ThatCoolGuyOverThere

Q: backup to external drive?

My PC's C: drive has been 99% full for quite sometime now, which is why every thing I've saved or installed in the past year goes on my external HD. This is a problem since iTunes just assumes I don't really care where my phone is backed-up to and fills up the remaining 1% of my C: any time i try to backup. Is there anyway to backup my phone to my external hd instead?

., Other OS, .

Posted on Aug 27, 2010 10:58 AM

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Q: backup to external drive?

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  • by DaVBMan,

    DaVBMan DaVBMan Aug 27, 2010 11:06 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Level 6 (9,270 points)
    Aug 27, 2010 11:06 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Well it goes to your profile application data folder. So there are settings to tell Windows to store your profile elsewhere. I don't have instructions on how, but know it is possible. However it will mean ALL your profile data will go to that place.

    Best suggestion is to upgrade your drive as running at that capacity I am sure doesn't help your computers performance.
  • by wjosten,

    wjosten wjosten Aug 27, 2010 11:07 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Level 10 (94,603 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 27, 2010 11:07 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Is there anyway to backup my phone to my external hd instead?


    Not that I'm aware of. The iphone backup is not stored in your iTunes library, its stored here:

    * Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
    * Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\
    * Windows Vista and Windows 7: \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

    I'd advise replacing your hard drive. Running any hard drive at that capacity is asking for trouble.
  • by Allan Sampson,

    Allan Sampson Allan Sampson Aug 27, 2010 11:08 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Level 10 (123,457 points)
    Aug 27, 2010 11:08 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    I'm not aware of a way to change the default location for the iPhone's backup. Not a good idea to have your computer's boot drive at 99% of the storage capacity - for virtual memory if needed, swap files, and for general operation. This can lead to a loss of data or data corruption. Is there any other data you can transfer from your computer's boot drive to the external drive?

    Even with your iTunes library stored on an external drive for music and video, I believe all 3rd party apps are stored in the Mobile Applications folder located in the iTunes folder on your computer's hard drive - not in the iTunes folder when stored on an external drive for music and video.
  • by ThatCoolGuyOverThere,

    ThatCoolGuyOverThere ThatCoolGuyOverThere Aug 27, 2010 11:33 AM in response to wjosten
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Aug 27, 2010 11:33 AM in response to wjosten
    My computer is about 6 years old and I will be getting a new one in the near future so I don't want to waste any money upgrading this one. I just wanted to backup now to save time so I wouldn't have to wait until I get my new computer.
  • by lsamis,

    lsamis lsamis Aug 28, 2010 9:11 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2010 9:11 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Do a Disk Cleanup it will delete unwanted files and compact others. There are many unwanted files on your computer that may be taking up space.

    Click Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk Cleanup
    Click Start | Run and in the Open box type cleanmgr and click OK
  • by DaddyOFTheMacDaddy,

    DaddyOFTheMacDaddy DaddyOFTheMacDaddy Aug 28, 2010 1:19 PM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Aug 28, 2010 1:19 PM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    I'm not sure if this is what you're talking about, but if you open iTunes, go to the top left of the pane. You'll see the iTunes name; click there and open preferences. When the window pops up, click on the 'advanced' tab.

    There is the place to change the default location of iTunes.
  • by Allan Sampson,

    Allan Sampson Allan Sampson Aug 28, 2010 1:20 PM in response to DaddyOFTheMacDaddy
    Level 10 (123,457 points)
    Aug 28, 2010 1:20 PM in response to DaddyOFTheMacDaddy
    This does not affect or change the location for the iPhone's backup.
  • by Mark 112,

    Mark 112 Mark 112 Jan 6, 2011 11:40 PM in response to wjosten
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2011 11:40 PM in response to wjosten
    I think replacing a hard drive is an EXTREME call here, i haev a 1TB drive, i have set aside 50 gig for my system drive to install Windows and all my applications, which is MORE than enough for what it needs to do as i keep all my data on the other 950 gig as any good computer person would. This Backup is using up a lot of my C drive and i want to be able to move it! To say put another hard dirve in is a crazy statemtent when all i want to do is move the backup location
  • by Lynda Transcend,

    Lynda Transcend Lynda Transcend Oct 15, 2011 5:04 PM in response to Mark 112
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 15, 2011 5:04 PM in response to Mark 112

    I am trying to upgrade to OS 5 on my iphone 3gs and having this same problem, ie it can't backup because there's not enough space on this computer's harddrive and it needs over 20 GIGS(!!!!) available to do the backup! My external HD has around 800 gigs available.  Suggestions to get a new harddrive are, in my opinion, totally ridiculous! It is also ridiculous but not surprising that iTunes would be so difficult as to not have a facility to change a backup location. Typical I'm afraid! I hope you may have had some success, Mark! Cheers :-)

  • by lemmons,

    lemmons lemmons Oct 17, 2011 7:22 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 17, 2011 7:22 AM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere

    I have posted a way to do this in Windows 7 here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/16413742#16413742

     

    I'm currently looking into how to do it in OSX

  • by ckeilah,

    ckeilah ckeilah Sep 15, 2016 9:42 PM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 15, 2016 9:42 PM in response to ThatCoolGuyOverThere

    I suspect that you could create an alias for the Backups folder, which points to an actual folder on the usable-sized HDD.  Apple really needs to implement Preferences for this.  It's *absurd* to expect 128gb of backup data to go onto one's MAIN INTERNAL BOOT HDD!  Even if it's a 1TB drive, standard Apple fare, that's OVER TEN PERCENT of the HDD used for ONE ipwn backup.  :-/  Anyway, I am going to try the alias/softlink solution.  i.e. MOVE ~/Library/iTunes to the external HDD.  command-option-drag&drop to create an alias of that folder back into ~/Library.  Why the **** don't Apple products ever work without massive Brazil-level kludges and 42 miles of duct tape and bailing wire?!?  :-/

  • by Ingo2711,

    Ingo2711 Ingo2711 Sep 15, 2016 10:45 PM in response to ckeilah
    Level 7 (25,841 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 15, 2016 10:45 PM in response to ckeilah

    Did you check the size of your backup on your computer and compare it to the size of data on your iPhone?

    Even if you used all available space on your phone, the back will never be the same size, the data for the backup will be compressed. I use 30GB on my phone and the size of the backup file is 3,7GB.

    It might also help to check this:

    To avoid ruining any of your backup files, here's what you should know:

    • Your computer saves backups made in iTunes to the Backup folder in your Users folder. The location of the Backup folder varies by operating system. Though you can copy the Backup folder, you should never move it to a different folder, external drive, or network drive.
    • Don't edit, relocate, rename, or extract content from your backup files, because these actions might ruin the files. For example, to restore from a relocated backup file, you need to move it back or the file won't work. Backups serve as a safe copy of your entire device. So while you might be able to view or access a backup file's contents, the contents usually aren't stored in a format that you can read.

    copied from: Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support