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modocsot Author

Level 1

10 points

Can't copy large video files FROM iPhone to PC

I've searched high and low for a solution to this one. Every google hit on this search finds no resolution. Does the Apple community know how to get around this problem?

I used my 32GB iPhone 3Gs to shoot a video which turned out to be 48 minutes long, and approximately 1.2GB in file size. It plays OK on the iPhone itself.

However, when attempting to transfer or copy the large video file from the iPhone to PC, it FAILS. The photos and small-under-7gb-videos copy to PC just fine. The PC shows it's copying the file for a few minutes, however when done, the file copied to PC won't open, and shows a file size of zero. In some attempts, an error 80004005 shows.

Seriously, why use the iPhone to shoot a long video, if it can't be transferred to your PC? Any help on this matter is much appreciated.

I'm a PC, Windows XP

Posted on May 18, 2010 7:50 AM

Top-ranking reply

mackfromsd

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Jan 24, 2017 2:03 PM

I have an iphone 5, but I am using windows 10. The issue does appear to be any video much longer than 41 minutes (yikes). I consider this a serious UX fail. Anyway, in windows 10, do the same backup, but the BACKUP PATH is slightly different:

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

The files are encoded and without extensions, i.e.:

[BACKUP PATH]\0ce8a47b967a22788d641039303ff3f07f169778\67\67cd8850500c7d4a2649776e4272e 1d1a803f6f9

So, at the backup path location, do a search on everything (use '*') and sort by SIZE DESCENDING. Then go to the bottom of the window, and you will be looking for a file 4.5 GB or bigger. Copy (don't move) those to someplace safe, and rename them with .MOV (you should also call them something nicer than 67cd8850500c7d4a2649776e4272e1d1a803f6f9.MOV).

Anyway, then you can browse through them much quicker and find that video I was so desperate to get up on YouTube! I mean, you were so desperate to ... anywho.

Thanks!

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166 replies

DimitriG

Level 1

4 points

Jan 10, 2011 10:16 PM in response to modocsot

I found a solution for XP without installing any software.

Steps to follow:
----------------
1) Open Windows Explorer and right mouse click on your iPhoneCameraIcon and
select explore
2) From the menu select VIEW > DETAILS
3) Click the picture size column header to sort by filesize and place large file
on the top
4) Right click on a large file and select 'Save File in my pictures' or you
may drag and drop to copy to any location.

rockyvud

Level 1

0 points

Jan 19, 2011 2:34 PM in response to bkim028

To bkim028 ,
Thank you so much, it worked like a charm....

Jan 20, 2011 2:38 PM in response to DimitriG

I usually do just this with windows explorer, however one of my larger video's copied over but is now corrupt and I cannot view in QuickTime. Since this usually works for me, I have already deleted the video from my iPhone so now all I have is a 135Mb file on my PC that gets the following error when attempting to open:

"Error -2048: Couldn't open the file IMG_1486.MOV because it is not a file that QuickTime understands."

I copied another video from the same night at the same time which is 23Mb and i can view it just fine. The file is there and it has 135Mb worth of information in it. Are there any 3rd party software out there that can fix this file for me??

Hoekstes

Level 1

9 points

Jan 31, 2011 3:45 AM in response to tbuckpummell

Good answer - I always knew they designed it to be a flawless piece of crap.

gr8sho

Level 1

8 points

Feb 26, 2011 12:07 PM in response to Gifted Professor

Gifted Professor wrote:
Not to contradict previous posters, but although I couldn't perform the copy using a Windows XP system, I was able to do the straight up copy from the DCIM folder of my iPhone using a Windows 7 system. Not sure this is definitive, but if you have access to a newer OS I'd give it a shot.

The Professor

I agree with The Professor that you cannot retrieve the large movie file from the backup folder and rename it.

I was just about to move over the my Windows 7 machine when I tried one last ditch effort using iPhone Explorer application. With this program, you can view the iphone's internal disk structure, and the DCIM folder can be viewed this way. You can then copy the file back over to XP and it will be fully usable.

Cheers

Mar 24, 2011 11:16 AM in response to bkim028

workaround worked great for me too. a bit of a pain, but happy to have successfully transferred the file, nonetheless. Thanks for the tip!

Apr 11, 2011 7:11 AM in response to modocsot

None of the options worked for me on XP. I didn't try downloading iPhone Explorer, but all the other options came up empty. Luckily, I had a borrowed Macbook to get my videos from the iPhone 4, and then transfer them via thumbdrive to my PC.

May 26, 2011 1:38 PM in response to bkim028

bkim028 wrote:

Hi guys, I've been wondering about this too. It seems like iphone is not designed for recording 15min videos 😟 But I found a way to get the video off the phone.
The photos and video files are stored in 'Backup' folder ("C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\ (for win xp)) just before iphone is sync'ed with itunes program. So, after you sync it, find the backup folder, try sorting the files according to size, and find the big files which should be the video files. Then copy them to your folder & rename them to .mov extension.
I've done it just now and it works perfectly. 🙂
(Source: http://superuser.com/questions/32248/transfer-video-off-iphone-3gs)

This method worked perfectly for me in transfering a video file from my iPhone 4 to Windows XP! Thanks for the advise!

joycita

Level 1

0 points

Jun 14, 2011 6:57 AM in response to modocsot

The Touchcopy program works fine.

Jun 18, 2011 8:03 PM in response to bkim028

I tried the workaround and was able to play the .mov file in QuickTime, but the playback was choppy- jerking every second or so- as well as color distortion- blue showed up as orange.

Sep 28, 2011 6:38 AM in response to modocsot

It's been a year since this post has been put up, obviously this issues being ignored.
i tried the work around and it doesn't seem to work. I refuse to pay for Touch Copy as I'm only going to be using this for one time only so it would be a waste.

Oct 6, 2011 4:39 PM in response to owen2rules

I'm runing XP SP3 & iPHone 4. Can't copy like everybody else. It is just ridiculous. I got a new warranty phoneover this issue, that worked for awhile.

Anyway, here's a free workaround: iExplorer (formerly iPhone Explorer) easily copied 250MB videos off, and in just seconds! It does have a funky interface, though that shows everything stored on the phone. It won't let you delete the files off the phone after copying; you can use Wndows Explorer or the phone itself to do that.

Oct 7, 2011 1:58 AM in response to JoeChasko

yeah i got SP3 and iPhone 4 but a few days after my post i just uploaded the clips to youtube and downloaded it 😀

but if all else fails I'll use your work around.

Oct 13, 2011 6:53 AM in response to modocsot

i used suggestion in post, run backup , fish out the video backup file, copy and rename to ...mov. WORKED

Oct 13, 2011 7:05 AM in response to kylkylkyl

It only took one simple step and about a minute to copy a gig of video with iExplorer. