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Apple Mobile Device failed to start

When I install itunes, I get the following error message: service 'Apple Mobile Device' (Apple Mobile Device) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privleges to start system services. Any ideas what to try?

itunes-OTHER, Windows Vista

Posted on Oct 16, 2012 7:31 PM

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Posted on Oct 17, 2012 8:43 PM

Not sure about djeanne, but this didn't help me at all. No matter what I do with uninstalling, deleting all apple files, downloading and extracting and reinstalling one by one, I still cannot itunes to install properly. I'm convinced it has to do with the Apple Mobile Device Support file since I'm getting the same message as djeanne. I also notice rollbacks happening when I try to install, but it goes by so fast.


Anyone? Help? I've been at this for almost 1 month now! I refuse to go out to buy my iphone 5 until I can get iTunes 10.7 installed and working.

149 replies

Jan 27, 2014 8:10 AM in response to djeanne

What worked, was to uninstall iTunes and some Apple support software (Apple Mobile Device, Bonjour, and a couple other files in addition to the iTunes file.


Use UNINSTALL from the Control Panel!


Reboot/Restart


Do a FULL download of iTunes (if you don't have a copy of a download already on your computer), then find the download file.


Then right click and "RUN as Administrator"


It worked for me.

Jan 27, 2014 4:27 PM in response to djeanne

Hi everyone,


I just ran into this problem myself, and with a combination of suggestions from this post and other tinkering, I was able to solve my version of the problem, so I'll just add this here, in case somebody has the same thing.


  • First, I went to Control Panel -> Programs and Features, and then I uninstalled everything that had Apple on it.
  • However, Apple Mobile Device Support was refusing to uninstall for some reason.
  • So then I went to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\" and deleted the Apple folder (you may want to leave it in the Recycle Bin, or back it up, or something first, just in case you need this back).
  • Then, I used the latest version of the iTunes installer that I just downloaded, ran the install, and now it seems that it installed properly. At the very least, I can open up iTunes, browse, and play my music.


This problem first occured for me when the Apple Update thing failed to update iTunes properly, so maybe some files were misplaced?


Anyways, hope that helps somebody.

Jan 28, 2014 11:14 AM in response to djeanne

I am having the same problem as everyone else with the latest iTunes update. After I got the failed to start/privileges error I tried starting the "Apple Mobile Device" service manually and got the following message: "Windows could not start the Apple Mobile Device service on Local Computer. Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion." The message pops up as soon as I hit Start. I have NEVER had a problem with iTunes updates before.

Jan 28, 2014 12:10 PM in response to tvb395

This updating to iTunes 11.1.4 has been the most frustrating experience !!! Since last Saturday me and my Windows 7 64 bit have been in total confusion, thanks to the error in starting the Mobile Device Service when trying to install the update. Finally today I did the following, and the installation was successful:

Remove all Apple apps from the control panel uninstallation feature. Then, go to file manager and check the Properties of your Program Files (x86) folder. If you see the tick on "read only", remove it and the Apply. It takes a while to apply the change, and you may have to select "Ignore All" for certain files/folders. Once applied, go and run the itunes installation file with admin rights. And it all works ! At least it finally then worked for me.

Jan 30, 2014 3:54 AM in response to djeanne

Use the Control Panel to uninstall iTunes and related software components in the following order and restart your computer:

  1. iTunes
  2. Apple Software Update
  3. Apple Mobile Device Support
  4. Bonjour
  5. Apple Application Support (iTunes 9 or later)

Important: Uninstalling these components in a different order or only uninstalling some of these components may have unintended effects.

This should work

Jan 31, 2014 6:32 AM in response to duongnn

Re: Apple Mobile Device failed to start

May 22, 2013 7:18 PM (in response to deggie)

I got the same issue (with Windows 7 64-bit, iTunes 11) when installing iTunes.


I re-download iTunes from Apple. Then I follow the link http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1923 to completely remove previous (and unsuccesfully) installation of iTunes (note on the order of removing software and we may have to manually remove all directories if they are not removed by Windows' Uninstall program feature). Then I reboot Windows and reinstall iTunes (the newly downloaded file). Note, I right click it and "Run as administrator". It works with me.


******************************************

It worked for me. Thank you. I did not have to remove files in the Common files folder. There are some Icloud Desktop componnents there as well. However, it worked like a charm.

Apple Mobile Device failed to start

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