Q: just downloaded 10.5.  It gives me a blank screen for the itunes store.  No error message.  Internet connection fine.  Have checked firewall.  Any ideas?

@Trish:

YOU worked? So it fixed you?

Just kidding ;->

Always glad to be of help :)

I've given up on this and gone back to buying CDs online. They arrive by post from Hong Kong quicker than fixing iTunes. Bye Bye Apple.

For 10.4 it helped activating an older version of the support library (a suggestion I also found in this community). Happy it worked again I didn't want to update to 10.5 in the near future (honestly I don't seen the sense in backdating any program). But hey... sooner or later there is no other choice so... I updated this morning. And as expected the itunes-store was blank again. Looking through different areas of the forum and several so-called "expert's" sites I honestly lost the will to try anymore. So finally I simply tried the winsock reset. I didn't expect it to work but I guess I was lucky. It works just fine. Three simple words typed in, a quick reboot and there it was. The store is running fine and I can't see any unwanted sideeffects... for now. Thanks to whoever initially posted that solution.

So, I'm happy that this solution worked for me and I hope all you other folks who have the same problem can find a solution either using the winsock-way or another.

Still, I'm wondering why Apple directs support requests to the community? Shouldn't they be the experts? Well anyway... let's see what the next update will bring along with it.

Have a good one...

The side effects are that ANY other LSPs are kicked out of the chain and the software that installed them is no longer working - as connection monitors etc.

When you reinstall THOSE, then the iTunes store will be broken immediately again.

The winsock reset is nothing but a (bad) workaround to get the iTunes store working again.

The proper fix would be that Apple would recode the network socket part properly, so iTunes would hook itself into the chain properly.

Hmm... you know from experience? I mean, I know that this is LSP-theory but apart from this warning -which I read a lot here- is there specific software in danger? Just curious.

I agree totally on your view about the proper fix. But are you willing to wait for an uncertain time for Apple to solve a problem they don't recognize as such?

To be honest, for all the time working on windows-PCs there was always one constant thing...there is always a new problem occuring that needs to be fixed. But anyway, for NOW I am satisfied with how my system works. Once it doesn't anymore... hey, let the fun begin

Did not work for me.  I got the error message that "command winsock reset not recognized"  I am running Windows Professional 7.   Anyone have any ideas?

What do you mean by other LSPs?  What will be broken by trying this winsock reset?

Maybe you forgot the word "netsh"?

The full command (run as admin) should be: netsh winsock reset

I am running Windows 7 Home Premium but it should also work on Professional.

No, I did not forget netsh - I typed all 3 words.

Hmmm... well then, I won't ask if you ran the command line as admin since I'm sure you definately did that.

Maybe you can try the following command. It's basically the same as above but is known to work on Win7.

netsh winsock reset catalog

(this is a reset command for the winsock catalog)

Please don't trust me blindly. Maybe this link helps

http://windows7themes.net/winsock-fix-for-windows-7.html

Good Luck.

Thanks for the help, but in thinking further, I decided not to potentially mess up other programs, which are "playing nice".  When Apple fixes iTunes, I will go back to ordering from their store.

It's not a theory.

netsh winsock reset kicks out any installed LSPs and resets the system to those that were "being delivered" by the Windows OS you have installed.

In MY case, it's "only" the DSL manager software I have installed - and wouldn't like to lose.

At least that's the most obvious thing I've found - there might be others gone I'm not yet aware of, but since it's a system that was set up only recently there isn't too much stuff on it yet.

If there wasn't any third party LSPs installed on your system, iTunes shouldn't have had a problem accessing its store - so you can bet your system is currently missing some functionality.

You can test it for yourself - reset your system back to the state before by a system restore (if that's still possible, that is), do a "netsh winsock show catalog > before.txt" to capture the current list of LSPs, then do a netsh winsock reset and capture the current state again with "netsh winsock show catalog > after.txt".

Then compare the files with a tool like DiffMerge or similar.

In my case, the list shrunk to about one 4th of its previous size.

Google for some more in-depth details about LSPs. It would bust the forum a bit.

There's no difference between

  netsh winsock reset

and

  netsh winsocj reset catalog

see

  netsh winsock help

for more information.

And as far as those articles refer to "repair" the winsock's ... the chain is set back to a default state.

That means all subsequently installed LSPs get kicked out. It's more like an "emergency reset to default".

Removing any subsequently installed third-party LSPs is not what I would call a "repair".

Of course it could fix / stop some malicious piece of software from working too - but killing all people in a room

only because there's ONE who would need to be stopped is a bit harsh, isnt it?

And in this case there will mostly be NO malicious components to be stopped - there is only ONE misbehaving

piece of software - and that has an Apple logo on it ...

I tried the Winsock Fix, Uninstall, Reinstall, LSPFix...the whole she-bang. Got to thinking what could be causing an issue with LSP and then I uninstalled my SprintView Software and I got the Store back. If you have a Wireless Cell Card for your laptop or whatever, try that. Worked for me.

That's the best proof that something with iTunes is WRONG.

iTunes is the ONLY program I've seen so far unde the past 5 windows versions that has a problem with other parties legal LSPs.