iTunes 12.6 very slow to start/run and not accessing store after update on Windows 7

Use the programs and features control panel to uninstall each of these items in this order:

1. iTunes
2. Apple Software Update
3. Apple Mobile Device Support
4. Bonjour
5. Apple Application Support 32-bit
6. Apple Application Support 64-bit

Reboot the computer

Use Windows Explorer to open your iTunes folder inside your user's Music folder

Select the file iTunes Library then press F2 on the keyboard and rename it as iTunes Library (Old)

Open the Previous iTunes Libraries folder

Select the file iTunes Library 2017-mm-dd and press Ctrl+C top copy it, the exact filename will be when you updated

Go back to the iTunes folder

Press Ctrl+V to paste

Press F2 to rename and change the filename to iTunes Library

Follow the iTunes installers link and choose the relevant 32-bit or 64-bit version of iTunes 12.5.5.5 to reinstall, download it & install

Please feel free to post back if you need me to explain any of the steps in more detail.

tt2

Horrible is "way too kind" a description of this new release. It was first made available (to me anyhow) on March 23, 2017. Since then I have lost 12 hours of my life dealing with it.

At 58 years of age every hour stolen from my life is valuable.

The prior version, 12.4.3 available here works perfectly.

Apple - Support - Downloads

My video card =

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745

Manufacturer: NVIDIA

Chip type: GeForce GTX 745

DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC

Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1382&SUBSYS_106510DE&REV_A2

Display Memory: 4095 MB

Dedicated Memory: 3072 MB

Shared Memory: 1023 MB

Current Mode: 3840 x 1600 (32 bit) (30Hz)

Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor

Monitor Model: LG ULTRAWIDE

Monitor Id: GSM76FB

Native Mode: 3840 x 1600(p) (59.993Hz)

Output Type: HDMI

Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um

Driver File Version: 21.21.0013.7653 (English)

Driver Version: 21.21.13.7653

DDI Version: 11

Driver Model: WDDM 1.1

Driver Attributes: Final Retail

Driver Date/Size: 1/4/2017 16:11:10, 17598144 bytes

WHQL Logo'd: Yes

WHQL Date Stamp:

Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-50C2-11CF-8B6E-683018C2D835}

Vendor ID: 0x10DE

Device ID: 0x1382

SubSys ID: 0x106510DE

Revision ID: 0x00A2

Driver Strong Name: oem228.inf:NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.6.1:Section028:21.21.13.7653:pci\ven_10de&dev _1382&subsys_106510de

Rank Of Driver: 00E60001

I run Windows 7 Ultimate on a Dell XPS 8700

RAM = 16 G

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60 GHz

I spent two hours of my life with a "senior support" specialist on March 24th

Nice gentleman whom I really liked. The problem is that he knew virtually nothing about where hidden Apple files would remain on my system.

He was only able to direct me in the removal via control panel of a specific order of prior Apple installations. In short Apple needs a much more specialized and trained staff to deal with Windows 7 installation issues, at least if Apple wants to actually understand the troubles of its products with a large segment of their user base.

As I type this I have tried perhaps my 10th installation of 12.6.100 with continued freeze up failure and I am beyond angry about it.

Beyond removing all Apple installations in the recommended order I have removed ALL Apple files from hidden locations Such as the various "Roaming Files" as well as the "program data files" located (again in a hidden folder) directly off the C drive.

I am going to try one more incredibly clean installation (even going so far as to remove quick time) at which point I will revert to 12.4.3 permanently with a solid amount of disgust for having been put through this ordeal.

This section deals with restoring the pre-upgrade version of the library before attempting to reinstall the older build of iTunes. You can also do it afterwards.

Select the file iTunes Library then press F2 on the keyboard and rename it as iTunes Library (Old)

Open the Previous iTunes Libraries folder

Select the file iTunes Library 2017-mm-dd and press Ctrl+C top copy it, the exact filename will be when you updated

Go back to the iTunes folder

Press Ctrl+V to paste

Press F2 to rename and change the filename to iTunes Library

See also Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash.

tt2

One of the significant things that some users are finding is that they cannot access the iTunes Store at all with 12.6.0.100. Your report shows this isn't an issue for you. Take a look at my user tip Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates. I'd start with the second box and perform a tear down and reinstall of the current build. If that doesn't work go back to 12.5.5.5 and see how that behaves.

tt2

Short version: the solution for me - remove iTunes and reinstall 12.5.5.5.

Long version (more to share my pain then anything else) - the link with all previous iTunes versions (Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates):

It's my own fault, over the last couple of years iTunes has upgraded with no issues and I became complacent with my backups of my iTunes library that has music i have owned going back 35 years.

I clicked on the yes to upgrade iTunes without thinking about it. That was Sunday, today is Wednesday and finally my library is back intact.

Finding this thread earlier would have saved me a couple of days troubleshooting but I have learned a lot more about where iTunes stores its information and have since backed all locations up.

I am running Windows 7 on the media computer and Windows 10 on all laptops.

The upgrade to 12.6.0.100 appeared to complete without issues, however, when it hung on loading for a good 4-5 minutes. The usual reboot, killing iTunes and restarting did not resolve the issue. After i waited long enough my media appeared o.k. however the store would not load, and syncing an iPad hung at transferring purchases and I had real trouble backing it up so i could not upgrade to the newest iOS.

Followed all the usual troubleshooting steps, reset the network stack and rebooted, uninstalled iTunes, reinstalled, uninstalled and removed all remaining directories and rebooted, reinstalled - so much time waiting for uninstalls and reinstalls, hoping it would work.

Installed 12.6.0.100 on my Windows 10 laptop - no issues connecting to my library (which is on a NAS) and the store.

Both are on the same network, behind the same firewall, yet Windows 10 works and 7 does not.

