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Level 3

527 points

iTunes 12 incompatible with Windows Vista Data Execution Prevention

I just did a clean install of iTunes 12.0.1 after removing 11.4 and other components as described in Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates. I'm running Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 with 3 GB RAM. Soon after closing the iTunes GUI, I get a Data Execution Prevention notification:

I have already tested with every DEP setting except AlwaysOff, which would globally disable an important Windows security feature and is therefore not to be recommended. The problem is apparently a Buffer Overflow Exception. Here are the details from one instance:

Product
iTunes

Problem
Stopped working

Date
10/16/2014 7:37 PM

Status
Report Sent

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BEX
Application Name: iTunes.exe
Application Version: 12.0.1.26
Application Timestamp: 543e558b
Fault Module Name: StackHash_d697
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Offset: 105059cc
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Data: 00000008
OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: d697
Additional Information 2: 2bd40df4cf0a606a4574668730104c34
Additional Information 3: d700
Additional Information 4: cb2d139a5bee9dfc5c0d03df08159e62

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 50

This is actually not a new problem. As an experienced user of 32-bit Vista, I would have to say that the last compatible iTunes version was 11.1.5. See also Windows Vista problem reports after latest Itunes 11.2 update.

iTunes for Windows-OTHER, Windows Vista

Posted on Oct 16, 2014 9:00 PM

95 replies

Walt220

Level 1

0 points

Apr 29, 2015 7:11 PM in response to Marvin Martianul

Yes Marvin, your theory proved correct that iTunes 12.1.2 is still crashing despite no DEP notification as of yet since updating my sound driver. No, I have never turned off the DEP feature but I had in fact excluded iTunes from problem reporting sometime back. Now on removing that block, crashes started to be listed in the problem report list once again though the DEP message never did show its nasty little pop-up face!! I guess until an actual solution is found, I will live in a world of blind ignorance about the problem by having iTunes excluded in the problem list and hoping that the DEP pop-up notice stays away! Oh well, I had hoped I might be on to something but no luck after all.

Apr 30, 2015 9:59 AM in response to Walt220

So if you double-click the recent problem reports for iTunes, is the problem event name APPCRASH in every case? If you were getting BEX errors but no DEP notifications, I believe that would indicate that DEP has been disabled - if not by you, then by malware or a hacker. Have a nice day!

Walt220

Level 1

0 points

Apr 30, 2015 12:15 PM in response to Marvin Martianul

I just checked and the instances that were listed after upgrading my sound drivers were shown to be APPCRASH instances.

Jul 8, 2015 11:44 PM in response to Johnny DEP

Case closed: iTunes 12.2 has dropped Windows Vista Support (not that there was actually any support to drop).

Johnny DEP Author

Level 3

527 points

Jul 11, 2015 10:06 AM in response to Marvin Martianul

How to turn Data Execution Prevention back on

Some iTunes users running Windows Vista may have followed the very bad suggestion of disabling Data Execution Prevention in order not to be annoyed by DEP notifications resulting from iTunes crashes - perhaps in the belief that Apple is more trustworthy than Microsoft. Now that Apple has clearly shown how little they care about Vista users, I would urge you to turn DEP back on. (If you are running an iTunes version more recent than 11.1.5 and never get a Data Execution Prevention notification after closing iTunes, and if the Data Execution Prevention tab in Advanced system settings > Performance is greyed out, then DEP has been disabled.)

To enable DEP, open an elevated command prompt (i.e. run CMD as administrator), type the following and press Enter:

bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx OptIn

Goodbye and good luck.

iTunes 12 incompatible with Windows Vista Data Execution Prevention