whats the point of ituneshelper.exe running?

[iBono]

so everytime windows starts...it runs ituneshelper.exe. i'm running winxp, you can check by looking @ the processes tab in the task manager or looking @ the startup tab in msconfig. i dont like having programs/services running for no reason...whats the point of this program? does it need to be running?

[stasyna]

I saw it too.

Also had ipodservice.exe

Didnt need either of them. :/

[Swollen Colon]

How did you stop ipodservice.exe from loading? I did not see it in msconfig but ituneshelper.exe is there. Did you stop the services, and the ipod will still load if you did?

[stasyna]

Once i saw that iTunes was loading foreign programs, I took it off. I dont like applications loading all sorts of stuff without me knowing.

Like itunes doesnt eat up enough memory already.

[cualexander]

Originally posted by stasyna
What takes up
a) 28 Mb of memory
b) 75% of cpu, while importing music?
Answer: iTunes!

What takes up
a) 8 Mb of memory
b) 3 % cpu, and supports every audio format known?
Answer: Winamp

Dont believe the hype, iTunes isnt worth it. Windows Media Player 9, with a new skin.

OK Here goes:
What takes up
a.)5% of my cpu
b.)5% of my memory
Answer:itunes

What software can't
a.)sync to my ipod
b.)buy tracks off iTMS
c.)manage my whole 5000 track collection
d.)Rip my CD's to 128k AAC
e.)Burn custom playlists
Answer:Winamp


Believe the Hype. Get Itunes! Just be sure to be running a real computer and not a piece of junk.

[jerrodh]

What software can't
a.)sync to my ipod
b.)buy tracks off iTMS
c.)manage my whole 5000 track collection
d.)Rip my CD's to 128k AAC
e.)Burn custom playlists
Answer:Winamp

Thank you for doing this... This Winamp craze has been bugging me-- this dude is seriously comparing Apples (no pun intended) and Oranges.

Allow me to make a couple enhancements:

What software can't
a.)sync to my [ANYTHING]
b.)buy tracks off [ANYTHING]
c.)manage [ANY] collection
d.)Rip my CD's to [ANY FORMAT]
e.)Burn [ANYTHING]
Answer:Winamp

[am3822]

Originally posted by cualexander
OK Here goes:
What takes up
a.)5% of my cpu
b.)5% of my memory
Answer:itunes
[...]

My two cents' worth of user exprience-

I've noticed that, for no apparent reason, the amount of memory iTunes uses varies between ~4000K and ~28000K (usually the latter).

It also stutters when I minimize the window during playback for 2-3 seoncds afterwards.

(I'm running W2K on a pentium 3/700 laptop with 384 MB memory.)

PS The iPodservice can be disabled from the control panel (note that setting it to 'manual' won't help as iTunes will start it up on its own), as for the iTunesHelper - I think it has to do with the system tray icon, and it was an option to disable it during installation.

[cualexander]

Windows Media player takes up nearly 15megs of ram just loading the start page for me. Heck my webbrowser is taking up 64megs of ram right now. Oh course I have 15 sub-windows open, but still. In this day in age, 28megs of ram is nothing. Multimedia apps take lots of ram. Ram is cheap. I have a gig personally and it costs me about $120. I rarely go over 275megs of ram usage, and I run my TV Card, iTunes, webbrowser, email, you name it.

[loGan]

Just run "msconfig" and disable the Itunes helper.

[ChickenKiev]

just for all you winamp lovers:
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=132337
it is in its early b3ta stages but should be released along with winamp 5 (if you google for it you should be able to download the alpha of that too)
i currently use every media program there is and they all have their advantages (apart from wmp)

[Adam]

http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/sho...ghlight=hidden

You are waaaay to slow

[BradLck]

iPodService manages hardware communication with the iPod and disk mode. Without that service, the iPod would either be unable to enter disk mode without first starting iTunes and rebooting the iPod or enter it and crash. iTunesHelper simple tells explorer when to launch iTunes when the iPod is plugged in. It is safe to disable if you don't use this feature or don't have an iPod.

[tubedogg]

Originally posted by azdude_15GB
Thank you for doing this... This Winamp craze has been bugging me-- this dude is seriously comparing Apples (no pun intended) and Oranges.

Allow me to make a couple enhancements:

What software can't
a.)sync to my [ANYTHING]
b.)buy tracks off [ANYTHING]
c.)manage [ANY] collection
d.)Rip my CD's to [ANY FORMAT]
e.)Burn [ANYTHING]
Answer:Winamp

What software is
a.)just a music player and doesn't try to do all the other crap
Answer: Winamp.

iTunes is nice, but as a player it sucks. Winamp is the best player on the Windows platform.

[lopster]

On WinXP, yoiu can go to Control panel, Administrative Tools. Services and locate the Ipod service. Double-click on it and select the startup type to be Automatic, Manual or Disabled. If it's set to Auto, it will load everytime you start XP. If set to Manual, it will only load when you actually start Itunes. If set to Disabled, it will never start. If you have an Ipod, I would leave it set to Auto or Manual...

Al

[ashawley]

Originally posted by BradLck
iPodService manages hardware communication with the iPod and disk mode. Without that service, the iPod would either be unable to enter disk mode without first starting iTunes and rebooting the iPod or enter it and crash. iTunesHelper simple tells explorer when to launch iTunes when the iPod is plugged in. It is safe to disable if you don't use this feature or don't have an iPod.

Sorry, gotta set the record straight on this one: Windows manages hardware communication with the iPod.

IpodService was put in to prevent the iPod from being assigned a drive letter automatically by Windows. Apple didn't want you accessing the drive w/o having to go about some work (i.e. enabling firewire disk mode). I and many other folks have been using iPods w/out iPod Manger (and iPodService) since the first came out w/WiPods.

I'm fairly certain that ituneshelper just enables it to auto-launch the iPod and also check iPod version info.

Adam