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User profile for user: rbongni
rbongni Author
User level: Level 1
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Create new backup point

How do you create a new individual/independent backup in iTunes for the iPhone, so that that specific backup never gets updated again? When I click on the "Restore from backup" by right clicking on my iPhone in iTunes I have about 5 backups in there from different dates. For example, I have a backup dated Jan 14 2009 that never gets updated anymore, but I know I can revert back to that date if I need to. For the past few months, no new backups have been created, and instead I have regular iPhone backup that gets updated every day. I'm worried that if I have to restore my iPhone, and then I accidentally sync my empty iPhone, I'll have lost all my data because it will just replace the default backup. Is there a way to manually create a new backup that will then never get updated again, for archival purposes? I've tried the "Back Up" option, but that doesn't seem to create a new backup point.

Thanks in advance!

MBP, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Mar 22, 2009 1:13 PM

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User profile for user: Allan Sampson
Allan Sampson
User level: Level 10
123,677 points

Posted on Mar 22, 2009 1:24 PM

I'm not sure what prompts a new backup being created.

I currently have two backups. One dated 2/1, and another created since 2/1 that has been updated since. A new backup may be created after installing a firmware update.

The backup is based on the name of your iPhone.

You can change the name of your iPhone to something different, and manually create a new backup for the name change.

Afterwards, change the name of your iPhone back to what is was for the current backup for this name to continue being updated.
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User profile for user: Allan Sampson
Allan Sampson
User level: Level 10
123,677 points

Mar 22, 2009 1:24 PM in response to rbongni

I'm not sure what prompts a new backup being created.

I currently have two backups. One dated 2/1, and another created since 2/1 that has been updated since. A new backup may be created after installing a firmware update.

The backup is based on the name of your iPhone.

You can change the name of your iPhone to something different, and manually create a new backup for the name change.

Afterwards, change the name of your iPhone back to what is was for the current backup for this name to continue being updated.
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User profile for user: tokatta
tokatta
User level: Level 3
869 points

Mar 22, 2009 2:03 PM in response to rbongni

For some reason iTunes seems to overwrite the existing backup with a new one, unless (as has been noted) there is a firmware upgrade. It is possible to keep some old ones and force a new backup file....

Go to the backup location (mac is similar):

C:\Documents and Settings\<name>\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

And notice the folder names - Noticing the naming convention.... The folder without a numeric ending is current. It is possible to give it a time/date ending and then it will not get overwritten. So if you have a bunch of folders, take the one without a numeric ending, copy it and just add "-20090321-091358" to the end of the copy. To the system it is no longer the current backup, but it was made on date-time.

I have done this successfully quite a few times - I usually do it before a firmware upgrade, just to make sure.

Before you backup again, look at the backup list in iTunes and you should see an "old" backup with whatever date and time you gave it. Your next backup should be the same alpha-numeric string and no date-time.

Message was edited by: tokatta
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Create new backup point

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