11
Nov
06

iTunes Freezing Up

By Joshua Steimle 81 Comments Categories: Reviews & How-To

I recently downloaded iTunes 7.0.2 for Windows XP because I got a new iPod and in order to use it you have to have 7.0.2. That was a few days ago. Yesterday iTunes started freezing up within ten seconds of starting, and although whatever was playing on it would continue playing, I couldn’t access the program in any way unless I stopped it from the Task Manager. Today I’m happy to report that I found out what causes the problem and a solution that works, even if it’s not ideal.


The problem appears to have nothing to do with my new iPod, first of all, and may have nothing to do with iTunes 7.0.2 either. The problem appears to be that I have subscribed to too many podcasts.

I have my settings in iTunes such that when I turn on iTunes it starts checking for new podcasts after a few seconds. It is during this process that iTunes freezes up. I have left it alone for up to 15 minutes but it never comes back. However, I changed the settings so that I have to check manually for new podcasts and guess what–problem solved. iTunes doesn’t freeze up anymore. Of course the annoyance inherent in the solution is that I have to now manually check each podcast rather than having them all automatically check and download any updates.

Hopefully Apple will fix this issue with 7.0.3, but in the meantime having to check each podcast manually is better than not having access to iTunes at all.

If anyone has found a better solution let me know.

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  • http://www.speedyceus.com Lance Parks

    I cannot remember where I found this fix, but it worked. I uninstalled Quicktime and then reinstalled Quicktime only. After that iTunes worked perfectly.

    Here is a link to the quicktime download.

    http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html

  • Ken

    I’m having the same problem. My question is how were you able to get in and make the change before it freezes up? As soon as I open itunes it’s all over I have to end with Task Manager. Thanks

  • http://www.mwi.com Joshua Steimle

    I had 5-10 seconds before iTunes would freeze up, so I had time to get in and change the settings within the podcast section.

    I tried Lance’s suggestion but it didn’t improve anything for me.

  • Ken

    I click on itunes and instantly it is updating library and I don’t even have chance to set podcast preference. Thanks for the help though. Probably just reinstall itunes

  • Chris Cameron

    Try browsing to a music file and then selecting, play with itunes. seems to open OK and allow you to change the settings.

  • Neale

    I had to remove the iTunes Library.itl file from My Documents/My Music/iTunes . I’ve had to rebuild the library from scratch without the podcast downloads. Even using older versions of iTunes didn’t help. Irritating but it seems to be working now.

  • Mike Krieger

    Well, You fixed my freeze up problem that I worked all day on. You only have a few seconds to make these changes. As soon as iTunes opens, select PODCAST on the left side of the screen then when the Podcast screen opens, select SETTINGS at the bottom left of the screen. This opens a Podcast tab. Look for the drop down box: CHECK FOR NEW EPISODES: Select MANUAL then OK at the bottom of this screen. It may take a few times to get to the last step before lock up but it should work. Thanks all for the help.

  • Ali

    Same thing here. I got my iTunes to stop freezing up by changing my podcast settings to manual update. Strange… Thanks so much for the tip as I was about to pull my hair out!

  • DT

    Same here. Was about to roll back to the previous version of ITunes before i found this post. This only affected the itunes store for me though. as soon as i clicked into the store it froze. Everything else worked ok. Thanks anyway.

  • john

    Thanks! This method works.
    That was incredibly frustrating. I have been emailing Apple and all that they could come back with was uninstall and reinstall.
    Thanks again.

  • http://humblefamily.spaces.live.com Cassie

    Like Ken, I click on itunes and instantly it is updating library and I don’t have chance to change any preferences. It won’t allow me to do anything. I have uninstalled and installed again. I have rolled it back to the day before installing, but that doesn’t work either. It says itunes won’t run unless I install it. Can’t install the old version. I am totally lost as to what to do.

  • Jasmine

    Hey Cassie and Ken, I have the same problem as you guys too. It just begins to instantly update so I have no time to change the settings. Does anyone have any suggestions? I’ve run out of ideas.

  • http://humblefamily.spaces.live.com Cassie

    We spent an hour on the phone with them and they were as stumped as we were. We finally had to create a new library, which has been a big pain. Had to load all my music in. Then I lost all my playlists and I’m having to rebuild them from scratch.

  • Lorna

    Have you tried disabling your Internet connection before opening ITunes? That’s what worked for me, allowing me to get in and change the podcast settings.

