Last updated: November 2, 2017
No matter what compels one to reinstall their operating system, there is always accompanying fear and apprehension. Long-time Windows users are conditioned to fear anything that may result in a blue screen of death. And, by all means, never pursue such activities during times of peak productivity. There is never a good time to make serious changes to your Windows machine. The best time, however, is most likely over a weekend during the early evening hours. This allows for plenty of time to mitigate a worst-case scenario.
But Windows 10 has been relatively kind. That said, a recent update completely wrecked Microsoft Edge. It wouldn’t launch. Edge disappeared from Apps and therefore repair was not possible from there. Both the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) and System File Checker (sfc) tools did squat as usual (I mean, found no issues). Having 7 other web browsers installed should have made life without Edge acceptable. Coupled with a few other quirky issues, the option to start fresh with a clean and up-to-date installation of Windows had some appeal. Except, of course, for the fear and apprehension factor.
Why not? After a full backup, and a check for license keys and links for applications that would need a manual download and reinstallation, it was time. Settings > Recovery > More recovery options > Fresh start > Deep breath.
It worked! Microsoft Edge was back in all its spartan glory, and it fixed the other quirky issues too. A handy list of all Removed Apps was waiting on the desktop.
Every app reinstalled without any issue — except iTunes. It’s always something. There wasn’t much in the way of a surprise that the Apple app didn’t install properly on the PC. After completing what seemed to be most of the installation process, the iTunes installer issued the following message:
An error occurred during the installation of assembly "Microsoft.VC80CRT.type="win32",version="8.0.50727.6195",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b".processorArchitecture="amd64"". Please refer to Help and Support for more information. HRESULT: 0x80073715. OK.
No, not OK. Begin weekend evening troubleshooting process to fix iTunes after Windows 10 reinstall.
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (x64)
The culprit turned out to be an inability to install Apple Application Support (64-bit), a required program for successfully installing the 64-bit version of iTunes. Referring back to the list of Removed Apps, you will find Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (x64) listed there without a link. Apple Application Support 64-bit will not install without it. Download Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (x64) from the Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update download page.
Choose your language, and click the Download button. Download only the one for your operating system. For 64-bit systems, choose vcredist_x64.EXE:
- vcredist_x86.EXE (for 32-bit systems)
- vcredist_IA64.EXE (for systems with Itanium processors)
- vcredist_x64.EXE (for 64-bit systems)
Double-click vcredist_x64.EXE to install it. After it installs successfully, restart your computer. Once your computer restarts, download and install iTunes again. Hopefully, you will find that iTunes now installs without any further issues.
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