why wont itunes close when i click the close button? it even automatically puts an icon in the task bar that I can't get rid of. Any ideas?

The iTunes Icon on the task bar;

You need iTunes Preferences:

Edit>>Preferences>>Advanced tab.

Can you find that? There is a checkbox near the bottom: "Show iTunes icon in system tray".

The safe mode start: You need to press ctrl shift and then open iTunes, keep holding ctrl shift until iTunes opens.

Any program that you have that makes use of your iTunes library could potentially prevent iTunes closing as it has to be open in order for another program to access iTunes info.

Another thing that can cause problems is Bonjour. You can try stopping the bonjour service and then opening iTunes - then check if it closes.

The following article include instructions for stopping bonjour:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2250?viewlocale=en_US

If you want a brute force way of looking for other things interfering with iTunes, try MSConfig:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2292?viewlocale=en_US

There is a link to the XP version on the page if necessary.

This is a diagnostic method, not a solution.

On the task bar icon, there is a checkbox on the advanced tab in iTunes Preferences.

On failing to close, is there any error message and does iTunes continue to function although it will not close?

Do you have any plugins that use iTunes? You can list plug ins by running diagnostics from the help menu. You don't need any of the checkboxes ticked.

You can open open iTunes in "safe mode" (without external plug-ins) Control-Shift (while opening iTunes). This can be used to check if there is a plug in issue.

Any plug in that uses iTunes might prevent iTunes from closing or cause ti to reopen. For example do you use an option to show what you are playing in Live messenger.