cannot burn or copy CD in iTunes 8~ tried everything!

My experience is similar. I've tried everything including the installation of a new CD drive. iTunes 8.0 seems to be the culprit. How do you register a complaint with Apple? I have iTunes 8.0 on my Sony Vaio notebook and can record CDs from iTunes 8.0 on that computer. It is a real pain as I don't have as many music files on my notebook, so if I need to make a CD, I have to move the files via thumb drive to my notebook, create a playlist and then burn the CD. I hope that Apple fixes this quickly.

Thanks for the post, as I know now that I didn't do something stupid. I'm afraid to go into the registry to fix this problem and make my PC unusable.

Regards To All,

JLJ3

I am unable to backup my libraries OR burn CDs since installing Version 8. I have been on the phone with tech support three different times and the problem is STILL unresolved.

GOOD LUCK and let me know if YOU have any luck!

P.S. I made a copy of my library and playlists on a different external hard drive just to be safe. Also was able to Sync ALL tunes onto one of my 160gb iPod Classics.

I have finally been able to nail this problem down on this particular 32bit XP system, and while it may not be the correct solution for everybody I'm going to tack it onto the end of this thread in the hope that it might save some time for anyone Googling the problem.

I have wasted literally days on this problem with multiple uninstall, install, reinstall cycles of iTunes, Gear drivers, Gear driver removers, QuickTime and other assorted Apple sundries. I have made more Registry edits than I can count. All to no avail.

The basic problem, at least on this machine, was that the Gear drivers simply refused to install onto the system regardless of whether they were coming from the iTunes installer or the stand-alone Gear installer. I could see the installer reporting the attempt to install, and I could check the installer logs and see the same thing, but upon rebooting the drivers just would not be there. No entries in the Registry, and no .sys or .dll files in System32.

In the end the following worked for me, so here it is for reference. It may be possible to miss out some of these steps but I'm not going back to check!

*1. Uninstall EVERYTHING Apple related; iTunes, QuickTime, iPod drivers, Bonjour, the lot. Reboot between each removal if necessary.*

*2. Uninstall the Gear driver installer if used.*

*3. Reboot*

*4. Download and run the latest iTunes installer. When the installer has finished DO NOT yet click on the OK or reboot button. Leave the installer window(s) open.*

*5. Navigate to C:\Documents And Settings\All Users\Application Data and look for an alphanumerically named folder containing an 'x86' subfolder. Mine was called {3276BE95 AF08_429F_A64FCA64CB79BCF6} but it might change from system to system.*

*6. Copy this folder to the Desktop.*

*7. Complete the iTunes installer operations. If no reboot is required, uncheck the box to run iTunes on completion.*

*8. Reboot.*

*9. Open the copied folder on the Desktop, open the x86 sub-folder, right-click the GearAspiWDM.inf file and choose Install.*

*10. Reboot.*

*11. Run iTunes and hope that the drivers have installed correctly.*

As I said, there's no guarantee this will work for anybody else but it worked for me and I had tried just about every "solution" as posted in the various forums. On the surface it looks to have been a simple case of the installer copying the Gear install files to the All Users subfolder, but then not actually running the installer.

I really do hope this information helps someone else avoid the days of frustration I have suffered with this issue.

Couldn't you just start at step 5? The Gear drivers are on the system, just not finished installed right?

gtberg wrote:
Couldn't you just start at step 5?

Possibly, which is why I included the disclaimer in paragraph 5.

The Gear drivers are on the system, just not finished installed right?

I don't know, because I didn't go back to check. Paragraph 5 again.

For anyone else who didn't read what I wrote, this is simply the method *+that worked for me+*. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a list of the things I did, in the order I did them, that finally resulted in a working system after days of on-off tinkering. And a brief summary of why I think it worked.

If these steps turn out to be of no use to anyone else then so be it. If they help someone else get their errant iTunes/Gear installation working then great. And if they can be pared down to a simpler set of instructions that also work, better still. I suggested as much in my first post, but it's not my job to edit the steps down to a minimum.

If you want to experiment, be my guest.

The "REAL" fix is shown on this YOUTUBE video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRjMGhzU1wE

Denali, you should be working for APPLE! They need good tech support people like you!

*5. Navigate to C:\Documents And Settings\All Users\Application Data and look for an alphanumerically named folder containing an 'x86' subfolder. Mine was called {3276BE95 AF08_429F_A64FCA64CB79BCF6} but it might change from system to system.*

Ummm - I don't have this particular file? I go to:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users - but there is no folder anywhere called "Application Data". Not under my profile, a shared profile, or my business profile.

Would it otherwise be found under c:\WINDOWS?

Or C:\Program Files?

