Dear b
Ive got there at last, and Im listening to my music as I write this, but far from feeling complacent, I just feel desperately worried for all those fellow sufferers. Im no computer expert, but I do have the courage to go where others may fear to tread, and I also have time, because Im retired. The others (many of them died in the wool iTunes fans who just want to be able to enjoy their music) should not have to go through what I have suffered.
The reason I feel so strongly is that, despite having cracked it, with your help and guidance, I havent got a lovely clean solution that I can feed into the Group. I went through a labyrinth, some of which is recorded in this thread, and the best I can do is to try to recall the rest of what I did. Im afraid it was all in registry, which is somewhat frightening and potentially dangerous, and the only solace I can offer to readers is that if they have XP, they can always bottle out and do a Reset to an earlier date, before turning off the computer.
My last posting to you referred to the fact that there was no QuickTime file in the Apple Computers Inc. file in the registry.
The last pointer you gave me was to the Adam Hicks thread, which I had in fact read and printed two or three days ago, but had temporarily forgotten. I had previously tried Adams fix when I was trying to get Version 5 to work, but had found that it didnt seem to go far enough, and so it was when I tried it again, because I still hit Error 1603 when I tried to install QuickTime.
The error message told me that I needed permissions in HKEY_LOCALMACHINES\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer Inc.\QuickTime\Installed Files\QuickTimeUpdater.exe, so I went back into the Registry, and this time found the QuickTime file within the Apple Computers Inc. file. I think it had appeared because of the steps I had taken to grant myself permissions in the QuickTime registry as instructed by Adam. I suggest that registry permissions could usefully be dealt with as a separate topic by someone far more skilled than me, if many other users are going to have to do it.
I went through a rigmarole of trial and error, to grant myself permissions in QuickTimeUpdater.exe, and then tried to run the installer again. This time, it got much further in creating files, before it hit another 1603, but this time it was at
.. QuickTime\Installed Files\QuickTimeCheck.ocx. Hence, I went back in and gave myself permissions in there, and Geronimo !!!
At no stage did I need to rerun the iTunes Installer, which you may recall I had persuaded to run, having Reset my system to pre the latest XP critical update.
I guess that, by now, even you are feeling a sense of information overload, but I do hope that you may be able to glean something from my ramblings to the benefit of other readers.
I think the most constructive comment I can make in conclusion is this.
Like many other readers, I am convinced that most peoples problems emanate from QuickTime and not from iTunes. Further, most of the problems emanating from QuickTime appear to be concerned with registry settings.
As I have said, I am certainly no computer wizard, but I always thought it was in the nature of new program installation to create and where necessary reset relevant elements of the registry. All the many elements that I have had to hand ball to get QuickTime to work are within the compass of Apple/QuickTime registry items and nowhere else, so why on earth were they not set appropriately by Apples own software? Perhaps you could pass that question to the appropriate parties.
Thanks again for your help and for the pleasure of you company over the last many hours.
Kindest regards
Paul
