How do I associate the itms protocol to iTunes in Windows Vista?

Question

Apparently when iTunes installed on Windows Vista it didn't properly associate the itms protocol. So when I click on a store link from a web browser it brings up an error in Firefox about the itms protocol not being associated with an application. Similarly a link in IE7 will just redirect to the iTunes download page.
How do I add this protocol in manually?

Answer 1

Okay I too have been plagued by this problem on two different machines, 1 is vista Enterprise 32 bit and another is Vista Ultimate x64 bit, however both have the exact same problem. I just fixed the problem on my 32bit enterprise machine and I am assuming the same fix will work for my 64bit when I have time to try tomorrow.
If your problem is the same as mine, you are not able to access itms, itmss or itpc protocols from neither FireFox or IE under vista, this may apply to other windows OS versions but so far the majority seem to be vista.
First let me rant, I think it is a quality/permissions issue and is a matter of either apple not adding quotes in the 3 protocol registry entries or Microsoft not allowing apple the appropriate permissions to change those settings when you upgrade to a new version of iTunes. So none the less it is ridiculous no matter what the reason is and there is no excuse that something so simple has to be solved by Joe average and not resolved by either one of these companies.
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SOLUTION AS FOLLOWS:
NOTE: As always back up your system restore point and make a
copy of the registry or the sections of the registry
you are editing!!!
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You need permissions set to the following registry paths under
HKEYCLASSESROOT\itms\shell\open\command
HKEYCLASSESROOT\itmss\shell\open\command
HKEYCLASSESROOT\itpc\shell\open\command
You may not see these as you reset permissions and have to go as far as adding a new key under each registry key, then it will show you your newly added key (just delete) and then set the appropriate permissions to adminstrators group on each until you get down to the "command" key.
Then once you are in the command key edit the following string that should show
C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe /url "%1"
and change it to...
"C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe" /url "%1"
yes I know, ridiculous that it is a matter of quotes missing, but that is what fixed it for me.
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Good luck!
Message was edited by: Ross-School-of-Business
Message was edited by: Ross-School-of-Business
Message was edited by: Ross-School-of-Business