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Entertainment: Authorize or de-authorize a computer

Authorization

Up to 5 computers can share one MSN Music account. Authorizing a computer allows it to play music that you have purchased from MSN Music. During signup, the computer you use is automatically authorized. The only time you'll need to manually authorize a computer is if you want to play your music on a second, third, fourth, or fifth computer.

Authorizing additional computers

There are two ways to authorize additional computers. The simplest way is to copy your music to the other computer and attempt to play it.

  1. When you try to play the songs a License Acquisition dialog box will appear.

  2. Click I already own this song.

  3. Enter your sign in information and the PC will be automatically authorized.

noteNote
Licenses for all songs you've purchased will be synched to this computer so you only need to see the License Acquisition dialog box for the first song you attempt to play.

The second way to authorize an additional computer is:

  1. On the new computer go to the My Account page and choose Manage My Computers.

  2. Click Authorize to enable that computer to use MSN Music.

De-authorize a computer

You should de-authorize a computer when you are replacing it or when you no longer want to purchase or play your music on it. De-authorization must be done from the computer being de-authorized. If that computer is no longer accessible to you you will need to contact MSN Music Technical Support to have them de-authorize that computer for you. If you use shared profiles with Windows XP de-authorizing will disable MSN Music from all profiles.

To de-authorize a computer:

  1. Go to the My Account page and choose Manage My Computers.

  2. Click the De-authorize button.

noteNote
  • If you have Windows Media Player 10, you can re-authorize and de-authorize the computer as many times as you choose.

  • If you have Windows Media Player 9 or earlier, de-authorizing a computer will de-authorize your collection of music on that computer permanently. It will not limit your ability to authorize your music on any other computers. We recommend you upgrade to the latest player version for your OS.