Opening URL for preview

I am having this same issue. When "shopping" on the iTunes Store, if I click on a song to preview it, a window with "Opening URL" in the header, "Connecting ...." in the body, and a progress meter / bar opens up. However, the bar basically "freezes" with four dashes onthe meter, and the fifth bar flickers - basically, the progress sticks in place about 15% complete. I have no other performance issues anywhere else in iTunes or with any other URL links. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks you!

One other point. To be clear, this is not isolated to any particular preview link - it happens with any preview I may choose from a search selection set, so do not beleive it is isolated to a handful of "broken links".

I have the same problem very often, and the song preview doesn't play. Usually I am trying to preview the song because I may want to buy it! But then the song doesn't play, so I don't yet know if I want to buy it, and I don't know where the headphones for my iTouch are so that I can try to hear the song thru the WiFi store...so then, the moment is gone, purchase not completed.

So please Apple, help with this problem and I will likely purchase more songs!

I'm having the same issue. Can't preview any songs in iTunes. Get stuck on "Opening URL" window. The fifth bar on the progress indicator is flickering.

Does anyone have a fix for this? It's very frustrating.

I'm having the same problem. what worries me is that I have been mailing twice to apple support without answer.
Is it only Ipod that concerns them now?
think they should give priority to this,

I am having the same type of problem, if I reboot my PC, I can preview song until I switch over and start a song, then going back to preview I get nothing. Just the song name like it is trying to download but no sound. Then when switching back I get no sound out the library, until I close ITunes and reopen it then I get sound from my libary. I then have to reboot my PC to should from another preview.

This is what apple told me to do For best results, your network connection should be able to download at 128 kilobits per second (kbit/s) or faster, particularly when listening to previews of songs. A DSL, cable modem, or local area network (LAN) Internet connection is recommended.

On slower network connections, you may wish to enable the option to load the complete 30 second track preview before playback begins. To enable this option, open iTunes, and choose Preferences from the iTunes menu (Mac) or Edit menu (Windows). Click the Store icon, ensure there is a check by "Load complete preview before playing," and then click OK.

If this does not help, I recommend that you attempt to resolve this issue by uninstalling iTunes and QuickTime, and then reinstalling the latest version of each. To do this, first ensure that you are logged in to an Administrator user account on your computer, then follow the instructions in these articles:

After trying that, I sent another email asking for help and I received this information. "The question you asked falls outside of my area of specialty, but Apple does offer some resources that should help you" try the boards, upon surfing I see a few post with the same problem.

If you require more in-depth assistance, you may wish to call our AppleCare technical support team. A representative will be able to tell you about Apple's complimentary and fee-based support options and can help you determine which option might be most helpful in this case. To find the appropriate phone number, please visit:

http://www.apple.com/support/contact/phone_contacts.html

Does anyone know where to start is it sound card related?