iTunes freezes after upgrading to Windows 7 SP1 German

Vista compatibility mode does not work for me (and yes, I am picking Vista with no service packs), but XP SP3 compatibility mode DOES!

Unfortunately XP SP3 compatibility mode downgrades the color pallet setting and other things that makes multitasking while iTunes is running unacceptable. We need a true fix for this problem.

Has anyone else contacted Apple support for help finding a permanent solution to this problem? I caled them and reluctantly agreed to pay $29 for their help, with the understanding that they would not put the $29 charge through on my credit card until they solve the problem. They also promised that they would not charge me at all if they couldn't solve the problem within 30 days. Alas, a $29 charge showed up on my credit card account the very next day, even though there is no solution in sight.

So far, Apple support for the Windows platform seems to use, at best, a trial-and-error method.

Tunes froze when I upgraded to 10.2.1.1 after recently acquiring a 3rd generation Nano to replace my 1st generation that wouldn't reset. It's all working now after uninstalling 10.2.1.1 and then installing 10.1.2. I had to delete "iTunes Library.itl" for iTunes to load. I then had add my folder to get back all my Poscasts and then re-subscribe to my relevant podcasts. After this I upgraded back to 10.2.1.1 and everything is sweet . So effectively I rebuilt my "iTunes Library.itl" file - I suspect that this file became corrupted either during the iTunes upgrade and/or introducing mt new iPod Nano and/or something else.

GeoffreyJackson,

It sounds like your problem was not the same as the one described in this discussion. This discussion is about the specific symption of iTunes freezing when you plug in an iOS device (iPhone, iPod touch).

iTunes not starting at all is a different issue.

dkaleita wrote:
Has anyone else contacted Apple support for help finding a permanent solution to this problem? ... So far, Apple support for the Windows platform seems to use, at best, a trial-and-error method.

I just got another call from them today. They were eager to hear whether uninstalling and then reinstalling Windows 7 x64 SP1 fixed the problem. Well, it didn't. After uninstalling SP1 it worked great, not a single freeze in more than 30 plug-ins. After reinstalling SP1 tonight, this time from the full installer instead of using Windows Update, I got one sync and then iTunes started freezing again. (This is normal for this defect; it would nearly always work the first time after a restart or other configuration change.)

Service Pack 1 definitely seems to be the cause, and it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the installation method, at least not in my case and at least one other one I read on another thread.

And just like before, setting Vista compatibility mode makes it work.

Though it's nice to hear that they are working on it... it does seem a little weird that they ask questions like that, since it would imply that they are having problems recreating the issue.

I've tried iTunes on several computers with Windows 7 x64 SP1 and it's blatantly apparent on every one.

It's become pretty clear that the "Support" team is NOT trying to recreate the problem. Their role is apparently only to assume that the problem is with the customer's computer, and to go through a series of scripted diagnostics.

We can only HOPE that someone on Apple's software development side has seen the problem and is working to fix it. They may not ever hear about it from their support folks until the support folks have basically given up.

I just got another call from Apple today. They tell me that they are working on the problem and trying to isolate it. They're simply having people try other things in the meantime to gather more information while the developers go through the logs and dumps from people like me from whom they have requested them. (Today they wanted me to try removing a certain registry key. That key didn't even exist on my machine, so that was an easy one to rule out.)

I assure you I got beyond the front-line scripted people long ago.

However, I do recommend that people submit feedback to http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html (select either "other" or "software or hardware compatibility" since there isn't a bug report category like there is on the iPhone feedback page). And it may be worthwhile to open up a support case if you're within 90 days of purchasing an eligible Apple product, or if you can convince them an exception applies. (I don't know that I would agree to pay $29 though.) This would give them more data to work with. At this point it's hard to know if it's just certain hardware,* if it's a defect in iTunes that was exposed by the change in Windows, if it is a defect in a driver or some other Windows component that was exposed by the service pack, or what. I don't envy them the task of figuring it out.

*eg, is everyone experiencing the problem using ASUS motherboards?

Edit: added bit about registry key

By the way, I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but iTunes only freezes when I connect an iOS device (we've tried iPhone 3G S, iPhone 4, and iPad 2). The two iPods we've got (3rd and 6th generation iPod Nano) do not cause iTunes to freeze.

Do others agree this defect only shows up with iOS devices?

I made some progress today. Here's what I did:

1) Uninstalled Norton 360
2) Uninstalled Cisco Systems’ Network Magic
3) Uninstalled Cicso Systems’ Speed Meter Pro
4) Uninstalled iTunes (again)
5) Uninstalled QuickTime (again)
6) Uninstalled Apple Software Update (again)
7) Uninstalled Apple Mobile Device Support (again)
8) Uninstalled Bonjour (again)
9) Uninstalled Apple Application Support (again)
10) Unplugged every USB cable except for my keyboard and mouse.
11) Rebooted the computer
12) Reinstalled iTunes 10.2.1.1
13) Rebooted the computer again

Results: The problem with iTunes freezing appears to be gone, and I am able to synch the iPod Touch with Win7 SP1 intact! I hope it keeps working when I reinstall the antivirus software.

HOWEVER, now I have developed a new problem.: every time I start iTunes now, I get a message that says iTunes is not installed properly. I repeated the above steps 4-13 twice more, but this error message just won’t go away.

dkaleita wrote:
I made some progress today.

Interesting, thanks for that update. Very strange about your installation error message. Maybe step 10 is a double-edged sword? Some driver or other component doesn't get installed right if the hardware is not present when the installer is run?

I've done all of your steps 4-9 and 11-13 before, but I didn't do 1-3 (not applicable to me). I also didn't do 10 before 11-12 (do you think that should make a difference?). When I did do the iTunes reinstall there was no effect (same for you the first time it sounds like).

What clearly does have an effect is W7 x64 SP1. Removing it got rid of the problem and reinstalling it (even from the monolithic installer instead of using Windows Update) brought the problem back.

At this point I can't afford to invest any more time investigating it, and I'm going to wait to see what Apple's next move is after they're finished pouring through the hundreds of MB of logs and process dumps I sent them.

I would be more impatient, but since the compatibility mode works well for me, I can be patient for a while more.

1)did you or windows create a restore point before installing the service pack?
i wouldnt go thru the trouble of uninstalling, just restore, now if you reinstall sp1 and it still wont work, then skip sp1 (for now)
does it generate any kind of err msg or code?
there are no red or yellow items in dev mgr (i think its x's and !, ! i'm sure of

ric926 wrote:
1)did you or windows create a restore point before installing the service pack? ...

Note sure to whom you're addressing this question. Sl33pyD? dkaleita? Me?

Anyway, I think it made it's own system restore point, but I didn't expressly do so. Anyway, the uninstall was no big deal, but I'm not going to revert to the pre-SP1 state again just to make this one application happy. As more MS security updates come along, I want to keep my OS at the latest revision level and have them install against SP1. I don't know if that's actually rational or if it's just as good to just install all the updates individually and never apply the service packs, but anyway I'm happy with the compatibility mode workaround for now until Apple figures out what this is.

Try this: Control Panel > Sound > Playback > Speakers > Properties > Advanced > UNCHECK the 'Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device' box.
So far this has worked for me. I am running Windows 7 64 bit with all of the current updates

Unfortunately, making this setting change does not solve the problem for me.