Q: Windows Vista problem reports after latest Itunes 11.2 update

If you check Problem Reports and Solutions after exiting iTunes 12.0.1 in Safe Mode, you will probably find that there was an appcrash. In fact you may have an astonishing number of problem reports for iTunes dating back six months.

Are we talking about Windows Safe Mode or iTunes Safe Mode (hold Ctrl+Shift when launching iTunes)?

tt2

That would be the I-Tunes safe mode (shift+ctrl when starting I-Tunes). I had the idea that I could exclude I-Tunes from DEP, but Windows Vista says that I-Tunes can not be excluded from DEP. Giving up on it since it doesn't seem to affect anything else. It's a bit like trying track down a spambot, just a big waste of time, with nothing to gain.

Sounds about the size of it.

tt2

The only satisfactory solution seems to be downgrading iTunes to 11.1.5 (or earlier if you prefer). However that's not an option if you need to sync a device running iOS 8. Interestingly, the iTunes versions required by iOS 8 (11.2 or higher) are the very ones that cause errors on Vista.

What about the latest iTunes 12.1 - is it time for further lamentations?

I don't know, but interestingly iTunes has gone fully 64-bit so there may be improvements if you are running 64-bit Vista.

tt2

I'm running 32-bit Vista like most who posted in this thread. Nevertheless I have just updated from perfectly good 11.1.5 to 12.1 with the results I have come to expect from iTunes:

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BEX
Application Name: iTunes.exe
Application Version: 12.1.0.71
Application Timestamp: 54c75edb
Fault Module Name: StackHash_208d
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Offset: 00000100
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Data: 00000008
OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 208d
Additional Information 2: 02924a07f9f08971b7678b5624b7001f
Additional Information 3: f0ac
Additional Information 4: 5352aa2f8664ad9f17fe79154a7306b2

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 196707521

Before downgrading again I'm going to try a couple of suggestions posted in the newer thread, but I'm very skeptical about them.

I have been following this issue since first noticing and commenting on the DEP message appearing last spring and resigned myself to just clicking the DEP message off as a nuisance since itunes worked fine otherwise. I had hoped with the newest version of itunes (12.1) that the issue might be solved but no such luck. I did happen to find another thread (iTunes 12 incompatible with Windows Vista DEP) and found a possible workaround from member Newtonsapples which seems to have also worked for me.

Simply put, after starting your iTunes up, open the Windows Task Manager, go to the Process Tab, find "Apple Mobile Device Helper.exe" and right click on it. From the Properties tab, select the Compatibility Tab and check the box next to "Run this program in compatibility mode for for Windows XP (Service Pack 2). Click OK to close the window. Now close and open iTunes and close again and after this you should not see the DEP message. Newtonsapples does not know why this works nor do I but so far it has worked with no apparent problem. If anyone can see a problem with this, I would be interested in hearing but otherwise I will leave it set like this to stop that annoying pop-up message after closing iTunes.

Whoops!! The DEP pop-up message did come back after testing it a few more times even with the "AppleMobileDeviceHelper.exe" set to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP(Service Pack 2) that I was hopeful had solved the issue. I am not sure why it worked a few times successfully but it was not a lasting solution so I have reset the properties and unchecked the compatibility setting suggested by Newtonsapple.

Just updated to iTunes 12.1.0.71 and the problem STILL exists!

Seems Apple are too busy making their horrendously obscene profits to attend to the needs of the customers upon who's shoulders they built their temple.

Maybe they need a reminder of just who holds the power?

In case anyone was wondering, iTunes 12.1.1 - which was released especially to solve recent problems on Windows, especially 64-bit versions - did not solve the issue of iTunes crashing upon exit on Windows Vista 32-bit systems.

Biggestted wrote:

 

After all this time I'm beginning to think Apple have no intention of fixing this issue, I have emailed and called the support agent asking for an update but have had no reply???

 

SO DISSAPOINTED

Hi Biggestted:

Good news (sort of).  I called Apple Phone Support again and this time the Customer Support rep took pity on me and escalated my call to his manager even though the warranty on my 2nd gen iPod has expired.  We ran a remote access session on my computer and the manager was able to confirm that a clean re-install of iTunes v. 12.1.1 as instructed <here> does not solve the DEP error that occurs when iTunes is closed.

