A later version of Apple Application Support is already installed on this computer.

Question

I am trying to update / install iTunes 12.0.1.26.  Apple Application Support will not install because it says there is already a later version installed.  There is not!  I have uninstalled after initial message and tried to reinstall but I still recieve the same message.

Answer 1

Good Afternoon, JohnHT2!
I think I have the fix to your issue.
I've been experiencing the same issue as you describe above. The issue occurred for me during the upgrade process from version 11.4.0.18 to version 12.0.1.26 (which is the current version downloadable from Apple).  The installation sometimes appears to be okay, but the Apple Application Support fails to update correctly.  In other instances, the iTunes installation fails completely with error 1603 (which is generic "fatal error" code).
Symptoms:
Just some of the symptoms I've noticed in my environment.
- In Programs & Features, there is no Apple Application Support to uninstall.
- In Event Viewer's Application log, you may see Event ID 10005 from Source MsiInstaller, stating the dreaded error message "A later version of Apple Application Support is already installed on this computer."
- In Event Viewer's Application log, you may see Event ID 1000 from Source Application Error, stating "Faulting application name: MsiExec.exe" along with a bunch of other error details.
- When attempting to start iTunes, you may receive popup error "Apple Application Support was not found.  Apple Application Support is required to run iTunes.  Please uninstall iTunes, then install iTunes again".
- Uninstalling and installing iTunes fails, including via the steps described for a "full uninstall" as described here on the Apple site (for instance: Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates)
- Installing Apple Application Support via the extracted MSI (AppleApplicationSupport.msi) fails with the same error: "A later version of Apple Application Support is already installed on this computer."
- Installing previous versions of Apple Application Support fails with the same error (tried versions 10.7.0.21, 11.0.0.163, 11.0.1.012, 11.0.3.42, 11.1.0.126, 11.1.3.8, 11.2.2.3, 11.3.0.54, 11.3.1.2, 11.4.0.18).  (now that I know the issue, I'm confident any previous version of the installer will fail).
- If you run the MSI installation with verbose logging, you may see lines stating: "PROPERTY CHANGE: Adding BNEWERPRODUCTISINSTALLED property. Its value is '1'." and "PreventDowngrade. Return value 1."
There may be other indications, but these are things we ran into.  I'm trying to be detailed so that other folks who run into this issue may feel better about the below fixes being an option for them.
Resolutions:
I've found two ways to remedy the issue in our environment.  You can either use the Microsoft FixIt utility to clean up the previous installation for us, or you can edit the registry manually to repair the installation.  We're in an office and prefer not going computer-to-computer to fix everyone's issue independently, so we had to go via the registry.  I was able to fix it via both ways, though.
Fix 1: Run the Microsoft Program Install Uninstall Troubleshooter.
For this fix you will need to be logged in as an administrator for the computer.
Here are the steps:
Download and Run the Microsoft Program Install and Uninstall FixIt: [FixIt Link]
In the troubleshooter, choose: Detect problems and apply the fixes for me (Recommended)
Choose Installing
From the list, select Apple Application Support and click Next. (it actually does appear here!)
Select Yes, try uninstall. This step could take a while to process once it starts.
Once it confirms it is fixed, click Next.
Select "Yes, the problem has been fixed" and click Next.
Finish/close the FixIt tool.
Now the Apple Application Support will install successfully on your next attempt.
- If you don't have iTunes installed, you can simply run the latest downloaded installer: iTunes64Setup.exe
- If the other iTunes components are already installed, you will need to go to Programs & Features (or Add/Remove programs) and uninstall the iTunes program, then re-install the program from the downloaded installer: iTunes64Setup.exe
- If you have the MSI, you can simple run AppleApplicationSupport.msi and carry on happily.  Make sure it's the right version of the MSI (right-click it, select Properties, go to the Details tab and verify the Comment line says "Apple Application Support 3.1").  If you don't know what an MSI is... ignore this and use the installer.
iTunes should work perfectly normally for you now.
Fix 2:
If you're like me and you need to repair iTunes over a larger number of computers, then Fix 1 quickly becomes too time consuming.  Thankfully, a quick registry edit will resolve the issue as well.
For more advanced users; if you're not sure what the Windows Registry is, please tread very carefully and make sure you back up the registry before you change anything!
You'll need to be an administrator on the computer to do this.
Start Registry Editor.
In Windows 8.1, you can right-click the start menu (flag in the bottom-right corner) and choose Run.  Then type "regedit" and click OK.
In Windows 8, go to the Start menu, click the magnifying glass (or just start typing) and search for "regedit".  The first result should be "regedit.exe" - click that.
In Windows Vista, click the Start menu, then click the little arrowing pointing to the right (>) and choose Run.  Then type "regedit" and click OK.
In Windows 7 or XP, click the Start menu orb, and choose "Run...". Then type "regedit" and click OK.
Make a backup of your registry.In Registry Editor, right-click on "Computer" and choose "Export".  Save the file somewhere on your computer.  You'll probably never need it.. which are famous last words.  Better safe than sorry!
Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\ED0FAC38B3D873C46A13B2F861CE0313\
If the key "ED0FAC38B3D873C46A13B2F861CE0313" doesn't exist, then go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products and make sure "Products" is highlighted.
Go to the Edit menu and choose "Find...".
Do a search for "Apple Application Support".
Your first result should be a ProductName value of "Apple Application Support".
Verify at the very bottom of Registry Editor that your current location is "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\[GUID], where GUID is an alphanumeric string that's 32 characters long.
Right-click "Version" and choose "Modify".
In Value Data, type 0 (the number zero) and click OK.
Close Registry Editor.
You should now be able to successfully install the AppleApplicationSupport.msi or re-install iTunes.  If, for whatever reason, it still detects the wrong version, go back to the Registry Editor and delete the entire key from above (so, right-click on the 'folder' named "ED0FAC38B3D873C46A13B2F861CE0313" and select "Delete").  Should never be necessary, though..
In a Windows domain there are many ways to update the registry so use whatever works best for you.  I'll be adding this as a special extra step in our SCCM deployment.
I hope this helps!  It took us a good many hours to track down what was stopping us from resolving the issue (and/or causing it to begin with).  Suffice to say we now have a whole bunch of users who are very happy to no longer get iTunes error messages when they log into their computers or attempt to start iTunes itself.
Have a great day!