QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity on Windows and Mac OS X. QuickTime lets you view Internet video, HD movie trailers, and personal media in a wide range of file formats. However, when trying to install the latest Quicktime v7.7.8 in the latest Windows 10, users are alerted “Quicktime 7 requires that your computer is running Windows Vista or Windows 7”.
The true fact is that QuickTime 7 is not compatible with Windows 10/11. It can affects lots of people’s experience with Windows 10/11 if QuickTime cannot be installed in Windows 10. Some online video sties require QuickTime installed for playing movies in internet browser; some free editing or player applications rely on the QuickTime framework, such as Adobe After Effects, Adobe Audition, Adobe Premiere Elements, GoPro Studio.
Though QuickTime 7 is incompatible with Windows 10/11, there are workarounds of installing QuickTime in Windows 10/11.
- Solution 1 – Install the older version of QuickTime v7.7.6
- Solution 2 – Install the latest QuickTime v7.7.8 by tricks
Solution 1 – Install the older version of QuickTime, v7.7.6
If you are using Windows 10 and see an alert message saying that it’s impossible to install QuickTime on your system, please try QuickTime 7.7.6 instead.
Solution 2 – Install the latest QuickTime v7.7.8 by tricks
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- Create a new folder like C:\QT or something similarly easy. All the content in this folder can deleted after QuickTime v7.7.8 is finished installation.
- Download the latest QuickTime 7.7.9 from the official QuickTime for Windows page. And save it to C:\QT.
- Extract QuickTimeInstaller.exe.
Right-click on the file QuickTimeInstaller.exe and choose “Extract here”. If you cannot see options of extraction, download and install WinRAR or 7Zip, then try to extract. - You should now have a folder that looks something like this, under C:\QT or whichever folder you chose.
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- install the easy prerequisites:
- Double-click the AppleSoftwareUpdate.msi file and click “OK”, “I accept” etc. until the install finishes.
- Do the same with AppleApplicationSupport.msi.
- Ignore the file called QuickTimeInstallerAdmin.exe as we won’t be needing it!
- Right-click the QuickTime.msi file:
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- Select “Troubleshoot compatibility”.
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- Wait for the wizard to scan the QuickTime.msi file for possible culprits (which we already know to be the Windows version check).
- It should say that it has applied a “Skip Version Check” workaround to enable the QuickTime.msi installer to run.
- Click “Test the program” and run the installation. Then click “Next” and complete the installation.
- If it worked without error, you’re now done! If not, or if all else fails, continue to refer to point 7 to point 11.
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- Download this TRANSFORM file and extract it to C:\QT. We will use this file to temporarily remove the OS checks preventing the installation. (A “transform” file or “.mst” is just a simple file that adds or removes things from an MSI-based installation (like QuickTime.msi).
- Click the Windows icon or Search icon and search CMD. Right-click the Command Prompt shortcut/icon and choose Run as administrator.
- install the easy prerequisites:
- Type the following command and hit ENTER:
msiexec /i QuickTime.msi /qn TRANSFORMS=FIX.mst ALLUSERS=1 /log C:\QT\install.log - Installation shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes…
- NOTE: A log file called install.log will be created in the C:\QT folder, which should end with something along the lines of “Return code 0”. If not, and QuickTime wasn’t installed, you may look in this file for any possible error codes (opens fine in Notepad or WordPad). You will need to install the older version QuickTime v7.7.6.
Resources
The solution 2 for installing the latest QuickTime v7.7.8 is based on Tommy Stephansen’s post on TommyNation. Thanks to Tommy Stephansen, we can install the latest version of QuickTime and use our favorite applications in Windows 10 like before.