iTunes was unable to load provider data from Sync Services. Reconnect or try again later

Question

wisniak Author

Level 1

5 points

iTunes was unable to load provider data from Sync Services. Reconnect or try again later

Hi,

iPhone 3gs with iOS 4.3.3 on WIndows 7 and iTunes 10.4.1.10.

Lately I've been receiving this error message after connecting my iPhone.

I have tried the following solutions, none has helped.

1. Removed all Apple software from my PC, rebooted the PC and the iPhone and reinstalled iTunes as Admin but after a while the error message pops up again.

2. Browsed to “C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\AppleComputer” and rename the SyncServices folder to SyncServices_Old, reconnected iPhone and opened iTunes.

3. Checked that my antivirus (Kasperky) is not blocking anything related to Apple.

4. Reset sync history (by the way, is there any way to see this history, maybe there are clues in a log file?)

5. Tried connecting to other USB ports and used other (original) sync cables.

Any other ideas?

Thanks.

3GS, iOS 4.3.3

Posted on Sep 29, 2011 11:33 AM

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Answer 1

imanog

Level 2

395 points

Sep 29, 2011 11:37 AM in response to wisniak

try this article i guess, not sure

Advanced troubleshooting for Sync Services on Windows with Microsoft Outlook 2003 or 2007

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2776

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Answer 2

wisniak Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 29, 2011 11:45 AM in response to imanog

The KB is not really helpful, rather like shooting in the dark...

AFAIK I'm able to install new apps from the app store and update existing ones.

But I did notice that I wasn't able to see previous backups.

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Answer 3

imanog

Level 2

395 points

Sep 29, 2011 11:48 AM in response to wisniak

i'm pretty sure sync services has nothing to do with syncing apps or backups, it's used for syncing contacts and calendars.

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Answer 4

wisniak Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 29, 2011 11:53 AM in response to imanog

All my contacts and calendar appointments are in our corporate Exchange server, I don't sync them using iTunes (all the checkboxes are empty) but rather using Push directly from the server to the iPhone..

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Answer 5

imanog

Level 2

395 points

Sep 29, 2011 12:01 PM in response to wisniak

try going to Edit>Preferences>Devices>Reset Sync History

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Answer 6

wisniak Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 29, 2011 12:33 PM in response to imanog

Did that... (item #4 in my list)

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Answer 7

imanog

Level 2

395 points

Sep 29, 2011 1:17 PM in response to wisniak

umm since noone else has any ideas right off the bat here, i tried to look up some more things..

try this article

iTunes for Windows: "Unable to load data class" or "Unable to load provider data" sync services alert

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2690

maybe it's an anti-virus?

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Answer 8

wisniak Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 29, 2011 1:52 PM in response to imanog

Item #3 in my list..... Checked and rechecked the antivirus & firewall to verify that all the Apple apps are in Trusted mode and full access.

And re the TS2690 KB, it reminds me that every time I have problems with my internet connection, I have to speak with the infrastructure provider and the ISP - and each one of them blames the other for the problem...

So here we have apple passing the buck over to MS and the antivirus software...

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Answer 9

imanog

Level 2

395 points

Sep 29, 2011 2:20 PM in response to wisniak

well, i hope someone else comes up with some ideas.

i suggest disabling or uninstalling the anti-virus instead of just reconfiguring it.

btw anti-virus' are just redundant and a hassle, if you get a virus reinstall windows in my opinion.

good luck.

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Answer 10

wisniak Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 30, 2011 10:49 AM in response to imanog

OK

Here's what I did:

1. Copy all of the contents in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Apple Application Support to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support folder, overwriting anything it if asked.

2. Rright-click on the Computer icon on your desktop (or in the start menu) and select Properties. Click on Advanced System Settings. Then clik on Environment Variables. If you don't have a user variable called PATH, click New... and add it, or select it and click Edit...

Now, add to the beginning of the user PATH the following two directories:

c:\program files\commmon files\apple\Apple Application Support

c:\program files\commmon files\apple\Mobile Device Support

Be sure to put a semi-colon (;) between the two directories.

Click OK three times to save your settings.

Step #2 might require a reboot.

After these 2 steps sync works again (touch wood).

Seems that sometimes there's an additional possibility (which I didn't perform):

If you are still having problems after following these steps, it's possible another application uses one of the same DLLs as iTunes (but a different version) and Windows is finding it in the PATH before the Apple file paths added above. You can check this by opening a DOS command prompt window and executing the following commands:

where libxml2.dll

where sqlite3.dll

where libtidy.dll

Examine the pathnames listed by these commands. If any paths are listed before the ...\Common Files\Apple\... paths, you'll want to remove those paths from the PATH environment variable.

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