iTunes 12.3.1.23 unusably slow on Windows 10 - when will it be fixed?

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Level 1

10 points

iTunes 12.3.1.23 unusably slow on Windows 10 - when will it be fixed?

I upgraded from Windows 8.1 to in September. At first, iTunes was not completing any purchases. But then the 12.3.1.23 came and fixed that. Unfortunately this version runs MUCH slower than any previous version. Just scrolling and clicking in the store can take anywhere from a few seconds to over a minute for the screen to actually respond. After clicking to play 1 song in the Top 200 song list, clicking to play a different song will typically have a delay of at least 10 seconds and sometimes over a minute.

And task manager will show iTunes using 50% of system CPU (this on a 1.7GHz AMD A8 quad core with 8GB of RAM). Just sitting at the store screen and doing nothing it iTunes will still use 50% of CPU!

Uninstalling/reinstalling iTunes as per tech support didn't solve the problem.

This is a serious bug - when will it be fixed?

Windows 10, Toshiba laptop

Posted on Nov 8, 2015 1:59 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 24, 2017 3:25 AM in response to srothkin

Same issue. Apple needs to realize this is a priority. iTunes ability to keep my items organized is the lynch pin to the whole thing! As soon as I don't like iTunes anymore, I don't need my iPhones (5 of them in my family), I don't need my Apple TV's (5 of them in the house). I don't need any of my iPods (4 of them in the house), I don't need my iPads (2 of them in the house). iTunes has been slow and boggy for more than just this latest release, and its the only program I have that has any kind of running issue on my PC.

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Answer 2

JayTKay

Level 1

4 points

Nov 29, 2015 8:37 PM in response to srothkin

I have three Windows 10 machines. They all have the problem. I noticed this same complaint in the Mac OS forums. My guess (this is a guess, I can't support it) is there is new "social" activity going on.

I find this is true with a lot of apps these days - they wreck the performance because in the background it's checking in with Facebook, Apple Music, whatever.

Lots of "features" I don't care about are eating up the performance.

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Answer 3

srothkin Author

Level 1

10 points

Nov 30, 2015 4:07 AM in response to JayTKay

I don't particularly care what the cause behind the problem is - I just want it fixed because right now iTunes is unusable and I still haven't heard back from Apple or seen a fix. I have close to $100 in iTunes gift cards left on my account - if this isn't fixed I expect Apple to give me cash for them and I'll take my business to Amazon.

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Answer 4

docbuff

Level 1

0 points

Nov 30, 2015 11:18 AM in response to srothkin

I am having the same horrible issues - ridiculously slow response times, adding CDs takes a long time (i.e., I have to walk away), making changes to files (e.g., editing song title) is the same, as is adding songs to playlists. I can't even get my new iPhone 6s to finish syncing...However, my iPod Classic has no issues with syncing. VERY strange....

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Answer 5

Dec 11, 2015 8:26 AM in response to srothkin

Just adding my complaint here too 😟 I have iTunes on two windows 10 machines, a Mac and iPad; The experience on the Windows devices stinks with the latest version of iTunes. Performance is bad. Sad as I really liked (as in the past) ITunes. Please fix this application for the Windows Users (who buy music from apple too) version 12.3.1.23

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Answer 6

hhgttg27

Level 5

5,591 points

Dec 11, 2015 8:38 AM in response to cafechess

"Please fix this application for the Windows Users"

Firstly, this is a users' forum - you're not talking to Apple so no-one here can "fix" anything other than by recommended possible solutions related to installation, configuration, usage, etc. Second, although I don't doubt that some users are encountering performance issues with 12.3.1 (and comments over on the iTunes for Mac forum suggests this is affecting as least as many Mac users) it is definitely not a general - and therefore immediately reproducible - issue. I have 12.3.1 running on 4 different Windows 10 systems, two of these with large(ish) libraries, and don't see any negative variations in performance compared to earlier versions.

