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iTunes 9.1 authorization and Windows 7

June 23, 2010 By 6 Comments

I recently started working with Windows 7 on my work computer (expect a slew of updates to the old Vista postings :-) ) and ran into some problems with iTunes. First off, it needed the special 64-bit installer to be run (I’m using Windows 7 64-bit), even though after doing that it installed almost everything in C:\Program Files (x86) (the default directory for 32-bit applications).

Then I tried to sync to my iPod. Oops, I forgot to authorize the new computer. So I authorized it. All seemed well, except for the Audible audiobooks… I added the Audible manager, authorized the Audible account in iTunes, and resynchronized. Now it came up with the message Some of the items in the iTunes library, including “…”, were not copied to the iPod “…” because you are not authorized for them on this computer. Yes I am. I just authorized them. Doing the authorization again confirmed that. I even restored my iPod to factory default settings (and forgot that to complete that you have to plug it in to a wall socket… :-( ). None of that helped – I still got the message.

That same message (or similar at least) popped up when I tried to play one of the protected files. And no matter how often I authorized the computer, and iTunes kept telling me that it is already authorized, it didn’t want to stick. Now, since Vista, Microsoft has introduced this new security model, mainly consisting of User Access Control (UAC), but also a change in what is considered an Administrator. In XP, it was sufficient to be part of the local administrator’s group. Under Windows 7 (and Vista), there is a distinct difference between running as a user of the Administrator’s group, and the option Run as Administrator. And apparently iTunes needs that!

After setting iTunes to Run as Administrator, I started it up and tried to play one of the protected songs. iTunes told me the computer wasn’t authorized, so I authorized it (again…). This time it seemed to stick however! The song actually played. And now it seems to actually synchronize all the songs, including the protected ones.

It does seem to take excruciatingly longer to synchronize when running iTunes as Administrator. Also, it makes me feel a little uncomfortable to say the least: it shouldn’t run as Administrator constantly. But it solved the issue for now, and I hope anyone else out there can benefit from this.. :-)

Filed Under: Music, Windows Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Kensington Bluetooth 2.0 under Windows Vista 64-bit

October 11, 2007 By 17 Comments

I finally got my Bluetooth adapter (a Kensington Bluetooth USB Adapter 2.0) working. Initially when I bought it, trying to install the factory supplied driver wouldn’t work. After a tiresome exchange with support, where they informed me that there was no Vista driver available, and they didn’t have any information about whether or not the driver would be developed.

Well, apparently they developed one (yay Kensington), but failed to inform people who had filed a request for it (Booh! Hiss!). However, when I tried to install it, everything seemed to work fine until a message box popped up informing me that the installation had failed. Digging through the Vista Temp directory, I found the installation log, with one Error message (the rest was fine): “ERROR Device plugged in, no MS stack”.

After trying to run the installation program with Administrative rights, and with UAC turned on and off, I was ready to give up. The funny thing was that the installation program just seemed to download the actual installation program, explode it, run the setup program in there, and delete it when it finished or failed. So, during a new attempt, I grabbed the directory that the installation program created. It has the platform specific files (in my case 64-bit), a setup program and some other stuff. Of course, the installation failed again, but at least I had the files now.
Update:The files are located in \Users\[you]\AppData\Local\Temp\BTW_6.0.1.6200.

When I pulled up the Device Manager in Vista, it showed the Bluetooth EDR dongle listed. I tried several different things (which I won’t mention, because they didn’t work), until I decided to Update the driver for the dongle. When Vista asked me for the driver, I pointed it to the driver directory within the exploded installation directory, and Vista was happier than a clam to install a bunch of devices (Kensington Bluetooth EDR Dongle with trace filter, Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator, and two Bluetooth devices in the Network adapters group). Yay!

The next (and last) step in setting up the adapter with my Motorola RAZR was the easiest: go to Control Panel, Bluetooth Devices, and Add a new device. Make sure your phone is discoverable, and set up a passkey. Voila! The phone should now be connected.

Next thing on the list is trying to grab floAt’s Mobile Agent. I have an older version installed, and have already figured out that the only way floAt can talk to my phone seems to be to use the COM port (when you pull up Bluetooth Devices, click your phone, select Properties, and go to the Services tab, it will tell you which COM port the phone uses).

Filed Under: Network Tagged With: , , , , ,

iTunes 7.4 not properly installed

September 26, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Somewhere along the upgrade trail from 7.3 to 7.4.2, I started getting the annoying message “iTunes was not properly installed. If you wish to import or burn CDs, you need to reinstall iTunes” whenever I start iTunes. After following this advice, and restarting iTunes, I got the message “iTunes was not properly installed. If…” – OK, you got the idea…

Apparently a lot of other people seem to be having this problem. And it happens under Vista 32 and 64 bit. Despite the message, people are reporting that importing works fine (I haven’t seen any messages confirming that burning a CD still works).

A discussion thread on the Apple Support forum helped me out: simply installing the GEAR Software drivers seemed to resolve at least the message. In some cases, a new error message pops up saying it can’t find the folder with the CD settings. In that case you have to uninstall iTunes 7.4.x, install 7.3.2, copy the CD folder to a safe location, uninstall iTunes 7.3.2, reinstall iTunes 7.4.x, install the GEAR driver, and copy the CD folder back.

I haven’t tried importing or burning a CD yet, but at least iTunes starts without pausing for me to click OK!

Filed Under: Music, Windows Tagged With: , , , , , , ,