Apple Mobile Device failed to start

Hi,

I am running Windows 7. This happened to me after I tried to download a book from Audible.com. Not only didn't I get my book, I also got a message that something called Bonjour had been turned off. I didn't think anything of it -- I don't use any of the devices or services listed in the error message -- but then I couldn't sync my 4s.

Anyway, the instructions at the link below worked like a charm:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1567

Hope this helps, Leslie

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.

I had the same problem, and was able to resolve it this way. All of these steps might not necessarily be needed, but I'm posting them all anyway. In my case, I was running Windows 7 64-bit, and had just reinstalled iTunes because of stability problems.

First, temporarily disable any anti-virus programs.

1) When installing, I right-clicked on iTunes64Setup.exe, and chose "Run as administrator"

2) I still received the error message, but chose to ignore. I tunes then launched.

3) click the Windows start button (the windows logo on the screen). Right-click on "Computer" and choose "Manage"

4) Click on "Services and Applications"

5) Click on "Services"

6) Find the "Apple Mobile Device" Service from the list, and double-click on it

7) For startup type, choose "Automatic", then click on "Start"

8) Close iTunes, and re-open it.

9) Enable your anti-virus program again.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

Like philg146 I had this problem this morning after updating to v11.1.4 on Win7 32bit laptop.

I did exactly what he did, i.e., Uninstalled ITunes from Control Panel - Programs and Features. Then went to C:\Program Files\Common Files\ and renamed the Apple folder to AppleOld.

Except I downloaded the latest iTunes from http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/. Ran installation, etc. This was my solution as well. Thanks philg146!

Since the new iTunes version came out a week ago, I've had the same problem. I have a Windows Home Vista machine. I have followed the reinstall (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1923) a couple of times (to make sure I did it right). Though I finally got iTunes to install properly, when I follow the directions to restart AMD (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1567) under Start>Control Panel>Services>Apple Mobile Device it is already "automatic" and only has "Start" available, not "Stop" also. When I hit Start I get the message, "The Apple Mobile Device service on Local Computer started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs." I've had no problems with iTunes for over a year until this last update.

For general advice see Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates.

The steps in the second box are a guide to removing everything related to iTunes and then rebuilding it which is often a good starting point unless the symptoms indicate a more specific approach. Review the other boxes and the list of support documents further down the page in case one of them applies.

Your library should be unaffected by these steps but there is backup and recovery advice elsewhere in the user tip.

If you are running 64-bit Windows and the above steps haven't helped try installing the version of iTunes that can be downloaded from this support document. iTunes 12.1 for Windows (64-bit — for older video cards)

If you still have no luck try reinstalling iTunes 12.0, links in the user tip.

tt2

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.

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling but none of them worked until this:

1. Uninstall everything Apple related (if you haven't installed iTunes yet, you can skip to step 2)
2. Navigate to

   C:\Windows\System32

   .
3. Locate the

   msvcr100.dll

   file.
   Make sure that the file name is exactly

   msvcr100.dll

   . If you’re unable to locate

   msvcr100.dll

   , do not continue with these steps and do not move other files from this folder.
4. Drag the

   msvcr100.dll

   to the desktop. When prompted, click Continue.
5. Reinstall the latest itunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/)

Finally, itunes installed in my PC and everything works like a charm 🙂

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.

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.

wanna let you and others know that there is an alternative ...

Navigate to Computer>Local Disk>Program Files. Look for iTunes folder to see if there is a numeric value in parenthesis after the file name [for example (537)]. Not sure if it was windows or a virus, but this was the root cause of the issue. Here also, this extension was added to my iPod folder.

Navigate to Computer>Local Disk>Program Files (x86) for Vista and Windows 7 users. check for the same there. Here, my Quicktime, Apple Software Update, and Bonjour folders also had the same random extension.

In the Control Panel>Programs and Features, I unistalled Quicktime, Apple Software Update, and iTunes from the computer. Then manually deleted the iPod, Apple Software Update, Quicktime, and iTunes folders within the two Program Files locations that had the random extensions to them.

Download and install iTunes again from http://www.apple.com/itunes/. This reinstalled all the necessary components. I launched iTunes without error. I connected my iPhone 5 and it synchronized without error.

Problem fixed.

Had this problem after I tried an update to v11.1.4 on Win7 32bit PC which failed. I could not start the Apple Mobile Device service.

I Uninstalled ITunes from Control Panel - Programs and Features. I then went to C:\Program Files\Common Files\ and renamed the Apple folder to AppleOld. This folder contains the Mobile Device Support folder. I could have just deleted the folder but I'm a coward.

I then downloaded the latest ITunes installation from http://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/download/, ran the installation using all default settings and it cured the problem. Hope this helps someone

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.

Hi,

I got the same problems with the latest iTunes update on my 64-bit Windows 7 machine. Tried everyone's suggestions: manually uninstalling the whole suite, running the installer with admin rights, trying to start the services manually, changing the read rights on the programs folder... none of it worked. Kept having ' "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."

Finally solved the problem by going to the old iTunes downloads Apple - Support - Downloads and downloaded the iTunes 12.1 for Windows 64-bit with older video cards. The package ran fine, and strangely i notice that this package didn't install 'Apple Application Support 64-bit', only the 32-bit application. Don't know if it has something to do with it, but whatever Apple didn't include in this installer (since it is smaller than the other one), it did the trick.

If you are still having trouble, and you have a 64-bit machine, then try the "for older video cards" version...

For general advice see Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates.

The steps in the second box are a guide to removing everything related to iTunes and then rebuilding it which is often a good starting point unless the symptoms indicate a more specific approach. Review the other boxes and the list of support documents further down the page in case one of them applies.

The further information area has direct links to the current and recent builds in case you have problems downloading, need to revert to an older version or want to try the iTunes for Windows (64-bit - for older video cards) release as a workaround for installation or performance issues, or compatibility with QuickTime or third party software.

Your library should be unaffected by these steps but there are also links to backup and recovery advice should it be needed.

tt2