Apple

TGM Q&A: Software: iTunes says its running in compatibility mode when started fix

Feb 14th

Posted by anovelo in Apple

No comments

apple In the past couple of days, I have received may requests for help concerning another iTunes issue.  It seems that on some iTunes installs, that when you start iTunes you get a message

"iTunes.exe has been set to run in compatibility mode for an older version of Windows.
For best result, turn off compatibility mode of iTunes before you open it."

TS1489_2

     If you click ok on the message then iTunes opens just fine and works, but seeing that message every time is just an annoyance that just shouldn’t be there.  The solution offered by Apple (LINK: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1489 (http://support NULL.apple NULL.com/kb/TS1489)) is

Resolution

Try these steps to turn Windows compatibility mode off:

  1. Quit iTunes.
  2. Windows XP and Windows 2000: On the Start menu, click My Computer (or double-click My Computer on the Desktop).
    Windows Vista and Windows 7: On the Start menu, click Computer.
  3. In My Computer, open the C:\ drive (or whichever disk your Windows is installed on).
  4. Open the Program Files folder or "Program Files (x86)" if you are using a 64-bit version of Windows Vista or Windows 7).
  5. Open the iTunes folder.
  6. Right-click on the iTunes application (iTunes or iTunes.exe) and from the shortcut menu, click Properties.
  7. Click the Compatibility tab.
  8. Deselect the checkbox under Compatibility mode if it’s selected.
  9. Click OK.
  10. Open iTunes and play a song.

     However, as many of the requests for help have said the Apple solution does NOT work for everyone.  For those, who still have issues after following the Apple solution, the I have a fix for you.

NOTE: THE SOLUTION WILL INVOLVE A CHANGE TO THE WINDOWS REGISTRY.  FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY AND DO NOT MAKE ANY OTHER CHANGES TO YOUR REGISTRY UNLESS YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THOSE CHANGES WILL DO. THE REGISTRY CONTROLS WHAT YOUR PC DOES. ANY UNNESSESARY CHANGES COULD BREAK YOUR MACHINE. THIS IS YOUR WARNING.  Now with that said on to the solution.

  • Go to start –> run –> regedit
  • When the registry opens go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers

compatibility fix reg1

***Note that there are also sections for Windows, WindowsNT, Windows Mail, etc, so make sure you are looking under Windows NT (You can also verify at the bottom).

  • Once you are on the Layers section, look at the Window on the right and you will see a software key that says iTunes.exe.  Delete that key by right clicking on it and then selecting delete. (Your key may look a little different depending on where you installed iTunes). 

image

     Once that is done, close the registry editor and start iTunes, and you should no longer see that message.

, , ,

And More! Crash Different – When a Mac doesn’t like you

Nov 8th

Posted by anovelo in And More!

No comments

     I had a run in with a Mac that didn’t like me this weekend.  I guess the Mac knew I was a Windows 7 fan.  An issue that I figured would take a few minutes ended being an all day problem.  Who said Mac’s were easy. 

     I happen to discover this little Mac Video (It isn’t me or anyone else here at TGM) this evening, and with the issues that I had to go thru with the Mac that didn’t like me.  I figured I would share this video for anyone else who had a bad day with a Mac.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvXZVJXIyqM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0]

, ,

Apple: How to Get into your Mac when You’re Locked Out!pple

Oct 18th

Posted by anovelo in Apple

No comments

apple (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/apple1 NULL.jpg) The following post comes from The Tech Advisors (http://thetechadvisors.wordpress.com/ (http://thetechadvisors NULL.wordpress NULL.com/)), which is a great Mac resource.  TGM reposts this for the benefit of those TGM readers who use Mac’s.  With a special Thanks to Alex Hwang at The Tech Advisors for letting me share.

************************************************************

From the Tech Advisors Post (http://thetechadvisors.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/how-to-get-into-your-mac-when-youre-locked-out/ (http://thetechadvisors NULL.wordpress NULL.com/2009/08/05/how-to-get-into-your-mac-when-youre-locked-out/))

I’m sure we’ve all been the situation when we’ve forgotten a password. No biggie, just press the “Oh! I forgot my password” link below the sign-in box, right? Well, yes, if it’s just a web page. Now, if you’re locked out of you’re Mac, that’s a toughie to get out of. Either you bring it to apple or hack your way in. I’m going to show you how to hack your way in.

