Q: Can I create a new unencrypted iPhone backup without starting from scratch (original encryption password not working)?

What happens when you try to do a regular unencrypted backup through iTunes now? Maybe this will help you:

If you need help restoring from an iTunes Backup - Apple Support

Do you know your Apple ID and Password?

See this document - About encrypted backups in iTunes - Apple Support

note especially the part near the bottom and that encryption is set on the device now, not just on the backup file on your computer:

... If you forgot your password, the only way to turn off backup encryption on your device is to erase your device and set up as new. Erasing removes all data from your device. If you don't want to erase your device, restore from an iCloud backupinstead.

So, if you do. It have an iCloud backup as well, then your only option is to erase and set up as new, no way around that.

if you have an iCloud backup, you will need to first erase all content and settings to erase the encryption setting, then restore from iCloud. Then you should be able to backup in iTunes without encryption.

Michael, wouldn't he need his Apple ID and password for that? Specially if Find my iPhone is turned on?

KarlosJ wrote:

 

Thanks Michael.  In that case, is there any way to turn off encryption from the device in that case or must the phone be entirely reset to factory settings?

Without knowing the password for the encrypted backup, the only way to remove the encryption setting from the device is to erase it and restore as new. That will wipe out the encryption setting, and yes to do that you will first need to disable find my iPhone with your iCloud passphrase. Once it is erased and restored to factory settings, you can restore your iCloud backup.

I know it is a pain if you have forgotten the password, but that is the very point of using an encrypted backup. Without the password, nobody can gain access to your data, neither from the backup file, nor from the device itself (I.e. you cannot just turn off the encryption setting and then extract the data with a regular backup). If it were any other way, it would be a largely pointless security feature.  Note that your iCloud backup will NOT contain certain data, like app passwords, that are part of an encrypted backup.  About encrypted backups in iTunes - Apple Support

This is not directed at anyone here (just at apple)...

This is ridiculous! I have a device (ipod touch to be exact) that I do not know the encrypted backup password for. I'm not asking to restore a previously encrypted backup, I just want to create a NEW backup with a NEW password. I deleted the old encrypted backups (they're useless at this point). So, what is the purpose of the current password at this point?!?!?!

In an attempt to backup to icloud and reset/restore the phone, I keep getting, "the backup could not be completed" error messages.

Somebody at apple was not thinking when implementing this encrypted backup password functionality... there is no need for an old encryption password if I don't have any encrypted backups!

The only way you can create an unencrypted backup is to erase your phone and set it up as new. You can then create an unencrypted backup. If you could create an unencrypted backup after saying you wanted the backup encrypted that would make encrypted backups meaningless, because they could always be overwritten with an unencrypted backup of the same data that you previously said should be encrypted.

But if I've deleted all of my encrypted backups, there is nothing to overwrite. Even if I didn't delete all of my encrypted backups, if I overwrite one, the information stored in an encrypted backup (e.g. passwords) would not be stored in an unencrypted backup. So, what's the "security risk"?

Once the password is "lost" the encrypted backups are useless. Why can't I set a different password (without knowing the previous password) for each backup?

Because the password is used as the encryption key, and the only place it exists in in the encrypted backup. The backup would have to be decrypted to change the password.

This is no different from changing an operating system password. You must know the old password in Windows, Mac or Linux in order to change the password.

"Because the password is used as the encryption key, and the only place it exists in in the encrypted backup."

I think that is incorrect. The encrypted backups were deleted and it still required me to enter the password.

Also, I'm not looking to change the password on the OS (iOS in this case)... that, I have. I want to create a NEW backup of the current state of the OS. At the least, it should ask me for the current iOS PIN/Password or current iCloud password.