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iTunes version 12.12.0.6 only works on English-language Windows, crashes on startup when Windows UI is in a different language

As several people (including myself) are currently discussing, the latest iTunes for Windows, version 12.12.0.6, often crashes on startup complaining about missing required files; this only happens with the latest version, and it has been suggested as a temporary fix to install an older one.


After a lot of investigation, it has been discovered that this is a language-related bug: it only happens on non-english systems (Italian and German have been tested); if the Windows UI is in English, iTunes works correctly.

Also, this is specifically related to the Windows UI language: regional settings such as time/date format and keyboard layout don't change the outcome, and selecting any language for iTunes itself during the iTunes setup doesn't affect the issue.


Hope this helps in finding and fixing the bug.

Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Sep 21, 2021 6:23 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 21, 2021 8:18 AM

IMPORTANT UPDATE:


This bug seems to affect all Windows languages which are not en-US (English - United States), including all English language variants (such as en-UK).


I have personally reported the bug to Apple Support, but there is really nothing else we can do until they fix it.


If you are in a hurry to get iTunes working on your system, you need to switch your Windows UI language to en-US; nothing else will work at the moment.


Also discussed here.


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86 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 21, 2021 8:18 AM in response to Massimo80

IMPORTANT UPDATE:


This bug seems to affect all Windows languages which are not en-US (English - United States), including all English language variants (such as en-UK).


I have personally reported the bug to Apple Support, but there is really nothing else we can do until they fix it.


If you are in a hurry to get iTunes working on your system, you need to switch your Windows UI language to en-US; nothing else will work at the moment.


Also discussed here.


Sep 21, 2021 7:35 AM in response to Massimo80

※ Languages ​​in which iTunes currently does not work : Spanish, German, Italian, Korean, French, Japanese, Chinese


Additionally, Korean doesn't work either.

I'm experimenting with major languages(like Spanish, Chinese, etc.) ​​to see if they work.


+ In addition to German, Italian, and Korean, I have confirmed that Spanish, French, Chinese, and Japanese do not work.

Sep 21, 2021 8:08 AM in response to Massimo80

Note that it's English (United States) that is specifically required as well. The other versions of English also don't work. I have English (United Kingdom) and that won't load either, giving the same error message. I've switched my Win10 20H2 build to English (United States) and am now back in business with this as a workaround until Apple fix this problem and I can switch my language back.

Sep 23, 2021 1:02 AM in response to StarrySky117

I went to "my library" and re-downloaded it from there. It downloaded a newer version (12.12.1.1) that has fixed the issue. My PC's language is set to English (Canada) and the new version works properly. After downloading the new version, my PC showed a notification that it was installing optional Windows features with a language icon. I'm not sure what it did since it didn't install any new languages. These are the steps I used in case anyone else wants to try this:


  1. Open Microsoft Store
  2. Click the three dots in the top right corner
  3. Click on "My Library"
  4. Click on "All Types" at the top and select "Apps". Then click on "Sort by most recent" and change that to "Sort by name." These filters make it easier to find iTunes.
  5. Scroll the list of apps and find iTunes.
  6. When you find it, click the "Install" button beside it.
  7. Let it install. After it installs, launch it and it will ask you to agree to the user agreement. After you agree to it iTunes should finish starting and work again.


Sep 24, 2021 6:24 AM in response to Scottyboy99

It has been confirmed elsewhere that is specifically affects Windows users if the language is set to anything other than US English (so UK English will not work either).


There is another solution though, which is to roll back to the 12.11.4.15 release - which is the latest version prior to 12.12 (the one with the problem). This is what I did, prior to discovering the language setting issue.


You can download a 12.10 release here: https://support.apple.com/downloads/itunes which is dated December 2020. I'm sure I had a link to the 12.11.x release, but I can't find it now! Anyway you can then either stay with that 12.10 version for now, until Apple release a fixed 12.12.x, or run Apple Software Update after installing it and it will offer you the 12.11.4.15 update.

Sep 24, 2021 6:28 AM in response to Massimo80

Saying "nothing else will work at the moment" is not technically true!


While it is correct that is currently the only solution IF you want to stay on the 12.12 release of iTunes, more accurately what you can say is that users can roll-back to an earlier release. At least this way non-English speakers can stay with their native language.


This link: https://support.apple.com/downloads/itunes will get you to a 12.10 installer (Dec 2020), from there you can choose to stick with that version or run the Apple Software Update which will offer the latest pre-12.12 release - which is 12.11.4.15.


Sep 21, 2021 7:04 AM in response to bigklo

Ciao bigklo, al momento non sembra ci sia una soluzione. Cambiare soltanto le impostazioni regionali è inutile, il problema è causato proprio dalla lingua dell'interfaccia di Windows. Sembra sia proprio un bug, quindi possiamo solo aspettare che Apple lo risolva.


Hello bigklo, at the moment there doesn't seem to be any solution. Changing regional settings only is useless, the issue is caused specifically by the Windows UI language. It really seems to be a bug, thus we can only wait for Apple to fix it.

Sep 21, 2021 7:55 AM in response to Massimo80

So I have checked my Windows UI and it was set to English (United Kingdom). But I am still getting the missing required files message. I have uninstalled and re-installed. I really don't want to have to delete every trace of iTunes from my machine and tehn start over from scratch. Surely that can't be the only answer.




Sep 21, 2021 9:09 AM in response to Massimo80

I confirm that the secret is to change language to English (U.S). My default language was EN (Sweden) which is where I first saw the issue. I also have EN (New Zealand) and EN (U.K) installed, neither of which worked either. INstalled the U.S. version and now iTunes opens fine. Shame I went and uninstalled / reinstalled it before learning of this bug... will probably lose my hard-earned history forever now ...

iTunes version 12.12.0.6 only works on English-language Windows, crashes on startup when Windows UI is in a different language

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