Q: iTunes will not update!

I hate to keep beating a dead horse(and I have sent a support email to Apple about this), but I just wish Apple would come out and admit they are having an issue from their end in replying/responding/communicating from their servers that are responsible for auto-updating through the Apple Software Update system. I mean, let's be logical here, there is no way ALL of us just happened to mysteriously have corrupted our Apple Software Updating tool at the SAME exact time. They either need admit and then fix the problem from their end OR disseminate a new, working version of the Apple Software Update tool by whatever means they feel is most efficient.

Yeah, I hear you.

It hasn't happened much in recent iOS builds, but in past versions this type of thing would occurr with APP updates.

The APP store would indicate that an app would require an update but when you attempted to update it via the APP store update section it would deliver you to a page where only the current version of the APP was available for download.

It appears that bad habits die hard for Apple, which stinks, but as long as everything is working okay I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, I'll just wait for the inevitable fix ... I suspect it'll take a week or so for Apple to fully QA and push out.

Now, if this current Apple Update thing was causing actual feature/functionality failure on iTunes, Quicktime or any other Apple service ... well, then I'd be a bit more peeved than I already am.

I FIXED IT!! I can't believe it . I actually figured out how to make it work(well sort of). My Apple Software Updater now works (almost) perfectly and I just successfully downloaded and installed itunes 10.6.3.25 through it!!!

Ok , the way I see it, either the latest itunes update or the recent Windows Patch Tuesday on June 12th, 2012 must have inadvertently removed the Administrative Rights from the Apple Software Update Tool .lnk file.

So you must go to where the file resides on your hard drive - for me that was C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs - Right click on the Apple software Tool icon and choose properties. Click on the compatibility tab. At the bottom of this tab click on "change settings for all users" and hit Yes at the UAC pop-up. Now make sure you place a check in the "Run this program as Administrator" under the Privilege level section at the bottom. Hit Apply and then OK. The hit Ok again to get off the properties pop-up.

When I went back and clicked on the Apple Software Update shortcut, I got a UAC pop-up asking me if I wanted to proceed(something I had always, in the past, gotten but haven't since this problem started). The Apple Software Update tool came up and to my suprise the progress bar STAYED and started to slowly fill up partially with the green progress bar. Viola, the itunes 10.6.3 update showed up on the top part of the screen as a new update needing to be installed - the bottom screen, as usual, had the changelog info for the 10.6.3 update. I clicked on install and , again, Viola. the update downloaded and installed flawlessly. I had to reboot my computer and when it restarted, itunes was working perfectly and it was correctly showing as itunes v10.6.3.25.

I say it is almost or sort of fixed because when you click on the Apple Software Update shortcut after the 10.6.3 install it goes back to doing the same thing it did before(i.e. processing for a second and then saying there are new updates but showing a blank field). Maybe this is the way the software now looks if there are no updates available to install - maybe Apple is working on this to eventually get it back to normal. All I know is the process I outlined above worked for me(at least to get the ASU to recognize and properly download and install itunes 10.6.3). It's certainly not perfect, but it worked. Please try this method and let me know what results you have with it. Good luck.

Hi markarich159,

I think you found the solution - Apple Software Update has to be run with admin privileges. However, I did it differently on my Vista 32-bit Home Premium SP2 computer.

Note: to access ProgramData on your hard drive, you have to enable the option to display hidden files and folders (it is recommended to hide them).

I was able to add the admin privileges back without going to ProgramData and without displaying hidden files and folders. I went to the Apple Software Update exe file over here:

C:\Program Files\Apple Software Update

Then, following your excellent instructions, I right-clicked on the Apple Software Update icon,  chose "Properties", went to the "Compatibility" tab and under "Privilege Level", clicked on "Run this program as an administrator" and finally clicked "Apply" and left the folder. Then I clicked on the Apple Software Update shortcut icon on my Start Menu. As you said, the UAC box popped up, then, while searching for updates, the green bar appeared and I was offered the 10.6.3 update. It downloaded...and I was told that the signature was invalid, so the installation was aborted. At the same time, I noticed that Windows Installer started to run in the background, but it did not install any Windows updates. Maybe it installed the necessary signature...? I then ran Apple Software Update again, was offered the update like last time...and this time, 10.6.3 installed smoothly within 15 or 20 minutes. I noticed that the iTunes shortcut icon disappeared and reappeared towards the end (as with most major iTunes updates). I was not prompted to reboot the computer.

Running Apple Software Update now seems to work normally. It finds new updates (Safari, MobileMe) and displays them, just the way it should. So for me the problem is fully solved.

Thank you very much for experimenting and sharing the solution with us, markarich159 - your information is enormously helpful and highly appreciated.

