[Rob Alexander]

If we all just stopped buying DRM'd music, then soon none of us would have this problem.

[Rob Alexander]

If we all just stopped buying DRM'd music, then soon none of us would have this problem.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Rob Alexander

If we all just stopped buying DRM'd music, then soon none of us would have this problem.

I have no DRM'd music...but I do have apps, which have their own form of copyright protection. I can't blame developers for wanting that.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Lee Yuan Sheng

I'm on shaky ground here, so I might be wrong, but can't you re-download the apps?

Maybe...but that's not the issue here, the issue now is the error message I'm getting every single time I sync. Bugger. I might just have to hard reset it and hope I get everything back. Stupid program.

[whydidnt]

First, I have to agree that iTunes is one of the most maddening programs I have ever used. It just doesn't seem to work the same way most other programs do, and it's desire to be in control, rather than allowing the user to manage things only makes it worse. (Glad to get that off my chest).

Do you still have the applications installed in iTunes on a different computer? If so, you should be able to import them onto the new computer if they are on the same network. Go to File-> Import Folder -> then navigate to the "mobile applications" folder on the other machine and import it. That should get all of your applications onto the new PC. Then when it tells you all the apps on the device have to be deleted to sync, you should agree and let iTunes reinstall. You'll probably lose any saved games, high scores, bookmarks, etc. when you do this though.

I have successfully copied from one computer another using this method, but have not attempted the app sync, since I don't currently have your situation.

[The Yaz]

Jason,

This may not be possible but can you restore the backup from the computer you had iTunes on? If you can, then you could go into that copy and move the local iTunes directory to a network location and sync it to the new copy of iTunes on the new computer.

I believe the problem with the apps is that there is a log file in the directory that tracks apps added. Without it, you do not have authorization.

The other option is to open file explorer while your Touch is connected and copy the data directory to the computer in a temp file. Then use import and see if it can accept an "indirect sync".

My wife will tell you that's why she always saves the email confirmations of our iTunes purchases- If something gets screwed up, you have proof to send Apple to get permission to redownload your purchase.

Good luck!

Steve

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by whydidnt

Do you still have the applications installed in iTunes on a different computer? If so, you should be able to import them onto the new computer if they are on the same network.

No, that computer has been re-imaged - iTunes is gone. However, I had synched with that computer in months - since the first week I bought the iPod Touch actually. So it wouldn't have any of the apps anyway...

[Jason Dunn]

So despite trying everything I could think of, and all the suggestions here, I was still getting the error message about apps not being authorized every time I did a sync. So I did what I didn't want to do: hard reset the iPod Touch. I did the "restore" function and wiped everything out on it.

Now when I sync, I no longer get the error about the apps. I've downloaded a couple of free apps, and they sync without a problem over to iTunes.

So the real question is, what the heck happened to the apps that I bought? There seems to be no facility within iTunes for me to "reclaim" my purchased apps. What the hell?? iTunes has a purchasing record of those apps, so what am I missing here - is there really no way to re-download the apps I bought? I've thrown away that money? (thankfully it wasn't much, but it's he principal)

I tried a little experiment: I bought an app that I already bought once (iDracula). I thought it would be smart enough to say "Oh look, you've already bought this app once". Nope, iTunes happily charged me 99 cents for the app that I already own.

*This* is the system that's supposed to be so wonderful?

[doogald]

See http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1702

Call Apple, explain what happened, you'll get a credit for the apps that you may need to repurchase. That happened to me when they messed up delivering music to me in the past, and I did it all reporting the issue from my account on the iTunes Store online. Calling probably will make it happen faster.

[Jason Dunn]

OK, so here's what happened: it's part user error (mine) and part a flawed system on Apple's part. I accidentally started purchasing apps under one iTunes account, then switched to a new iTunes account. I can't figure out how I did that - I suspect that I started with an old iTunes account I'd registered for Ashley's iPod Shuffle (now dead), then when I installed iTunes on my new computer I created a new iTunes account.

So all those authentication errors I was getting were really trying to tell me that the apps were purchased under a different iTunes account. If it had just SAID that, I'd have figured this out in two seconds. It wasn't until I was going through my iTunes email receipts to send to tech support that I realized my early purchases were made on a different account.

Armed with that knowledge, I contacted tech suppot and explained the situation, asking if there was a way to move purchases from one iTunes account to another. They replied back that there wasn't, and that I should move the purchased apps from the computer they were bought on. Keep in mind all my apps were bought directly on the device itself - I was under the impression that iTunes was smart enough to . Apple tech support eventually allowed me to re-download the missing applications, and once I logged into the old iTunes account and re-downloaded my missing apps and authenticated the new computer with the old account, it all worked.

Obviously if I had only used the one account from the beginning, most of this could have been avoided, so that part of it is my fault. I wish the error messages had been more clear about what the actually problem was - and I also find it baffling that when you buy an application, you can only download it once. I mean, we're not talking about DRM-free MP3s here...this is software that's registered to my account, and I only get one download? Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

I will say that I was impressed with Apple's tech support - they responded within 24 hours, and once the conversation started, the back and forth all happened within the same day, and by the end of the day my problem was solved. That's good tech support!