For all those receiving the error:

"iTunes has encountered a problem and needs to close"

I found the problem is with the "iTunes.pref" file located in:

C:/Documents and Settings/YOURUSERNAME/Application Data/Apple Computer/iTunes/iTunes.pref

In your "Folder Options" in the "View" tab, make sure you have "show hidden files and folders" selected and "Hide protected operation system files (Recommended)" unchecked to see the Application Data folder.

If you uninstall iTunes, find and delete this folder, then reinstall it should work.

Please let me know if you have any questions or if this helped anybody! I've been looking for a solution for months and have found many with the same problem on different forums!