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Level 1

5 points

Apple Software Update Not Working

Running Windows XP. I start Itunes and get a message there is an available software update, I select to get it but nothing happens (at least nothing visible). I run Apple Software Update by starting the program (Start...All Programs...Apple Software Update) and it says there are no updates available. I can manually download the update and install it, and it is a more current version. Apple Software Update just does not work.

I have tried repairing Apple Software Update using Add/Remove Programs...Change...Repair, I still have the same thing.

I have tried uninstalling all Apple programs using Add/Remove Programs and then reinstalling them, I still have the same thing.

Can anyone suggest what to look at next ?

Thanks

Windows XP

Posted on Feb 14, 2010 3:24 PM

41 replies

madmike73 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 21, 2010 8:18 AM in response to b noir

I wound up not trying to uninstall the VC 9.0 runtimes, first off I wasn't sure how to uninstall them, I think they are listed in add/remove programs as Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable, also I looked at another system where ASU works and it looked the same (had the same two entries).

I did use the Cleanup tool to delete the Earthlink trial entry which had been removed a long time ago and was not in Add/Remove programs and I removed one of the Rhapsody Player Engines with Add/Remove programs and the problem remained.

I also removed ASU and Itunes again using Revo Uninstall Pro (free version) which searches for other files and registry entries not removed by the application uninstall program. I deleted everything extra he found and reinstalled Itunes. I still have the same problem.

I am posting a list of programs in Add/Remove, see if there is something I shoud try to remove please.

Thanks,
Mike

List of Programs in Add or Remove Programs:

3ivx MPEG-4 5.0.3
Acrobat.com
Adobe AIR
Adobe Download Manager
Adobe Flash Player 10 ActiveX
Adobe Reader 9.3.1
Adobe Shockwave Player 11.5
Apple Application Support
Apple Mobile Device Support
Apple Software Update
AT&T Toolbar
Audacity 1.2.6
avast! Antivirus
BCM V.92 56K Modem
Bonjour
Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system
Coupon Printer for Windows
Digital Line Detect
DVDSentry
Easy CD Creator 5 Basic
eDexter(remove only)
FlipShare
getPlus(R)_ocx
HighMAT Extension to Microsoft Windows XP CD Writing Wizard
hp deskjet 930c series
hp deskjet 930c series (Remove only)
HP Driver Diagnostics
HP Photo and Imaging 1.0 - Scanjet 3500c Series
HP PhotoSmart Photo Printing Software
HP Product Detection
Intel(R) PRO Ethernet Adapter and Software
Intel(R) PROSet II
iTunes
Java(TM) 6 Update 17
Kodak EasyShare software
Microsoft .NET Framework (English) v1.0.3705
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0 Hotfix (KB928367)
Microsoft. NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
Microsoft Compression Client Pack 1.0 for Windows XP
Microsoft Digital Image Library 9
Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9
Microsoft Picture It! Photo 7.0
Microsoft Silverlight
Microsoft User-Mode Driver Framework Feature Pack 1.0
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 ATL Update kb973923 - x86 8.0.50727.4053
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable
Microsoft Word 2002
Microsoft Works 2003 Setup Launcher
Microsoft Works 7.0
Microsoft Works Suite Add-in for Microsoft Word
Modem Helper
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB927978)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB954430)
MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB973688)
MSXML 6.0 Parser (K8933579)
muvee Plugin 1.0
NVIDIA Drivers
Picasa 3
QuickTime
Revo Uninstaller Pro 2.1.1
Rhapsody Player Engine
ScanToWeb
Secunia PSI
Sound Blaster Live!
Spelling Dictionaries Support For Adobe Reader 9
Spybot - Search & Destroy
Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.5.2.20
Viewpoint Media Player (Remove Only)
WexTech AnswerWorks
Windows Defender
Windows Installer Clean Up
Windows Internet Explorer 8
Windows Media Format 11 Runtime
Windows Media Player 11
Windows XP Service Pack 3
ZoneAlarm

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Feb 21, 2010 8:57 AM in response to madmike73

Having more than one firewall (or antimalware etc) is never a good idea.
Your list shows various items from Apple: Bonjour, MobileMe, QuickTime, iTunes, as well as ASU.

I confess to never using XP.

I never use to trust CCleaner or any of the cleanup or registry cleaners, and of couse most should offer to allow backup first. Does XP have restore check points?