Diagnostic logs and screenshots have been sent to Level 2 Tech Support and I'll report back if we make any progress.

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MS Windows 32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 36.0.1 * IE 9.0 * 32-bit  iTunes v. 12.1.1.4

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Hi Biggested:

I received an e-mail from Apple Support today that software engineers are looking at the problem.   They haven't found the cause of the DEPs yet but I wanted to update you on a few things we've tried so far:

1. Ran Windows Update - my 32-bit Vista SP2 was already fully patched
2. Ran a full CheckDisk from an elevated command prompt (chkdsk /r) - no bad sectors found on my hard drive
3. Ran System File Checker from an elevated command prompt (sfc /scannow) - no Windows files required fixing
4. Performed another complete reinstall of iTunes v. 12.1.1 and all associated Apple components essentially as described in the Apple support article HT204275, except that the 32-bit iTunesSetup.exe installer was downloaded to C:\ and run from an elevated command prompt to generate an installation log - installation was successful
5. Uninstalled the following antivirus / anti-malware software (did not solve DEPs):
   • Norton Internet Security (2014) v. 21.6.0.32 (wiped with Norton Removal Tool)
   • Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Premium v. 2.0.4 (wiped with MBAM Cleanup utility)
6. Uninstalled the following third-party software (did not solve DEPs and none of these programs are configured to start with Windows or perform real-time monitoring on my machine):
   • CCleaner Free v. 5.03
   • Revo Uninstaller Free v. 1.95
   • Secunia PSI (Personal Software Inspector) Free v. 2.0.0.3003 - which Apple kept referring to as an anti-malware scanner, even though it only checks installed software for available security updates
7. Edited the Windows registry in HKEY_CURRENT USER\Software\Apple Computer, Inc.\iTunes to save the iTunes dump files to my desktop - which didn't work although I told them can see I can see iTunes crash dumps being created in the hidden folder C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\
8. Collected diagnostics for iTunes.exe using Dependency Walker for x86 Win - I noticed an error message in the log for a missing IEShims.dll file, which I later found on my hard drive at C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEShims.dll, so I don't know if iTunes is looking for this library in the wrong directory on Vista machines with IE9 browsers or if the module isn't registered properly on my machine and has to be re-registered with a regsvr32 command

Apple's latest suggestion was to try another complete reinstall of iTunes v. 12.1.1 using an installer for computers with older video cards (see <here>), but I didn't want to try that since iTunes64Setup.exe is a 64-bit installer.  I'm working with staff from the Apple Care iOS team so I'm not sure how much experience they have troubleshooting 32-bit Vista systems.

I've discovered that I do not get a DEP error if I boot up Windows in Safe Mode (or Safe Mode with Networking) but I will see multiple pop-up warnings when I launch iTunes (see a few examples below) so I sent that information to Apple Support as well.  I've also told them that a downgrade to iTunes v. 11.5.1 would likely stop the DEPs but for now it appears they believe that the problem is caused by a software conflict or a problem with my Vista OS and not with iTunes itself.

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MS Windows 32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 36.0.4 * IE 9.0 * NIS 21.7.0.11 * 32-bit  iTunes 12.1.1.4

HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS

Apple's latest suggestion was to try another complete reinstall of iTunes v. 12.1.1 using an installer for computers with older video cards (see <here>), but I didn't want to try that since iTunes64Setup.exe is a 64-bit installer.  I'm working with staff from the Apple Care iOS team so I'm not sure how much experience they have troubleshooting 32-bit Vista systems.

I wouldn't expect that to work, much less help. The iTunes for Windows (64-bit — for older video cards) version is however a useful workaround for those running 64-bit Windows who have trouble with the itunes6464setup.exe version.

I suppose you could unpack the installer with the steps shown in Install missing components and see if any of the 32-bit components fare better than those delivered by iTunesSetup.exe, the 32-bit installer.

tt2