iTunes iPhone backup

[Dallas Phil]

Does anyone know if there is a way to force itunes to backup your iPhone? I thought that it backed up everytime you sync but mine does not. Thank you.

[OniKoroshi]

What do you mean backup? Just copy all your songs to your local hard drive?

[Dallas Phil]

No I meant your iPhone backup. When in iTunes if you go to Edit, then Preferences, under the Sync tab it shows when your iPhone was last backed up. Is there a way to force this backup to happened? Thanks

[OniKoroshi]

I believe everytime you sync it creates a new backup.

[SkyyBoy]

you can also delete the last backup from within iTunes. Next time you sync, it will DEFINITELY make a back-up.
in my experience, sometimes if you change sync settings and choose "Apply" it will sync but not backup. You need to choose the "Sync" to force full sync and backup.

[Dallas Phil]

Thank you Skyyboy! Great idea and it worked!

[Lincoln]

If you're using iTunes 7.5, then it;s backed up every time you sync. Up at the top, where it says "syncing music..." "syncing photos...", etc, it also says 'Backing Up..." for about 2 seconds.

[vidmaster99]

Not if the iPhone is left connected to the Mac. If you make some more edits and click Sync in iTunes, a new backup is not created.

[KNK]

Not if the iPhone is left connected to the Mac. If you make some more edits and click Sync in iTunes, a new backup is not created.


But MacManPro is a profesional in that field. He owns Mac

[vidmaster99]

just reporting what happens on the Macs here. same on all Macs tested here in the office. If you unplug and replug the iPhone, the backup gets created everytime, but not if left connected and use the sync button in iTunes.

[ekologik]

mine gets backed up when i click Sync again, i believe, if there is new information to back up that is.

[Stetsonangel007]

What do you mean backup? Just copy all your songs to your local hard drive?


Is it possible to load all your music in your Ipod (on the Iphone) into your local hard drive or my music folder? :laugh2:

Thanks,

Angela

[Lazarus]

how do you restore from a backup? and will it put back all the apps and everything? or just iTunes stuff? I can never locate the file or does it do it auto?

[dturner]

how do you restore from a backup? and will it put back all the apps and everything? or just iTunes stuff? I can never locate the file or does it do it auto?
When you do a restore, it will ask if you want to restore from backup. Make sure you have the latest itunes.

[Lazarus]

right but will it find the backup file or do I? Cuz I d/k where it is. And will it restore everything like smb & customize or just iTunes stuff?

[dturner]

right but will it find the backup file or do I? Cuz I d/k where it is. And will it restore everything like smb & customize or just iTunes stuff?
It will find the backup file, but I know nothing about jailbreaking so will have to let others answer that one.
My wild guess is that you will lose the customize stuff but don't take my word on this. Some will chime in and let you know.

[RyanP]

I don't know about custom stuff, but it will put back things like SMS text messages, notes, your weather location preferences, stock lists, network key ids, and that kind of thing. If you restore and do not restore from a back-up, then you will lose all that stuff (it's a big pain!). Unfortunately if you have a real problem with your phone, Apple support will probably tell you to restore your phone as if it was new (not from a backup) to see if it resolves the problem, so you will end up losing all of that stuff--it would be nice if you could do a full restore and somehow get just the content back without restoring from a backup. (I have heard that a jailbreak program can backup things like Notes and text messages, but I'm not jail-broken, so I haven't used it.)

I should also note that I don't think a restore from backup will put all your iTunes songs back (when I did it, my song library remained empty even though I had 800 songs on there). All that stuff is stored on your hard drive though, so you simply have to synch again after restoring from backup.

[dd16seg]

you can also delete the last backup from within iTunes. Next time you sync, it will DEFINITELY make a back-up.
in my experience, sometimes if you change sync settings and choose "Apply" it will sync but not backup. You need to choose the "Sync" to force full sync and backup.

I deleted my last backup but want to be sure that when I hit sync, will my iphone import my calendar/contact info from my mac? I have all my info on the phone and want this to be backed up on my computer. Will hitting sync delete all this info off my iphone and not save it on the computer?

[Nutchos]

I was actually looking for the opposite. That backup thing is so annoying, I just want it to sync music/other stuff... the backup takes literally a half hour. Thank god I found that little X next to the bar to cancel it (yea i know, noob).

Anyway, what's it backing up anyway? After I cancel the back up it syncs contacts, mail, etc anyway (and really fast).

[suasex]

I was actually looking for the opposite. That backup thing is so annoying, I just want it to sync music/other stuff... the backup takes literally a half hour. Thank god I found that little X next to the bar to cancel it (yea i know, noob).

Anyway, what's it backing up anyway? After I cancel the back up it syncs contacts, mail, etc anyway (and really fast).


I agree, mine takes aaaaages. and clicking the X button only cancels it 50% of the time, bummer!

[tc2000chartreader]

Since the update to version 2.0, my backups take anywhere from 5-10 minutes before it syncs. Before I was using more memory on my 8G original iphone in movies and the backup was quick. Now even with no movies and 5G memory free, only using 3G, the backup takes 5-10 minutes. I think that every time it syncs the applications, it syncs the ENTIRE application. I am finding out that itunes is backing up my iphone about 5-6 times a day at work.

