How to copy/move old Apple iTunes from dinosaur XP windows computer to Apple cloud/computer?

[horn4life 3829]

Now it may not be worth the effort, but 8 to 10 or so years ago I had a huge amount of music I had copied into my iTunes account.  My first instinct was to say fuck it, but I thought perhaps I could breath some life into that old dell running I think Windows XP and somehow upload the music to my cloud account.  The catch is that the old email address for the downloaded music is a dead email for one of my kids from when we all shared the same account for music when they were teenagers, in their 20's now.  So it seems like with my cloud account being my Apple email and the old user name being a long dead Time Warner email, this means downloading the music to a media device of other computer before I can move it into my iCloud account?

Normally I would just say fuck it, and go with spotify or pandora (which might still be what I do). For me the issue is I spend a fair amount of time on beaches that simply do not get internet access.  So it would be really nice to have a large collection of downloaded music on my phone I could still have a huge variety of music at my fingertips.

Thoughts?

 

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by horn4life

[VolenteHawk 495]

The best way to do this is to change the Apple ID on your XP machine to your Apple/iCloud account.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202667

Then subscribe to Apple Music/iTunes Match (you don't have to keep it) to upload your entire catalog to the cloud.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204146

A big advantage here is any old mp3s of iffy quality that "match" will be replaced on your devices with Apple's (presumably higher quality) version.  If you have more than one Apple device, it will automatically sync across all of them.

Your other option is to just subscribe to Apple Music.  It's $10 a month, feels like iTunes so you'll be familiar with it, and you have unlimited access to their entire catalogue...including for offline listening.  I'm not sure about the offline capabilities of other services, I don't use Spotify and only use Pandora for basic streaming, Apple Music is what I use for airplanes and such.

 

[horn4life 3829]

Thanks for the link - Won't the Apple ID when changed want to send an email to the original email on the account to validate and confirm the change?  The one I do not have access to?

Usually I get some sort of confirmation email confirming my desire to change the password, to confirm it is NOT a nefarious password change. Since I no longer have access to that dead email account might I accidentally lock myself out?

I'll read through ore carefully.  It also takes forever to try and start that old computer as it tries to run through updates that are long dead. I need to kill the auto updates.  I also need turn hibernate to "never" as it is likely hours upon hours of uploading if I am able to start moving the music into my current apple cloud ID/account.

 

I need to do some research on the $10 a month option IF I can download what I want.  Making playlists used to be fun for different occasions and that was maybe half my motivations.  If I can do that with the subscription that might be the easier route. Probably a couple grand in apple purchases in that file...

Edited March 4, 2021 by horn4life

[VolenteHawk 495]

3 minutes ago, horn4life said:

Thanks for the link - Won't the Apple ID when changed want to send an email to the original email on the account to validate and confirm the change?  The one I do not have access to?

I've never actually tried it, but the process almost certainly comprehends moving from a dead email account.  So, I'd guess it will send a notification to your old email address that the account was changed with some "if you initiated this change you can ignore this email", and that notification obviously goes to nowhere for you.

Even if you lock yourself out on the old machine, you still have the music...it just becomes more of a hassle to transfer it than automatically through the cloud (ie via external hard drive or something) and you'd lose the quality upgrading that iTunes Match gives you.

[texastough 1142]

Related:

Who in Austin can help with purchasing a new windows laptop and android phone, and migrating files (photos, videos, etc) from a MacBook Pro and iPhone over to the new setup? In other words, are there personal individual IT consultants in Austin, or could a salesperson at a computer store help with that? Thank you in advance

[horn4life 3829]

32 minutes ago, VolenteHawk said:

I've never actually tried it, but the process almost certainly comprehends moving from a dead email account.  So, I'd guess it will send a notification to your old email address that the account was changed with some "if you initiated this change you can ignore this email", and that notification obviously goes to nowhere for you.

Even if you lock yourself out on the old machine, you still have the music...it just becomes more of a hassle to transfer it than automatically through the cloud (ie via external hard drive or something) and you'd lose the quality upgrading that iTunes Match gives you.

Thanks- Sounds like it might work.  I was assuming I might have to copy it manually to some sort of drive and then upload to new computer.  But worth a try.  I just bought a new iPhone 12 Pro, after hanging onto my 7 forever, with enough storage to hold the iTunes library and more.  So figured try now to migrate over or just say fuck it and commit to Apple taking another chunk every month.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201455

Looks like an email is sent to the old address to confirm change confirmation IF I am reading the link correctly.  However it also seems like you might be able to long in with the old email, add a new emergency email to the existing account, then get the reset message through that account?

Quote

If you didn't receive your verification or reset email

Not sure where that email was sent? Here are some tips to help you find it.

 

When you make certain updates to your Apple ID, we’ll send you an email to help you complete the update. For example, you might have reset your password, reset your security questions, or added a new email address to your account. If you can't find the email after we send it, these steps can help.

Search for the email

We'll send the email from "Apple," so you can quickly search for it. If it isn't in your inbox, check your folders. If a spam filter or email rule moved the email, it might be in the Spam, Junk, Trash, Deleted Items, or Archive folder.
 

 

Make sure you're checking the correct email account

If you're looking for a password reset email, make sure you're checking the correct email inbox. It will either be your primary Apple ID email address or a separate rescue or notification email address that you added to your account. 

If you're looking for a verification email, you can sign in to your Apple ID account page and review all the email addresses you have on file, including the one that you're trying to verify. If the email address is incorrect, you can update it and send another verification email.
 

 

Resend the email

To resend a reset email, repeat the steps to reset your password or security questions, and we'll send an email to your rescue or primary Apple ID email address.

To resend the verification email, sign in to your Apple ID account page. Click Resend next to the email address that you want to verify, and we'll send an email to that address.

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by horn4life

[horn4life 3829]

Sounds like this link sort of verifies what VolenteHawk was saying.  https://appletoolbox.com/lost-access-to-your-apple-id-email-you-can-still-change-it/

Right now my oldest daughter and I are still linked via this old email for Apple store.  I assume that once we unlink only one of us will have access to the purchases from the original dinosaur account we started oh so long ago. I need to see if she has a lot of purchased apps, which I doubt.  

[VolenteHawk 495]

21 hours ago, horn4life said:

Sounds like this link sort of verifies what VolenteHawk was saying.  https://appletoolbox.com/lost-access-to-your-apple-id-email-you-can-still-change-it/

Right now my oldest daughter and I are still linked via this old email for Apple store.  I assume that once we unlink only one of us will have access to the purchases from the original dinosaur account we started oh so long ago. I need to see if she has a lot of purchased apps, which I doubt.  

Family sharing allows two different accounts access to the same stuff, so if purchases fall under you after the account switch you can share with her and she’ll keep anything she needs.