During iTunes restore: Could not connect to lockdown port. Error code 0xe8000065

I have been seeing the same error on multiple Windows 7 iTunes installations since the recent iOS 8.3 (and iTunes 12.1.2 update). During an attempt to restore a backup, the iPhone disconnected error appears in iTunes. Digging deeper into the logs, we see a USB connection error, and then a DLL loading error message (that may or may not be a red herring.)

Here is an anonymized log snippet:

[3248 @ Sun Apr 19 20:22:08 2015] [com.apple.console AppleMobileBackup.exe] WARNING: Restoring <udid snipped out> from <backup folder snipped out>

[3248 @ Sun Apr 19 20:22:38 2015] [(unknown facility) AppleMobileBackup.exe] AMDeviceConnect (thread 4140): Could not connect to lockdown port (62078) on device 1 - <udid snipped out>: 0xe8000065.

[3248 @ Sun Apr 19 20:22:38 2015] [(unknown facility) AppleMobileBackup.exe] _AMDNotifyHook (thread 4140): Could not load library SHLWAPI.dll from the AppleMobileDeviceSupport directory, C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Apple Application Support\\SHLWAPI.dll.

[3248 @ Sun Apr 19 20:22:38 2015] [com.apple.console AppleMobileBackup.exe] ERROR: Error attaching to device

Here are things I've tried, as recommended by this support page iOS: Unknown error containing '0xE' when connecting to a Windows PC - Apple Support

• restarting the computer
• uninstalling iTunes from the computer, reinstalling, rebooting
• reset settings on the target iPhone
• swapping out for a different usb cable
• swapping out for a different usb port on the computer
• renaming the iPhone (as another thread from a few years ago suggests)

I'm very hesitant to try a factory restore via iTunes if the device is reporting USB connection severing, since we may end up with a bigger issue, like half-installed iOS 🙂

Has anyone seen this error lately as well? I'd love to find some more possible solutions to try.