Can't download itunes to Windows 7 laptop (after uninstalling to fix problem).

I have a Laptop running Windows 7 (can't upgrade to Windows 10).

I've been runnning iTunes on it for my 1st gen iphone SE.

After the most recent update my iphone was no longer visible in iTunes or on my pc so I uninstalled all Apple software (although it was obviously recognising it was connecting because I was asked the "Trust this computer - Not Trust this computer" question on my iphone - I obviously tapped Trust this computer and input my passcode to confirm).

My problem is:

1. I'm unable to re-download iTunes - when I try to download from the Apple website I'm redirected to Windows Store.
2. Windows store won't let me download the iTunes App (even though it states on their store that I own it) because I don't have a device registered to my Windows account (I have a hotmail email address & a 10 year old laptop which works fine) & there is no facility to register my laptop (I presume because it's running Windows 7 & there is no facility on my laptop to sign in with a Microsoft id in order to register the laptop).
3. I managed to find an older version of the Itunes installer but when I run it to reinstall the Apple software (iTunes, Bonjour, Apple Mobile Support etc) and then try launching iTunes it states that it can't read the library because it was created with a newer version of iTunes?!

So now I'm unable to reinstall the latest version of iTunes because:

a. I'm unable to download it from Microsoft and

b. There is no link on the Apple Website to enable me to download the latest version!!!??

Please help, I've already wasted hours of my time trying to fix this, I may eventually resort to third party software to access my iphone on my laptop if I can't fix this problem.