Lost iTunes purchases when Apple replaced iMac

[ceruleanventure]

Quick question: A few months ago my iMac was replaced by Apple. Before the death of the machine, I had purchased the entire second season of Battlestar Galactica. Is it possible to contact Apple and see if I can get the shows I purchased back? Is there an email adress etc that I can use?

Thanks!

 

[thatsjustandy]

all you have to do is email apple and they will make your purchaces available for download again. they send you an email tellign you its your responsibility to back everything up yourself and this is a one time only deal but i've heard of people doing it 3-4 times

Here is the link i used to email them about it
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/store/lostmusic/#form

 

[jruc4871]

unfortunately, you are SOL.

everyone should take this as a reminder to BACK UP your data.

iTunes 7 now has a nifty feature that holds your hand through the backup process. You can backup to CD or DVD, and you can choose to back up all content or just iTS purchases.

Sorry...

 

[jruc4871]

all you have to do is email apple and they will make your purchaces available for download again. they send you an email tellign you its your responsibility to back everything up yourself and this is a one time only deal but i've heard of people doing it 3-4 times

Didn't know about this...

Still, BACK UP. I would't count on Apple to keep allowing you to do this.

 

[generik]

How does the backup feature handle collections that are bigger than the size of a dvd? Does it support dvd spanning?

 

[Willis]

How does the backup feature handle collections that are bigger than the size of a dvd? Does it support dvd spanning?

exactly. how can you get 1440 songs on a DVD? I have over 6Gb of songs. Tsk!!

 

[iSaint]

There's an option to "Authorize Computer" in iTunes under the menu "Store." Once you've done that, use the "Check for Purchased Music" option or check your account to see if you can re-download. Definitely contact Apple, they'll make it right for you.

 

[Lixivial]

How does the backup feature handle collections that are bigger than the size of a dvd? Does it support dvd spanning?

exactly. how can you get 1440 songs on a DVD? I have over 6Gb of songs. Tsk!!

I'm currently doing a backup of a 14 gigabyte library and seeing how it works, but according to Apple's documentation:

3. Insert a blank disc (CD or DVD) into your computer's optical drive. iTunes will scan the disc and begin burning.

Note: If the disc you insert does not have enough space to hold all of the media you will be backing up, a dialog will appear asking whether you wish to backup to multiple discs. You can click Data Discs to continue.

iTunes burns the number of items that fit on one disc and then asks you to insert subsequent discs to continue burning the remaining files. Don't eject a disc while a backup is in progress.

So, yeah, I think it burns the files individually; you can then use iTunes 7 to restore from a "backup" DVD. So it must also write a catalog or the actual library file or somesuch.

EDIT: Well, I initially found the backup process to be buggy, but it turns out rather clean and simple. It does write a catalog, an iTunes library file and a folder containing each artists' songs. The catalog file (ContentsDB.xml) is how iTunes determines what's next and prior when restoring. A sample:

<key>Disc ID</key><string>C77E08A6B116D19D</string>
<key>Previous Disc ID</key><string>C67E08A6B116D19D</string>
<key>Next Disc ID</key><string>C87E08A6B116D19D</string>