  • Barbara

    When importing some of my CDs to iTunes, my computer freezes up during the transfer of the first song. Everything on my computer locks up, even task manager and I have to hold the power button down to shout down the computer and start again. Any ideas on how to fix this problem? I am always have the internet open while I am importing, but I am not downloading any podcasts.

  • http://www.hatontop.com KarenD

    You are my hero. After behaving nicely for months, today iTunes decided to crash my PC over and over again. I found your page, then limbered up my fingers so I could change the podcast settings before the next crash and success! I guess I didn’t need to listen to all those podcasts anyway.

  • Alex Haulman

    I followed two of the recommends listed herein and it has seemed to solve the problem of iTunes freezing up after having it open for ten seconds or so. The first thing I did was went into My Documents/My Music/iTunes and I deleted my “iTunes Library” file. After that, I opened up iTunes, clicked on the “Preferences” selection under the Edit menu. Clicking on the Podcast tab, I selected “Manually” under the “Check for new Episodes” dropdown. I am no longer having a problem with iTunes. I will rebuild my Library and continue to check for podcast updates manually. Hopefully Apple will be able to correct this issue with a future version of iTunes. I hope this helps others. Thank you to all of you who offered advise for a novice.

  • Katrina

    I was having the same problem you listed – itunes would freeze when I tried to launch – getting stuck on the “updating library”
    I did almost the same thing listed above, but instead of deleting the library, I created a new folder called “ITBackUp” and moved all the itunes music files there. I was able to open itunes and change the podcast setting. I then moved the ITBackUp folders/files back into the itunes music folder. Problem fixed! I was able to open itunes again with no problems!!! [knock on wood] It’s been months since I’ve been in and I’m thrilled!

  • Rob L

    Thanks Mike Krieger for the tip. Works fine now. Never thought i’d miss listening to my podcasts so much :D

  • PierreP

    Had The same problem with itunes freezing trying to update the libary. I unplugged my internet connection and that solved the problem for me

  • http://www.iTunesHaters.com Troubled

    i tried the Podcast solution, it didnt work! What am I to do? Im offered an even latest download of iTunes when it comes up, does it work?

  • Eura

    I had the exact same problem with the podcasts. I tried your solution and it worked! Thanks so much for the help, I was about to give up and just go back to my CD player :]

  • Bo

    I’m having the same problem as Barbara:
    iTunes starts to import a CD and within a few seconds the computer locks right up, disabling both the mouse and keyboard, leaving me no option but to perform a manual restart.

    Any ideas?

  • coz

    I’m another XP user who is having the freeze up issue. Unfortunately, to my painful dismay, none of the suggestions listed above have worked for me.

    1. The program loads too quickly to get in and change podcast settings.
    2. Opening an mp3 with iTunes still forces it to try to update the library.
    3. Disconnecting internet connection and starting iTunes proved to do the exact same thing and get stuck in the same exact place.
    4. Uninstalled and reinstalled quicktime and itunes and it did nothing.
    5. I’ve even tried installing itunes on another hard drive and cleaned out all my dupe files.
    6. When i go to programs/iTunes I see no directory called “iTUnes Library” so i have nothing to temporarily move like Katrina said she did.

    Can anyone suggest anything else? I BOUGHT THE iPHONE TODAY and I cannot even get into the device until it’s activated which can only be done through iTunes! Argh!! I need some sort of safe-mode entry or way to bypass its natural instinct to update the library. Please :( I’m dying over here.

  • DJM

    Just like cos, I’ve tried all the suggestions listed here plus I tried to replace the iTunes Library file a backup from a few weeks ago. If I have any iTunes library file in place, iTunes tries to update the library and then it freezes. Any work around from Apple?

  • M1

    I would think that if your backup was from a previous version of iTunes, there might be compatibility issues and that is why it wouldn’t work correctly. Try doing what Katrina did and backing up your current library, and then deleting the current one. For me, simply cutting off the internet worked, although it did freeze but came back in about 10 seconds. Also, for coz, the itunes library file is in My Documents/My Music/iTunes, not programs/iTunes.

  • M1

    If the iTunes Library file was from a previous version of iTunes, there might be compatibility issues with your current version, which might explain why it wouldn’t work. Try doing what Katrina did and backup your current iTunes Library and then removing your current one. (let it load and then change your podcast settings). In my case, simply cutting off the internet and then changing my podcast settings worked. Also, for coz, the iTunes Library file will be in My Documents/My Music/iTunes, not in programs/iTunes. hope that helps.

