"The older version of apple software update could not be removed" error

[Brink]

Hi all,

I am trying to instal iTunes on the computer that I use at work so that I can listen to the music on my iPhone from the PC. I need to use headphones on my PC while I work, and it would be very nice to have access to my iPhone's library during the workday. But when I start the instal, I keep getting an error message that reads "The older version of Apple software update cannot be removed. Please contact your technical support group". I used to have an old version of iTunes on my PC, but I uninstalled it when I was having a problem several weeks ago. Needless to say, I am now kicking myself for doing this. I also suspect this problem could have something to do with my hard drive being re-imaged when the machine would not start one morning. Ever since it was re-imaged, I have noticed some items missing. For example, I cannot find the calculator anywhere on my PC, and it was definitely there before the HD was re-imaged.

Could you offer any suggestions that might enable me to get iTunes up and running? I really just want to listen to my music on this computer, and if there is another workaround that would let me play my iPhone's library on it, I'd appreciate that.

Thanks in advance.

[S2_Mac]

The laziest solution is p'bly to just connect the phone to a USB port on the computer (to keep it charged) and then plug the headphones into the phone ;-)

If you remember the version number of the older iTunes you were using, you could try re-installing that version. Check at places like FileHippo for older versions, or Google for "iTunes <old version number> download".

To install a new version, you'll need to get the older Update software removed. This Apple article details the complete removal of iTunes and all the components that support it. (That article is for XP; it links to articles on other systems.)

[Brink]

I tried removing the components using the control pannel. I was able to remove iTunes and Quicktime, but when I try to remove Apple Software Update, I get a message saying "The requested application is on a network or device that is unavailable".

I need to be able to hear audio from the PC via headphones, so plugging headphones into the iPhone is not an option.

[S2_Mac]

Just because it's easy to try, reboot the PC and then try uninstalling again. Beyond that, I dunno. I'm not a Windows guy, and the normal next step in this situation is to recommend using the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility, but Microsoft no longer makes it available. I fed the error string you reported into Google and got exactly one hit -- this thread. I'd normally spend a little time searching through the MS support site, but since I'm using a Mac I can't trust the results I get. (MS KB article pages are constantly telling me that irrelevant content has been disabled since I'm on a different OS. But since obvious Windows-only things like the "Fix it for me" buttons are still present, I've got no idea what's considered "relevant"...just can't trust the results I get.)

Someone else here p'bly has some ideas, or -- gasp! -- actual knowledge ;-) If not, start looking at boards like bleepingcomputer.com. Good luck!

[cjmnews]

Sometimes the uninstaller pointers get messed up. Or it could be a permissions issue with Domain administrators having ownership of files.

Apple does have limited help: How to repair Software Update for Windows

You may have to use an uninstall tool like Revo to get Apple Software Update removed. Or you may have to reimage your disk without Apple Software Update.