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AppleMobileDeviceHelper has stopped working

A problem caused the program to stop working correctly.
Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.

Alright.. I get this message, constantly, as iTunes is running.

I just downloaded the new 7.6 version and am running on a Vista system. I have not had this problem before so I don't think it's Vista's fault.

Basically once I start iTunes the heading "AppleMobileDeviceHelper has stopped working" in a small new windows pops up, then showing a loading bar saying that it's looking for ways to solve this problem. Then that message in bold will show up and give me the option to "Close program".

I click that button.. nothing happens.. and five seconds later it does the same thing. If I click cancel while it's on the screen looking for ways to fix it.. it dissapears.. but then starts up.. again. If I leave it alone without clicking "Close program" once it's done loading.. another one will pop up anyways.

I've had 25 windows eventually pop up because I am trying to ignore this. I went into my task manager and tried to stop the program but it still does nothing. Tried rebooting computer.. nothing.. and now i'm searching for answers on what I should do.

Message was edited by: Kaptinkangaru587

Windows Vista

Posted on Jan 21, 2008 11:55 AM

61 replies

Jul 12, 2008 11:38 AM in response to Kaptinkangaru587

I had the exact same problem yesterday.. finally got it fixed (good thing too, just got new 3G phone!) seems the problem is with the antivirus software included in Windows Vista and with comcast network (both seem to have an affect on mine anyway) I had to turn off my firewall as well as turn off the darn Comcast Dr that came with my comcast internet service. Once I did these it worked like a charm.. I'm wondering if it's not just comcast now though, I'm going to turn back on my firewall and see if I can still run iTunes
Anyone else have comcast that is having this problem.. maybe it's them and not Vista 🙂

DTslave

Level 1

0 points

Jul 12, 2008 12:16 PM in response to sailorswfe

I also have comcast, I got my iPhone to show up but while trying to up grade, it had an error unable to locate back up. So, I cancel the updated tried to do a sync and both times it froze without creating a back up or completing the sync.

Jul 12, 2008 12:29 PM in response to DTslave

Maybe Comcast is the problem? I turned my firewall back on and iTunes is still functioning properly. Do you have Comcast Dr running?

DTslave

Level 1

0 points

Jul 12, 2008 12:45 PM in response to sailorswfe

How do I check to see if its running? I now Norton is.

DTslave

Level 1

0 points

Jul 12, 2008 1:47 PM in response to DTslave

http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=answerlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsupport.apple .com%2Fkb%2FTS1567&answerid=16777216&src=support_site.results.search

This link seems to have helped! I'll keep following the path & see if any error present themselves...

Jul 12, 2008 1:54 PM in response to Kaptinkangaru587

I had this same problem, I uninstalled everything "apple", deleted temp files, etc. I tried the fix I found here

You only have to delete the file named "AppleMobileDeviceHelper" in that folder:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin

..............it worked for me, too.

Jul 12, 2008 2:01 PM in response to LA Garden

I tried the method above in the link. However there is no 'Stop' function. It's faded out in all the menu's. Is that because i am not the administrator on the pc?

JEMiller

Level 1

20 points

Jul 12, 2008 2:18 PM in response to downhiller90

I found another suggestion that worked for me. Right click itunes.exe and choose 'Run as Administrator' - this seems to over ride whatever problem Vista is causing. Good luck...

ibaj

Level 1

55 points

Jul 12, 2008 2:43 PM in response to LA Garden

LA Garden wrote:
I had this same problem, I uninstalled everything "apple", deleted temp files, etc. I tried the fix I found here

You only have to delete the file named "AppleMobileDeviceHelper" in that folder:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin

..............it worked for me, too.

By deleting this file, you will not be able to sync your iPod Touch or iPhone.

Jul 12, 2008 3:59 PM in response to Kaptinkangaru587

I have a 3G iphone - I was having these same problems, I have Vista and was getting the applemobiledevicehelper has stopped working error. I uninstalled, installed again, made lots of changes and finally called AT&T and was connected to apple. I talked with a product specialist there, and we finally discovered after 2 hours on the phone (they had never seen this problem before) that uninstalling my sync software for my blackberry fixed the problem. So, if you have anything else on your computer that you plug in and "sync" that might be the problem.

Dunph

Level 1

0 points

Jul 12, 2008 4:35 PM in response to JEMiller

thanks fella it worked for me on my iphone 3g to open as a admistrator

ibaj

Level 1

55 points

Jul 12, 2008 4:50 PM in response to Kaptinkangaru587

If you're seeing this problem, check your startup programs for a software titled "SupportSoft." If you find it there, disable it and restart your system. This has helped in some cases. Let us know if this helped you.

Jul 12, 2008 5:52 PM in response to DTslave

It should be in your system tray, I just closed my desktop doctor and iTunes is fine!!! I actually tried this after sitting on hold with an Apple representative and being on hold for almost an hour... Sweet...

CRK666

Level 1

0 points

Jul 12, 2008 5:57 PM in response to ibaj

This worked for me. THANK YOU! It seems tied to Comcast's software as I am a customer of their's too. This disabling, along manually uninstalling iTunes, Bonjour, Apple Software Updater, Apple Mobility software and then reinstalling itunes 7.7 shut off the "AppleMobileDeviceHelper" and re-established communication between my upgraded iPhone and iTunes which iTunes would not recognize after upgrade to 2.0. The error for this was "iTunes was unable to load dataclass information from iTunes from Sync Services." When I did ultimately reconnect, I had to restore from a 6/21 synch (fine by me!), but 2.0 was installed.

Hope this helps b/c iPhone tech support has no clue about this. After 35 min's waiting and then another 30 min's of troubleshooting and "let me go ask"ing, they dropped my call.

inmarkco

Level 1

0 points

Jul 12, 2008 10:55 PM in response to CRK666

My laptop is running Vista Ultimate. I deinstalled, ran http://www.ccleaner.com/, turned on User Account Control (UAC), and set a bunch of exe files to "run as administrator" in the directories C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\ and C:\Program Files\iTunes\. Now iTunes runs in I have UAC turned on, if I turn UAC off its back to "AppleMobileDeviceHelper has stopped working". I ran through this cycle 3 times to make sure that at least on my PC UAC is necessary. As a software engineer my job is to write and test new and updated programs all day, UAC *****.

AppleMobileDeviceHelper has stopped working