[mykhal c]

well kudos to michael in digi's tech support. we looked at all the things that are in the docs and addendums with no luck. then michael suggested that i uninstall quicktime and try to init pro tools. and behold, it worked!!!! so i'm sure a hit will be posted regarding this issue. but in the meantime here are the steps that should resolve the issue...

1) during the install of 5.3.1, if it does not find quicktime it will automatically take you to the install wizard. i imagine you could cancel out of the quicktime install but i'm not sure what kind of state that would leave the 5.3.1 install in. (not sure if you would get installation complete or not) so i would suggest going thru with the quicktime install. then you'll get the 5.3.1 install completion message.

2) then before launching pro tools, uninstall quicktime. there will be 2 options, 'uninstall everything' or 'uninstall'. choose 'uninstall everything'. this will remove any system extensions relating to quicktime.

3) after succesful uninstall of quicktime then launch pro tools 5.3.1. you should be taken to authorization screen. do your thing there.

4) after you exit 5.3.1 then reinstall quicktime!!! should be good to go then!!

hope this hit will save someone a hassle in the future!!! aloha!!!