  • Peter II

    ***** I Think I’ve Figured out the Solution *****

    Hi Guys, I was having the same problem many of you were describing, but was suspicious that the problem might have to do with one of my Podcast. I was right. Once I removed Ratatouille (I’m thinking the problem isn’t with that particular Podcast, rather a glitch that interrupted it’s initial download but then caused the subsequent freezes.) I was able to change my Podcast settings back from manual to automatic with no problems. Here’s what you do:

    1. Disconnect the internet from your computer so iTunes can’t freeze up while you have the program open.

    2. As described above, change your Podcast settings by going to “Edit”, then “Preferences”, then “Podcasts”, then “Check for new episodes:” Change the selection to “Manually.”

    3. Reconnect your computer to the internet.

    4. Now go to the Podcast section of iTunes and start going down the list of Podcasts by updating each Podcast (not each episode, rather each category) separately. You’ll know you’ve found the problem Podcast when your computer freezes.

    5. Manually force iTunes to close by right-clicking on the button on your taskbar, and choosing “Close.”

    6. Re-open iTunes and remove the problem Podcast from your iTunes library (You will be given the option of deleting the files. This isn’t necessary. You can save them and just delete the Podcast from your list.)

    7. Once you’ve removed the problem Podcast from iTunes, reverse step #2. You should be good to go!

  • Peter II

    I should add that in light of my post above, I am of the opinion that the problem is only coorelated with an increased number of Podcasts (higher probability of an error) but that this isn’t the reason iTunes is freezing. I currently have 18 different podcasts with a total of 383 episodes and my iTunes is running just fine now.

  • Carlos

    Same problem as Bo and Barabar above. When importing some of my CDs to iTunes (or Rhapsody for that matter), my computer freezes up during the transfer of the very first song. The mouse still moves but nothing (includingTask Manager) can get the program to respond or end. I have to hold the power button down to shut down the PC. I’m running Windows XP on a HP Slimline s7320n, if that helps. Any ideas??? (Oddly enough, copies of the CD can be created on a second PC and then they import just fine on the first.)

  • Winchestergirl

    Thanx so much for the help. As soon as i downloaded 7 my itunes kept freezing up. I too have alot of podcast subscriptions and when i turned it to manual everything was fine. thanx thanx thanx

  • ATLmom

    Thanks so much!!!! I reinstalled iTunes and it still froze up…then I played the game of trying to get to podcasts before it froze up…I eventually beat the computer and changed my podcasts to manual!! voila! its works again!!!! Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Now to see if Apple even tries to respond to my plea for help….

  • Peter II

    ||||||||||||||||||||||GUYS, I’m Telling You, There is No Need to Set Your iTunes to Manual.|||||||||||||||||||||||
    |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| See My Solution From July 6th|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

  • Rob

    Alright guys, I’m having the same problems. Except I have no podcasts, just music. When I’m importing a cd, it might get half the disc, then WAMMO, it freezes everything out, no mouse movement, no device manager, nothing but a total power down to regain control. I have all the automatic options unchecked, but still happens with the new Itunes. Can anyone help me???

  • Todd

    I am with ya Rob. I have no podcasts and yet my iTunes is still freezing up when I try and open it. It just started a few days ago. I have reinstalled, deleted my library and its freezing up when I am redoing my library. This is unreal.

  • Jason

    I’ve got the same problem as you two. I was doing fine, reloading my CD collection to iTunes on Friday. Got through about 30 CDs or so.

    On Sunday when I continued the process, I made it through about 9 more (with each getting progressively slower to import) before it started locking up my computer halfway through ripping the CDs.

    I’m not subscribed to any podcasts.

  • Pw.

    A giant thanks to Peter II. Until two days ago, itunes 7.4.2 was running great. and then the Sh*t hit the fan. I followed his suggestions and am happy to say that my mac is running as it should.
    Darn podcasts- the route of the problem.
    Thanks Peter II- greatly appreciated

  • Paul

    I am on Win XP – iTunes working great – I started downloading the Podcast, “Attack of the show” – ALL OF THEM – and after several hours of successful downloading most of the files – WHAM! Lock-up

    I ended the usual way – Task Manager & followed Apple’s advice on http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93976 – And tried them all – from completely removing iTunes, rebooting, emptying the Temp file, rebooting, reinstalling iTunes, to no avail.

