David's Technical Musings

I turned to the dark side at the end of February and purchased an iPhone.  I am so very impressed with it!  Since then I have moved to a new computer (a laptop) and reinstalled the operating system (Windows 7).  That means I have had to move what I sync my iPhone with twice ,and both times have been a little less than seamless; no data was lost but I expected it to be easier than it was.

Authorized Computers

Before abandoning the former computer, you need to deauthorize it.  You only get to authorize 5 computers on the same iTunes account, and there is no central way to manage authorizations.  To deauthorize a computer:

1. Click on the Store menu.
2. Select Deauthorize Computer.
3. Type your iTunes password and continue.

Authorizing the new computer is just as easy.

1. Click on the Store menu.
2. Select Authorize Computer.
3. Type your iTunes password and continue.

If you haven’t already authorized 5 computers, you can do this in any order.  Once you’ve reached 5 authorized computers, you can deauthorize all computers so you can start over.  You will want to be careful about managing your authorizations as it is possible to get orphaned authorizations.

Transferring Purchases

I didn’t realize that I had to perform a manual step to do this.  Fortunately, it’s a simple step.  There are two ways.

From the menu bar:

1. Click on the device under the Devices heading.
2. Click on the File menu.
3. Select Transfer Purchases from “yourdevicename”.

From the device:

1. Right-click on the device under the Devices heading.
2. Select Transfer Purchases.

Transferring purchases could take awhile depending on how many applications or songs you have purchased. Once they have been transferred, you can then set up iTunes to sync applications with your iPhone:

1. Click the device under the Devices heading.
2. Click the Applications tab.
3. Check the Sync Applications checkbox.
4. VERY IMPORTANT! Since the transfer didn’t preserve the layout of the applications, rearrange them as they appear on your phone.
5. Click the Apply button.

I failed to do step #4 above and as a result I’m left with deciding again how I want all my apps to be laid out – a real pain in the neck.

Resources

• Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
• About iTunes Store authorization and deauthorization