User profile for user: Jim Park
Jim Park Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Undeletable QuickTime Registry Key

I've been getting the same error message with the iTunes 6 installation as everyone else but found something that might be a cause for all these problems. In my registry, I found a key that I cannot open or delete. It looks like:

HKEY LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer, Inc.\QuickTime\Installed Files\?

On my computer but clicking on it using regedt32 or regedit will say "Cannot open ?: Error while opening key." When I delete the registry key:
"HKEY LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer, Inc.\QuickTime\Installed Files\" everything under there gets deleted except for the "?" key.

I tried registry cleaning software and it can't get rid of it. I strongly suspect that one of the QuickTime installs or even the iTunes 6 installation created this corrupted key.

Does anyone know how to get rid of such a key? Can anyone else confirm the same problem on their machine?

Posted on Oct 14, 2005 12:20 AM

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20 replies
User profile for user: jessica speers
jessica speers
User level: Level 1
5 points

Oct 14, 2005 4:46 AM in response to Jim Park

I'm having the same problem you are. itunes was working fine before i installed the update and now i'm getting an error message that quicktime is not properly installed on my computer. i've tried restoring my system to a few days before the update and even uninstalling and then reinstalling itunes and quicktime to no avail. this is extremely frustrating. i don't want to mess around with the files in my registry until i know for sure what files to delete. let me know if you find a solution.
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User profile for user: Jim Park
Jim Park Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Oct 14, 2005 8:54 AM in response to Katrina S.

I wish I can delete it or rename it. It won't let me. My guess is that Apple used a character that is illegal (perhaps in the 128-255 range) and so regedit shows it as a '?' but it's just a stand-in for an unprintable character. That explains why I can't delete it or rename it, either through regedit, regedt32 or even using the command line reg.exe.
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User profile for user: b noir
b noir
User level: Level 9
72,336 points

Oct 14, 2005 4:51 PM in response to Jim Park

hi Jim!

I wish I can delete it or rename it. It won't let me.


gaah. "sticky keys."

okay, there's a possible short-term workaround outlined here for people with the QT 1402 sticky keys:

Frank Costa, "Will the Quicktime installation error ever be solved?", 01:27am Oct 10, 2005 CDT

... but i'm afraid that i'm not sure whether the QT Alternative trick will work for itunes 6.0.

i've also been referring people through to Allan's TweakUI forum:

Allan Grossman, "Problem 1402 and 1603, Cant create key" #6, 02:50pm Oct 11, 2005 CDT

(i'm not sure what progress has been made there on the problems, though.)

love, b
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User profile for user: Jkhasriya
Jkhasriya
User level: Level 1
0 points

Nov 20, 2005 5:54 AM in response to b noir

hi! Thanks for reply. the message i'm getting on installing the quicktime standalone is: Error 1402: Could not open key HKEY LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\UNINSTALL\QUICKTIME.
I cant open this key in the registry or delete it, or change the permissions and i am the administrator. Have tried all apple suggestions.
Any ideas?
Thanks.
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User profile for user: cheekytr
cheekytr
User level: Level 1
5 points

Nov 20, 2005 8:25 AM in response to Jim Park

well, fwiw jim, i had the same problem as you. see my other posts today. what i did was removed the entire apple inc folder. again, do at your own risk because it is the registry. you may have isolated the problem. to bad apple support can't find the problem and are blaming it on dell. yes, i was told to call dell support and tell them that they have a problem that THEY have to fix because i can install and uninstall all sorts of software products but cannot install itunes. yes, i'm not kidding, that is what a support person told me to do. after that i went into the registry and deleted anything that i felt was related to quicktime and itunes and finally it installed. but again, don't work on the registry unless you absolutely know what you are doing. i'm not kidding because your computer may not work after that.
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User profile for user: b noir
b noir
User level: Level 9
72,336 points

Nov 20, 2005 8:51 AM in response to Jkhasriya

hi Jkhasriya!

I cant open this key in the registry or delete it, or change the permissions and i am the administrator. Have tried all apple suggestions.

a month or so ago, i was calling these "sticky key" variations on the 1406/1402.

we've had success recently with a couple of tricks with this one. in some cases we've discovered that if antivirus applications are running in the background, they won't let you edit the registry. but some other applications might also be to blame. so try shutting down all background applications prior to trying the regedit. here's instructions:

http://consumer.installshield.com/kb.asp?id=Q108377

if that doesn't work for you, also try Dan's technique in this thread.

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=813939#813939

keep us posted.

love, b
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User profile for user: b noir
b noir
User level: Level 9
72,336 points

Nov 20, 2005 1:04 PM in response to Jkhasriya

Backup plan?

(sigh) my initial back-up plan is that i start to research and try some experimentation on you, if you're willing. (you never signed up to be a lab rat.)

if you're game to try some experimentation, let's try to start with things which shouldn't cause too much of a impact on your PC. in that spirit, why not try downloading fresh definitions and running vigorous spyware and virus scans.

(rationale: some malware does disable registry editing capabilities. i've never heard of one that just affects that QT key, but we'd better try to get the possibility off the table.)

if you find anything, could you let us know its name? does the edit stick after the scans?

love, b
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User profile for user: b noir
b noir
User level: Level 9
72,336 points

Nov 21, 2005 4:33 PM in response to Jkhasriya

Anything to get rid of this thing!

🙂 welcome to The Island of Dr Noir ...

okay, is there a entry for your existing quicktime showing up in your Add/Remove programs, Jkhasriya ? if so, is it possible to uninstall it at the moment?

if not, what error message and error message number do you get on the uninstall?

love, b
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Undeletable QuickTime Registry Key

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