I don't use ASU. I never install their updates until there's been a week or two for problem reports to surface, they aren't afterall essential though iTunes 9.03 is probably the first version to actually support Windows 7 properly.

On a Mac, it is common and simple to make a system image backup or update said clone, before installing updates, and if it 'goes wrong' just restore the system to where it was beforehand. On Windows, I'm still feeling my way around best way (and even Acronis has trouble with W7).

XP preference settings - look for anything related to Apple
msconfig turn off anything Apple or that Apple installs

madmike73 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 22, 2010 7:27 AM in response to The hatter

I think this forum is to help people solve problems with ASU on Windows machines.

Thank you for your input but as I understand your post you have never used XP (which is what I use) and you don't use ASU. I don't think you can help me resolve my problem.

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Feb 22, 2010 8:34 AM in response to madmike73

The reason I don't use ASU is it has a bad history, maybe it is better, but at one time it was force-feeding new programs, like Safari, not just updates.

Maybe I don't use XP, but I have used operating systems and computers for 40+ yrs and I run across a lot of tips (firewalls, AV etc) and from beta testing said products.

Maybe I learned in the last years why XP is flawed? no? and time to move on, too.

Apple support for Windows gets less than an A or B.

I think after all these years using Windows and helping here, I have a decent idea of what the forums are for 🙂

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 24, 2010 11:33 AM in response to madmike73

Apologies for the delay, Mike. I've been a bit overwhelmed, lately. (My own fault ... overposting again.)

Let's try another tack with this. It might be useful to find out if this is a systemwide issue with ASU or if it's specific to a single user account on the PC.

Head into your User Accounts control panel and create a new user account with full administrative rights.

Now log out of your usual user account and log into the new account. (Don't use fast user switching to move between accounts.)

Now launch your ASU in the new user account. Does it show an iTunes 9.0.3.15 in there? Or is it blank in there too?

madmike73 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 24, 2010 3:43 PM in response to b noir

b noir, good to hear from you.

I created a new user account with admin rights. I rebooted and selected the new user account. I ran ASU and it still does not see any updates.

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 24, 2010 4:36 PM in response to madmike73

Okay ... not something kinky relating to the HKEY CURRENTUSER registry keys, or ASU user account preferences. (Not that ASU has many user-account-specific settings to begin with.)

(Excuse me ... thinking out loud.) Systemwide issue. What could muck up ASU in a systemwide way in this manner that we haven't already checked on yet? It's not program files, and it's not dodgy ASU.msi entries.

All righty then ... complete stab in the dark. Even though you're not getting any of the messages mentioned in the following document, let's give the measures from it a go:

[iTunes for Windows: "iTunes was not installed properly. Please reinstall iTunes" message|http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3074]

madmike73 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 25, 2010 11:53 AM in response to b noir

Okay, Tried this and had no change.

I actually uninstalled ASU and Itunes using Add/Remove Programs. Then I did a repair on .Net Framework 3.5 SP1, then I ran Windows Update to pick up anything dropped and it picked up .Net Framework 2.0 SP2 and .Net Framework 3.0 SP2 and I installed them with Windows Update and rebooted. I then reinstalled Itunes and there is no change.

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 25, 2010 12:20 PM in response to madmike73

(Sigh) I'm running out of sensible things to suggest checking on, I'm afraid, Mike.

Okay ... I've not been considering the possibility of any issues with the Windows Installer Service itself on the PC up to now, because everything seems to have been installing and uninstalling for you without any hassles up to now.

But the Windows Installer Service is the other part of the equation (in conjunction with the various msi files) with regards to Windows Installer. It does appear to play a role in identifying the properties of installed packages:

[Installer Function Reference|http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa369426(VS.85).aspx]

... so, quite possibly, Apple Software Update "piggybacks" off those functions when it checks for what software is installed on the PC. So, plausibly (for some peculiar value of "plausibly"), an *extremely subtle* issue with the Windows Installer Service might cause the symptoms with ASU, even though your Windows Installer seems to be working pretty well in most normal regards.

Are you seeing any oddities in your Add/Remove Programs Control Panel, Mike? In particular, are there any large blank areas appearing above the list of installed programs after the control panel pane has been populated?

madmike73 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 25, 2010 2:47 PM in response to b noir

Okay, Now we are on to something I think. On my system where ASU works correctly I scanned for MSI.DLL and it is version 3.1.4001.5512 which according to this table http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa371185(VS.85).aspx indicates it is Windows installer 3.1. The system wher ASU does not work has MSI.DLL at version 4.5.6001.22159 which is Windows Installer 4.5.

