iTunes 10.7 update kills wifi on Win7

I've fixed a problem I was having and hope that maybe this thread helps someone else having a similar issue.

My computer has Win7 with all the updates as I do updates religiously as soon as I'm notified there's something to install.

My wifi connection stopped working after each attempt to update iTunes 10.6 to 10.7. The issue took me several days to finally figure out how to fix the problem. Let me re-state that sentence. My problem is fixed and I know what I did that fixed it, but I don't know if the problem itself came from a software program called Audials One 9 interfering with iTunes but my fix makes it seem like that's the case. So here goes.

I've been using iTunes for many years now and I learned about Audials One 9 several months ago. I purchased and installed Audials One 9 and although I wasn't enamored with it, I left it installed and until now, I completely forgot about it.

Several weeks ago when iTunes 10.7 was released, I attempted updating iTunes it from 10.6 and multiple times, the upgrade was unsuccessful. During the upgrade process, my wifi connection to the internet would stop working so for the first time ever, I had to learn how to use Windows Restore Point. Thankfully, that feature works quite well. (One installation attempt actually resulted in the BSOD - blue screen of death!)

The issues I was having during the iTunes upgrade, disabled Wifi connectivity to the Internet. I could see my router from my computer, but I couldn't get an internet connection. I tried my Wifi hotspot just to see if it was a router issue and I saw the same problem so I basically confirmed the router was fine and I didn't have to go through an inconvenient power-down and re-set of the router.

I decided to uninstall iTunes and since I know that the uninstallation process can also get botched up, I went to the Apple site to find the iTunes uninstall instructions to verify what I needed to uninstall. It turns out, there is a sequence for unstalling the entire iTunes suite. I'm not sure what to call it, but you can find the list here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1925 and a better explanation than what I'm writing.

During the installation process, I stumbled upon another link on the Apple site that indicated that iTunes might not be the only culprit to the Wifi connectivity issue on the Apple site. You can find that information here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1717 http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1717 for 'iTunes for Win Vista or Win 7: Troubleshooting unexpected quits, freezes, or launch issues'. Information found on this second Apple support link explains how to get iTunes to go into Safe Mode so you can troubleshoot any interference caused by plug-ins or scripts not manufactured by Apple. I almost skipped reading this section but thankfully I did not. Reading this section triggered me remembering that I had purchased Audials and that I had also used Rinse to help fix missing artwork. I had since uninstalled Rinse many months ago because it completely messed up my artwork and I had to spend almost 2 days fixing the errors that program caused, but, I hadn't uninstalled Audials so I proceeded to uninstall Audials along with uninstalling iTunes 10.6.

Next, I went ahead and installed Windows Updates as I always keep my machine up to date with Windows Updates but since I had used Restore Point earlier in the day, I had a few updates I had to install to get back up to date on Windows updates. The Update session generated a new Restore Point which I was thankful for since Wifi was working like it should.

After the reboot which follows at the end of the Windows Update process, I downloaded iTunes 10.7 and installed it. All the while, crossing my fingers and holding my breath. I have a lot of purchases through iTunes that have accumulated over the years and I was at wits end with this issue already but, GREAT NEWS! The iTunes 7 installation went flawlessly. As soon as I opened iTunes, my library was in tact, all artwork was as it should be and the iTunes Store log-in worked fine too.

I post this information here because of the potential that someone in the user community finds this thread helpful.