iTunes 11.1.4.62 freezes while syncing with Outlook

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iTunes 11.1.4.62 freezes while syncing with Outlook

Hi,

After installing iTunes 11.1.4.62 syncing my iPod Touch (4th gen - iOS 6.1.6) with Outlook 2010 no longer works (I'm using Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate). The syncing process hangs while "preparing to sync" or while "syncing calendars". Strangely enough, uninstalling / cleaning / reinstalling iTunes makes the problem disappears... for just one Windows session. After a reboot, the problem re-appears and there's no way to sync again until I uninstall / clean / re-install.

The device is always recognized by iTunes when connected. No problem.

When the synchronization process freezes (or waits forever) I can sometimes cancel the operation. Very often, I have to kill the iTunes process.

Any know fix ?

Thanks in advance.

iPod touch, Windows 7, 64-bit

Posted on Feb 24, 2014 12:59 AM

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Answer 1

Samoreen Author

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Feb 24, 2014 2:05 AM in response to Samoreen

Reverting back to version 11.1.3.8 seems to solves the problem... but now iTunes is skipping calendar syncing. Everything else is synchronized. And yes, I have checked the Info section : calendar syncing is enabled.

What a mess.

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Answer 2

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 24, 2014 2:08 AM in response to Samoreen

Do you have the MobileMe control panel installed on your PC? If so, try uninstalling that. Does 11.1.4.62 start playing better with your outlook now?

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Answer 3

Samoreen Author

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Feb 24, 2014 2:16 AM in response to b noir

No, I never installed MobileMe. ITunes worked fine until I installed version 11.1.4.62.

Thanks.

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Answer 4

mmetts

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Feb 24, 2014 1:54 PM in response to Samoreen

I am getting this too. I don't have MobileMe. I am running Windows 7 64-bit and Office 2010 64-bit and it was working prior to 11.1.4.62. My iPhone 5s is at the latest version of iOS 7. Now, the sync hangs at "waiting for sync to start 3 of 6" -- or some such. Or, it hangs on calendar sync. Contacts syncing appears to still be working. This is REALLY annoying. iTunes on Windows seems to be the ugly step sister. Please fix and/or tell me out to fix myself.

Thanks.

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Answer 5

Samoreen Author

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Feb 25, 2014 9:43 AM in response to Samoreen

Hi,

Just in case this could help someone...

I have uninstalled everything from the Control panel and I have installed version 10.7. No surprise, it couldn't work because the library had been upgraded to version 11. However, I installed version 11.1.4.62 over it without uninstalling. The synchronization of my iPod with Outlook is now working (I tried twice without any problem).

I'll try a reboot and let you know.

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Answer 6

Samoreen Author

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Feb 25, 2014 9:52 AM in response to Samoreen

Samoreen wrote:

I'll try a reboot and let you know.

No luck. Synchronization didn't survive the reboot. Still hanging when "Preparing to sync". Sorry.

I guess that the developers at Apple will have to learn what regression testing is.

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Answer 7

Samoreen Author

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Feb 25, 2014 10:22 AM in response to Samoreen

Samoreen wrote:

I have uninstalled everything from the Control panel and I have installed version 10.7. No surprise, it couldn't work because the library had been upgraded to version 11. However, I installed version 11.1.4.62 over it without uninstalling. The synchronization of my iPod with Outlook is now working (I tried twice without any problem).

I tried again but this time I installed version 11.1.3.8 over version 10.7 instead of version 11.1.4.62. The first time, syncing worked correctly. After a reboot, it failed. A second attempt succeeded partially : iTunes skipped calendar syncing (as described above).

OK. I don't know what to do. This software has always been flawed but now, I'm stuck. No way to synchronize my calendar. A fix is obviously needed as reported since a logn time but obviously, they don't care that much. Sigh!

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Answer 8

Samoreen Author

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Feb 25, 2014 12:43 PM in response to Samoreen

Samoreen wrote:

A second attempt succeeded partially : iTunes skipped calendar syncing (as described above).

I may have more information about this:

If I delete C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\Preferences\OutlookSyncClient.exe.plist, the calendar is synced but not the contacts. After that, OutlookSyncClient.exe.plist is re-created. Then, if I sync again, contacts are synced but not the calendar. Notes are always synced. Still using version 11.1.3.8 since I can't sync anything with version 11.1.4.62.

