iTunes Can Not Identify iPhone WIN XP After iTunes & iPhone Update

I was having this same issue after updating to 7.6 and 1.1.3. I tried everything listed (reinstalling iTunes, turning off anti-virus, updating drivers, nothing else plugged into USB ports, etc.) but my iPhone was never recognized (it wasn't just an intermittent problem). I finally found that turning off the built-in WiFi allows my iPhone to be recognized every time. I first found this because my iPhone was recognized when my laptop was docked (only wired networking active). This works alright because I can still get the latest podcasts while syncing but I'd like to be able to sync from anywhere instead of just while docked.

hello,

i have had the same problem as all of oyu for a week or so for my iphone. this is how i did it and it should work for all of you. uninstall apple mobile device and after that is done uninstall itunes it will ask to restart do so. then when your computer is up again open task manager go to processes and make sure nothing says apple,if it does end the process, then reinstall itunes off of apple and after that is done take your iphone out and put it back into your computer again and it should work. thats what i did and its perfect!

i just got a replacement phone (got old one wet $250)
instead of restoring from old phone backup i set up new phone when i initially synced with my desktop. Sync worked fine. i synced all my media from my desktop. next i tried syncing with my laptop for my contacts, calendars, (outlook), bookmarks. I did this succesfully with my previous phone but on my first attempt to sync with my second computer (laptop) i kept getting the infamous message "blah blah blah please disconnect and reconnect the iphone, then try again". My fix also was disabling my wifi. Thanks all for that suggestion.
lets go apple fix it already!!!

Awwww Crud!
I reported earlier that my problem had mysteriously gone away.

I just got back from a laptop-free vacation...docked the phone and message about upgrading to 7.6.1.9, which I did... and now I've got the problem again! Grrrr.

Pressing the little button to disable wireless works ok as a workaround for me for now...its just a pain in the butt.

I have since determined that this is likely my attempt to synchronize info on two computers. I have a Mac now. I wanted to sync my Safari bookmarks from my Mac but then do my calendar and contacts from my work PC. When I went to sync on my Mac, I wasn't given a Merge option but only a Replace option. When I went to plug my iPhone back into my PC, I had this recognition problem and needed to uninstall/reinstall type things to clear it up. If you are having this recognition problem, it might be due to the attempt to dual sycc. Just thought you should know....

I have a similar problem, but it wasn't after any itunes or iphone updates. I think the problem started after my sister installed software for her canon camera. I'm currently trying to sort it out.

I recived this same error after updating to iTunes 7.6.1.9
I did 2 things and one resolved this problem for me.
1) ran windows udate & installed updates
2) moved USB cable to a port on back of pc from one on front(that had always worked before)

Phone now connects to iTunes 100% so far.

Interesting....after my upgrade nothing syncs. A friend, I'll call her #1, who has not updated iTunes or her iPhone is not having problems (iTunes 7.5 and iPhone 1.1.3). So I took my phone to her house, synced to her computer, her info loaded onto my phone.

Came home, started iTunes (I have 7.6 and iPhone 1.1.4) - runs like it's syncing, but nothing is loading. So I contacted friend #2, she also updated her software, she also is having problems syncing.

I too have talked to a Tier II tech with Apple, she is waiting for a response on what the problem may be. It appears there's a glitch with 7.6 - somewhere, somehow. Hopefully they'll find a fix soon!

I think I may have found the solution (at least for Vista users):

1. Find the listing for Apple iPhone under Device Manager > Portable Devices (NOT under the USB devices)
2. Right Click > Properties
3. Click the Driver tab
4. Click the Update Driver button
5. Click "Browse my computer for driver software..."
6. Browse to this location: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\Drivers
7. Click NEXT
8. Vista installs the missing USB driver and iTunes recognizes the phone again

Hope this helps!

I uninstalled the Apple Mobile Device service from the Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, then I uninstalled and reinstalled iTunes using iTunes Setup. Works fine for me now. Just updated the iPhone to 1.1.4 (162MB download!)

Well, I haven't heard back from Apple. But, today I plugged my phone in to update/upload some photos, and it syncd. Calendar, contacts, bookmarks, all of it worked. Not sure why, or what happened, but it's working again.

