iTunes cannot read the contents of iphone "Teresa Pearcy". Help?

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iTunes cannot read the contents of iphone "Teresa Pearcy". Help?

Everytime I plug in my phone to charge, this is what pops up. "
ITunes cannot read the contents of the iphone "Teresa Pearcy". Go to the Summary Tab in iphone preferences and click Restore to restore this iphone to factory settings."
It also says if I do this then I will lose everything that's been put into my phone.
I've even tried everyway I know to get around iTunes just to get a new ring tone downloaded. I can't get any of my music... I don't want to lose what I have on my phone already by restoring it to factory settings.
It will transfer photos from iphone to computer. But nothing else.

I've been struggling with this since I got the phone. Can anyone help me out with this?? Please? It's been very frustrating. Thank you.

Hp Pavilion Media Center m767 4n, Windows XP

Posted on Apr 22, 2010 3:08 AM

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Answer 1

wjosten

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Apr 22, 2010 3:26 AM in response to Teresahp

With that error message, you will have to restore your phone, there is no other fix. If your itunes content is still in itunes(not just on your phone) you can sync such back to your phone after you restore. Same for contacts, they should be in a supported application on your computer & can thus be synced back to your phone after you restore.

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Answer 2

Teresahp Author

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Apr 23, 2010 12:00 AM in response to wjosten

Hey, thanks for answering. I'm not sure I'm understanding what you mean Hon. I don't have anything from iTunes in my phone. Well I do have the iTunes store app. on the phone, but everything else is on the computer. That's where the message pops up too.

My biggest worry is losing all my contacts. I have 80 some odd names and numbers stored in the phone, but I don't see an application with them in it on my computer.

I don't know how to get them from the phone to the computer.
I'm sorry, I'm really confused. I hope I haven't gotten you confused too. If not, then maybe you could explain it just a little more please?

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Answer 3

wjosten

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Apr 23, 2010 3:01 AM in response to Teresahp

How did your contacts get on your phone? Contacts should be stored in a supported application on your computer & that data backed up on a regular basis just like any other important data. If using Windows, this would be outlook or Windows address book. Are you not syncing your contacts with a supported application? When was the last time you were able to sync? The reason I ask is that the first thing done when you do sync is an iphone backup & included in that backup are your contacts.

You are going to have to restore your phone in order to start syncing again. If your data is stored in a supported application, it can then be synced back to your phone. If your data is not in a supported application & not in your phone's backup, you are going to have to use third party software to extract that data before you restore. Here's one example:

http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/index.php

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Answer 4

Teresahp Author

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Apr 23, 2010 4:08 AM in response to wjosten

See, that's one of my problems. I don't know how to locate my phones backup. Are you talking about in the settings? There's a button that says import SIM contacts. Above that it says Sort Order and Display order.

The first time I plugged my phone into the computer, that message popped up and still does everytime. The guy at the store put the SIM card from my old phone, which was an Lg View, into the iphone instead of the card that came with the phone. Could that be the problem?

I wouldn't know where to look on my computer to find the Contacts back up either, if it did sync. I think I got in way over my head here.

I read and re-read and it and I can't make any sense of it. I'm stuck with it for the next two years too. I love the phone! Most of it I get. But this thing with iTunes I can't.

Is the back up in the same place on everybodys iphone? Please don't give up on me yet. You've been very helpful and kind. I'll go see if I can make sense of that link that you gave me.

Thanks

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Answer 5

wjosten

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95,321 points

Apr 23, 2010 4:32 AM in response to Teresahp

Are you saying you've never performed a sync with your computer? I'm guessing here that your contacts, on your iphone, were imported from the sim card of your old phone. The iphone itself stores no data on the sim card, but many other GSM phones do store contact info on the sim card. On your computer, if you don't have outlook, you do have Windows address book, look there, are your contacts in Windows address book?

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Answer 6

Teresahp Author

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Apr 24, 2010 3:14 AM in response to wjosten

Hey wjosten. Thank you so much for your help. I went back over all that you told me several times until I finally caught on.

Never figured out why it wouldn't read the phone, but after realizing my contacts would still be on my sim card to import after the phone was restored then I was able to go ahead without worrying. I got the phone restored back to the original factory settings and then imported my contacts from the sim card.

It finally synced my phone with iTunes and everything is working perfectly now. I just have to re-download my apps. I have new ringtones!! lol

Again, thank you so much for your patience and help. You guys really do help a lot of people.

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Answer 7

wjosten

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95,321 points

Apr 24, 2010 3:45 AM in response to Teresahp

You're welcome.

Make sure you sync your contacts with a supported application on your computer. As I've already mentioned, that would be Windows Address Book if you do not have outlook. But, before you do sync your contacts, make sure you have at least ONE entry in Windows Address Book, the entry can be fake, that doesn't matter. The important point to remember is that you DO NOT WANT TO SYNC TO AN EMPTY ADDRESS BOOK! By having at least one entry will generate a MERGE or REPLACE prompt when you do sync. Make sure you select MERGE!

Enjoy your phone.

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Answer 8

Teresahp Author

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Apr 24, 2010 4:07 AM in response to wjosten

Hey, thanks for the extra tips. That would've been a whole new problem. I didn't know about that either. =)

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Answer 9

fraga

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Apr 24, 2010 7:35 AM in response to Teresahp

Hi,
I've the same problem too.

I had made iPhone sync on my PC in the past. But my HDD went in trouble and I had to buy another and reinstall Windows, so I lost my iTunes library.
Having no sync was ok, since I was comfortable with the photos, applications and music in my iPhone.
But yesterday my iPhone went out of disk space, and my problem started. I then needed to sync. I tried to extract my paid applications from iPhone using "transfer purchases from my iPhone". Unsuccessful, since it did not copy every application. I've tried to download the applications again, but iTunes say I need to pay for them. And now, after some unsuccessful purchase transfers and backups, iTunes says "iTunes cannot read the contents of iPhone", so I think I'm forced to restore the original settings.

What should I do?
I don't want to pay again for the applications I already purchased.
I don't want to loose my application data.
I don't care about my music, photos and videos, cause I can get them elsewhere anyway.

Is there a way to save my iPhone, applications and data?

Thanks

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Answer 10

Apr 30, 2010 9:49 PM in response to fraga

Fraga,

I had the same problem, and none of the apps were backed up on any computer. After signing in to the apple ID I use on my iPhone, I tested re-buying the apps that I used money to purchase.

I was able to re-download them for free. I am not sure what it does to app data though, I'll post again when I find out.

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