The table referenced above indicates 4.5 was XP SP2 and 3.1 is XP SP3. If you look at the downloads for these two it looks just the opposite.

I removed all my Apple programs. I downloaded Windows Installer 3.1 and tried to install it. It says "Setup has detectedthat the service pack version of this system is newer than the uddate you are applying. There is no need to install this update". Is there a way to force this to install and is that a good idea ? I think you are closing in on the problem.

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 25, 2010 4:45 PM in response to madmike73

Is there a way to force this to install and is that a good idea ?

Whoa! Let's not go rolling back a couple of Windows Installer versions at present ...

Apologies for the delay ... I've just been doing some experimentation on my XP SP3 system.

I determined my Windows Installer was at version 3.1 v2 ("Start > Run", type msiexec and hit enter). So I downloaded and installed the Windows 4.5 redistributable for XP, installed that, confirmed (by msiexec again) that I had the 4.5 version of Windows Installer in place, and then uninstalled my iTunes 9.0.3.15. After that, I ran ASU and it detected the iTunes + QuickTime 9.0.3 update for me.

... So we're not just looking at a "4.5 bad, 3.1v2 good" thing here. Something pretty subtle must be afoot if there's a Windows Installer 4.5 issue on your PC (the fact that you're able to uninstall and reinstall things without issue speaks to that).

One more experiment for the day. (I'm a bit overloaded with other ongoing troubleshoots at the moment, and I owe a bunch of people replies ...)

If it's a really subtle issue with Windows Installer underlying the ASU issue, maybe we can get some joy if we employ the equivalent of a gentle tap with a small rubber hammer: Let's try reregistering the Windows Installer Service as per *Method 1* from the following document:

[How to resolve Common "Windows Installer" Problems|http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555175]

... any better luck with getting ASU to display available updates after that?

madmike73 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 26, 2010 11:23 AM in response to b noir

Yes, slow me down, I got so excited to find a difference in the system that works and the one that didn't that I went a little crazy.

I tried the unregister/register and reinstalled Itunes. I get two Itunes desktop icons, I delete one and the other quits working and won't delete, I copy one from Program Files to the desktop and it seems to clear the problem. I don't see how this is related, just mention it because it is unusual. I run ASU, same results-no updates found.

Do I need to stop Windows Installer service before I unregister/register ? It shows manual and the Microsoft article does not say you need to do this. I didn't see any messages on either the register or unregister.

The only other thing I did was look. I found this version information:
msihnd.dll ; c:\windows\system32 4.5.6001.22159 (vistasp1_ldr.080415-1732)
msi.exec ; c:\windows\system32 4.5.6001.22159 (vistasp1_ldr.080415-1732)
msi.dll ; c:\windows\system32 4.5.6001.22159

Could I have accidentally installed a Vista version of Windows Installer 4.5 instead of an XP version ? Could you look at the module versions on the system where you installed 4.5 to see if they have that vista stuff beside the version number ? I actually found the log file where KB942288 was installed and I think this is Windows Installer 4.5. I can post the log if it would help.

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 26, 2010 5:59 PM in response to madmike73

msihnd.dll ; c:\windows\system32 4.5.6001.22159 (vistasp1_ldr.080415-1732)
msi.exec ; c:\windows\system32 4.5.6001.22159 (vistasp1_ldr.080415-1732)

Good lord ... are you seeing those extended version numbers with the Vistasp1 stuff that when you drift the cursor over the files in system32? (I'm not ... I'm just seeing the version number, with none of the material in the brackets.)

madmike73 Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 26, 2010 8:49 PM in response to b noir

No, I saw all the extended stuff by looking at the module properties...Version... and I think it was in the file version field (or product version). I will verify which field it was in. I didn't see the extra stuff that mentioned vista until I looked at the full properties.

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 26, 2010 9:09 PM in response to madmike73

Doublechecking that I'm looking in the same place that you are, Mike.

For example ... with msiexec.exe, i right-click on the file and select "Properties". I go to the version tab. I see "File Version: 4.5.6001.22159" (and nothing more).

Is that where you're seeing the Vista SP1 references?

Apple Software Update Not Working