How can I install iTunes in such a way that it can't put any "hooks" or helper programs on my computer?
- by Joshua Carmody
I'm buying a new iPad, which means I must once again install iTunes. I've not used iTunes in more than 6 months, since I bought a new computer.
I don't like iTunes, but I can live with using it to buy/manage media and sync my Apple devices when the program is open. What I would like to do though, is find a way to install iTunes in such a way that it has absolutely no effect on my system when it is closed.
iTunes normally installs several helper programs such as iTunesHelper.exe, and the Bonjour service. These programs run in the background when iTunes is closed. You can force-close them, or remove them from your setup files, but iTunes will often put them right back when you run it. I know these programs are mostly harmless, but they have at times caused issues such as iTunes spending system resources trying to catalog media files or drives connected to VPN, or other issues. At best they're just one more small background process eating up a small piece of my CPU time and RAM.
How can I run iTunes without letting it get it's "hooks" into my system? One thought I had is that I could create a Windows user account just for iTunes, and deny it admin privileges. Then if I installed iTunes using that account maybe anything it installed wouldn't affect the "main" account on my PC? But I'm not sure if that would work....
Failing that, maybe some kind of virtualization software or sandbox I could install it in? I'm open to any suggestions.
My system is an Intel-based PC running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.
Thanks!
