Although Apple's iTunes program has been adapted to work on Windows systems for some time, it is often enough to observe that when you try to install at a certain stage, a Windows Installer package error appears (iTunes is not installed). This puzzles many users, because, in theory, if the application is designed for the environment of "Microsoft" systems, then it should work without problems. And not everyone knows how to find a way out of this situation.
Meanwhile, absolutely all users can recommend the only solution that will help fix the problem, if no other methods give the desired effect. In this case, you will have to take drastic measures, which are to circumvent the restrictions imposed on the installer by changing it and reinstalling one of the main components that is vital for iTunes to work . But first, some theoretical information.
Windows Installer Package Error Installing iTunes: What is the Reason?
No matter how strange it may look from the outside, the reason for the appearance of such a malfunction is simple: Microsoft clearly does not want to lose its position in the entertainment market, and Apple is trying to gain a niche by providing a free iTunes product to users of Windows systems.
You can also understand the leadership of Microsoft , since the corporation is clearly not going to give up its positions in the entertainment industry without a fight (in particular, this concerns just buying or downloading multimedia content), but it counteracts the software of the main competitor in a somewhat veiled way, since direct attacks can be regarded by international law as unfair competition. Hence, there are many problems with Apple software compatibility with Windows operating systems .
But this is only part of the problem. In fact, in the latest versions of Windows, the error of the Windows Installer package when installing the program is due to the severe security restrictions in force in the system. First of all, it is a firewall, Windows Defender and TrustedInstaller services. True, in this case they are involved only indirectly, although any software product can spoil its reputation, considering its presence in the system, to put it mildly, undesirable.
Windows Installer Package Error: Unable to start the installer. What to do first?
But back to fixing the problem. If, when you try to install iTunes, the Windows Installer package error pops up with enviable consistency (even when you start the applet as an administrator), in the simplest case, you can try to just restart the system to clear it from an unjustified large number of simultaneously running background services. Perhaps in the system there could be short-term failures, which blocked the execution of the application.
But most often the problem remains. Based on the statements of the developers on both sides, the Windows Installer package error when installing iTunes may be due to the fact that the user is trying to install an outdated version of the program. Thus, first you need to contact the official Apple resource (and not third-party sites) and download the latest version of the installer (one single file in EXE format). By the way, downloading the distribution kit from the official website gives you a 100% guarantee that it does not contain viruses. But the performance of the installer is not guaranteed.
What to do with the installation distribution?
But suppose that the user downloaded exactly the latest modification of the program, and the Windows Installer package error when installing iTunes showed itself again. In this situation, there is only one way out.
First, the downloaded .exe file must be renamed in terms of changing the extension to ZIP. You can do this in any file manager like Total Commander, Windows Commander or FAR Manager, which are created in the image and likeness of the once popular Norton Commander, which worked in DOS mode.
On Windows, this can also be done, but only first you need to use the view menu, in the settings of which you should turn off hiding extensions for registered file types.
After renaming, the user will have at their disposal the most ordinary archive, from which it is necessary to extract all the data using either the ZIP archiver built into the system or using specialized programs like WinRAR or 7-Zip.
Removing additional components
In the next step, the initial .exe file can be deleted (it is no longer needed). Now you need to enter the programs and components section by calling it from the “Control Panel” (in Windows 10, the “Control Panel” can be launched most quickly through the “Run” section by writing the control command).
In the list of applications you need to find the Apple Software Update component, through RMB on the applet name, select the recovery line and wait for the process to complete.
After that, again, through RMB on the program, the context menu is called again, but the emphasis is on the delete item. At the end of the procedure, the application should disappear from the list.
The next step is to clean the registry (regedit in the "Run" section). First, a search engine call is used (Ctrl + F), the name of the applet is entered in the search field and the search itself is activated. All results that meet the established criteria are deleted, and you can switch from one to another by pressing the F3 key. Upon completion of the uninstallation, the operating system must be rebooted without fail.
An easier way to remove the above applet and its residual components is to use uninstallers. The powerful iObit Uninstaller utility is very suitable, the list of applications of which almost completely repeats the section of programs and components of Windows. When the standard deletion ends, you need to activate a powerful scan, mark all the search results and delete them by checking the box next to the file destruction item. This is followed by a restart of the OS.
Many users may object that they say where this application came from, because the main program has not been installed. Everything is simple here: this component is required for the functioning of iTunes and is installed in the first place. This is not discussed. Roughly speaking, without such a specialized apple software updater, the full functionality and performance of iTunes is not guaranteed. By the way, during the installation process, several more applets will be integrated into the system, including the Bonjour utility , which, by and large, is absolutely unnecessary for the user (and some do not even imagine what it is and how it works).
Reinstall required item
Now, after all the preparatory steps, the Windows Installer package error when installing iTunes is fixed by reinstalling the above component.
To install it, the AppleSoftwareUpdate.msi file is selected in the folder of the unpacked archive and launched with administrator rights. When the installation is completed, the installation file of the main program is launched from the same directory, and the Windows Installer package error when installing iTunes during the installation process will no longer appear.
Additional Actions
If, for some reason, the installation is still blocked when the original installer is launched, you can advise checking the firewall settings with adding the program to the exclusion list by creating a new rule, disable real-time protection in Windows Defender, temporarily disable anti-virus protection, in general reduce security. In some cases, this approach may work. But usually such actions do not need to be performed, since the proposed solution works almost always.
But the exact opposite situation can occur when some types of viruses block the installation of applications, and not only iTunes. In this case, you will need to scan the system for their presence in the system, for example, with the AdwCleaner utility. Also a very powerful tool that removes threats of any type before loading the main operating system is the Rescue Disk utility (either Kaspersky or Dr. Web).