    I noticed in the Temp file Apple is referring to that 3 files would not delete, Windows said they were in use and cannot be deleted – so I found this site http://www.softwarepatch.com/tips/howto-delete-xp.html – Where you mark the files to be deleted, reboot, and the files are deleted before Windows starts. The files kept reappearing (I found out they are supposed to – LOL – Windows puts them back on)

    Then I found this site

    I went to “My Music” – “iTunes” then renamed the file “iTunes Music” – I put a 2 in front of it.

    Restarted iTunes – And BINGO – It worked… But of course couldn’t find music or Podcasts.

    I closed it – the easy way this time – X – and there was a new file “iTunes Music” – empty – I deleted it, and renamed the one I edited earlier by removing the 2.

    I then found “Podcasts” under My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music – and found “Attack of the shows daily video podcsat” – I renamed it by adding the 2 again – restarted iTunes – Works great.

    Then, I was about to delete the whole Attack of the Show Podcast file and re-subscribe, but thought – why not try renaming it back, and see what happens……. IT WORKS!

    I think by simply renaming the “iTunes Music” folder the first time, and restarting iTunes, it allowed iTunes to start, and get over what was causing the hang-up.

    THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!

    I just did this – and it works great so far… I’ll keep ya posted

    -Paul

  • henridavidrenier

    Thank you. I deleted the aforementioned iTunes library file, started iTunes, changed the settings NOT to perform sound check. Then restored the library file. Everything is back, podcasts, playlists, you name it. THANK YOU

  • Lee

    I have no pod casts.

    I have no problems turning on my itunes.

    I can click as quick as I want between songs. I click like crazy to make it lock up but it doesnt. In the begining of any song.

    But, when it gets to 8 or 9 seconds it locks up, and I can not touch it for maybe 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then it is fine again. For a while.

    I tried the ctrl-t to get beyond the 8 or 9 second problem and that works. I saw that somewhere. But, I dont love that solution.

    I tried re-intalling quick time. DId not work.

    I tried renaming my itune files.

    I dont have the time, or want to totally delete my entire library and playlists and stuff. But it is really frustrating. I loved I tunes up until about 2 weeks ago.

    The only thing I can think of is that under previous itunes libraries it has 2 dates. One of them is from about 2 weeks ago. Jan 16.

    Why does itunes create new libraries? Was there an update on/around that date that messed with my itunes?

    Any help?

  • bump

    Im with Lee on this. I dont do ANYTHING but import cds and listen to them. Then i updated to the new itunes. Every 15-20 seconds it’ll freeze but the music still plays. then after like 30 seconds, it goes back to normal. and it constantly does this. what the eff?

  • Corey

    Same problem. Freezes up every time a song starts, 30 sec to 1 min later it will return to normal, but during that time I my comp speed is slowed way down (in gaming i go to about 1-5 fps, window scrolling dramatically reduced). Only started noticing it about a week ago. The only other piece of info I have is that when I’m in iTunes and trying to scroll up and down, there is a beeping sound coming from inside my tower. I don’t know if this has anything to do with a possible problem, but it annoys me, along with the rest of this issue.

  • Lee

    Ok.

    Itunes released notice on Jan 23,2008 that states they are aware of a problem. This site does give options.

    I did try thier first part and I created another user on my computer and when I go into Itunes in the new user it does not have my library imported, but Itunes does work.

    Thier solution to recreate the library, and some other solutions that I have not tried.

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302856

    keep us updated.

    Lee

  • Corey

    Alright, I think I found a solution to this whole mess. I waited for the new iTunes version to come out hoping that they would fix the problem by then, but after I installed it the problem continued. I followed Lee’s link to the iTunes website and checked to see if it was my entire system or just the specific user. iTunes worked fine on the other user account, so I then followed the directions on how to remove the iTunes preferences files. After I moved the preference file located at:
    C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes
    to the desktop, I started iTunes and it worked perfectly. I don’t know if this is the answer to everyone else’s issues, but I sure hope so. Thanks to this post my computer is not lying in a heap in the parking lot.