I've had my IPhone for two weeks. It's great however I did and still do experience this same problem. Apple support is great even though we did not resolve this issue. The young lady that was assisting me stuck with it for almost 1 hour and a half. What I did want to share with anyone else that is experiencing this error where ITunes says that it can not Identify the IPhone was something that I was able to figure out. At work, my tablet PC is plugged into a docking station that has an external power supply. At home I use a normal external power supply plugged directly into the laptop. What I discovered was that when I was at work using the exact same USB ports as I was at home, the ITunes sync worked flawlessly. It was only when I was at home "undocked" that I would experience this error. Apple support actually steered me in this direction when she asked if I was using a powered USB 2.0 port. It was then that I realized that the sync had worked during the day (docked) but only failed at home (undocked).

HDFB,

Some laptops or tablet PCs will not power the USB port when on battery to try and conserve power, and increase battery life. There is an option to tell it to power the ports. If you go to Device Manager, and get properties on the USB Root Hubs, and go to the Power Management tab. You may need to do this for all of the USB Root Hubs.

That would probably explain why you can sync while connected to AC power, but not while running on battery.

Hope this helps,

Nathan C.

The solution below provides information on how to understand, diagnose, and correct a problem when iTunes, on an XP Windows OS, is not detecting the iPhone when it had detected it before. This is a solution for when the problem is related to your USB ports. I had a bad UBS cable in use while also using my iPhone’s USB cable.

I had been using iTunes to sync my iPhone with no problems for several months. Then, I upgraded to the 7.6.2.9 version of iTunes and was unable to get iTunes to detect my iPhone. I don’t know why it started after the upgrade. Windows XP could see the device thru Windows Explorer, even the pictures in my camera roll. iTunes started up very slowly and then gave the error of "An iPhone has been detected, but it could not be identified properly. Please disconnect and reconnect the iPhone, then try again."

I won't bore you with the details of the 2 hours with tech support that left me without a working phone, no data and an appointment at an Apple store the next day.

Later that same night, I found a solution in several messages on the discussion board for the iPhone thread and an Apple Article. I don't think the problem was specifically related to the iTunes upgrade as this type of problem has been reported even with an iPod Touch device in 2007. Apple released a support Article 306640 dated OCT 11, 2007.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306640

The instruction below is to diagnose and understand a solution for a bad USB connection:
If you are using XP and getting the detected but not identified error do the following:

1. Connect your iPhone via your USB cable. NOTE: you might get prompted to open the iPhone as a camera; ignore and close that window. Then, open Windows Explorer and determine if you can see and open your iPhone. If you can this tells you the iPhone USB connection is working.
2. Open your Device Manager; devmgmt.msc from the Command line or right click on your My computer; right click Manage; select Device Manager from left list; open the USB Controller list at bottom.
3. Look for both your Apple iPhone device and an Unknown Device. The Unknown Device is causing the problem. If you don’t have an Unknown Device – you problem is probably not caused by a bad USB connection. Go to step #5.
4. Keep the Device Manager window open; Remove each USB cable separately (except the iPhone and Keyboard cables). Look to see if the Unknown Device goes away. If it does, you have found the bad cable or port and iTunes will detect your iPhone.
5. NOTE: If this does not correct your problem, review the article 306640 above for other choices; I would try disconnecting the network (wifi or wired) first and then look at the Apple Mobile Device Services status next.

The Good news is after discovering the Unknown Device and removing the bad cable iTunes detected my iPhone right away. I had to reset it back to Factory Settings and restore my data backup from 7 days earlier via iTunes. It took about 30 minutes and I had all my data from the backup time.

I wish the 2 techs on iPhone support had known about the Apple Article 306640 dated OCT 11, 2007. If they did, they would have looked at the Device Manager as one of the first easy steps and solved the problem in 10 minutes instead of the 4 hours it took me. The standard response from most techs is to first reinstall the software (iTunes, Mobile Service, Quicktime, etc..). In most cases this is a waste of time. It also changes the state of the computer and does not allow any root cause analysis. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not really the tech’s fault they are taught to solve problems by re-installing software thru training or scripts. As you can tell, I’ve from the old school of problem management - using existing knowledge base and/or component isolation, and your brain.

Check and see if you have any flash drives or anything plugged in...I was having the same problem and aas soon as i unplugged my flash drive from a different port my phone wored perfectly fine.