Windows 7 SP1/USB/iPhone/iTunes

Norbert666 · 8 Mar 2011 at 09:51

Please help me! This is driving me nuts!

The title is vague, as I am not sure where the problem lies... Here is the history in order...

• Went on holiday - iPhone working fine.
• Come home, and Windows 7 says it wants to update with Service Pack 1.
• Install SP1 and pick up a couple of other (non-critical) updates that I hadn't got round to.
• SP installs fine, but the other two failed (KB2387530 and KB76422). I don’t get the option to retry them so I assume that SP picked them up anyway (they were a bit older)
• Notice issues with USB 2.0 after SP1 (iPhone not being recognised and Walkman error message saying it will perform better if connected to a USB 2.0 even though it is). Read online and it seems that SP1 is installing incorrect USB drivers for some people. Solution is to uninstall USB drivers in Device Manager and restart. So I do this.
• iPhone says there is no music content on the iPod part, even though when connected it shows 8GB. One solution I found is to change language and then change back to English. I did this and it worked momentarily, until I reconnected it to PC.
• iPhone is now also not backing up or synching properly. Saying it’s not connected when backing up. And/or the backup is corrupt. A solution I found was to delete the corrupt old backup and then retry it. Again, this worked momentarily but now fails again when connected.
• I un-synched the music part of the iPhone and it did wipe it. I then added a single track and that seems to work. But if I try and any more than an album it fails again – no backup, and shows no content on iPod part of iPhone.
• My last ditch attempt was to uninstall iTunes and reinstall it, including deleting old backups. First connect with the iPhone worked. It backed up and synched the one album I had told it to. I then disconnect and reconnect and it starts all the same problems again.

Reading online, the backup and no-music-content showing is not a Windows issue normally. The fixes are iTunes/iPhone based. So I am unsure whether the Windows 7 SP1 issue is a red herring or not? It’s driving me mad. Particularly as I just had an iPod compatibility thingy installed into my car at great cost!

Any suggestions?

Norbert666 · 8 Mar 2011 at 14:37

bledd. said:
This may help.

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/th...USB-Driver-Bug-(what-it-is-and-how-to-fix-it)

Thanks I posted that in an earlier thread when I was just having USB issues, and did the solution.

I actually took the iPhone to Apple and they've replaced it. I'm not convinced it was broken but I'll see whether my problems are resolved tonight when I connect it at home.

Fingers crossed.

Norbert666 · 8 Mar 2011 at 14:37

Diggsy said:
Can you try uninstalling SP1?

Maybe try rolling back to pre-update?

I did have a quick look and I'm not sure that's possible?

Norbert666 · 8 Mar 2011 at 19:20

So Apple gave me a new phone which I just plugged in and had exactly the same issues.

So it's definitley SP1 related.

Just seen there are 6 new updates for Win 7. I'll install those and see if it rectifies anything, and if not, try to uninstall SP1.

What a shambles.

Norbert666 · 8 Mar 2011 at 20:04

Seems I can't uninstall SP1 - the uninstall option doesn't become available like other updates. :confused:

Norbert666 · 8 Mar 2011 at 20:39

OK, I'm at a complete loss.

Brand new phone.
Completely wiped itunes and all related apple stuff (bonjour, quicktime etc - as per instructions on Apple website). Fresh install, with no music or anything.
Plug in brand new phone, and it stalls backing up.

It *has* to be something to do with Win 7 SP1. But I can't uninstall it.

It may still be the USB driver issue I guess - I did try to uninstall them but it was difficult with a USB mouse. Maybe I didn't do them all.

I'm at a complete loss - can anyone please give me some suggestions

EDIT I ran the USB fixer whatsit from here: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/th...USB-Driver-Bug-(what-it-is-and-how-to-fix-it) and it says my USB drivers are fine.