I’m using the term “hack” loosely, as I’m just going to detail how to reset your password on your Mac; I will show another way after this which involves creating another user account.

Concerning Resetting Password on 10.5 Leopard

If you have been unfortunately locked out of your wonderful new Mac running 10.5 Leopard, here’s how to reset your password on it.

“

  1. Power on or restart your Mac.
  2. At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off (http://www NULL.macyourself NULL.com/2008/10/17/keep-your-macs-volume-settings-and-startup-chime-under-control/)), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode. [After this you should see black and white letters running down through your screen like you're a hacker]
  3. This step is optional, but it’s a good idea because it checks the consistency of the hard disk before moving on. At the prompt, type fsck -fy and press Enter/Return. Wait for the checks to complete before going to the next step.
  4. Type mount -uw / and press Enter. [Mounts the startup disk]
  5. Type launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.DirectoryServices.plistand press Enter.
  6. Type ls /Users and press Enter. This lists all of the usernames on the computer – helpful if you don’t know or remember what these are.
  7. Type dscl . -passwd /Users/username password and replace “username” with one of the users displayed in the previous step. Replace “password” with a new password of your choice. Press Enter.
  8. Type reboot and press Enter.

“

[Macyourself tutorial (http://www NULL.macyourself NULL.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-without-an-installer-disc/)]

Concerning Resetting Password on 10.4 Tiger

Be careful to remember that resetting the passwords on these two different operating systems have different instructions, so don’t mix them up. [unless you want to potentially destroy your system]

“

  1. Power on or restart your Mac.
  2. At the chime (or grey screen if your chime is turned off), hold down Command+S on your keyboard to enter single-user mode.
  3. Type sh /etc/rc and press Enter/Return.
  4. Type passwd username and replace “username” with the short name of the user account for which you’d like to reset the password.
  5. Type your desired password and press Enter. It won’t show itself on the screen, so be careful what you type. You will most likely have to enter it again to confirm.
  6. Type reboot and press Enter.

[Macyourself tutoria (http://www NULL.macyourself NULL.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-without-an-installer-disc/)l]

“

If you don’t want to mess around with command-line password resetting,

don’t. The ways detailed above are much faster than creating a whole new account and registering a new account. Anyways, you still must use the command line to delete the systems files Mac OS reads during startup, and that could be catastrophic, even resulting in your computer not being able to start up. But, if you want to, just read the article I’ve hyperlinked twice above. [Macyourself tutoria (http://www NULL.macyourself NULL.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-without-an-installer-disc/)l].

If you want all this stuff good and printed so it’s ready in your desk whenever you need it, (ahh)

I’ve created a pdf with this info. It’s located here: [Click Here (http://dl NULL.getdropbox NULL.com/u/529804/Macresetpassword NULL.pdf)]

Well, that’s it! Just remember to use your new-found power wisely and not on a computer that’s not your own because that’s… hacking! Thanks for reading and please rate this post!

, ,

TGM: Q and A – iPod Not loading music bought on iTunes or from CD

Oct 18th

Posted by anovelo in Apple

No comments

    apple (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/apple NULL.jpg) One of the questions I did receive this week involves not being able to add new music (either from the iTunes store or from CD) to an iPod. 

     I didn’t get to many details on what version of iTunes or what kind of iPod or if this was Windows or Mac, which made this answer a little difficult.  Using the idea that it involves a new(or newer) version of iTunes, and taking a stab at it based on previous history with iTunes, here is what I think for both Windows and Mac. (**If this is not correct, I just ask the person who sent in the initial question to send me a follow up message with as much detail as possible and I’ll see what I can do).

In Windows:

    Sometimes the iTunes updater does not properly update.  The updater is supposed to update the version on your pc and then update iTunes on your iPod, however, sometimes if you disconnect your iPod before the update is complete or if the PC froze or any of a 1000 “Acts of Nature” occurred, then it could be that your iPod never got its part of the update. 

