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Help with iTunes ERROR: duplicate file name specified - where/how?

When starting up iTunes (version 10.6.1) I get an error message:


Duplicate file name was specified.


Needless to say, no clue as to what file name it is referring to. Furthermore, there are 5 songs which I can not play, bought from the iTiunes store. Contacted the iTunes store - they "enabled" the download for those 5 songs. When I connect to the iTunes store, login and check for downloads etc. I get the error message:


Unable to check for available downloads. Duplicate file name was specified.

Mac Pro (2 x dual 2.66), Mac OS X (10.6.4), 6GB - 4X750GB SATA

Posted on May 5, 2012 10:05 AM

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Posted on Dec 9, 2012 3:42 AM

The way to fix this is

1. Go to Computer

2. Click Operating System Hard-Drive (C:)

3. Scroll to Program Files (or) Program Files (x86)

4. Scroll to iTunes, open it

5. Find iTunes.exe

6. Right Click and go to Properties

7. Click Compatibility you will see something that stats

Privilege level

Run this program as an administrator.

8. Click this and Click Apply and then Ok NOW Open iTunes

This worked on mine let me know if it doesnt! 😀

9 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Dec 9, 2012 3:42 AM in response to macsRit

The way to fix this is

1. Go to Computer

2. Click Operating System Hard-Drive (C:)

3. Scroll to Program Files (or) Program Files (x86)

4. Scroll to iTunes, open it

5. Find iTunes.exe

6. Right Click and go to Properties

7. Click Compatibility you will see something that stats

Privilege level

Run this program as an administrator.

8. Click this and Click Apply and then Ok NOW Open iTunes

This worked on mine let me know if it doesnt! 😀

May 5, 2012 2:38 PM in response to b noir

Hello b noir,


Thank you for your response. Tried the 'safe" start of iTunes and I get the same result and the same error message.


iTunes 'seems' to function correctly otherwise, except the loss of the above 5 songs, which the iTunes online help is not, at the moment, able to solve for me. I am hopeful that someone else has/had the same problem and knows of a resolution.


Thanks agian, George.

Mar 11, 2013 12:05 PM in response to macsRit

I fought this problem for WEEKS with no success. iTunes on Windows 7 x64. I tried running it as Administrator. I tried every fix I could find here and on Youtube and nothing. Any time I was in iTunes and switched focus to another Window like Outlook or something it would pop this error message up again. I reinstalled iTunes from scratch. This did NOT fix it, but it gave me a clue. I figured it had to be my iTunes library which is stored on an external HD.


After poking around in the library for a while I thought it might be a file that had been set to Read Only so I did an "attrib -r e:\itunes /s" to clear all of them all. This wasn't the problem but it alerted me to a file it couldn't clear. The file was iT.tmp and it couln't clear that because the file was corrupt. I deleted it but that still didn't fix it.


I finally did a "chkdsk e:\itunes /f" and let it run through. It found the error in iT.tmp, fixed it and now iTunes works fine again.

Help with iTunes ERROR: duplicate file name specified - where/how?

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