turingtest2
Level 10
(85,892 points)
Q: Tip: Archive iPhone backup in Windows
iTunes normally maintains one rolling backup for each device unless you restore a backup in which case it is archived with the date of the restore and a new rolling backup created. On a Mac you can get iTunes to duplicate a backup set, but that feature isn't replicated in iTunes for Windows. With iTunes closed you can select, then copy and paste an existing backup folder set in C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup and then give it a folder name that ends in -yyyymmdd-hhmmss. When you restart iTunes the extra backup set will be listed under Edit > Preferences > Devices although it will have the same same as the original it was cloned from. Once you refresh the active backup it should be possible to tell which is which from the time stamps.
tt2
elcpu
Level 6
(16,186 points)
Very clever, thank you. I have bookmarked this post. I did not know how to archive backups in iTunes for Windows other than using an external drive. I checked my MBP (10.11.5) and sure enough there is a drop down menu in iTunes >>> Devices that allows archiving. No such option on my W10 iTunes (12.4.1). Is Apple "dumbing down" iTunes for Windows?
Can you confirm how you renamed the cloned folder set? Under Backup I have two folders, one for my iPhone and one for my iPad. Should I copy them leaving the existing names as-is except appending the timestamp at the end of the long alphanumeric string? Like 6d473d7c6.......-20160709 ?? Is that what you mean?
You likely know this already but in Windows 10 one can go directly to the Roaming folder (normally hidden) by typing %appdata% in Cortana. In Windows 7 I had to change the "View" to show hidden/system files.
