Mac Forums

If I just download itunes of the web will it come with ALL my old songs on itunes?

No, it will not. All hope is not lost though, assuming you still have your old computer and some way for your two computers to talk to each other (even something like a CD burner).

What you first have to do is physically move the music files from your old computer to your new one- do this using network shares (best/easiest) or even burning cd's. Easiest said, because if you're like me, you have your music files in dozens of different folders. If you're lucky you've downloaded all your songs from iTunes and can find them in your Documents / Music folder. Otherwise you've gotta track all of them down and make sure they get transferred.

Next, once you're sure you have all your songs on your new computer, install iTunes and point it to your music files. One very important detail is that you must log into iTunes with the same apple ID & password you used on your old computer. This way you can authorize your new computer to play the songs you purchased on your old computer.

Lastly, if you have an iPod you will have to let it synch a long time. This is because iTunes will basically wipe your iPod and re-download your iTunes library to it. If you did your homework in step #1, this should have minimal impact on you.

Good luck, and congrats on your new computer.