By the way, I could not find any OutlookSyncClient.exe program on my system.

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Answer 9

mmetts

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Feb 25, 2014 1:51 PM in response to Samoreen

Samoreen, thanks for sharing your diagnostics. I agree that syncing with iTunes on Windows has always been buggy and frustrating. But, it had been working fairly well for me for several iterations. Given your experience, I think I'm going to wait for a fix from Apple. I really reject the notion that I should be looking for "inappropriate" values in my Outlook calendar and/or contact entries, running .pst scans and whatnot. Sync services and iTunes should be able to handle whatever Outlook can handle.

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Answer 10

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 25, 2014 7:09 PM in response to Samoreen

Doublechecking something, Samoreen ... by any chance, are you running any Eset security products on that PC?

Just sort of trying to cross-reference your report of this with Cyber Yuki's reports in the following topic, in the interests of trying to find any commonalities:

iTunes sync executables crashes with long System Variable Value

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Answer 11

mmetts

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Feb 25, 2014 11:25 PM in response to mmetts

Now I am getting a sync services failure when I plug my iPhone in -- for as long as this is hosed up -- is a good thing since it allows the non-Outlook things to sync rather than just hanging all night. Slightly better than pathetic. I have a blank calendar on my phone now with no reasonable way of getting one on there. Apple, please fix this egregious bug. Thanks.

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Answer 12

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 25, 2014 11:33 PM in response to mmetts

I have a blank calendar on my phone now with no reasonable way of getting one on there. Apple, please fix this egregious bug. Thanks.

We're mostly a user-to-user community, so there's no guarantee that an Apple person will see your post. If you'd like to make sure an Apple person sees your comment, you could try the iTunes product feedback form:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

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Answer 13

Samoreen Author

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Feb 26, 2014 12:10 AM in response to b noir

b noir wrote:

Doublechecking something, Samoreen ... by any chance, are you running any Eset security products on that PC?

[...]

iTunes sync executables crashes with long System Variable Value

Thank you very much for reminding me this oddity. Yes I'm running ESET NOD32, latest version. I had alreedy read this report but I checked the presence of the ESET_OPTIONS environment variable by running the SET command in a command prompt window. It was not visible. So I concluded I was not affected. Wrong guess. After reading your post I checked again by using Control Panel | System. It was there. So I deleted it and rebooted. Bingo! iTunes is now syncing correctly, even after a reboot (still using version 11.1.3.8 - version 11.1.4.62 behavior is different so I'm wondering whether it is suffering from the same problem).

mmets, are you running EST NOD32 ?

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Answer 14

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Feb 26, 2014 12:18 AM in response to Samoreen

Thank you very much for reminding me this oddity. Yes I'm running ESET NOD32, latest version. I had alreedy read this report but I checked the presence of the ESET_OPTIONS environment variable by running the SET command in a command prompt window. It was not visible. So I concluded I was not affected. Wrong guess. After reading your post I checked again by using Control Panel | System. It was there. So I deleted it and rebooted. Bingo! iTunes is now syncing correctly, even after a reboot (still using version 11.1.3.8 - version 11.1.4.62 behavior is different so I'm wondering whether it is suffering from the same problem).

🙂 Oh good!

Apologies for the nosy question, Samoreen ... just trying to clarify what went on. Did you have to uninstall the Eset product? Or was the deletion just of the environment variable? If the latter, could you walk us through how you went about it?

(Hoping to work up some instructions for other folks running into this sort of trouble ... there seem to be a few people about with non-Mobile-related syncing issues with the new version, and with any luck this might help with a bunch of them.)

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Answer 15

Samoreen Author

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Feb 26, 2014 12:26 AM in response to b noir

b noir wrote:

Did you have to uninstall the Eset product? Or was the deletion just of the environment variable? If the latter, could you walk us through how you went about it?

No, I didn't have to uninstall ESET. Just deleting the variable was not enough, though. I had to reboot the system.

Deleting this variable is done by invoking the System applet from the Control Panel. Then you have to click on "Advanced System Settings". In the dialog box that is opened, click on "Environment variables". In the new dialog box that is opened, one can find the ESET_OPTIONS variable in the "System variables" section. Just select it, click Delete and then OK. Close everything and reboot.

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