Anyone else having this trouble?

[TrippalHealicks]

Since the update to version 2.0, my backups take anywhere from 5-10 minutes before it syncs. Before I was using more memory on my 8G original iphone in movies and the backup was quick. Now even with no movies and 5G memory free, only using 3G, the backup takes 5-10 minutes. I think that every time it syncs the applications, it syncs the ENTIRE application. I am finding out that itunes is backing up my iphone about 5-6 times a day at work.

Anyone else having this trouble?

Yeah, my iTunes updates take (literally) as long as 20 minutes. Very very poor design on Apple's part. Why the hell would I want to back up everything on my iPhone, when it's already on my hard drive? I thought the whole idea of "syncing" was only updating what has changed..?

Very stupid. Very annoying.

[phsycology]

I hadn't done a syncs in about to weeks to avoid the backup lol, but yesterday, when I finally did, The backup alone took two whole hours!!!!! Sort it out, Apple!!!

[ekologik]

I hadn't done a syncs in about to weeks to avoid the backup lol, but yesterday, when I finally did, The backup alone took two whole hours!!!!! Sort it out, Apple!!!

check out this (http://lifehacker.com/399419/turn-off-crash-reports-to-speed-up-iphone-sync) lifehacker post. it's supposed to speed up syncing for 2.0.

[ives715]

Honestly my back up takes about 20 minutes. It should takes 20 seconds because the majority of what its backing up should already be on my hard drive. I stopped plugging it in to my computer mainly becuase of the backup. I can't get a phone call or do anything else on it during this time which can be a problem. So I started charging it from the wall.

[ekologik]

I plug my phone in every day or two, and I don't seem to have a slow backup at all. It's a bit slower than my phone on 1.1.3 but it doesn't take more than a minute or two. Not sure if that's why. Try the link above and try plugging it in more often maybe

[ives715]

I shut off the sending to apple stuff and still not a speed increase while backing up. My backup still takes a pretty long time. I can let it backup, unplug it, wait about 5 minutes, plug it back in and it backs it up again and this still takes 20 minutes. Is it necessary for iTunes to back it up every time i plug it in? The most recent backup is from 5 minutes ago. There is no reason to backup again because nothing has changed.

[dturner]

I shut off the sending to apple stuff and still not a speed increase while backing up. My backup still takes a pretty long time. I can let it backup, unplug it, wait about 5 minutes, plug it back in and it backs it up again and this still takes 20 minutes. Is it necessary for iTunes to back it up every time i plug it in? The most recent backup is from 5 minutes ago. There is no reason to backup again because nothing has changed.
When the backup starts, just click the X and itunes will abort the backup and continue with the sync.:2cool:

[ives715]

i used to do just hit the x. Then one day when i was messing with my phone i synced it to an Outlook from work and it erased all my contacts. I went restore it from a backup and it said it was corrupted, obviously. It seems to only keep one so I don't have to stop it otherwise I have nothing to resort back to in the worst case scenario. I now have all important stuff it multiple places.

[Huncowboy]

I did not want to start a new thread...

I was wondering where is the iphone backup file located. I am on Win XP btw. The reason I am asking is because I have my itunes music folder on a raid mirror, along with other stuff important to us like pictures etc... I would like to make sure that my backup file is on that raid also. I am guessing itunes backs it up onto the main drive which is a regular solo drive for me, not raid.

Thanks!

[MileHighRob]

When the backup starts, just click the X and itunes will abort the backup and continue with the sync.:2cool:
But remember each time you do this, it will take longer to backup when you finally agree to let it. The files seem to get corrupt from that practice. I let it backup whenever it wants to and, while it's certainly not as fast as on my first gen phone, it's much quicker than I'm hearing here.

[ives715]

I plug my phone in and sync every night. I just timed it after shutting off the send to apple thing and the backup took about 5 minutes. Im wondering if its because throughout the day I am always adding a couple applications as well as updating current ones if there are updates. Other than that the phone isn't even half full yet. Still seems like a long time when not that much has changed.

[MileHighRob]

The amount of changes done on the phone since the last backup definitely determines how long it takes to complete a backup. For this reason I always advise to allow it to run the backup each time. Personally I think aborting the backup is not wise.

[ives715]

One thing I have found on mine phone is that I can plug it in and let it backup which takes about 5 or so minutes. I then unplug it for a bout 5 mintues and plug it back in and the back up is just as long. I'm starting to think its my computer to blame.

[ives715]

I just downloaded the 2.0.1 update. I had some problems because I unchecked automatically sync. I had to first sync it so it could do its 5 minute backup then update. Before I did this iTunes tried to back it up before it updated but kept erroring cause the phone wasn't ready for it. Not sure how backup times are now. They are supposed to be better and only backup what changes so we'll see.

