Love it or hate it, iTunes is one of the most popular media players available, thanks to the success of the iPod and iPhone. The following tips should come in handy for those of you who use iTunes for Windows XP, in the event that your iTunes installation ends up in less-than-perfect operating condition.

First off, we suggest uninstalling iTunes from the Add or Remove Programs Control Panel and then installing the latest version of iTunes downloaded from Apple.com. This may fix some issues with older versions. Apple also suggests keeping your anti-virus software up to date. Now, on to some more-specific issues.

Problem #1

Certain iTunes screens are pink. (Note: Only a problem if you don't like pink.)

Cause: Windows is set to display a low-quality color palette, and thus cannot correctly render the iTunes window when it demands a high-quality color.

Solution: Make sure Windows is set to display 32-bit color in the Display Control Panel. This will be under the Settings tab, as "Color Quality."

Problem #2

Error messages as follows:

"iTunes might be unable to launch or communicate with iPod or iPhone."

"The iPod (Customer's iPod) cannot be updated. An unknown error occurred (-50)"

"The iPod (Customer's iPod) could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (1418, 1429, 1430, 1436 or 1439)"

Cause: This symptom may be caused by an issue with the digital signing of Windows XP drivers.

Solution: Re-register Certain Windows XP Drivers

(Copied from source: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1539)

  1. Disconnect the iPod from the computer and close iTunes.
  2. Highlight all of the following 10 lines of text that begin with regsvr32 and then choose Copy from the Edit menu of your web browser:

    regsvr32 /s softpub.dllregsvr32 /s wintrust.dllregsvr32 /s dssenh.dllregsvr32 /s rsaenh.dllregsvr32 /s gpkcsp.dllregsvr32 /s sccbase.dllregsvr32 /s slbcsp.dllregsvr32 /s mssip32.dllregsvr32 /s cryptdlg.dllregsvr32 /s initpki.dll

  3. Open the Notepad program by navigating to:Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad
  4. In Notepad, choose Paste from the Edit menu. Note: make sure that the text that appears in Notepad is the same as what is shown above.
  5. From the File menu, choose Save As.
  6. In the File name field type appleipod.bat and save the file to the Desktop.
  7. Close Notepad and locate the appleipod.bat file.
  8. Double-click the file and you will see a black window appear on the screen for about a minute. Wait until the window automatically disappears and proceed to the next step.
  9. The appleipod.bat file can be deleted at this time.
  10. Open iTunes and connect the iPod.
  11. When the iPod appears in iTunes, restore the iPod and resync your content.

Problem #3

iTunes will not open or unexpectedly quits

Cause: Corrupted preference files or possibly out-of-date plug-ins.

Solution: Remove Preferences and Third-Party Plug-ins. Delete the following folders:

  • C:\Documents and Settings\Your Username Here\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes
  • C:\Documents and Settings\Your Username Here\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\SC Info

Problem #4

Error messages as follows:

"iTunes cannot run because it detects a problem with QuickTime"

"iTunes cannot run because it has detected a problem with your audio configuration"

"Error (-200)"

Cause: Apple doesn't provide a cause for this issue, but it appears to have something to do with QuickTime Player's audio preferences.

Solution: Reinstall QuickTime

Click Control Panel from the Start Menu then select Add or Remove Programs.

Select QuickTime from the list then click the Remove button to start the uninstall process.

Download and run the QuickTime installer without iTunes from here.

There are other problems like broken iTunes links but Saikat's got that covered.

How frequently do you face the above issues when using iTunes for Windows XP, and how do you normally deal with them? Ever had to "roll back" to an older version of iTunes? Any problems from Mac users? We'd love to hear about them in the comments!