Source: Tom's Guide | Keywords: iTunes, 8.0, Vista, BSOD, fix | Themes: The Internet, Software, Digital Entertainment, Audio/Video Players
Apple has re-released iTunes 8.0 for Windows Vista users following complaints from numerous users that the iTunes upgrade had resulted in the dreaded Blue Screen of Death.
When iTunes 8.0 was released last Tuesday, a significant amount of Vista users reported that after upgrading to iTunes 8.0, their computer either immediately restarted or gave them a blue screen error when connecting their device to the computer. Complaints involved both iPhones and iPods. Users claimed that the problem was with one of Apple’s USB drivers, which the company seems to have replaced with an older driver, from a July iTunes update.
Apple released a support document advising customers to uninstall Apple Mobile Device Support and iTunes 8.0, download the update again and reinstall. The company also said that it was important users do not use the iTunes8Setup or iTunes864Setup file they had previously downloaded.
It all brings us back to blue-screen troubles with iTunes 7.7. XP and Vista users reported blue screens when syncing the Touch or iPhone. Apple released support notes informing users that an update to SP1 would fix the problem.
iTunes 8.0 can be downloaded from here.
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Itunes is one of the worst programs evermade.
This is just another instance of Apple proving that their stuff is no better than anyone else's.
When they were working with just their tiny market share that used Macs, sure, they were near perfect; and they wouldn't shut up about it either.
As they deal with larger customer bases and more varied products and services, they've blown something up or set something on fire with nearly every major new product or service release this year.
Welcome to the real world Apple, where you have just as many problems and cause just as much crap as anyone else.
My XP PC freezes everytime I opened QuickTime. This, according to Apple, made me an angry PC user who can't wait to switch to "it just works".
i can't stand itunes it more like a virus to me in that they install some services that run in the background and in your system tray. i was so glad when i found out i could manger my ipod with winamp. for updating my ipod firmware i just installed itunes on an xp virtual machine
If this is a problem with USB drivers (which are supposed to be loaded in user space, not loaded to the system), why is it causing a BSOD? This sounds like an inherent flaw in the OS that a bad USB driver could bring down the entire OS. I have dealt with bad USB drivers in all kinds of posix environments, and yes, it will crash whichever application was accessing the device through the improper driver, to include a situation where the windowing system even crashed, but not once has it caused a kernel panic that I was able to observe (which is on par with a BSOD in a posix environment).
By the way, the drivers in question did pass WHQL certification, if I remember reading correctly. The problem the drivers encountered was when there was another USB device driver loaded. The BSOD did not occur when the iPod was the only device on the bus.
Yes this was probably Apple's fault. And you know what? They are fixing it. All companies have problems. All of them. It's how they fix their problems that makes or breaks the company.
I was getting purple screens in 3D gaming with my NVidia 8800 GTS 512. I uninstalled the Apple software and the purple screens are history, too.
Wasn't Vista supposed to be more stable by trying to prevent system crashes and simply kill the process only ... or wait I guess that's UNIX.
Regardless, one would think Apple has some sort of QC before releasing software.
My computer is 10x faster than the one I had 6 years ago and QuickTime didn't lag/freeze ever back then.
Apple is the master of the BSoD.
My computer is 10x faster than the one I had 6 years ago and QuickTime didn't lag/freeze ever back then.
My computer is an E6400 on an ASUS P5B Deluxe with 2GB of RAM.
@Houndsteeth:
"If this is a problem with USB drivers (which are supposed to be loaded in user space, not loaded to the system), why is it causing a BSOD?"
In Windows, drivers (especially in this case) are loaded in the kernel. Kernel drivers are generally just referred to as drivers. Yes, there can be multiple drivers loaded for the same device (it's too long to discuss here, go to microsoft's msdn site and research it), as by stacking, more functionality can be added.
As for WHQL certification, I don't know the detail of such certification, but like most certification, it does NOT guarantee that the driver is perfect. It just says that it conforms to a certain standard. Whether it can f*ck up a system in ways beyond what the certification might try to prevent, is another matter.
Apple screwed-up.
Apple CANNOT make software for the Windows platform.
QuickTime and iTunes are the most bloated, unstable, and sluggish applications ever made. Installing them creates many start up items, background processes, and at lest 4 Add/Remove programs entries. Starting them and having them not crash/not respond is a miracle.
This is from experience using these programs on many PCs-including BRAND NEW installs of XP and Vista.