HOW TO: Install Itunes without Quicktime/Bonjour - Windows 7

Question

You need iTunes without the bloat? Don't know what the bloat is? I'll help you. Now I don't know if this has been explained elsewhere, I only found some older topics and google results that didn't explain all the points required so I'm redoing it.
_NOTE: DO THIS ON THE DESKTOP_ (You'll see why later ;D)
First is the Preperation;
Get the appropriate iTunes (my instructions are from the point of view of 64bit but they won't differ all that much)
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
Go here and download the newest one (at time of writing thats QT Lite 4.1.0):
http://www.vistacodec.com/fc/QT_Lite-410.exe
Please download/move/save these to the desktop.
The Extraction
Right click on the iTunes64Setup.exe [iTunesSetup.exe for 32bit]
Navigate to your extraction program, I'm using 7zip so I navigate to "Extract Here". I'm sure you can go it alone if you don't use 7zip (because more fool you)
Then we will have a bunch of exe's and msi's on the desktop, of which we now need to delete several.
This is the Deletion;
If you don't want both Quicktime and Bonjour, which I'll assume you don't because they impact performance and limit your control of media files, then you need to delete:
Bonjour64.msi
Quicktime64.msi
If you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch then skip this one point (though I have an iPod Touch I don't yet intend to use it with iTunes so I still deleted this, after all you can install it later from this single file). Delete:
AppleMobileDeviceSupport64.msi
Now this is an important one, all updates must be done manually in this exact same manner, just come back here and follow the instructions again, otherwise iTunes will include the bloat in the update. Delete:
AppleSoftwareUpdate.msi
(Ignore SetupAdmin.exe, because I don't know what it does :D)
Almost there, but first it's the +Linux Experience+;
In you're start menu there should be a "Command Prompt" shortcut, click it. If not don't worry, on your start menu click "Run" and type in:
cmd.exe
Press enter and Bob's your uncle.
Otherwise right click on your desktop in empty space, highlight "New", select "Shortcut" and the location is:
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe
When that's done just click the shortcut and Fanny's your aunt.
Now you'll notice that each line begins with:
C:\Users\YOURNAME>
That's because it's the location this terminal is currently navigated to, like a web browser or the plain old windows explorer, just text based though.
We need to change the directory you are in and the command for this conveniently is:
cd
And this is why I told you to do it all on the Desktop, because now all you have to do is change directory to the Desktop, which is one folder away. So, type this in the terminal (that's the command prompt window):
cd Desktop
You'll notice that the prefix has changed to:
C:\Users\YOURNAME\Desktop>
That's good
Keep this window open and move on boys and girls.
Next, the biggie, +Installation Part One+;
We're mostly borrowing from this lovely persons thread, so I ought to give it a mention:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1704004&tstart=15
Now we follow the last step on the thread linked, in case you're a philistine here it is...
In that (command prompt) terminal window, type:
iTunes64.msi /passive
For those with 32bit i can only imagine it would be:
iTunes.msi /passive
Then just sit back and let it run silently until you recieve an error message pertaining to the failure of iTunes without "Apple Aplication Support", when this arises just click ok or whatever shuts it up and move to the next step.
Lastly, finally, is +Installation Part Deux+;
Double click AppleApplicationSupport.msi and just follow it through leaving everything as it is.
Then, remember that other download I got you to do? QT Lite? Well double click on that and install it. At the end tick the "Configure Settings" box and just tweak them to be supaqwik, like maximising the web cache or whatever. Use your judgment.
When that's done click apply/ok and... we're done!
Just click/double click the itunes icon and you'll see an improvement straight away.
Sorry if this tutorial was a bit too much like a Quentin Tarantino film for ya' but I gotta keep my brain from leaking out my ears, somehow
Enjoy, and if it's been done before I just hope it hasn't been done better.
I looked all over the internet and using the linked thread and some smarts; I got here, with you, and iTunes sans bloat.

Answer 1

QuickTime is required for iTunes to run. You can think of iTunes as a media manager "front end" to QuickTime which handles the actual playing of the media.
Safari was an optional install when I installed iTunes on my Windows system. I wasn't forced to install Safari. MobileMe is also no longer automatically installed, though it will update if it finds an existing installation. I didn't get it forced on me when I installed on my Vista system.
You might find this helpful:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=554
Regards.
One tip: it will pay better dividends if you avoid ranting. Apple won't see your rants (except to delete them) and we, your fellow users who are with rare exceptions the only ones participating here, don't really want to be yelled at.