So this is what you do –

  • From your PC – Open My computer –> The on the address bar on top type c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Apple\Installer Cache.  If you typed it correctly you should end up with a page that looks similar to the picture below.

Software update 1 (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/softwareupdate1 NULL.jpg)  The reason you will type this in is that by default in Windows the Application Data folder is considered a hidden folder and you wont find it unless you unhide your folders in Windows.

  • Within this Installer Cache folder you may see more than one  Apple Software Update folder, if that is the case select the folder with the highest number (2.1.1.116 is the number in my case) or the newest folder if you are looking at the window via details view

Apple fix2 (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/applefix2 NULL.jpg)                                              

  • Now double click on the file marked AppleSoftwareUpdate.msi.

Apple fix3 (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/applefix3 NULL.jpg)

  • You will now see the Repair function, select that and the system will reinstall the update you selected.

Apple fix4 (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/applefix4 NULL.jpg)

  • Once that update is completed.  Click on finish, and try again, and that should correct the issue.  

From a Mac:

This is from Apple Support (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1461 (http://support NULL.apple NULL.com/kb/TS1461))

Certain models of single processor Power Macintosh G5 computers may show iPod nano mounted in the Finder but not recognized in iTunes. If this happens to you, try restarting your computer and Setting Energy Saver to highest performance and turn off hard disk sleep. If you have an iPod nano, but don’t have a G5, then follow the other steps below.

Mac OS X 10.5.x
  1. Insert your Mac OS X 10.5 install disc.
  2. Open the "Optional Installs" folder.
  3. Double-click Optional Installs.mpkg.
  4. On the Custom Install window of the Installer, select the option to install iPod Support.
Mac OS X 10.4.x

Install the latest available Mac OS X 10.4.x update. If you are already using the latest version of Mac OS X 10.4, or if updating does not help, perform an archive installation (http://www NULL.info NULL.apple NULL.com/kbnum/n107120) of Mac OS X 10.4.

Mac OS X 10.3.x
  1. Navigate to /System/Library/Extensions.
  2. Drag the iPodDriver.kext file to the Trash (you will be required to enter an administrator account password).
  3. Download and install the Mac OS X Combined Update 10.3.9 (http://www NULL.apple NULL.com/support/downloads/macosxcombinedupdate1039 NULL.html).
  4. Restart the computer when prompted to do so by the installer.
  5. Connect the iPod.

Mac OS X 10.2.8 and earlier
To resolve this issue with earlier versions of Mac OS X, you’ll need to delete one file and reinstall iTunes. Follow each of the steps below.

Step 1
Delete the file using Terminal

Warning: The steps below describe how to remove a file by entering commands in the Terminal application (located in the Utilities folder inside of the Applications folder). Users unfamiliar with Terminal and UNIX-like environments should proceed with caution. The entry of incorrect commands may result in data loss or unusable system software.

  1. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities).
  2. Type: sudo rm -R /System/Library/Extensions/iPodDriver.kext
  3. Press Return.
  4. Enter the administrator account password when prompted.
  5. Quit Terminal.
  6. Restart the computer (From the Apple menu, choose Restart).

Step 2
Reinstall iTunes

  1. Download the latest version of iTunes from the iTunes download page (http://www NULL.apple NULL.com/itunes/download).
  2. Install iTunes.
  3. Restart the computer after the installation has completed.
  4. Connect iPod.

Step 3
Delete the iPod.plist file

Remove the following file in the your home directory and open iTunes again.
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ipod.plist\

*****As always I am just making suggestions based on information give.  If the information I receive is incomplete, the suggestion my not work.  It is up to you to make sure you take backup your software (or files or Music) before trying any repair solutions, in case a restore is required.

, ,

APPLE: Fix for iTunes error – The registry settings used by the iTunes drivers for importing and burning CDs and DVDs are missing

Sep 27th

Posted by anovelo in Apple

35 comments

***Update 11/7/2009 – Am additional step that may help a few of you who were unable to resolve the issue after following the steps in the original post. Follow the original steps in the post and then do the step in RED at the bottom of the post

***********************************************************************

itunes_logo (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/itunes_logo NULL.jpg) Today’s post covers an iTunes error that seems to be a fairly common issue with iTunes, however, if you look on the Apple site there doesn’t seem to be an answer other than download the latest version and reinstall. 