Can you furnish more details - are there specific functions where performance is degraded? If you run Windows Task Manager, what resources are iTunes consuming, and are there correspondences between slow performance and increased usage of CPU, memory, disc or network resources?

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Answer 7

JayTKay

Level 1

4 points

Dec 11, 2015 9:54 AM in response to hhgttg27

comments over on the iTunes for Mac forum suggests this is affecting as least as many Mac users) it is definitely not a general...isue

A large number of Windows and Mac users are having the problem. That is by definition a general issue.

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Answer 8

hhgttg27

Level 5

5,591 points

Dec 11, 2015 10:12 AM in response to JayTKay

By "general issue" I mean one that affects all users and is immediately and consistently reproducible. Clearly some users are affected by this problem on Windows and Mac - though whether the number warrants the assetion that many do so is undetermined - it can equally be stated that some users have not encountered this at all. I have seen a number of suggested causes for these symptoms, including minor (i.e., non-fatal) corruption to the iTunes database, or a library with a large number of Smart Playlists. Pending a resolution from Apple within a future iTunes release we can only speculate at the cause and hope to identify workaround that may assist others in the interim.

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Answer 9

srothkin Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 11, 2015 7:34 PM in response to hhgttg27

As I originally stated, it is using CPU time. Something probably is in a very busy loop.

My library is EMPTY. I use iTunes to buy music and convert to MP3. I don't keep an iTunes library.

Apple should be paying attention to this forum (and it would be nice to get a return call from the tech supervisor that worked on my case after I left him a voice mail telling him none of his recommendations helped).

If apple doesn't fix it they can refund my remaining iTunes credit.

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Answer 10

hhgttg27

Level 5

5,591 points

Dec 11, 2015 7:39 PM in response to srothkin

"My library is EMPTY. I use iTunes to buy music and convert to MP3. I don't keep an iTunes library."

I have to ask ... WHY? If you want music in MP3 format buy it from Amazon or other outlets. Buying AAC media from the iTunes Store and converting it to MP3 inevitably causes quality loss. If you're not using an iTunes library then you don't need to use iTunes at all.

"Apple should be paying attention to this forum."

They don't, and its stated in the site's terms and conditions when you sign up that they don't - see, in particular, item 6 of the Apple Support Communities Use Agreement.

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Answer 11

srothkin Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 11, 2015 7:49 PM in response to hhgttg27

Some things I buy are only available on iTunes (e.g. some of the recordings from The Voice).

I actually like how iTunes' search and Top 100 song list works much better than Amazon. Until upgrading to Windows 10 iTunes actually worked pretty well for me.

The bit rates are high enough that any quality loss from the translation isn't noticeable to me.

Plus I have a remaining gift card balance that I want to use.

It really stinks that there's no way to get through to tech support other than spending a lot of time on the phone. I'm paying for the service (by buying songs) so I expect quality support.

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Answer 12

hhgttg27

Level 5

5,591 points

Dec 11, 2015 7:58 PM in response to srothkin

Fair enough ... I wonder, though, if you are repeatedly going through a process of:

purchase from iTunes Store
convert purchases from AAC to MP3
delete both AAC and MP3 versions (?) from iTunes library

might the library database be getting screwed up in some way? Shot in the dark, I know, but with a small or empty library you should avoid most performance issues. I do note, though, that 12.3.2 still shows CPU usage jumping to 50% on opening the Get Info window, which does suggest that a lot of processes may be spawned in the background without an obvious reason.

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Answer 13

srothkin Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 12, 2015 4:17 AM in response to hhgttg27

Working with tech support I had completely deleted the library files so that it was starting from scratch. That didn't help.

I typically buy a bunch of songs at once and then select and convert them as a batch, so that's not the issue either. I'm seeing the slowdown and high CPU usage before I even go to that step. The high CPU usage happens as soon as I click on the store tab after starting iTunes and it never lets up.

I can search for songs by name with a small delay (but larger delay after clicking the stop button if I don't need to hear the entire song). But play/stop or play and then play another song from the top 100 list is horrendously slow.

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