iTunes 12 incompatible with Windows Vista Data Execution Prevention

Well, as an old-timer (I started with vinyls in the 1950s), I admire your breadth of knowledge in trying to sort out this sticky problem I have also with my 32-bit Vista. I just installed iTunes 12 and I get the DEP notice ONLY when I close....iTunes 12 is running very smoothly and I find it easy to navigate, which surprises me since I'm often overwhelmed by technology today. I just installed QuickTime but it didn't stop the notices when I closed iTunes, so I may uninstall it just like I did Bonjour. I only use iTunes as my music library and don't share stuff. I would like your opinion if possible. Since iTunes 12 runs smoothly, quickly, and I've pretty much mastered it, if all I have to deal with is the notice (and some memory usage in the form of Windows Error Reporting which I delete with a System Restore), can I just continue on using iTunes and ignore the messages? I have a security suite and I never get bugs or viruses according to my scans. Should I leave well enough alone then? Thanks, Johnny, you've been most helpful to this forum especially to tech-challenged people like me.

I also noticed that every time I exit iTunes 12, I get the warning, and it uses about a half GB (500 MB) in Windows Error Reporting, which reports an error in an application of a program (iTunes). I used the Disk Cleaner to eliminate some of it, and of course a System Restore, brings it back to where it usually is. But I hope Apple can fix this as it consumes memory on every exit, though it is only temporary.

Johnny: As you can tell, I'm not really good at this stuff, but I dug into some writings and tried something that has been working the last two times I exited iTunes 12...that is, the DEP notice is gone. Here's the step-by-step that worked for me, hoping it will work tomorrow when I turn my computer on. This is for Vista and Windows 7 only.

Go into Start Menu, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, click Run as Administrator, Click Continue if asked, then in the Command Prompt, type: bcdedit / set {current} nx AlwaysOff. Click Enter to confirm success. Then re-boot. I did this and the DEP hasn't come back. I think the key, Johnny, is making sure the spacing is correct when typing. There are two spaces after the bcdedit and the {current}. If it doesn't work, I'll try to find the couple of sources and post them. Maybe this is just a fluke but thus far, it is working for me.

Hi Bob, you misunderstood. Johnny did know that solution, he also feels it is too dangerous for anyone (including you). According to him your computer will be compromised shortly. Please if you don't mind come back in a week or a month and let us know if Johnny was correct.

Me too. I think it was the modified itl database format beginning with 11.2.

I tried disabling DEP, but then iTunes 12 just started crashing in JavaScriptCore.dll, so the DEP "crash" is an actual intercepted crash. The odd thing is I only get that crash when on my work's network. Everything works fine on my home network. That leads me to believe iTunes 12 is trying to execute code it downloads and something about my work network is screwing it up. That said, network differences shouldn't cause a crash like that as that's a security flaw that could lead to code execution.

i Reverted to iTunes 11.4 since that works fine.

To answer your specific question, EMET is used to force Windows to use DEP and ASLR on programs it doesn't do by default. By default only Windows executables and libraries have DEP enabled. Third party programs do not. EMET by default enables all DEP and ASLR for iTunes, but DEP can be disabled specifically for iTunes in the EMET configuration.

I tried to grab the 32-bit 11.1.5.5 version but it's Apple blocked from download to a Win x64 machine. So, the next best thing is the 64-bit version of iTunes 10.7 but in order to get it the site says you need the 64-bit installer which if you follow the link takes you directly to the 64-bit version of 12.0.01. Aaaaaand, we've come full circle. Sigh...😟

Try these direct links:

• iTunes 11.1.5 for Windows (32-bit) - iTunesSetup.exe (2014-02-25)
• iTunes 11.1.5 for Windows (64-bit) - iTunes64Setup.exe (2014-02-25)

tt2

Thx tt2. I'll try that.

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

Well, the only thing I noticed is the computer runs a bit slower, so I reverted to enabling the DEP to make it run a bit faster. I have both McAfee and Windows Security so no real problems. If Apple doesn't fix this in the next iTunes 12 update, I may just get the new iMac with Retina 5K and a fusion drive. From what I understand, the DEP isn't an issue with the Apple iTunes but maybe it is, don't know. Guess my bottomline is switching the DEP "AlwaysOff" saves memory but makes things slower. Thanks.

Thank you for letting know, Bob.