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?
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:
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)