So now I'm even more lost

Norbert666 · 8 Mar 2011 at 21:02

Bunyan said:
The only reason i knew it was this is because i had the yellow question mark above the controller.

That was the first thing I did.

Seems I am getting lots of the same error messages as others:
"cannot back up as session can't be started" etc but the fixes posted do not work. That's the most frustrating part.

Norbert666 · 8 Mar 2011 at 21:04

theheyes said:
Are you both using iTunes 10.2? I'm still on 10.1 and im a bit reluctant to upgrade now since I'm running SP1. 32 or 64 bit Windows?

Latest version yes. I just completely wiped the previous version and reinstalled. Its a completely fresh itunes with a brand new phone, and its saying I can't back up. When I go to Apple the error message means my previous backup is corrupt, BUT I don't have a previous back up. Everything is brand spanking new.

Doing my ****** head in!

Norbert666 · 9 Mar 2011 at 08:12

Mattus said:
Odd.

I wonder if it would help if you made sure all Apple-related files had definitely been removed after you uninstalled all Apple software? Maybe the uninstallers are leaving a corrupted file behind or something.

Just had a quick look, and I have Apple files in the following folders:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple
C:\ProgramData\Apple
C:\ProgramData\Apple Computer
C:\Users\<me>\AppData\Local\Apple
C:\Users\<me>\AppData\Local\Apple_Inc
C:\Users\<me>\AppData\LocalLow\Apple Computer
C:\Users\<me>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer

Maybe you could check if any of those folders still exist after you've uninstalled Apple software, and if so, move or rename them before reinstalling? A bit of a scorched-earth approach, but I'm not sure what else to suggest...

I've already done this. Completely removed everything Apple, Quicktime, iTunes, iPod, Bonjour... emptied recycle bin, restarted. No joy.

Blue160 said:
Having done a lot of googling on the subject, it would appear that this is a fairly common problem. Nobody seems to have an answer though.

The error messages I am getting are all replicated on the Apple website, but the fixes provided do not fix the problem. I've not seen any posts where others are having this issue?

Diggsy said:
Hmmm, this would suggest the install of SP1 hasn't gone well. Can you try to install it again? Maybe from the exe?

It does show it as successfully installed. I will give it another try though.

Are others able to uninstall SP1?

Thanks

James

EDIT: http://windows.microsoft.com/uninstallwindows7sp1

Urgh

Microsoft said:
How to uninstall Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) contains many updates to improve Windows 7, but if you encounter a problem with hardware or a program after installing the service pack, you might want to temporarily uninstall it to troubleshoot the problem.

The easiest way to uninstall SP1 is using Programs and Features.

1.Click the Start button , click Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Programs and Features.

2.Click View installed updates.

3.Click Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932), and then click Uninstall.

If you don't see Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932) in the list of installed updates, your computer likely came with SP1 already installed, and you can't uninstall the service pack. If the service pack is listed but grayed out, you can't uninstall the service pack.

Uninstalling SP1 using the Command Prompt

Click the Start button , and then, in the search box, type Command Prompt.
In the list of results, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Type the following: wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:976932
Press the Enter key.

If you can't uninstall SP1

If you've used Disk Cleanup since installing SP1, the backup files needed to uninstall the service pack might have been deleted from your computer. To remove the service pack, you'll need to reinstall Windows 7. For installation information, see Installing and reinstalling Windows 7.

Norbert666 · 9 Mar 2011 at 09:35

Blue160 said:
Just installed a new optional Windows update.

My phone now works again

Lucky ducky! I installed the updates yesterday to no avail

Out of interest, if you go to installed updates, and select SP1, do you get the option to uninstall?

Norbert666 · 9 Mar 2011 at 19:42

Blue160 said:
I installed updates yesterday as well. This one had only appeared for me this morning, so it might be worth checking again.

I do get the option to uninstall SP1 though, so your issue may be with that.

No new updates available for me.

