How & where do you get help with iTunes?

Question

I've read the troubleshooting, and posted here, but no one seems to know enough about iTunes to answer. I can't convert video to an ipod version. I downloaded the sample.mov and tried to convert it, and I get the same result as with any other movie "Error occurred while converting the file "sample_iTunes". The required file cannot be found". I ran Filemon (Filemon monitors and displays file system activity on a system in real-time. Its advanced capabilities make it a powerful tool for exploring the way Windows works, seeing how applications use the files and DLLs, or tracking down problems in system or application file configurations. Filemon`s time stamping feature will show you precisely when every open, read, write or delete, happens, and its status column tells you the outcome) to see what file iTunes wasn't finding.
For some reason it seemed to think that mcicda.dll belongs on the desktop instead of in the system32 folder, so I copied it to desktop, and tried again. Now I still get the same "The required file cannot be found" error. The only problem is that iTunes returns a "success" for every file it searches. My movies & videos remain unconverted.
I understand that this may be beyond most peoples' technical expertise. This forum is users helping users. I tried Apple iTunes troubleshooting. It only covers one or two problems. So where are people to go when they don't have problem #1 or 2? With Windows, I can go to an official XP forum, and get help from certified windows experts. I can even get free email support with some software. But I've seen nothing of the sort from Apple for the iTunes software.
Did I miss it? Does it exist?

Answer 1

This has been an enlightening experience. Thanks to the both of you who took the time to answer my apparently difficult question. Katrina S. said that Apple doesn't provide support for the iTunes software because it's a free program. While I could see that if it functioned passively (as with Windows Media Player), iTunes is totally enmeshed with the optimun functioning of the ipod. It was set up to function with the ipod, which is likely why iTunes didn't work with other mp3/media players. Now the music is DRM-free, and can work with other players, but purchased video is still confined to an ipod. Itunes won't even convert the sample_.mov from its own Troubleshooting, let alone video from other sources. If iTunes is supposed to be an integral part of using an ipod, then the malfunctioning of iTunes should be an issue Apple should address. If I Google "Windows Media Player support", the 1st 4 results are from Microsoft, not from a user forum (even though the program is also free). One site even starts with "Start here when Microsoft Windows Media Player is not working how you expected". Wow, that IS support! There's no reason (aside from cheapness? dismissiveness?) that Apple shouldn't step up.
Nonetheless, I will call Apple. Nothing to lose. At worst, I'll have to initially deal with some smug person who will be yet more condescending when he finds out I have a pc and not a mac. Then, after he can't fix the problem, I'll be passed on to the much nicer, more knowledgeable tech support person. This was my experience with Apple support a couple years ago with my 1st ipod. I can go through this again if it helps. I'll let you know.
Pickles1128, I have tried this program (MPEG Streamclip [www.squared5.com])to convert movies/music videos for my ipod nano 4th gen. Now, just the "audio format not supported" excuse appears when ipod won't load the video. But this is the same result I had gotten using Moyea Video Converter. I used MPEG Streamclip with the newest Quicktime, not the Quicktime alternative program mentioned for those without QT. While this program would export the video/audio file, all options involving actually converting the file were grey-ed out and unusable. Sure, I suppose I could separately export the video & audio files in workable formats, then (currently beyond my ability), recombine them. But shouldn't programs work much easier than this?