The only folders I have under C:\Documents and Settings\All Users are:
Desktop
Favorites
Shared Documents
Start Menu
NTUSER

When I open them, there is no folder even close to what you've described. It sounds like you may have a fix, but my computer system must be organised slightly differently.

HELP!!

BINGO!!!! This worked for me but not sure which procedure corrected the problem so try both. First went to Uinstall Program under the Control Panel in Windows, clicked on the uninstall button and noticed some options listed so decided to select the "Click for Support Information" then hit the "Repair" button. Took about a minute for this function.

Once you open the uninstall program feature you'll be able to easily follow the these instructions.

Step #2. After opening i-Tunes Burn CD feature you'll notice the option "Include CD Text"..........deselect it.

Now I can burn CDs in i-"Tunes 8. Good luck.

Just do a search on your C drive for that file/folder. You'll have to do an advanced search and include all the hidden files and folders. You only need to enter the first 7 letters of that file name. I have the same issue as you with not having the same folders as the XP machines, but I was able to find it.

I went through all the steps Denali_uk, and it helped, but now the ITUNES burner will burn the first 2 songs, and hang up on the 3rd song, no matter what that song is. I went through 4 playlists, and each time, it hung up on the 3rd song and gave me an UNKNOWN ERROR 4200.......sigh. I too have gone through dozens of blank discs, and changed setting from all the help pages available. I even went so far as to uninstall my firewall when I downloaded ITUNES per your instructions, thinking that that program was hindering the download. This must be some Vista 64 bit problem. I don't know what else to do. Thanks for the help anyway. I'm sure your solution works for many people, just not me.

Tikihaha wrote:

Ummm - I don't have this particular file? I go to:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users - but there is no folder anywhere called "Application Data". Not under my profile, a shared profile, or my business profile.

I've just checked for that folder on this desktop machine and noticed that it has the HIDDEN attribute set. Unless you've told Windows to show all files (Tools | Folder Options | View | Show Hidden Files And Folders) you won't be able to see it in an Explorer view.

I should really have noticed that, but as I routinely turn that option off on every Windows installation I've done since Win95 (along with hiding file extensions for known file types -- why Microsoft still have that on by default beggars belief) I didn't think to mention it.

gtberg wrote:
be some Vista 64 bit problem. I don't know what else to do. Thanks for the help anyway. I'm sure your solution works for many people, just not me.

This is a complete guess, but for Vista 64bit I would expect the 64bit Gear driver installer to be in a sub-folder other than 'x86', possibly 'amd64' or similar. It might be worth looking for such a folder at the same level as the 'x86' folder and running the Gear installer from there. I know Vista is particularly fussy when it comes to signed drivers.

I can't really help beyond that; I was a Vista user for just one month and eventually gave up on it and reverted to XP. That was part of what made this iTunes/Gear problem so frustrating; most of the pages dedicated to it said it was a Vista-only problem, whereas many users were seeing similar problems on XP.

It's also odd that this desktop machine, with XP Pro and an internal HP burner, didn't suffer any problems whatsoever, whereas the MSI Wind with XP Home and an external burner needed the workaround shown above. Maybe it's a permissions thing related to XP Home?

Good luck with the Vista problem. I would certainly start by looking for a 64bit Gear installer 'deposited' by the iTunes installer.

denali_uk - I want to give you a massive kiss and a massive hug!!!!

*IT'S FIXED!!!!* 🙂

I was so happy, I nearly cried (yes, I'm a big girl). I'm not very IT-savvy, so this problem with iTunes was making me angry as nothing I tried fixed it.

All I did was a shortened version of your fix:-

I finally found that naughty x86 subfolder lurking deep in my c:\drive - yes, you were absolutely right in that it was a hidden folder. I did a full system search for x86*. and there were two on my computer.

Opened one of 26/11/2009 (my latest iTunes upgrade), and lo & behold there was that GEARAspiWDM Setup Information. Saved the folder to my desktop.

Opened the folder, right-clicked on the GEARAspiWDM, clicked on "Install", and nothing happened that I could see.

But I rebooted my computer anyway (thinking I did something wrong as I was expecting a "tah-dah!" moment), but thought what the heck - something may have happened.

Opened iTunes and no longer got the "Registry missing" warning. Good sign.

Then I burned an audio CD and IT WORKED!!

After dancing around my desk like a lunatic, I thought I would share with you the fact that you don't need to uninstall or reinstall GEAR drivers or iTunes or anything like that - just find that pesky little x86 folder, click "install" on that little weird file, and Bob's your uncle.

Thanks again - not sure if it works for everyone, but it has made my day so much brighter!!

*Thank you Denali_uk!!*