iTunes not launching anymore................

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Level 1

1 points

iTunes not launching anymore................

Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction and help me fix this problem.

A week ago iTunes 7.7.1 (the latest version just before V8), stopped working on my pc. When I say stopped working, I mean it won't launch. I can see the exe running in task manager - iTunes.exe, but the program itself is nowhere visible on the desktop.

I have tried the following to fix this.

1. Reinstalled iTunes (just before v8 came out), and did a repair. No change.
2. I have not attempted to remove it and then re-install as I don't want to lose all my configuration and playlist data. So my question is if I have to try a remove and fresh install, can someone please explain how I can backup my configuration via the windows explorer so that I can still have access to my playlilsts etc?
3. I downloaded iTunes V8 last night and installed and still no luck. The program will just not start. I can see the pc trying to get it going - the hard drive spins etc and I can see the exe in Task manager, however no program running.

Has anyone else run into something similar? Can anyone suggest what else to try to do to fix this?

I want to upgrade my iPhone firmware to 2.1 when that comes out and need to add a whole bunch of songs to my phone and now I can't do that anymore. This is very frustrating and annoying.

win xp, Windows XP

Posted on Sep 10, 2008 1:07 PM

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Answer 1

linesma

Level 1

0 points

Sep 10, 2008 1:49 PM in response to silvergs

Without actually looking at your machine, it sounds like you have a registry problem. With both WinXP and Vista, the registry can become corrupted over time. I know you do not want to uninstall and re-install, but that is truly your only option. When I mean an uninstall, you have to get rid of any leftover registry entries for both iTunes and Quicktime as well as removing both programs.

You can do this from Control Panel-Programs and Features for Vista, and Control Panel-Add Remove Programs for Win XP. After your list of programs fully loads, select Quicktime first then click uninstall. Then do iTunes the same way. Next you need to ensure that all references for these programs are removed from the registry. I did this by running a registry scan using a program called CCleaner. It is an awesome freeware program that scans your registry and cleans it. You can get it from http://www.ccleaner.com

I had to do that in order to get iTunes V8 to run under Vista, I did not loose my playlists and configuration settings. I know this was not what you wanted to hear. I hope this helps

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Answer 2

silvergs Author

Level 1

1 points

Sep 11, 2008 6:41 AM in response to linesma

Thanks for the reply linesma.

Did you say you did not lose your playlists when you uninstalled and reinstalled? Your last comment is confusing.....

I guess I can live with having to lose my playlists, which leads to my next questions:
1. Will my iPhone's playlist (on the phone itself) get wiped out?
2. Will my iPhone have to be set up from scratch?
3. Will I lose all the apps and other settings (contacts etc) etc from the phone?

TIA

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Answer 3

Sep 11, 2008 8:15 AM in response to silvergs

I'm having same exact problem as you have silver... pain in the ***

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Answer 4

polydorus

Level 6

11,967 points

Sep 11, 2008 8:57 AM in response to silvergs

If I understand correctly, iTunes just stopped working, not an upgrade or anything?

There is no error message an iTunes.exe persists in the task manager.

This can be due to a problem with cryptographic dlls.

First run a scan for malware, I suggest the Kaspersky free scan:
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

Malware can unregister dlls.

Then try following this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1593?viewlocale=en_US

If it goes through without error, try iTunes again.

If there are any error messages it is very important that you make a note of them and post back with the files involved.

I hope you will be able so see error messages using the batch file method suggested.

If not wuould will need to do it manually, post back and we can go through that.

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Answer 5

silvergs Author

Level 1

1 points

Sep 11, 2008 12:00 PM in response to polydorus

Thanks polydorus! I will try this tonight when I get home. There seems to be some light at the end of this iTunes tunnel. 🙂

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Answer 6

linesma

Level 1

0 points

Sep 11, 2008 1:02 PM in response to silvergs

You will not loose your play lists on your iPhone if you sync it with the same VERSION of iTunes you made the play lists with. If you downgrade, like I did from 8 to 7.7, you will loose your play lists and you have to re-add your media to your library. You will not loose your apps, because they are tied to your iTunes account. Nor did I loose my contacts. The only thing I had to rest up on my phone was my music play list.

I downgraded to 7.7 because iTunes 8 was unstable under Vista.

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Answer 7

silvergs Author

Level 1

1 points

Sep 12, 2008 8:15 AM in response to polydorus

Hi polydorus,

I tried what you suggested and did not get any errors after I ran the batch file. The window closed eventually but it took a while on the last dll. No errors were generated whatsoever.

I then tried launching iTunes, but same thing, iTunes.exe is visible in Task Manager (using about 14 MB of ram) , however program does not run.

I then tried linesmas suggestion.

I uninstalled Quicktime and then iTunes.
I ran the registry cleaner program he suggested. It found over 500 mb of temporary unneeded files. I deleted those and then scanned the registry and it found a lot of entries that it suggested be removed. I did that and then rebooted and ran out of time and had to come to work.

So I have not yet tried installed iTunes again yet. Will do that tonight when I go back home.

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Answer 8

polydorus

Level 6

11,967 points

Sep 12, 2008 8:21 AM in response to silvergs

If you got a lot of temporary file, I wonder if your virus checker is blocking iTunes from starting.

It might be worth briefly disabling virus checking to see if that works.

In the past firewalls have done the same thing, but not recently.

The other things that can result in a lot of temp files are iTunes plugins. Do you have any of those - you can sometimes get compatibility issues after an upgrade.

It's a shame about the first thing not working, this error is nearly always due to cryptographic dll problems. Are you certain you would have seen any error messages?

If not we could try running each line individually in the cmd window to make certain.

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Answer 9

linesma

Level 1

0 points

Sep 12, 2008 10:29 AM in response to silvergs

Let me know if it works out. I am still thinking on solutions if this does not solve it. Remember there is always taking a BIG Hammer to the computer.

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