iphone and computer issues

[Flet]

So, I bought a new computer 3 months ago. When I switched over to the new computer I was forced into "adding/authorizing" a new computer to my iTunes account (but the old one is gone, done, garbage on the curb). Then, my new PC crashed and I had to format the hard drive and start over again. So now I was forced to add/authorize a 3rd computer to my iTunes account.

So, a few questions.

1 - I only have 1 computer, so how can I get only 1 in my iTunes account?

2 - If I have to reformat the hard drive ever again, is there any way to NOT have to spend the 3 hours to resync my iPhone music library. I mean, I have all the same songs, why does the phone act as a if this is a new library? Is there any way around this?

[Pretz]

un-authorize the old computers that don't exist. i don't know how to do that from one computer but i know how to do it from the computer that you want to un-authorize. maybe if you went onto the itunes store and when to your account prefrences you could un-authorize the old computers. as for the crashing problem, i don't know.

[S2_Mac]

You can have up to 5 computers authorized for your Store account simultaneously; when you get to that point, you can clear all your authorizations and start over.

When you rebuild your system from scratch, it is a new library. To avoid this, start making backups! You could ghost your entire system (saving you hassles with all apps), or just make a backup of iTunes -- save your "iTunes" folder to an external hard drive; when hard times hit, reinstall iTunes and launch it once, then quit iTunes and replace the "iTunes" folder it just created with the copy you saved on the external.

[Flet]

You can have up to 5 computers authorized for your Store account simultaneously; when you get to that point, you can clear all your authorizations and start over.

When you rebuild your system from scratch, it is a new library. To avoid this, start making backups! You could ghost your entire system (saving you hassles with all apps), or just make a backup of iTunes -- save your "iTunes" folder to an external hard drive; when hard times hit, reinstall iTunes and launch it once, then quit iTunes and replace the "iTunes" folder it just created with the copy you saved on the external.

Alright, I;m curious. How to you backup your library? Obviously I save all my songs and folders to an external hard drive already (actually 2 of them), but that is somewhat independent from an iTunes definition of what the library is.

[S2_Mac]

You want to save the "iTunes" folder and the folder that contains your content files; if you use the default content location of "iTunes Music" then saving the "iTunes" folder does it all. The "iTunes" folder's prime possession is the "iTunes Library.itl" file, which is "the library" -- all your playlists, counts, ratings, etc. and file listings are in there. (But the other stuff in there serves a purpose as well ;-) In XP it's at C:\\Documents and Settings\<user>\My Documents\My Music\iTunes; in Vista it's at C:\\Users\<user>\Music\iTunes.