I can't uninstall SP1 and from this:

Microsoft said:
If you've used Disk Cleanup since installing SP1, the backup files needed to uninstall the service pack might have been deleted from your computer. To remove the service pack, you'll need to reinstall Windows 7. For installation information, see Installing and reinstalling Windows 7.

I've not done a disk cleanup, but when I look at Disk Cleanup the SP one Backup files is 0kb.

Definitely something wrong with my SP1 install even though it shows as successfully installed.

If I reinstall Win7, does that in effect wipe everything or can I reinstall over the top of what I've got?

What if I download and install SP1 again over the top or is that asking for trouble?

Norbert666 · 10 Mar 2011 at 11:07

So is reinstalling Windows looking like my only option?

Are MS aware of this? Someone posted that there were numerous threads on the interwebs with the same issue, but to be honest I'd not seen any.

Do I hold out for another MS Update or is that a lost cause?

Norbert666 · 10 Mar 2011 at 19:20

Blue160 said:
There seem to be a few different problems out there.

The one where SP1 installs the wrong USB drivers has fixes on the Apple site and other places.

Had that.

Blue160 said:
The one where iTunes freezes when you plug in your iPhone/iPod (which I had) was a compatability thing between itunes and SP1 on some systems which has now been patched.

Got that.

Blue160 said:
Your problem seems be a corrupt SP1 installation, so on the face of it a reinstallation would seem to be the best idea.

Seems I've got a bit of everything all at once!

Norbert666 · 10 Mar 2011 at 19:36

Just checked within iTunes whether there was an update. There was. It downloaded and installed. Restarted, and now iTunes says it's not installed correctly!

It's one thing after another since sodding SP1!

Norbert666 · 10 Mar 2011 at 20:47

So second attempt at installing updated iTunes worked.

Connect iPhone - there's a new OS update available for your iPhone.

Sweet! This will probably fix the issues. Click yes I want it.

It downloads. Cool.

Starts to backup before install. Crashes. Ha!

Try again. Backs up fine. Phew.

Installs OS. Nice.

Verifies install. Crashes.

Now phone is in recovery mode and basically wiped and I can't get any further.

I hate Windows 7, I hate SP1 even more, and I hate iPhones.

Norbert666 · 10 Mar 2011 at 21:40

JaseUK said:
Same thing just happened to me. iTunes + SP1 aghhhhhhhhh

Oh an btw I have read the whole of this thread and you must own my computer as I have had all the same errors as you pretty much.

Its a right pita

Bad luck old bean!

I've just used a Vista laptop to restore my iPhone successfully. We restored twice actually..

When I first connected it, it backed up so I though it was sorted. Trsnferred three tracks to the phone and only one would play.

So I've re-restored it on the laptop, and connecting to the Windows 7 pc it backed up OK, and that's as far as I've got. I daren't go any further again, as I've been installing and reinstalling iTunes and iPhone OS 4.3 for the past 3.5 hours now!

After a Hell-of-a-lot of perserverence, I'm finally left with an up-to-date version of iTunes, and a wiped but working* iPhone with OS 4.3.

I'm stopping there. Sod it. Just going to use the iPhone for phone, web and email and I'll buy a 90's ghettoblaster off ebay for music! :mad:

* it turns on!

If you get any closer to a solution, please do let me know!

Norbert666 · 12 Mar 2011 at 06:22

Mattus said:
Messed about a bit, and managed to fix it unexpectedly by running iTunes with administrative privileges (right-click the shortcut, properties, compatibility tab, check run as administrator). Obviously less than perfect, but will do until Apple/MS releases a fix. Give it a go and see if it fixes your problems.

Thanks, I'll have a look at that.

Well it didn't hang whilst backing up. It backed up and synced, but at the end of it all I get the message: "iTunes could not back up... because the backup could not be saved on the computer".

I've seen this same message dozens of times now. Apple fix is to delete historic backups, and clear sync history, but this doesn't work for me.