On Windows 7 I started watching the resource monitor and sorted by CPU status - iTunes was not responding, right click and analyse kill chain showed to TCP processes that were waiting to complete. This looks like a network problem to me.

Installed Wireshark on both, captured the startup and also ran the diagnostic from both installs - just the network connectivity tests. The connectivity test on Windows 7 showed that iTunes could not establish a secure connection. After going down more rabbit holes Wireshark shed some more light on the issue.

Windows 7 running 12.6 does NOT perform a DNS lookup for Apple related services (though it does for Gracenote) - the program itself is not performing the very first step required to connect and get the IP address as it is not even trying.

Complete uninstall and found this link (Apple - Support - Downloads) to download a previous version 12.4.3 for older video cards. This worked, however my iTunes library was now completely destroyed. I had a full backup from 14 months ago on an offline NAS which I got out of the cupboard and powered on. For my library the only recovery option was to import the iTunes library XML file, thank goodness I had enabled the "Share iTunes library XML with other applications" before I backed up. This took at least 8 hours and I then used a paid version of TreeSize to compare and copy the media from the backup to the iTunes media library as during this whole process at least 10GB of media had been removed by iTunes (thank you Apple). I then rebuilt the library by enabling "Keep iTunes media folder organised" and "Copy files to the iTunes Media folder when adding to library". Goodbye another 8 hours.

Next was to redownload all the songs in the cloud and cover art, import the folder containing apps and tones (as both were showing as empty). Last step was to backup the entire iTunes directory to a new folder on the NAS.

Thinking this was it, I connected my iPhone to sync and it wouldn't as I must have been on a 12.5 version of iTunes.

As I now had a full backup today I decided to upgrade again back to 12.6.0.100 (still broken on Windows 7), I then installed 12.6.0.95 (also broken, and yes you have to fully uninstall the newer version and reboot before you can install an older version).

An entire list of all iTunes versions are available on the official Apple site here (Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates).

An lastly I installed 12.5.5.5 which works and shortly afterwards found this thread - yay.

So the moral of this story is to have a decent backup of your iTunes library and dont be afraid to click no to upgrading iTunes.

Sorry to hear your tale of woe. See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash to restore to the iTunes 12.5.5.5 version of your database if it is still in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. You should have been able to selectively restore just the library files rather than the entire state of your library. 😮 See also Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy for a suggested way to make a backup of the current state of the library which can be efficiently updated copying over only new and updated files.

tt2

Hi,

The instructions there are for renaming the iTunes database file so it could be replaced with a slightly older backup version that would be compatible with the older version of iTunes being installed. The user tip Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash covers then general process which can be used either when downgrading iTunes, or when the library doesn't contain what you think it should following an upgrade or other incident. You won't be able to rename an open file, so it cannot be done when iTunes is running, or hasn't shut down properly.

What is the exact issue that you are trying to resolve?

tt2

Hi... I see your question is directed to “dereckc1” but I thought I would provide an answer of my own;

In my quest to get iTunes 12.6.100 to work I deleted my prior iTunes library (along with every other apple file other than my actual music and media)

As a result, no ratings and play counts survived.

I remain using 12.5.5.5 which is the newest version that works for me.

I have heard nothing more from Apple directly which both disturbs me and disappoints me greatly.

And how you solved the issue of iTunes Library.itl file not recognized by iTunes 12.5, since it was rewritten by 12.6? In my case, 12.6 did start some times, but failed mostly. So I guess you were never able to start iTunes 12.6, therefore the .itl file was never updated to new version?

Same setup (software-wise) and same problem; Itunes takes many minutes before it becomes responsive again.
In the top right it says that it's trying to connect to itunes store, which takes ages too.

I thought it'd be a one-time issue (like syncing album art or something like that) so I let it do it's thing.
Now, after 5+ tries, it still stays the same; itunes takes minutes upon opening.

At first I tried starting itunes while keep pressing shift and load itunes with a clean library: same result.

Tried reinstalling: same result.
Don't want to remove completely and don't want to build a new library (that'd be the third one in a few years after apple keeps messing up updates).

Following this topic, waiting for an apple fix. It worked in previous versions. Let them come up with a **** good excuse on why it's borked like this now.

Quite a specialist if he doesn't even know the location of the files (he should have proper support documentation on that, trust me, I've been there).

What he offered you is the standard "if nothing else works"-method of cleaning up and starting anew. This tells me apple doesn't have a fix themselves (yet).

I remember itunes issues for windows users from about a year ago where apple eventually offered special installation files to be able to solve (talking about workarounds; the software wasn't available to customers through the download portal at first).

I'll await a fix. I didn't change anything and still it got borked. They made the mess, they clean it up.

Hi there,

Really hoping you can help me.

I ran into the same problem as you and having read the posts, I am struggling to understand what it is I have to do to get me iTunes working again. It just freezes and stays frozen (Thanks for nothing Apple) ...

I'll admit it as a noob I am completely hopeless and since I have over 500 GB of Films, TV Programmes and Music to lose, I would like to avoid doing so.

Could you provide me with a step-by-step instruction on what I need to do - I would really appreciate it.

My iTunes installation is on one drive, my library and files on another and this is an added complication for me.

I am worried that if I simply uninstall, it will take my files with it. That's hours of reinstalling and reimporting, rating, etc.

Can you help?

Kind regards

Mike

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

Believe me, I have read through several posts on this forum including yours, but I do not understand this technical stuff at all.

I need someone to tell me step-for-step what I have to do. I am over 80 and so computers are not something I use with any deal of confidence ...

Mike

I tried to follow your instructions too, but somehow I messed up my library. I got a message that it couldn't read the library because it was created by a newer version of iTunes. Any thoughts? Thanks so much!