Upgrading iTunes

[honey lamb]

OK, all you techies out there, I'd be grateful for any advice. I got my son an iPad when in the US and we can't get iTunes to talk to it because the version on his laptop is iTunes 9 instead of iTunes 10.3.1 We've tried downloading the upgrade but it just doesn't take. We think that the problem might be that when his laptop got a virus last year the person who dealt with it put Windows into safe mode and installed Chrome as his browser but that's just an uneducated guess.

Any suggestions?

Make sure you're downloading the correct version of iTunes for WIndows there's 2 different builds of it (unlike for the mac) one is 32 bit and the other 64 bit - need to get the right one to match the version of windows on the computer!

[honey lamb]

How do I know which is which? Surely when I click on the upgrade box it should be able to tell?

Rather than clicking on the upgrade box, download it directly and install manually from http://www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/download/

It often can be a less troublesome route if the upgrade fails

There is a link to the 64-bit version but it is most likely you are the standard one so I'd try that first and if it gives an error, try the 64-bit.

Note that it will perform an upgrade rather than a fresh install so you shouldn't lose any settings, purchases etc. but as with all computer stuff things could go wrong so if you can back up the laptop beforehand I would advise it :-)

[honey lamb]

Thanks both of you but it's still not working

[mitchja]

Have you tried uninstalling the version you have already first?

Do a reboot then try installing the manually downloaded new version.

Don't panic, it won't delete the iTunes library of music an apps etc you have built up.

To find out if it is 32 or 64 bit click on the computer icon, then system properties. About halfway down it should have manufacturer, model, possibily a rating score, processor details, installed RAM and then system type - against this is should say 32 bit operating system (or 64 bit)

Regards
R3dV

[honey lamb]

Oh dear, this is getting more complicated.

RedVee, I tried to locate what you suggested but failed to do so.

James, John tried to do that last night but failed so I decided to try. We couldn't do so and the error message seemed to suggest that it was because Windows is in safe mode, which it is.

Would people recommend that we install the latest version of Windows as the default browser to see if that would work or are we asking for trouble?

I really can't thank you all enough for your suggestions.

HL, what version of Windows are you running?

To find out, click start, type winver in the search box and press enter.

[honey lamb]

HL, what version of Windows are you running?

XP Professional. It's John's laptop and he had to have that version for college to access his course work

To get it out of safe mode - reboot, press F8 as it starts (straightaway really) and you should then have the following options - safe mode, safe mode with networking, safe mode with command prompt, last known good configuration and start windows normally (or things similar). Pick the one that says start windows normally.

I would be inclined to run your anti-virus as well to make sure all is ok on that subject! (naughty John!!!)