ITunes, quicktime won't start

Question

Problem:
When iTunes is launched, the process shows up for several seconds in the process manager before disappearing without an error message. Subsequent attempts to open iTunes feature it disappearing from the process manager in a much shorter period of time. Attempts to open quicktime result in an error box saying "QuickTimePlayer.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program. An error log is being created."
History:
I installed itunes v.6.0.1, without a hitch. After restarting my computer as asked by the setup, I was able to open itunes. However, after another shutdown, itunes could not be opened, as described above. Subsequent removals and reinstallations of itunes result in it working until I reboot the machine.
Things I've tried:
I do not have any Norton products installed, and qoolaid-related processes do not show up in System Information/Software Environment/Running Tasks, or in scans made by HijackThis as shown below. I tried restarting into safe mode with command prompt, but searches of winnt/system32, winnt, and any of the startup folders in under documents and settings did not reveal any of the executables or dlls associated with qoolaid. Additionally, scinfo.sidb has been delated from application data in documents and settings.
Running processes (as shown by hijack this):
C:\WINNT\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\services.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINNT\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\WINNT\System32\WBEM\WinMgmt.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINNT\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_04\bin\jusched.exe
C:\WINNT\SOUNDMAN.EXE
C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools\daemon.exe
C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\WINNT\system32\mmc.exe
C:\Shared\AAA_Stuff\HijackThis.exe
Additionally, system information showed csrss.exe as running.
All drivers are up to date. Please help me! I've no idea what to do next.
Custom made computer, 20 gb 4G colour iPod   Windows 2000   W2K sp4, amd64 3200+, Sapphire Radeon x800, asus a8v-e deluxe, ac97 integrated sound card,768 Mb ram

Answer 1

hi Wowbagger!
hmmm. the QT error message is unusual in these error-less itunes launch failure cases.
let's try heading into MSCONFIG to see if there's something else (apart from the Qoologic thing) causing problems. try applying the following technique:
Using MSCONFIG to troubleshoot conflicts in Windows
first let's just see if itunes and QT will launch after you do a selective startup with just qttask.exe, ituneshelper and ipodservice enabled.
if they do launch, steadily try adding startup items back in during startup until you get the QT-crash/itunes-errorless-launch-failure again.
let us know the names of any startup items that you absolutely have to leave disabled in order to avoid the launch failure and/or QT error.
love, b