Please help -can't uninstall or install iTunes - Error code 2330

"An error occurred while attempting to create directory: C:\documents and settings\all users\application data\apple computer\iTunes\SC info.

Is that still the message you're getting for your 2330, gchao? (If the file name and/or filepath being mentioned has changed since applying your troubleshooting measures, please let us know what the new one is.)

🙂 Many thanks.

Okay, either the SCInfo directory (or the iTunes directory above it) has gotten damaged in some way. iTunes is detecting that when you try to launch it, and it is trying to do a repair install in order to try to repair the damage. But the damage in your case is enough to stop the repair install from going through. The same damage will be stuffing up the attempts to uninstall/reinstall/update iTunes.

There's an alternate strategy we can try to get around this in cases where chkdsk can't fix the damage. But first we're going to have to adjust some view settings on the PC, because your damage is lurking down in directories that are hidden by default on Windows XP systems.

1. Open My Computer from the desktop or Start menu.
2. In the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. In the "Advanced settings" pane under "Hidden files and folders" make sure that the "Show hidden files and folders" option is selected.
5. Click OK.

Now we'll see to the file.

In My Computer, open your C drive.
Open the "Documents and Settings" folder.
Open the "All users" folder.
Open the "Application Data" folder.
Open the "Apple Computer" folder.
Rename the "iTunes" folder "iTunesOLD".

Restart the PC. Now try launching iTunes again. Does the repair install go through properly this time?

(If the iTunes Setup Assistant runs, don't add files to your library. Otherwise you may end up with a lot of duplicates in your library.)

If you get iTunes launching again, check to see if any purchased music is still playing, and if any iPods/iPhones/AppleTVs etc are connecting properly. (We've forced iTunes to rebuild configuartion files and an iPodDevices.xml that affect some iTunes DRM/authorisation-related and device-connection-related machinery. So I reckon it's possible you might at least need to reauthorise some songs or apps or games after iTunes launches again.)

... It never rains but it pours ...

What is springing to mind is that the disk/file damage down in your \All Users\Application Data\ directories was a bit more widespread than just to your \iTunes\ folder in there. Componentry for the GEAR drivers that iTunes uses for burning and importing CDs lives down there too. (I figure that since it's created at roughly the same time as the iTunes configuration folder, during an iTunes install, the physical locations of the files on the hard drive could be close enough that a single batch of disk damage might have taken out both things.)

So let's try another of the "rename/repair-install" strategies.

Quit iTunes if you have it open.

Go back into your C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ directory.

Do you see a directory in there called:

{429CAD59-35B1-4DBC-BB6D-1DB246563521}

To doublecheck that it's the one we're looking for, open it up. On my system it contains an x86 folder, and inside that there's another x86 folder which contains a GEARAspi file and a GEARAspiWDM file.

If that's what you see inside the folder, drift back up into C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ and rename the {429CAD59-35B1-4DBC-BB6D-1DB246563521} folder {429CAD59-35B1-4DBC-BB6D-1DB246563521}OLD

Restart the PC. Don't open any applications (other than iTunes, that is). Then try launching iTunes again.

You should get another of those "Configuring iTunes" messages. (This time the repair install is going to be trying to replace the GEAR Driver componentry/folders we renamed.)

Does it (eventually) open properly (without the message about iTunes not being properly installed)?

Okay, we'll try doing the repair install ourselves this time around, rather than relying on the automatic one. We'll take a few additional explicit precautions just in case something else (other than the file damage) has been interfering with the repair installs.

Restart the PC. After the restart, don't open any applications. Now disconnect from the internet and/or your network. Now switch off all your security software (firewall, antvirus, antispyware).

Now to do the repair install, go into your Add or remove programs control panel. Select "iTunes", click "Change" and then click "Repair".

Does the repair install go through okay? If so, do we get iTunes launching without the error message it you try to launch her afterwards?

I had clicked "automatically fix file system errors." I'm running it again with "scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors." Hope this is okay?

Yeah, that's also worth a try. (That's the option I recommend for Vista and 7 systems.)

That sort of scan should take a while on the C drive (an hour or so generally). If it quits earlier than that (a few minutes or seconds), generally something running on the C drive (like a security software real time scan) is interfering with the scan.

Now that we've stopped getting the "Windows trying to configure iTunes message," and renamed some of those folders, is it worth trying to uninstall iTunes and downloading the new one?

Yes, I think that's probably the next sensible thing to do. (We might have to try a "clean" standalone uninstall and reinstall of the GEAR drivers if no joy with the iTunes update/reinstall ... but the iTunes update is a lot more straightforward, so we'll go for that first.)

Let's take a few additional explicit precautions with the iTunes update/reinstall, just in case something else (other than disk damage) has been interfering with the repairs of the GEAR drivers. Best to print these instructions out, because at one stage of proceedings you won't be able to use a web browser.

Download and save a copy of the iTunesSetup.exe (installer) file to your hard drive. (Don't run the install on line, and don't start the install just yet.)

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Restart the PC. Don't open any applications after the PC restarts. Now disconnect from your network and/or the internet. Disable all security software (firewall, antivirus, antispyware). Now start the install by doubleclicking the iTunesSetup.exe you downloaded earlier.

Reenable all security software prior to reconnecting to the internet and/or your network.

Does the install go through okay? Or do we get an error message? If you get an error message, what does it say this time around?

If everything seemed to go okay with the iTunes install, has the error message gone away when launching the newer version of iTunes?

Message was edited by: b noir

Okaay ... troubleshooting techniques are getting fiddlier now.

We'd better try a manual uninstall of the GEAR Drivers, as per the *Manual Removal – 32-bit Vista, Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000* section of the following GEAR wiki page:

[DRIVERS: Windows - Updating, removing, 64 bit versions, etc|http://www.gearsoftware.com/wiki/index.php?title=DRIVERS: Windows_-_Updating%2C_removing%2C_64_bit_versions%2Cetc]

... then try reinstalling the GEAR drivers using the *For 32-bit and 64-bit systems* download available from the following GEAR page:

http://www.gearsoftware.com/support/drivers.php

Any help with the error message?