iTunes 11.3.0.54 consistently crashes on Windows 7

iTunes 11.3.0.54 consistently crashes on my Windows 7 laptop, always when it tries to do something that depends on a connection with Apple (such as connecting to the Store, or Match). When I start iTunes in safe mode, everything works fine, including Store and Match. This article instructs me to remove all plugins, but it turns out that I don't have any (and yes, I do see hidden files). How can I fix this? Can I always start iTunes in safe mode, for example with a command line parameter?