Minimal iTunes Install for iPhone Users

So to be brief, I dislike iTunes.  I dislike it, not because it isn’t a great platform for purchasing and managing music, but because it’s incredibly bloated and normally full of issues.  That said, for iPhone users like myself it’s pretty much the only option for managing your iPhone due to Apple’s incredibly restrictive product strategy, that only got worse post-Firmware 2.0.

For those users like myself that have to use iTunes I wanted to put together mini guide to installing iTunes with the necessary support needed for iPhone syncing, but with a minimal amount of bloat (i.e. sans full Quicktime, Bonjour, etc.).

This guide is written for the current version of iTunes 9 (32 or 64-bit) and Windows platforms.

Prerequisites

Before starting download the following:

• iTunes 9 full install from Apple.com (link)

• iTunes 9 Switchless install from Ajuaonline.com (link)

• Quicktime Lite from Codecguide.com (link)

Process

1. Uninstall any existing versions of iTunes, Quicktime, and Apple Mobile Device Support from your PC and reboot (if you don’t need any of the other components like Bonjour, if they’re installed you can remove those as well).  If you already have a library, purchased apps, backups, etc. they should still be present after the uninstall.

2. Using WinRAR or 7-zip open the downloaded full iTunes 9 installation .EXE file (as if it were an archive) and extract the contents.  You’re looking for the ‘AppleMobileDeviceSupport.msi‘ file (will be appended with ’64′ if 64-bit version).  Set that to the side and the rest can be discarded, including the regular full iTunes installer itself.

3. Run the QT Lite installation and install as normal, making sure that all your browsers (Firefox, IE, etc.) are closed first.

4. Run the iTunes 9 Switchless installer (NOT the regular installer).  It will install the minimal iTunes installation to the default directories on your hard drive (i.e. C:\Program Files\iTunes), and then it will close the install.  Please note that it will just appear to work for a while then close off, you will not be prompted for any information or variables to enter.

5. iPhone users: Do not launch iTunes.  Run the AppleMobileDeviceSupport.msi installer using default variables & directories.

6. Still, do not launch iTunes.  Reboot your Operating System first, and afterwards you should have your iTunes working with a minimal iTunes/Quicktime installation and iPhone (mobile device) support!