QuickTime was not found : Workaround / Fix for Windows 7 x64

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QuickTime was not found : Workaround / Fix for Windows 7 x64

On Windows 7 x64, a QuickTime error message will appear when launching iTunes (9.2.0.61) if the computer is not connected to the work/corporate network. For example, if you go home or unplug the network connection the following error message will appear:

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QuickTime Unavailable
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QuickTime was not found.

QuickTime is required to run iTunes. Please uninstall iTunes, then install iTunes again.
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OK
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I used Microsoft’s Process Monitor to compare a working and non-working scenario. Then I had Process Monitor provide the Count totals of the ‘RESULT’ column and noticed that there were 44 entries in reference to “BAD NETWORKPATH”. I filtered the entries in regards to this and all of them were for iTunes as it was trying to query a specific network path.

After looking deeper at the Process Monitor trace, it appears that when launching iTunes, it queries all of the entries in the SYSTEM “Path” environment variable. If there is an entry present that references a UNC path (e.g. \\mynetworkpath\ ) before the entry added by iTunes (C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime\QTSystem\) AND that path is unreachable then the error message will be present about QuickTime not being installed.

The workaround for this is to:
1.) Delete the network path entries if possible from the SYSTEM “Path” environment variable
2.) Move the entries to the USER “Path” environment variable
3.) Move the entries to the end of the SYSTEM “Path” environment variable, after the iTunes entry.

I hope this helps other users as well. I would like to submit this to Apple so perhaps it can be resolved in the next iTunes release. Can anyone provide me information on how to proceed with that process?

Thanks,
Josh

Dell, Windows 7

Posted on Jul 16, 2010 9:45 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 27, 2010 8:02 AM in response to hippman

This work-around works perfectly.

I had this issue with two Win7 x86 laptops.

There was a network location listed as the first environment variable. I moved it to the end of the variable list and it fixed the iTunes error.

I had to reboot for the update to take effect.

This is not truly an iTunes issue. This falls entirely on Windows 7. I have multiple Windows XP machines with the same variable in the same spot and iTunes loads fine when the machine is standalone.

My assumption is that Windows 7 daisy-chains variables. If it cannot resolve one, it stops processing and never moves onto the rest.

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Answer 2

Jul 31, 2010 1:55 PM in response to hippman

Josh,

This is beyond frusterating. After reinstalling quicktime and itunes 20 times I came across your post. I am not familiar with SYSTEM path or anything like that. Can you be a little more specific for someone who is not familiar with computers? Like where do I go to change the paths? etc?

Thanks,
Matthew

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Answer 3

hippman Author

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Aug 2, 2010 6:26 AM in response to fedorovmatt

alittle1935,

That is a very interesting point. I'll test that out as well to see if that is the case.

fedorovmatt,

Check out the following link for how to edit the System PATH variable in Windows 7:

http://geekswithblogs.net/renso/archive/2009/10/21/how-to-set-the-windows-path-i n-windows-7.aspx

Thanks,
Josh

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Answer 4

hippman Author

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Aug 2, 2010 6:28 AM in response to hippman

Also, make sure to reboot after modifying the System PATH variable for the changes to take effect.

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Answer 5

hippman Author

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Aug 2, 2010 7:25 AM in response to hippman

I confirmed that this error is with iTunes because I added a new local path to the System PATH variable and rebooted and it found the folder and text file just fine when disconnected from the network. It did take a few seconds longer however it did find it. I even created a second folder within "C:\Program Files (x86)\" just to make sure that it wasn't a directory issue.

I don't think that we can compare this issue with iTunes on Windows XP because there is surely different internal iTunes code when compared to running on Windows 7. Although if you find a way to reproduce the error another way in Windows 7 then please share as it would be good to get this issue resolved.

Thanks,
Josh

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Answer 6

huba

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Sep 7, 2010 3:35 AM in response to hippman

Thanks hippman,
You saved my day, after several endless hours of uninstall/reinstall ITunes.
I must admit, that I hate Apple for this. With a better error message containing a hint, Apple could have prevented this and saved some users a lot of time and frustration.
My problem finally was, that I had a path to an X86 installation of Quicktime in the SYSTEM Path environment.....
Removing this solved my problem.

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Answer 7

lilbudda

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Sep 14, 2010 8:40 AM in response to hippman

This worked perfectly! Thanks for digging into this it was driving me nuts... plus the problem seemed to be intermittent but now I know why and fixed the root cause by updating the PATH variable in the system properties.

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Answer 8

Sep 21, 2010 2:31 PM in response to hippman

Thanks so much for this fix, it does really work. I too had reinstalled, clean uninstalled, everything over and over again. Apple should definitely be made aware of this and Windows.

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Answer 9

garzar78

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Sep 21, 2010 5:43 PM in response to hippman

I just wanted to let you know this worked great! I was so frustrated and fed up, I just didn't open iTunes when I wasn't connected to my work network. Again, I appreciate the extra work you did to figure this out!!

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Answer 10

Sep 23, 2010 3:13 PM in response to hippman

Actually, as long as you move the quicktime and itunes paths before any network paths in the list, it will work. Mine worked without restart. I also had to do the process again after updating Quicktime.

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Answer 11

topcat28

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Oct 13, 2010 3:40 PM in response to music4god

Just cropped up this evening - good to see apple have fixed it...

Have been working fine. No Windows updates since it last worked. But did get a "your software is up to date" message from apple earlier.

Thanks for that...

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Answer 12

Oct 21, 2010 9:17 AM in response to hippman

I also thank you for your work. My company's IT team had put some of our internal websites in the PATH, but they could only be reached if I had already VPNed into the company's network. I moved the QuickTime's directory name ahead of these in the path and it worked.

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Answer 13

BeeeCeee

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Dec 22, 2010 8:52 AM in response to music4god

i have tried the same thing as "music4god", just move the quicktime path reference to the first position in the SYSTEM.PATH variables, no reboot, and it works again

grtz

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Answer 14

KHertler

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Mar 3, 2011 12:27 AM in response to hippman

Try this:

Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime\QTSystem and copy QTCF.dll to C:\Windows\SysWOW64

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Answer 15

Mar 3, 2011 6:40 AM in response to KHertler

Bingo. That did it. Thank you VERY much, KHertler.

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