in the past year, then you will have no choice but to contact customer support.

[cheerup347]

thanks thats grea,t im on 4 out of 5, and i haven't done it this year, so i should be alright,

thanks

[Eric Lewis]

but once..you get the 5th id call support

[jhollington]

No, once you've got the fifth authorization done, simply go to your iTunes Store account page, and click the button that says "Deauthorize All" and it will reset your authorization count to zero.

http://homepage.mac.com/jhollington/photos/iLounge/Deauthorize%20All%20Computers.png

At that point, any computers that you previously had authorized will need to be RE-authorized, thus re-incrementing the count to a more appropriate number (in the OP's case, 1).