    Corey

  • Al

    Hi, I have tried everything everyone has suggested. My Itunes freezes right when i start it up…i cannot click on anything to set any podcast settings. However, if i disable my internet connection itunes runes just fine. But as soon as i turn my internet connection back on…itunes freezes right up. Any suggestions??

  • dragonfly

    I know it’s a little maddening, but the problem stems from oversized libraries being cataloged. It’s software, and sometimes it’s not perfect. That’s why they release updates for these things. The most assured way to overcome this problem is to delete all the songs in your library, delete iTunes, temporarily move your music into a new folder without the iTunes labeling in your My Music section, reload iTunes (essentially starting from scratch), and slowly reload by drag-n-drop your music into the iTunes interface in about 500 to 1000 song increments (or about 50 to 100 albums at a time). And to prevent compiling duplicates of everything, once you load a batch, delete the songs you just copied out of that temporary new folder you made where you moved the music (so your hard drive doesnt fill up). This seems to give the program time to cope. The gapless playback stuff still happens, but it doesnt hang, and once it’s done you will never have to worry about it again. And yes it will take a long time if you have a good amount of music. I’ll grant you this is an unusual thing for Apple to release a problematic program, but I guarantee they will attend to it soon. Besides, most of the posts I’ve read seem to be from PC users, and you guys should just plain old be USED to your crap not working.

  • http://myspace.com/destrox71689 Andrew Colomy

    hi whenever i start itunes i click on the ipod and sync songs, then it asks me to do a scan of my drive. i dont know what i could possibly be missing in my drive

  • Kris

    Well, I had the problem happening just about every time that I used iTunes. So I decided that it could be a problem with a song or something, so I started deleting possible problem causers (songs that I added after the problem started). So I went through my library deleting what I could do without, because I was sick and tired of it locking up. I found that there was a CD in my iTunes library that was all Windows Media player format! Not sure how it got there, but it was! (Sad though, because it was Three Days Grace…) so I deleted it. Since then I have had it lock up only once in two weeks. I’m thinking that one time was a fluke since I had iTunes up with AT LEAST 7 other programs – including that [insert curse word here] Microsoft Word. So there’s a tip, go make sure nothing involving Windows Media player format is in your libraries – hope it works!

  • Unlucky

    Well, looks like I’m with the unlucky bunch. My iTunes freezes on startup, instantly, I have no time whatsoever to click around. Not to mention uninstalling/reinstalling iTunes and Quicktime does nothing. Plus, I have a new iPod so it HAS to run on the newest iTunes….

    Good thing it’s not my iPod (I will never buy an Apple product, awful stuff), but I feel bad for my mom…

  • kayaalonmei

    Awesome fix. The podcast settings change fixed my problem perfectly! good luck to you unlucky.

  • http://klarsen@blc.edu Kris

    Good luck with my last post… ya know, deleting Windows Media files. It locked after about two days (a record) so I called up apple and got some help – it worked for a long while, but just locked up yesterday, maybe it was a fluke. But according to the apple techies that if this begins to happen, you’ll want to reinstall iTunes, then if that doesn’t work go into your library (with all programs shut down) and go into the preferences folder and delete all preferences that have iTunes in the name. After that is done, close the finder window and open up iTunes – it should look as though it has been reset. All of your music is there and all, but there’s nothing customized about anything (cause you deleted the preferences, tada!). If that doesn’t work (here’s where I’m at now) you’ll want to find the Mac install disks and pop one (not sure which since I can’t find mine… GAH!) and restart the mac while holding the D key down. Then you go through a hardware check because at this point, iLogic (whatever that is) is probably the problem at this point. iLogic has apparently been known to cause problems like this if it breaks down. The only way to fix the problem with iLogic is to send it in and see if it can be replaced. Ugh… big problem.
    Anyway, you should all call for Apple help and let ‘em know that you’ve done this. If everybody starts doing the same thing and THEY KNOW WE DID, then who knows… I can only hope and pray that stuff like this comes around less and less frequently.

  • Sammyb1233

    My Itunes freezes up when I plug my ipod in, but it’s not because of Podcasts. Because it freezes up, in order to disconnect my Ipod, I have to pull it out, which messes up my Ipod. What do I do?

  • Henry

    Thanks Paul !

    I tried everything, but that worked !
    Just change Itunes in Itunes Music.
    When you open itunes there’s nothing. Then delete the new map named Itunes and rename itunes music in Itunes !

