Apple Software Update - "Server could not be found"

I have the same problem on a PC running Windows 10 Pro. The PC is up to date, and disabling the firewall didn't help. The problem now is that if Apple issues a newer version to fix the problem, it seems that no-one with version 2.2 will ever be able to download it!

I had the same problem with Apple Software Update 2.2. I got the error message: "The Apple Software Update server could not be found. Check your Internet settings and try again.".

I went to the Control panel -> Network and Internet -> Internet Options.

In the "Advanced" tab I scrolled down to "Security" and unchecked "Do not save encrypted pages to disk".

Now Apple Software Update 2.2 is working without problems.

I am one of the ones on another thread with the same problem. It's odd, because my work laptop has no problem, but my home PC does. Both Windows 7 64 bit.

In the meantime, I went back to the previous version. You need to uninstall iTunes and some other things, as shown here:Remove and reinstall iTunes and related software components for Windows 7 and later - Apple Support

Then, do NOT take the offered 2.2 upgrade.

Here's a few things you should try:

1. Update your computer

2. Restart your computer

3. Update to Windows 10

4. Delete iTunes (Or whatever software you're trying to update) and then reinstall it from the iTunes Website

Same problem on Win 7 in my bootcamp mac mini and 4 other Windows systems some using Win 7 , 8.1 and Win 10

As the Apple Software update is included in iTunes full install pkg I am just going to wait for a new version before re-installing.

I have the same problem.

The update is intended to modify the interface to encrypt the data because a potential exploit has been found.

What happened before the 2.2 update was that the client (the software that was updated) first contacted an Akamai server (a content delivery service provider) which downloaded about 250KB of data. The client then performed a DNS lookup to find an Apple server and the update process continued.

Instead, after the 2.2 update, the connection to the Akamai server and the download takes place but subsequently the client aborts the transaction and displays the error message on the screen. No attempt is made to contact the Apple server.

Who knows why it should work on some machines but not others? Well Apple should but there doesn't appear to be any way to tell them about the problem as the 'Apple Software Update' is an embedded part of other products and doesn't exist in its own right. As a result you don't appear to be able to ask a question about it!

Note that you can return to the older version of the client on Windows without having to reinstall iTunes. The iTunes installer is an 'archive' and can be opened with, for example, the free 7zip program. Within it you will see an Apple Software Update msi file (if you are using the 64 bit installer then it is under .rsrc). If you double click on this the old client will be reinstalled. Make sure that you have used programs and features to uninstall the 'faulty' client first as the msi won't overwrite the newer version.

I called apple and opened a ticket on this. I suggest everyone do the same. They currently have no notes that anyone is working on this. In the U.S> call 1-800-275-2273. Just keep responding "Apple Software Update", and you will eventually get to a human.

I keep a lot of restore points on one PC and did roll it back- the only pending updates after doing that was the SAME 2.2 software updates.

Guessing someone will tell us if there is a new version of Cloud or iTunes for Windows - in the past we generally get them on the mac first.

My boot camp Win 7 had the same problem ( all systems using airport extreme and Time-Warner for internet access )

Apple software update was working ok for me on all our machines for the new version - I used it to update iTunes earlier this week and confirmed it still worked fine after the updates. BUT this morning on all our machines same error now appears. If it was working ok but now fails then surely an Apple server issue at their end . Very frustrating. I am not prepared to uninstall iTunes , reinstall and risk upsetting my library so will wait it out but as someone rightly pointed out. If they update the software then how can we do it without ASU working in the first place. Another disappointment from Apple, I sincerely hope it's server end fix they can do. They not be more aware of the problems and QA testing needs improving that's for sure

EDIT - reading someone else's post the blame must be this AKMAI server which Apple need to address. God knows why the ASU worked ok for me up until today. Although I hadn't used for a couple days so not sure when problem may of reared its head

It is not necessarily a server problem. ASU is embedded within iTunes, so if the new version of iTunes also contains a new version of ASU you will install that as well. This is probably why ASU stopped working.

There is no point reinstalling iTunes if you have updated it as you will just end up putting the problem ASU back on. As I explained in my previous post you don't need to reinstall iTunes to get back to a working version of ASU - you need to extract the working one from an older version of iTunes. You can download older versions of iTunes from Apple's website.

Just remember not to update anything via the working ASU until a fix is available or you will end up with the problem ASU again.

I Understand what you are saying but ASU latest was working for me earlier in week and also after the new iTunes. So it's strange it worked ok and only in last day or so we get the problem on all our machines. That's why I was inclined to blame the server

Sorry, didn't realise it was working after the iTunes update. This is a strange problem. For some people, like me, it has never worked since the ASU update, you have dropped from working to not working and presumably most people don't have a problem (or maybe they have ignored it). My main point is that there is a method for getting back to a working ASU.

YYes thank you, understood on the fix. I will certainly try that if ASU never returns to a working state - or at least isn't working when I am aware of a new iTunes version that needs downloading. But yes my issue is slightly different, it was fine and then stopped working on all three of our machines (2 Windows 10 and 1 Windows 7) today. Well today was the first time I noticed it but it was definitely working on Monday evening (uk time) and had been ever since its initial release. I'd wager it's pretty widespread for Windows users but many people don't realise or check like I have, they probably will only notice if the weekly update or whatever schedule they have fails. Or many just don't care that much. I manually check it quite a bit in case a new iTunes drops (it drives my wife mad how much I check things - lol)

Just very dissapointed with Apple, they do seem to be ignorant to issues they create and let glitches fester. That's why I think it's good if as many of us target apple support on Twitter to report it. Just maybe they will acknowledge they have screwed up