How to Install QuickTime on Windows 10

QuickTime + Windows 10 = TRUE

I tried to install QuickTime today on Windows 10, but was soon halted by a stupid check that Apple has built in to the installation file, preventing installation of QuickTime on a newer OS such as Windows 10.

Well, I know my way around software installations, so I fixed it with a workaround, and thought I would share it here on TommyNation in case someone else might find it useful.

The workaround is pretty straightforward, just follow the steps below!

NEW EDIT PLEASE READ FIRST:

You may try the numbered steps further below for a 100% “official” installation that also works for deployment (silently) on multiple computers, OR you may try an older version 7.7.6 which some report to be working (click to download 7.7.6), OR try this custom installer which makes it easier to install a working, up to date version of QuickTime on Windows 10:

DOWNLOAD THE CUSTOM INSTALLER FOR QUICKTIME 7.7.8

(Or click here to download previous version: 7.7.7)

Current version and build is 7.7.8 (1680.95.71)

PS! I recommend clicking the “Download through your browser” link once the download page loads.
PPS! You may uninstall the “Not Apple Inc” application after installation, or you may also cancel the installation after Quicktime has been installed. If you don’t cancel, an empty “Not Apple Inc” folder will be created under the “%appdata%\Roaming” folder, but nothing is actually installed. To uninstall the “Not Apple Inc” installation application, open Settings > System > Apps & features and uninstall it from the list by clicking it and the selecting “Uninstall”.

Read on if you want to do the official “clean” installation with original files from Apple that you download yourself:

1. First, you need to be able to extract the installation file, so install WinRAR or 7Zip first (either one should work fine and is free to use. I used WinRAR).
2. Download QuickTimeInstaller.exe from the official QuickTime for Windows page. (Google it if the link is dead).
3. To make things easier, save the file in a folder like C:\QT or something similarly easy. It can be deleted after we’re finished.
4. Open the folder you downloaded it to in Windows Explorer.
5. Right-click the file and choose “Extract here”
6. Download this TRANSFORM file and extract it to the same folder (I zipped it). We will use this file to temporarily remove the OS checks preventing the installation. (More details? Ok: a “transform” file or “.mst” is just a simple file that adds or removes things from an MSI-based installation (like QuickTime.msi). I prepared this file myself using InstEd.
7. You should now have a folder that looks something like this, under C:\QT or whichever folder you chose.
   
8. First, we need to install the easy prerequisites:
   1. Double-click the AppleSoftwareUpdate.msi file and click “OK”, “I accept” etc. until the install finishes.
   2. Do the same with AppleApplicationSupport.msi.
   3. Just ignore the file called QuickTimeInstallerAdmin.exe as we won’t be needing it!
9. Now, QuickTime.msi is the culprit that won’t be installed… So here’s what we do to fix that:
   

   STOP AND READ:
   You now have TWO alternatives:

   The first method is simpler and could work without need for the transform file. (Thanks to TiCal for the tip in comments!)
   The second method is for using the transform file for a manual installation, or for distributing the application to multiple clients using SCCM, AD, Altiris or a similar system.

   ALTERNATIVE 1 – manual install without transform file:
   Go to point 10 just below.

   ALTERNATIVE 2 – manual or deployment install with transform:
   Go to point 11 further down.

10. Alternative 1:
    Right-click the QuickTime.msi file inside the folder you extracted the QuickTimeInstaller.exe file to earlier.
    1. Select “Troubleshoot compatibility”
       
    2. Wait for the wizard to scan the QuickTime.msi file for possible culprits (which we already know to be the Windows version check).
       
    3. It should say that it has applied a “Skip Version Check” workaround to enable the QuickTime.msi installer to run.
    4. Click “Test the program” and run the installation. Then click “Next” and complete the installation.
       
    5. If it worked without error, you’re now done! If not, try the second method at point 11 below. Or if all else fails, try the custom installer from the link you should find in the comments at the bottom, below this article.
11. Alternative 2:
    Click the Windows icon or Search icon and search CMD. Right-click the Command Prompt shortcut/icon and choose Run as administrator.
    
    1. In the Command Prompt window, type CD C:\QT to go to the folder where the installation will be run from.
    2. Type the following command and hit ENTER:
       msiexec /i QuickTime.msi /qn TRANSFORMS=FIX.mst ALLUSERS=1 /log C:\QT\install.log
    3. Installation shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes…
    4. 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).

The end result (hopefully!):

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Thank you! – Tommy

Additional notes:

“Why would you install QuickTime on Windows 10?”, someone asked in comments.

You probably already know why if you found this page!

Still, here’s a couple of possible reasons why; certain applications (i.e. Adobe After Effects, Adobe Audition, Adobe Premiere Elements), still depend on QuickTime for certain functionality. They use it as a plugin, for encoding/decoding media – files in the MP4 container format, for example.

Others simply want it to work because they prefer to use QuickTime, since they have experience with it. I’m personally not a fan of QuickTime, but Adobe are. And that is that.

Updated August 27. 2015: added new custom installer for QuickTime 7.7.8.
Updated August 12. 2015: added comment on “Why quicktime?”
Updated August 8. 2015: added alternative “Troubleshoot compatibility” manual installation method thanks to a tip from TiCal in comments.