“ERROR: The registry settings used by the iTunes drivers for importing and burning cds and DVDs are missing… Please re-install iTunes”

The problem with the update/reinstall solution is that (as many have reported) it doesn’t fix the problem. 

I received a call from a family member asking for assistance with fixing this today.  Here is what I did and was able to get it corrected without having to reinstall iTunes. 

  1. Make sure that iTunes is closed and if you have an iPod that it isn’t connected to the pc during this fix.
  2. Go to the GEAR Software website http://www.gearsoftware.com/support/drivers.cfm (http://www NULL.gearsoftware NULL.com/support/drivers NULL.cfm) and download the latest GEAR drivers (iTunes uses GEAR software drivers for importing and burning CD’s & DVD’s)
 GEAR software (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/gearsoftware NULL.jpg) From the GEAR website -
http://www.gearsoftware.com/support/drivers.cfm (http://www NULL.gearsoftware NULL.com/support/drivers NULL.cfm)
The file you need to download and install is showing (on Left) next to the arrow.

    3.  Install the GEAR software that you downloaded. You can use all default settings

    4. Once you install the GEAR software, the next step will require you to adjust a setting in your registry**

**THE REGISTRY CONTROLS HOW YOUR PC FUNCTIONS, MAKING CHANGES TO YOUR REGISTRY WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT YOUR DOING CAN CAUSE CHANGES THAT WILL DAMAGE YOUR WINDOWS INSTALL AND COULD KEEP YOUR PC FROM BOOTING.  FOLLOW MY STEPS EXACTLY AND DO NOT MAKE ANY OTHER CHANGES UNLESS YOUR ARE ABSOLUTLY SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING. THIS IS YOUR WARNING.

Run box XP (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/runboxxp NULL.jpg)Go to Start –> Run 

regedit box (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/regeditbox NULL.jpg)

In the run box type Regedit and click ok

regedit find 1 (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/regeditfind1 NULL.jpg)

In the regedit box click on edit and the click on Find

regedit find 2 key (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/regeditfind2key NULL.jpg)In the find window type 4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318 the click ok

regedit find 3 result (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/regeditfind3result NULL.jpg)

In the window on the left you will see the key highlighted. Look on the right window for a listing for UpperFliters.  If you don’t see it right click in the middle of the right box and select Multi String Value and call it UpperFilters.

 regedit find 3 key (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/regeditfind3key NULL.jpg) 

If its already there (or once you have added it) right click on UpperFilter and left click on Modify 

regedit find 4 change (http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/regeditfind4change NULL.jpg)

In the window that opens you will see InCD or something similar.  Remove what’s listed and add GEARAspiWDM in the Value data window and hit enter.  The click ok and then click on the X on top right to close registry.

****************************New Step:****************************************

     - This step requires that your pc be set up to show extensions for known file types.  Which means if you look at any file in your c:\ drive it will show up as afs.sys not just afs.  If you don’t see the .sys or .exe or .doc, etc when looking at your files please see TGM post “Showing hidden files, folders and extensions” ( http://techgeekandmore.com/2009/10/24/software-showing-hidden-files-folders-and-extensions-in-windows-vista-and-windows-7/ (http://techgeekandmore NULL.com/2009/10/24/software-showing-hidden-files-folders-and-extensions-in-windows-vista-and-windows-7/)) and follow those steps 1st.

     – Once you know you can see the file extensions, open My computer –> C:\ –> Windows –> System32 –> Drivers.  In the drivers folder look for a file called afs.sys (There is also one called afd.sys, do not touch that one).  If you don’t see afs.sys, then close the Window and restart iTunes.

     – If you do see afs.sys, right click it and select rename, and then rename the file to afs.txt.  This file (from a company called Oak Technologies) will be there if you have iTunes or Norton Ghost, or Norton 360 (even if you have uninstalled the program).  Once you rename that file (notice how I’m saying rename NOT delete). Restart your computer

******************************************************************************

Once pc has restarted – restart iTunes and issue should be resolved.

, ,
Page 1 of 212