    THX

  • JL

    As of yesterday, my iTunes 8 was freezing every time I opened it. At first, the music would stil play but I couldnt click on anything. Then it would just open and freeze. So I tried to podcast fix. This stopped it from freezing, except if I tried to play music. Then I quickly stopped the “Gapless playback detection” or whatever, and now it seems to work fine. How do I turn that stupid thing off? I didnt see it in preferences.

  • Connie

    Thank you Thank you! Finally something that worked just right. I was getting sick of iTunes locking up my whole computer!

  • Erika

    yeah i have the same problem when i plugg in my usb cord itunes freezes and its a brand new computer so what is wrong please iam despreat.

  • matt

    ttthhhaaannnkkksss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    did what peteII said and it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Alan

    i also had a problem with my itunes freezing, what i did was go into settings and switch the podcasts to manual update and unsubscribed from all podcasts and that fixed the problem right there

  • Marta

    I have recieved my new iPod from Amazon and right when I installed iTunes and then plugged in my iPod..both did not function…my iPod could not open in iTunes and then iTunes FROZE! What is wrong with the new software??? My computer is new, the iPod is new and I have freshly installed the new iTunes!! What is going on?? :( Please please please help me with this problem!

  • http://criticalunity.org Dudeman

    Hey man:

    7Mike Krieger
    Jan 13th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
    Well, You fixed my freeze up problem that I worked all day on. You only have a few seconds to make these changes. As soon as iTunes opens, select PODCAST on the left side of the screen then when the Podcast screen opens, select SETTINGS at the bottom left of the screen. This opens a Podcast tab. Look for the drop down box: CHECK FOR NEW EPISODES: Select MANUAL then OK at the bottom of this screen. It may take a few times to get to the last step before lock up but it should work. Thanks all for the help.”

  • Laana

    Ohk.. well the thing is when i go into itunes its all fine but when i press Itunes Store it load for less than a second and then freezes.. I have no idea what to do.. and without logging into itunes store i cant access my ipods info to dowload stuff onto it :[

    Plz help xx
    Laana

  • dan

    I also had to delete the podcasts on my iphone that I downloaded via wifi versus itunes(slide finger accross screen for delete button.) Pluged iphone back in and itunes is working and syncing properly:)

  • John

    I’m at the latest 9.0.3.15 version and it still freezes up for me. Apple needs to learn about multi-threading and incorporate it into iTunes. There is no reason with today’s multi-core processors that iTunes shouldn’t be able to download podcasts in the background without freezing up podcast playing in the forground.

  • Sebastian

    Mine is always freezing but i dont know whats the problem…..i have the podcast thing turned off and now i cant listen to my music when im doing something with no sound!!!! help me please!!!

  • Vincent

    Same here. Mine freezes almost always when downloading several podcasts (usually not if it´s just one at the time).

    Have iMac 24 Intel Core Duo 2.8GHz with 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM.

    The problem occurs both wireless and with cable internet connection.

    Help!

    Vincent

  • http://www.everything-airsoft.com/blog Matt Glen Mckenzie

    Pete II’s solution worked for me, I turned update to manual and manually updated each podcast till I found the offending podcast. Turned out to be ‘Keith and The Girl’ podcast. A little investigation revealed that they have ALL 1172 episodes in their feed and the feed file is 1.5MB. It’s bad practice and they seriously need truncate their feed.

  • KonataIzumi

    uh hi…… is there any other solution besides the podcast thing and removing internet? PLease help!!!!! this was driving me insane for dayssssss

  • MichaelHopkins

    Well, my problem is similar to some of the above, but not exact (and the solutions don’t seem to work for me).

    I am using Windows 7 and the 64-bit version of iTunes (not sure if this matters). I have discovered (after having the problem for several months) that the problem only exists on video podcasts. When observing the download of a video podcast, it doesn’t freeze up until it appears to have downloaded 100% of the podcast. After about 20 minutes iTunes becomes available again. Then I click on the video podcast to play it, and you guessed it, it freezes up again for another 20 minutes. This all for a podcast that is only 4 minutes long.

    All audio only podcasts work perfectly, and once they actually start playing, the video podcast are fine too. However, after 40 minutes of delay (per video podcast) for only 4 minutes of information is a little like going back to 1998 and using dial-up to AOL.

    Any help or direction would be great!

