iTunes or windows problems

Hi..I am having problems with loading the iTunes 9.0.2. I keep getting this error message and am not sure if it is a software issue or not.

The windows installer service could not be accessed. this can occur if you are running windows in safe mode, or if the windows installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.
OK

iTunes Installer Completed
The installer encountered errors before iTunes could be configured,.
Your system has not been modified. to retry these operations at a later time, please run the installer again.
Click Finish to exit the installer.
Finish

Any suggestions anyone? Thanks
Pam

I don't know what would cause that problem. If you're an iPod user then you're stuck with iTunes.

Most techies consider iTunes a piece of junk software. If you don't need iTunes, then don't install it. It takes over a lot of the system and causes problems.

There's better software out there that will work on a iPod.

Can you please give us your computer Spec's so we can see what we are working with and Is windows 7 32bit or 64bit

I have Windows 7 Professional 64bit and an Ipod Nano and using ITunes and I haven't had any trouble.

I have a HP Pavilion notebook..
250 G harddrive
Dual core 4000 mg ram
Win 7 64 bit
I have a iPod shuffle, small but works for me when I walk.
I just did a system restore , so I need to try it again. I hate having to restore a new puter tho.

Thanks bunches. what would I use instead of iTunes? I didn't know you could do that ; *))

Welcome to the forums Pam

The Windows Installer service may disabled on the machine. Can you try the following steps to see if this solves it please?

1. Go to "Start", type "services.msc" and press on "Enter" button.

2. Double-click on the service named "Windows Installer".

3. Check the value in the "Startup type:" field. If it's currently set to "Disabled", then this is the problem. Change it by selecting "Manual" from the drop-down box.

Pam and I would like to know what other software other than iTunes that would work on a iPod. Since getting my new laptop and installing win 7, I downloaded iTunes, but when I tried to sync with my iPod, I could not, because the library is empty and it said that it would wipe out my iPod. I have not bought any songs from iTunes, but all the music that is on my iPod is from my cds that I own. I hate to start all over.

MediaMonkey is one that works well. http://www.mediamonkey.com/

MediaMonkey

• Organize music and edit tags in your audio library with a powerful, intuitive interface.
• Automatically lookup and tag Album Art and other metadata.
• Manage 50,000+ files in your music collection without bogging down.
• Manage all genres of audio: Rock, Classical, Audiobooks, Comedy, Podcasts, etc.

• Play MP3s and other audio formats, and never again worry about varying volume.
• Record CDs and convert MP3s, M4A, OGG, FLAC and WMA files etc. into other formats.
• Create playlists and let Auto-DJ & Party Mode take care of your party.
• Sync iPhones, iPods, & MP3 players, converting & leveling tracks on-the-fly.

Good Review from PC World 12-8-2009
Music Organizer MediaMonkey Runs Rings Around iTunes

Steve Horton
Dec 8, 2009 6:50 am
MediaMonkey, a free music-management application that's meant as an alternative to iTunes, has been around for a while. The latest version of the software adds several important features and makes it worth a second look had you passed it up before. The biggest addition to version 3.2 is full support for Windows 7. It supports a specific Windows 7 feature called AeroPeek, in which you hover the mouse over the application's icon in the taskbar. In this case, it pops up an image of the current album cover, and has music controls beneath the album art. This allows you to easily change tracks without ever actually switching to the application first.


MediaMonkey can sort out music files anywhere on your PC.

The other new feature is the ability to sync with numerous popular mobile phones natively, something iTunes can't do correctly (or else Apple intentionally breaks support for said phones, as it does with the Palm Pre). MediaMonkey 3.2 supports Android phones, the Palm Pre, and all models of the iPhone and iPod.

You also get existing MediaMonkey features such as removing duplicates, renaming files to a standard, downloading cover art, organizing an entire PC worth of music into a single library, ripping CDs and so on.

Those tired of iTunes taking up too many system resources, not working, being finicky with syncing, and so on need to give MediaMonkey a look. It's replaced iTunes as my primary media player.

Note: Most features are free for an unlimited time in MediaMonkey. However, using the MP3 or M4A encoders past 30 days requires purchase of the Gold version, which is $20 for 3.x upgrades or $40 for lifetime upgrades.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Helium Music Manager is another excellent program. http://www.helium-music-manager.com/

Get the most out of your music

Whether you only need a single place to find and play your music or need a full-fledged music manager that can rip, tag, play, burn and synchronize with your portable device, Helium Music Manager takes care of it.
Our vision is to offer the most intuitive, feature rich and easy-to-use music manager on the market. We think we've come pretty far already...

Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 & Windows 2003 Server


Features

• Import
  
  Supports mp3, mp4, flac, ogg, wma and more as well as audio CDs, vinyl and tapes.
  For user with large collections we offer support for Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL for improved performance.
• Tag
  
  Add or correct missing or incorrect meta-data using the many tools available for tagging your files.
  Remove, switch, add or copy tag contents between files and fields using batch operations.
• Manage
  
  Download album pictures, analyze quality and repair broken mp3 files.
  Automatically rename files and create custom folder structures, convert files to different formats.
• Explore
  
  Many different ways of browsing your music. Album and artist pictures as well as detailed listings.
  Easily filter your content, search for your favourites and create playlists.
• Play
  
  Play music, scrobble to Last.fm, stream through Shoutcast. Show your friends what you are playing on Windows Live Messenger.
  Display visual effects and enjoy automatic playback with built-in features.
• On-the-go
  
  Synchronize to your iPod, Creative Zen or other portable music device, cell phone or netbook.
  Burn Audio or Data CDs, export playlists and create reports for printing.

I hope this helps you out!

Thank you..I am gonna try this..I'm tired of all this about the win installer.. I can't get aroudn it..it says manual..but still not working

Hi Pam.

I missed this thread the first time around. I have a few things to say on this topic.

1) Download the free app Sharepod. http://www.getsharepod.com/ It is a stand alone program that does not have to be installed. Unzip the folder and extract the contents You will then see the Sharepod app icon. The app wont start unless your Shuffle is connected to the computer so go ahead and connect it. Then click on the sharepod icon and low and behold there's your music. At this point I would copy your shuffle to your computer. Now it's backed up. You can cut /copy/paste/add/delete songs in and out now. If you can live without the i-tunes store you're back in business.

2) I had the same error message as you. I had I-tunes installed and when an upgrade came around it fragged my old install and I couldn't update to the new version. So that is my next question. Did you have I-tunes installed at one time or was this the first try? Was your computer upgraded to Win7 or did you buy it pre-installed or did you clean install Win7?

3) I have had so many frustrating things happen with Apple programs since my wife bought a Nano 18 months ago, that I could care less if I ever use them again. I do have it installed on an older XP box but she deals with it.

I hear I-tunes works great if it's on a Mac.

Please report back and let us know what you have decided to try.