Cannot access iTunes Store - "connection timed out" or "secure connection failed" issues.

Question

If you are having problems connecting to the iTunes Store to:
(a)     activate a new iPod, iPhone or iPad; or
(b)     re-activate an existing iPod. iPhone or iPad after upgrading the OS for the device,
then hopefully this article will assist.
It is assumed that have encountered the following problem. When you connect your device to your PC the device is recognised by iTunes, but the main window simply displays the name of the device (e.g. iPad). The progress bar at the top says "accessing the iTunes Store", but it stalls and eventually there is an error message saying something like "connection timed out".
There are a number of variants of this problem, but the common thread is that your device is unable to access the iTunes Store to authenticate a new device or after upgrading the OS on an existing device.The first recaction is to check that your Internet connection is ok and that that "itunes.exe" a not being blocked by your Windows or third party firewall settings, but the problem persists.
Having recently experienced this problem and scouring the Internet for a solution, I eventually solved it using the following approach:
(a)     Check that you are connected to the Internet (i.e can browse the web).
(b)     Open iTunes and choose "Run diagnostics" from the help menu and then select the "networking connectivity" option (uncheck the other options) and click "next" twice. A report will show the results with a "green" or "red" dot next to each item. You should see a "green" dot next to the first two items ("Network interfaces verified" and "Internet connection verified"). However there will probably be a "red" dot next to the third item "Secure link to iTunes Store verified". 
The important thing to note is that a secure connection could not be established. This is an indication that your wireless security is the problem. It does not satisfy the security level expected by the iTunes Store. It seems that an unsecure connection or one using outdated encryption (such as WEP) is no longer sufficient for the iTunes Store. This may be why the problem has emerged with the most recent versions of iTunes. The now widely used wireless encryption standard WPA or WPA2 is expected.
So you need to check your router wireless security settings and, if you have a PC that uses a wireless connection to the router, make sure its settings  match. The following is a guide bearing in mind that there are many different types of routers and Windows OS.
Router
TIP: If you have a wireless connection from your PC to your router, then check your PC wireless security options first to see that "WPA" or "WPA2" are available (see below) as it will be a pain to change your router settings only to discover that your PC does not have the same options.
(a)     Most routers can be accessed using your web browser by typing in the router's address (e.g. http://192.186.1.1). If you don't know the address look at the mannual that came with your router as it will tell you how to do this.
(b)     Once your browser displays the router interface you may be prompted for a username and password. These may be the default factory or ones that you have created previously. If the username or password has not been changed, but you don't remember of know what they are again go to the mannual that came with your router as it will have that information.
(c)     Assuming that you are able to access your router interface, look for the "wireless" tab or menu and a sub-menu or option for the "security settings". They'll be there somewhere. Once you find the security options you can select the encryption level. As stated above, you should choose "WPA" or "WPA2". You will then be asked to create a network key which can be anything with the required number of letters and/or digits.
(d)     Once your finished write the settings down (including the key) as you will need them for your PC if you have a wireless connection to the router. Save the changes (if prompted to do so) and re-boot your router.
PC Wireless
(a)     Again the appoach that you need to take will depend on your OS (XP, Vista or Windows 7), but generally speaking if you go to the "network" on your PC there will be the option to highlight it and right click or choose a "properties" item. I vaugely think this can be done in XP by right clicking the wireless icon in the taskbar and navigating to the dialogue box that shows your network. In Windows 7 you will need to go to the "Network and Sharing Center" and then choose "Manage wireless networks".
(b)     At some point (sorry to be vauge) you will find the wireless network security options for your network. Select the same level of encrytion ("WPA" or "WPA2") and type in the same network key that you chose for your router. Save the changes and your wireless connection should come to life. If not then make sure that you have put in the correct settings before freaking out.
Back to iTunes
Once you are connected to your router again (wirelessly or by lan), then plug in your device and open iTunes. As before it will try to access the iTunes Store, but hopefully you won't have any problem establishing a secure connection and you'll be up and running.
Best of luck!      

Answer 1

Something is still blocking iTunes, do you have any other firewall installed?
When you say you removed Norton, to you mean you uninstalled it. An uninstalled Norton security product can still bock iTunes as some of it is left behind.
Several people have found that using the Norton Removal Tool to remove all traces of Norton fixes this problem.
http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039?OpenDo cument