Lol, ran out of editing time... Turns out that Windows Update was merely updating itself and had silently downloaded a new Windows Update Agent, so it had nothing to do with the iTunes signature. It will remain a mystery why the iTunes 10.6.3 signature was indicated as invalid the first time and then suddenly worked the second time I tried... :-) Anyway, things are still running smoothly after I manually rebooted the computer (just to be on the safe side).

Ooops...It seems I spoke too soon where Apple Software Update running normally again is concerned... After the reboot, I am experiencing the same issue as you/as before the update - it says that new software is available, but the list remains blank, even when run with admin privileges. Also found a crash report under Problem Reports and Solutions when I restored the admin privileges to ASU. The problem is indicated as "Program Compatibility".

Interesting :-)

Very cool and thanks for figuring out the permissions change / fix. I am holding out a day or two for Apple to put out a fix as I don't want to counter whatever measures they put into place with my own fix.

I'm also going to wait for Apple to roll out an official fix for Windows systems on this.

While I always like to keep my softwares up to date, I'm not in the OS6 Beta so I don't have much of a reason to fool around with admin permissions to get an iTunes update with otherwise pretty non-existent/transparent changes to run ... I run my Windows system as ADMIN and the only user and frankly pretty much everything I review properties tab on doesn't have the run as admin/admin permission checked off by default. I don't doubt that enabling that forces Apple Update Software to pick up the latest version of iTunes but I don't think Apple has QA'ed this completely yet and I want my system to be in a state where whatever fixes they roll out take effect properly.

Okay. Now this is getting REALLY interesting. Apple Software Update is suddenly working again for me. Green progress bar is showing back, updates (Safari, MobileMe etc.) are listed. I didn't do anything. The only thing that happened was that I went downstairs and the screensaver was activated and the display turned off. The computer did not enter sleeping or hibernating mode. An issue at Apple's end? :-)

Very, very odd and interesting?!?! I'm back to thinking it's an issue from Apple's end. The administrative privilege action may have jogged something or forced Apple to push a few bits of info through - but, since, for me, the ASU is still not really working as it should; I'm done tinkering. It's also very easy to just go back and turn off the administrative privilige tick on ASU.lnk if needed. Still no word from Apple though?

My suspicions that this is a server issue are becoming stronger. I've been running ASU for the last hour or so, and sometimes it picks up the updates, and sometimes it does not (it says that there are new updates but does not list them). It's possible that several (update) servers are not working properly at Apple's end. Big corporate companies tend to be VERY tight-lipped about server issues and failures. From my own experience I can say that even the support desk will vey often deny all knowledge of anything being out of order.

Yes.

Signs point to this being some type of controlled issue/server issue on Apple's end.

I've had iTunes running on various iterations of my Windows desktops/laptops since the earliest versions and this would not be the first time that I've encountered an issue like this (updates not processing).

Rarely if ever has Apple provided disclosure on the cause, but fixes have typically occurred in a reasonable time-frame. I wouldn't be surprised if they have their stuff worked out shortly, espeically with the recent OS6 beta going on, they probably want to ensure that goes smoothly (and it might even be related to the cause of all of this).

Just to throw in an extra note here; before reading this thread, I also experienced the same issues you have been discussing (with both the in-program iTunes update & the ASU).  Curious to see if the problem was with the update tools (in both the iTunes program and the ASU haha), I went directly to the Apple iTunes website and tried to download the latest version direct from there.  (I had seen some threads where folks say a direct download worked for them.)  Things began downloading and everything seemed to be working, but once it began the install the program encountered an error.  Message said something along the lines that something in the files was corrupted and the program could not be installed, so no changes were made to my files.  The install failed completely.  I double checked, and my iTunes program seems to be running fine still after all that, still running the previous version.  Thankfully nothing lost in the attempt!  But just thought I'd add the note that a direct download didn't work any better for me than anything else.

By the way, just wanted to add a "Thank you!". This thread is the only one I've found yet that accurately discusses the issues I've had!  =0)

Very good thread. We have 7 computers running win7 and apple updater comes up on all of them saying there are updates available but the window is empty. Last history update was Itunes 10.6.3.25. 6/12/12. Very strange this is happening to all of them. Apple tech had no answers but to uninstall and reinstall. That did not fix it.

I'm going to kick back sit back.

I will not try to manually solve this issue. I feel that Apple support has kept the ghost in their pen-pockets per orders from the powers. This fix is supposedly offered for an M3U playlist security vulnerability, and that is not on my personal playlist. No enhancements.

I'd sit on my hands. In no way would I suggest uninstalling and manually reinstalling. What's broken? What do you gain? You may break it and be very very sorry.