[whatthepho]

Your best bet to backup your iPhone is CopyTrans
http://www.copytrans.net

[shimuzu]

There's a way to disable auto back up in Terminal (Mac users only): http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/how_to_disable_iphones_backup_process-2.html#more

[lady_bugz22]

For the last 3 days I've been backing up my phone everynight & it seems to be helping to cut down on the back up time.

[iChristian]

I've heard if you take out your SIM card for the back up and sync, it goes faster. I haven't tried it myself though, because my backup takes at most 5 minutes.

[Newbee888]

Is there a way to force a transfer your files (backup) to another PC with iTunes already installed? I went to backup my iPhone using my laptop and it deleted all my music. There should be a selection or dierectional error when synching with the option of going only one way or both ways.

I find my iPhone also takes a while now to backup. About 5-10 minutes easy with only a few songs on it and about 5 apps.

Is copytrans a free app?

[ammarmalhas]

My iPhone 3G v2.0.2 backups took several hours to complete. Last night I left the phone syncing and backing up for 18 full hours before I finally gave up and hit the X button. However, I put the phone in airplane mode (it was already in it) and turned off the WiFi and tried to backup again, AND ..... IT WORKED!! It took 5 minutes or less to do the backup! I tried it several times and it works. It seems that the WiFi, when left on, causes the massive delays!! I do not know why, I am no iPhone expert! Anyway, I hope this helps some of you out there.:):):)

[phsycology]

Strange find, I will have to test this some time, but you may have just solved a lot of peoples problems...

[Swagger]

I agree, mine takes aaaaages. and clicking the X button only cancels it 50% of the time, bummer!

Supposedly, this is all coming to an end Friday, with the 2.1 update. Hmmm, I should have said hopefully instead of supposedly. I sure am hoping the long back up will be fixed..Mark

[Swagger]

My iPhone 3G v2.0.2 backups took several hours to complete. Last night I left the phone syncing and backing up for 18 full hours before I finally gave up and hit the X button. However, I put the phone in airplane mode (it was already in it) and turned off the WiFi and tried to backup again, AND ..... IT WORKED!! It took 5 minutes or less to do the backup! I tried it several times and it works. It seems that the WiFi, when left on, causes the massive delays!! I do not know why, I am no iPhone expert! Anyway, I hope this helps some of you out there.:):):)

If this works for the masses, you are a Genius. Also, it should be made a sticky so many people are having this problem. Mark

[ammarmalhas]

If this works for the masses, you are a Genius. Also, it should be made a sticky so many people are having this problem. Mark

A genius?? :2cool: Thank u. But i really did nothing.:embarrassed: I stumbled across it while trying out my iPhone.:foot:

[Swagger]

A genius?? :2cool: Thank u. But i really did nothing.:embarrassed: I stumbled across it while trying out my iPhone.:foot:

That is how most GREAT discoveries are found, by mistake. Great find!!! Mark

[ammarmalhas]

That is how most GREAT discovery's are found, by mistake. Great find!!! Mark

Thank you Mark for the kind support, I am glad I could help. We need someone else to verify this. Will u give it a try?:wink:

[Swagger]

Thank you Mark for the kind support, I am glad I could help. We need someone else to verify this. Will u give it a try?:wink:

I would certainly honor your request. I am not home right now and have my XPS with me in which my iPhone is not tied to the iTunes library. Darn it I knew I should have brought my Mac Book Pro. I will try it when I return home later...Mark

[ammarmalhas]

Thank u Mark. I'll check back on this tomorrow, it is 4am here and I have to catch some zzz's. Good Night.

[Swagger]

Thank you Mark for the kind support, I am glad I could help. We need someone else to verify this. Will u give it a try?:wink:

Worked like a charm for me. I tried it as soon as I returned home. Wow, this is great back up took 4 minutes...Thanks again

[opyr8yr]

I disabled my backups via terminal some time ago. Ever since doing so iTunes never bothered to backup again which is great, however I now need to make a backup, just one, and I can't figure out how. So back to the OP's question if we may, how do you "force" iTunes to make a backup?

[Debbie_Flincher]

Is there a way to force a transfer your files (backup) to another PC with iTunes already installed? I went to backup my iPhone using my laptop and it deleted all my music. There should be a selection or dierectional error when synching with the option of going only one way or both ways.

I find my iPhone also takes a while now to backup. About 5-10 minutes easy with only a few songs on it and about 5 apps.

Is copytrans a free app?

You will find a tutorial video on how to backup your iPhone's content to iTunes below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFJtM6fd0yg

I hope that helps.:wink:

[Miamiking75]

A backup is made every time you sync your PC (not sure about Macs)....in Vista the backup is located at C:\Users\AppData\Roaming\Apple\.... not sure but its somewhere in there (must unhide folders)

http://discountiphoneaccessories.com/analytics/sm2/imgs/mypic_1226305361.jpghttp://discountiphoneaccessories.com/analytics/sm2/imgs/mypic_1226304801.jpg

[phsycology]

Spam anybody? :)

[web101]

You will find a tutorial video on how to backup your iPhone's content to iTunes below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFJtM6fd0yg

I hope that helps.:wink:



sorry that was handy to know if it was a question on how back up songs?!...

totally useless if you want to simply back up the iphone...