Music Neuroses, or Cole Needs iPod Assistance

Hello there my lovelies :)

Ok. "My lovelies" will always sound like it's coming from a creepy old woman. I apologize for putting you through that.

So lets get right to the meat of the problem--my iPod may be on its last leg.

I can't remember how I functioned without this little machine. Poddy and I have been through so much together. Remember when I first fell for Regina Spektor? Yeah. We were together then. It was even with me when I got this computer!

Which means there's music on Poddy that's not on this computer.

Which means if Poddy dies, I will lose the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and other beloved music that makes me nostalgic and smiley.

It means I'll lose To Catch A Thief and several audiobooks that I got from my dad's computer (which is technically connected to the same account, but I can't access the things I purchase on that computer on MY computer. Even with the wonders of the Internet. Apple fail).

Basically, this ipod is a work of art that I've carefully crafted, song by song, playlist by playlist, for about 5 years. And it's threatening to die, taking all of that with it.

I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN!

So how do I take the music/movies/podcasts/audiobooks/etc from my iPod and put it on my computer? I don't know how to do these things. You might. If so, share your mental wealth with those less fortunate.

PS, I run iTunes on Windows. No mac for me. The charming Gentleman Caller knows how to transfer tunes to his mac from Poddy, but knows not the wonders of Windows. Enlighten us.

Also, my computer crashed about 6 months ago, sending me into a panicked state, but almost everything was recovered--at least file-wise. The info on the music, like when I first added it to my computer, was lost. I keep track of music like it lives on a timeline of my life. Losing that "date added" is still hard for me to talk about. I got those songs at that particular time for a reason. It was almost like someone tore out all the pages of my journals, erased all the dates, put the entries in alphabetical order by first word and handed the pages back to me, as though nothing had really been affected.

I'm apparently weirdly attached to my music. I didn't realize this wasn't normal until the Gentleman Caller gently called me out for being a mild nutcase about my ipod.

Ok so one more technical issue. Because my computer crashed and I had to restart iTunes, it says I can't access my purchased music because I've already registered my max # of 5 computers. But this IS one of the 5 registered computers! It just doesn't recognize it because it got a face lift!

I'M RIGHT HERE ITUNES! YOU KNOOOOOOOOOOOW MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

What do I do? I can't access the other computers to deactivate my account on those.

1. One's a long gone friend's computer (I was young and stupid. I didn't understand the "register on this computer?" thing then, and now it'd be super weird to call her up and be all "oh hai, we haven't talked in, oh, 4 years. Can you deactivate my account on your computer? kthnxbye!")
2. one's on a dead laptop (like, dead and gone. RIP)
3. one's on my dad's computer (this is allowed. He needs good music. Amen.)
4. one's on this computer, but iTunes doesn't know that, because of the whole crash-and-frankenstein-back-to-life thing,

and who knows where the other one is. Probably in the same realm as the long lost friend thing.

This is a weirdly long post.

I just wanted technical help.

Was all this necessary?

*the resounding chorus of 3 people who've made it this far scream NO! SHUT UP ALREADY! WE'RE LOST IN YOUR NEUROSES AND WE CAN'T GET OUT!*

So throw me advice, God bless you, and have a fabulous and productive week.