iTunes won't install: how to fix the problem?

When trying to install Apple's iTunes multimedia application on Windows systems, you can often encounter errors related to the impossibility of installing this package into the operating system environment. What this is connected with, so to speak, in a global sense, is not known for certain. However, even if installer failures occur, you can apply one universal solution that eliminates this problem. This will be discussed further.

Why won't iTunes install?

First, let's talk about the relationship between the competing corporations Microsoft and Apple. The point is that the iTunes application, adapted for Windows systems, is like a direct challenge to the entertainment market. It is clear that by creating a platform for Windows, Apple is trying to push Microsoft and conquer its niche. In turn, Microsoft is not going to give up, constantly putting a spoke in the wheels of almost all Apple software products.

In fact, iTunes is not installed for the simplest reason: the Windows security system creates its own unspoken restrictions (firewall services, TrustedInstaller, Windows Defender, the presence of a super administrator, etc.). Sometimes even running the installer as an administrator does not help, and the system consistently produces an error at the stage of installing the program.

iTunes does not install on Windows 7: fixing the installer problem

However, despite all these negative aspects, there is a way out. If iTunes does not install, the first step, as both developers recommend, is to download the latest version of the program from the official Apple website, intended for further installation. In some cases this solves the problem. But not always. When iTunes won't install, you have to look for ways to work around the restrictions.

And the most drastic solution, according to the overwhelming majority of users and specialists, is changing the extension of the installation file from EXE to ZIP. This can be done in any file manager that works on the Norton Commander principle. But you can also use Explorer, but before renaming, you must enable the display of extensions for registered file types in the view menu.

Reinstalling an optional component

So iTunes won't install. What to do next? As practice shows, one option that almost always works is to restore, remove, and reinstall the Apple Software Update component. When you run the installer of the main program, this element is installed first.

At this step, in finding a solution to the problem that iTunes will not install, you need to enter the programs and components section through the “Control Panel”, find the above item in the list of installed applications and use the recovery option via RMB.

After this, again, via RMB on the program line, you need to select deletion. Upon completion of the standard procedure, you will have to clean the registry yourself (regedit in the Run menu). To begin with, you can use the search activation via the combination Ctrl + F, where the name of the applet is entered in the main field, and moving from one key to another is done by pressing the F3 key. It is clear that all found entries must be deleted, and then a complete reboot of the system.

Finally, if iTunes does not install, you need to unpack the renamed archive and run the updater installation file, which is shown in the image above. Upon completion of the operation, you should use the original installer of the main program from the same directory.

Additional measures

This method, if iTunes is not installed under any pretext, resolves the problem in most cases. However, this may not work either, since additional restrictions may be activated in the system. How to get rid of them? As easy as pie.

iTunes is not installed on the system, if only because the installer file may be blocked by a firewall. In such a situation, you just need to go into the firewall settings and simply disable it while installing the applet. However, a global solution would be to create a new rule and add the iTunes installer to the list of exceptions.

The same goes for Windows Defender, and sometimes antivirus, which needs to be suspended. In some packages, you may have to use settings to add the application to the list of trusted ones, as well as reduce the security level. Even in the system itself, you can try to find a parameter and set the slider responsible for the security level to the lowest position, save the changes, reboot the system and perform the installation again.

In general, if iTunes is not installed, such comprehensive solutions help in almost all situations where an installer error occurs. The only thing you should pay special attention to is downloading the latest version of the main applet and running the installers as an administrator.