  • http://www.ThatTrumpetGuy.com Chris Roberts

    iTunes 9.1.2.5, Windows XP

    After fighting iTunes all weekend thinking I had done something wrong because my iTunes Preferences Devices tab would freeze up iTunes, I tried something that made no sense. After uninstalling and reinstalling all weekend, I finally disconnected from my home wireless network. Clicked my iTunes Preferences Devices tab and there it was. I did click the “don’t autosync” selection.

    I usually sync when I’m at work on the hard network, only on wireless at home. What a crazy ass bug that is. Reconnected to wireless network, synced up, ready to go. I just hated wasting so much of the weekend unnecessarily.

  • Frost

    Hi.

    I have itunes on Windows 7. Up until a week or 2 ago my itunes was woking totally fr**king fine. THEN when i updated it to the newest version, whatever the heck it is now, it went poler. NOW it freezes up everytime i open it up, about 5 seconds or less after the program opens. It wont let me do ANYTHING. i cant even listen to anything, back up my ipod, nothing.

    Oh, i had to replace my ipod last week, when my old one had a defective headphone jack. It worked fine the first day, and i backed it up. Now, not so much.

    I tried restoring to an older version – failed to fix anything.
    Reinstalled quicktime – failed too.

    Can’t sync my ipod anymore either. it fails to sync, and says “error, cannot connect iphone….” ITS NOT EVEN AN IPHONE!! *crying*

    What do i DO???

  • Joe

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

    Problem solved (for now anyways!)

    My Itunes would always freeze when I would plug in my iphone or any time that I clicked on the DEVICES tab on my laptops Itunes. I disconnected my computer from the internet and then everything worked great! Synced up my phone; did all my software upgrades and all good now. However, if when I reconnect to the internet I can no longer click on DEVICES tab again. Good enough for me for now!

  • March

    My itunes never freeze except when i connect my ipod it starts to backup apps and then it just freezes leaving me unable to sync my music, someone helps please?

  • DCKeene

    I was having the same issues. Every time I logged in and the podcasts would start to download, it would freeze. So I took this advise and and set the settings to just manual update. So when I was doing the manual updates, every time I got to the Ellen Degeners Show videocast, it would freeze up again. So I unsubscribed to the vidcast, put the settings back to update every hour and it works perfectly.

    Thank you for the help!

  • ian

    turned off internet
    worked perfectly

  • paul silvester

    I found a solution to the lockup problem. You could try this. Make sure nothing is running on your computer except Windows. Plug in your iPod. Open Task Manager. Click on the “Processes” tab. Close ALL processes that have anything to do with iPod or iTunes. For example – iPodservice.exe, AppleMobileDevice. It is essential that all these associated processes are closed. Close Task Manager. WAIT for about 2 minutes. Open My Computer. Your iPod should show up as a Removable Disk. Close My Computer. Open iTunes. After about 60 seconds your iPod should show up under Devices. This has to be done every time you want to use iTunes and your iPod but at least you get to use them.

  • Wolf

    Well i turnd off internet and it let me delete the podcasts that i was downloading, every time i clickt on podcast it would freez so i turnd internet off and in 10 seconds it let me delete the files and now iit works fine…..

  • bill

    Chect to make sure that you have components to 1 security installed. I had remove Macafee , but did not remove Family Configuration installed by Mccafee. I removed it and bingo, my computer did not freeze and I was able to connect to itunes store.
    Hope this works for you.

  • Melissa

    Number 60 worked for me!!!!!!

  • roger fuentes

    have u guys ever took the second to think maybe its ur usb cable?

  • hairyleprechaun

    Thanks for all the help guys. #60 finally solved the crashing problems with my iTunes.

    I have been having this problem for quite awhile, though for me it happens intermittently and could happen at any time, though most often when trying to updates apps. I had no idea that it could be related to an old podcast I had subscribed to a few years ago.

    Interestingly enough, after adjusting the podcast settings to check for updates manually, a small dialog box popped up that said iTunes was organizing my files, and then it queried all of my apps downloaded over the last year or two

  • Henryx

    THANKS GUYS!!!!

    You Fixed it!!!!

    I was going insane with my iTunes frozed up Updating Library.
    I did two things mentioned in the first posts and it just worked: Disabled my internet connection, opened iTunes and change the Podcast to Manual. Thanks LORNA!!!

    It is incredible that the same solution worked for a PC running WIn7 and iTunes 10.5.2
    This forum rocks!!!!