iTunes for Windows: "Registry settings" warning when opening iTunes

Resolution

iTunes installs a device filter which helps it work with your optical drive. If this device filter is missing, you will see the message mentioned above. To resolve this issue, reinstall iTunes to put the device filter back in place. To reinstall iTunes, follow the steps in the article below appropriate to your OS:

• Removing and Reinstalling iTunes, QuickTime, and other software components for Windows XP
• Removing and reinstalling iTunes, QuickTime, and other software components for Windows Vista or Windows 7

1. Open Registry Editor:
   XP: From the Start menu click Run. In the resulting dialog,  type "regedit" (without quotes) and click OK.
   Vista: From the Start menu, in the Start Search dialog, type "regedit" (without quotes) and press Enter.
   Windows 7: From the Start menu, in the "Search programs and files" dialog, type "regedit"(without quotes) and press Enter.
2. If Windows needs your permission to continue, click Continue.
3. Click the plus sign (XP) or arrow (Vista and Windows 7) next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to expand its contents.
4. Expand the contents of SYSTEM.
5. Expand the contents of CurrentControlSet.
6. Expand the contents of Control.
7. Expand the contents of Class.
8. Click to select the heading that begins with  "{4D36E965-" (you just need to highlight this folder).  It should look like this:

    

9. From the File menu, click Export.
10. In the dialog box that appears, make sure the "Selected branch" radio button is enabled, then save the file somewhere that you can find it later. This is a backup of this registry key. You should hang on to this in case you need to reimport your original settings later.
11. On the right side of the Registry Editor window, right-click the UpperFilters entry and choose Modify from the shortcut menu.
    

    If the UpperFilters entry is missing, follow these instructions:

    Right-click the empty white space within the right-hand portion of the Registry Editor window. From the shortcut menu, choose New > Multi-String Value.

    

    Name this new value "UpperFilters" (without the quotes). Then, right-click the newly created UpperFilters entry and choose Modify from the shortcut menu.

12. In the window that appears, use the appropriate steps below to add iTunes device filter to the "Value data" box.

    If the "Value data" box already contains text, follow these instructions:

    The text contained in the "Value data" box represents third-party device filters. If you remove these device filters, the third-party software that installs them may stop functioning properly. In the example below "NTIDrvr" and "SiRemFil" represent these third-party device filters.

     

    Click in the box below this text. This accomplishes two things. First, it removes the highlighting from the text. This way when you start typing it won't overwrite these device filters. Second, it places the cursor below this text.

    Now, type "GEARAspiWDM" (without quotes) to add the iTunes device filter.

    

     

    If the "Value data" box is blank, follow these instructions:

    Type GEARAspiWDM to add in the iTunes device filter.  See the example below.

    

    Continue on with the next step.

13. Click OK.
14. Restart the computer.