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This iPod cannot be used because the required software is not installed error

Filed Under iPhone, Software

Problem: Worked on a computer where the client installed the newest iTunes update.  Once the installation was finished, they got the following error when plugging in their iTouch, iPod or iPhone:  “This iPod cannot be used because the required software is not installed…”  It then tells you to uninstall iTunes and then reinstall which didn’t work.

Solution:  Came across a few suggestions to uninstall both iTunes and QuickTime, then let the iTunes installer install both.  I did that along with uninstalling the Apple Mobile Device Support and then reinstalled and everything worked for me.  My theory is that uninstalling the mobile device support is what really did it.  I would recommend uninstalling that first and move on to iTunes and QuickTime if it doesn’t work.

Comments

17 Responses to “This iPod cannot be used because the required software is not installed error”

  1. Anthony Wu on January 10th, 2012 4:43 pm

    Thank you so much thread starter! it works for me too :)

  2. Luke W on January 9th, 2012 8:10 pm

    At no time was my music or photos in danger of being lost even though I deleted iTunes several times.

  3. Lester Owsley on September 14th, 2011 6:16 pm

    thanks ur steps worked

  4. Joseph on August 23rd, 2011 7:20 pm

    I have uninstalled everything, I even went as far as uninstalled my Anti-virus detection and nothing has worked. I am really getting frustrated because apple doesn’t seem to know how to help me either.

  5. Elyse on March 2nd, 2011 6:34 pm

    I deleted apple mobile services and itunes and plugged in my ipod touch but it still said this ipod cannot be installed cause it requires … etc. HELP!

  6. joel on March 2nd, 2011 1:33 pm

    uninstalled mobile device support and itunes, rebooted…worked like a charm!

  7. ipods fukin suck ! on December 13th, 2010 6:56 am

    Okay seriously I have like 16 gigs of music and videos downloaded on my playlists.. I DO NOT want to lose ANY of it !!! WHAT THE FUK .. any way to NOT uninstall itunes ..? to get around this problem?

  8. hector on December 10th, 2010 10:19 pm

    I did all you said ,but didnt work several times what I can do now

  9. ana on November 10th, 2010 10:21 am

    hi…i unninstalled all about apple and it still didn’t worked…it shows me the same message as it did the first time ! i don’t find Apple Mobile Device Support . i looked for support on apple.com and it didn’t helped :(

    pleease tell me what should i do .

  10. mary on November 10th, 2010 10:19 am

    hi…i unninstalled all about apple for 5 times and it didn’t worked…i don’t find Apple Mobile Device Support…what can i do? i searched support on apple.com and it still didn’t worked…please help me:(

  11. elmas on October 11th, 2010 9:43 pm

    well, actually i did all what u said and what they said but nothing changed.. i uninstalled bth of them apple application support and i tunes as well then reinstalled.. but everything is same.. i see the same error :( i tried it almost 10 times….

  12. Annie on July 25th, 2010 7:23 pm

    thank u sooo much it worked,only unistalled apple mobile device and it quickly my ipod was detected thanks

  13. Larry McDowell on August 19th, 2008 6:29 pm

    Mobile services is part of iTunes but in my experiences, it doesn’t install until you plug in your iPhone and your OS autodetects and installs. If you don’t see the mobile services in your Add/Remove programs then I wouldn’t think that it’s installed. But if you want to make sure try Apple’s instructions on how to uninstall all the programs mentioned, completely. Hope this helps.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1925

    Larry

  14. Tim on August 19th, 2008 6:00 pm

    Please Help…
    I’m having the same issue and have uninstalled both with no luck. But I don’t see that I have apple mobile services installed, shouldn’t this be apart of iTunes?

  15. Daiichi on August 13th, 2008 10:19 pm

    Just to let you know. To fix this problem, you must uninstall both Apple Mobile Services and iTunes. Reboot the machine, and reinstall iTunes.

    If you only uninstall iTunes (and reinstall it), the problem won’t go away.

    If you only uninstall Apple Mobile Services, then attempt to reinstall it using the iTunes installer’s “Repair” mode, the Apple Mobile Services won’t be reinstalled.

    So you really must uninstall both, then run the iTunes installer. There is no need to uninstall Quicktime or Internet Explorer 7.

  16. Larry McDowell on June 18th, 2008 8:08 pm

    You’re welcome, glad to hear it worked. Did you have to uninstall all the apps or just the mobile device support?

  17. marikauai on June 16th, 2008 9:31 pm

    I did exactly what you said and it worked… Thank you :)

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