I need to change which computer (PC) I sync my iPhone on...I don't want to lose all my photos, contacts, etc. to upgrade to 2.0 and the original computer that I used no longer exists.
There has to be a way to tell the phone to consider the new computer as the "default"
Unless you maintained a backup for your original computer that included your iTunes library and photos transferred from the computer to your iPhone, some of this data available on your iPhone may be lost.
The sync process for iTunes content and for photos transferred to your iPhone is a one way transfer process only - from your computer to your iPhone.
Contact info, calendar events, and bookmarks is designed to be synced with the supported application on your computer. With Windows, this can be with Outlook 2003 or 2007 for contact info and calendar events, or with the address book used by Outlook Express with XP or the address book used by Windows Mail with Vista - the name change for OE for contact info.
iTunes includes an option to transfer iTunes content that was purchased from the iTunes store from an iPod or iPhone, but this is for content that was purchased from the iTunes store only.
First you need to authorize the new or different computer with the same iTunes account with iTunes. With your iPhone connected and without syncing, at the iTunes menu bar go to File and select Transfer Purchases From - the name of your iPhone.
Photos transferred from your computer to your iPhone are optimized for viewing on your iPhone via the iTunes sync process. Since the original resolution of these photos would be lost if it were possible to transfer such photos in the opposite direction, Apple doesn't include a method for doing so. I believe there is a 3rd party utility that provides for this, but the original resolution of these photos will be lost, and such a utility is not supported by Apple if it causes any problems.
Saving music is NOT important to me. I can move my music from another source into iTune library to add it to my phone later.
I'm terrified of losing phone numbers and other contact info that I don't have anywhere else.
I thought I was "saving" my contacts and such when I was syncing, but apparently I was just not losing them from the phone...I'm not at all familiar with Outlook or Windows Mail...guess I'm going to have to use one of them to save the contact info in my phone and retrieve it after upgrade. Is that right??
The photos in my phone are ones I took with my phone. I have copied them onto a PC harddrive so they won't be totally lost, but I want to be able to have them on my phone after the upgrade.
If I have the newest version of itunes on the computer I want to use and I can import my computer based info from a portable drive onto this computer, then sync will iTunes pick up the data from my iPhone (contacts and pics, apps, etc)
I thought syncing made a back up....how would I do a backup?
If I could get my 19 yr old to help me I probably wouldn't be asking ya'll for help!
Once you do your first sync, it will give you the message that all the data will be lost on the iPhone, it's found it's new home after that point.
For your contacts, if you don't have it, get MobileMe. Also on your old PC you want to create a "dummy" contact on the computer; it's the only way you can merge you contacts. If you don't create the dummy contact you'll only get the option to replace, and your contacts are gone.
Contrary to the other advice, DO NOT set up an Exchange or MobileMe account in an effort to rescue your data. Doing so replaces the contact and calendars on the phone with those on the server - even if there is no data on the server.
When you connect the iPhone to your new computer, right-click (control-click on a Mac) the iPhone's name in the iTunes Source List. Choose Back Up, which will save a copy of the data on the iPhone to the computer before you do any syncing. The backup includes contacts, calendars, settings, and photos that are still in the Camera Roll. Other photos, music, video, and applications are not saved.
After making sure you've backed up the phone, authorize the new computer for your iTunes account (Store -> Authorize) and Transfer Purchases (File -> Transfer Purchases from ...) to get any iTunes-purchased music, videos, and apps onto the new computer.
Finally, enable the sync options you would like and use the new computer as you would the old computer. Data will, by default, merge from the phone to the computer. If you run into trouble, you can restore the phone from the backup you made previously.
