Account changes to iTunes can give users the blues

Q: I'm having problems with Apple's "authorization" process that gives my PC the right to play songs in the iTunes program. This started when I changed e-mail addresses and switched my iTunes account to the new address. I then authorized my PC to play iTunes music. But when I try to play music, I get a message saying it's not authorized. The iTunes program won't even play non-Apple music I copied earlier from CDs. What can I do?

Carol May, Galloway, Ohio

A: Apple's song "authorization" process frustrates, particularly when changing computers or iTunes account info.

In your case, the account info is the problem. When you authorize a computer to play music in iTunes, you log in with a password called your Apple ID. This Apple ID is linked to your iTunes account, and every time information in the account changes — as it did when you changed your e-mail address — the Apple ID and the song-authorization process can be affected. In your case, changing the account meant that songs that were previously authorized to play on your PC no longer are. There are two ways to fix this:

If you use an Apple ID that's not your e-mail address, try switching your iTunes account back to your old e-mail address, then make sure your PC is authorized to play your iTunes music. You should then be able to play music that you downloaded from iTunes or copied from CDs while using the old e-mail address. Newer music will have to be added to iTunes again.

If you use your new e-mail address as your Apple ID, try highlighting a song in the iTunes library that you purchased from the iTunes store. Then go to the top of the screen, click "edit" and choose "song info." In the resulting menu, click the "file" tab and look at the heading "purchased by." The name in parenthesis is the Apple ID used to buy the song. You should then authorize your computer with iTunes using that Apple ID (see details at tinyurl.com/yclwwj69).

Q: I use the Microsoft Outlook 2016 e-mail program on my Windows 10 PC. Is there a straightforward way to save my e-mails as both Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF documents?

A: Outlook can't save e-mails directly as Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word files.

One workaround is to copy the e-mail and paste it into a Word file. Save the file as a Word document. Then click Word's "save as" function. Once in that menu, go to the "save as type" drop-down box and select PDF. The formatting in the Word and PDF files may not look exactly like the original e-mail.

To get exact e-mail copies, try these techniques:

To create a PDF file on Windows 10, open an e-mail in Outlook, click the "file" tab and choose "print." From the list of "printer" options, choose "Microsoft Print to PDF" and click "print." You will then be given a choice called "Save print output as"; choose a location on your PC to save the newly created PDF file.

To create a Word file, open an e-mail in Outlook and click "save-as." Use the "save as type" feature to store the e-mail as an HTML file. Open the HTML file in Word and use the Word "save as" function and "save as type" feature to store the file as a Word document.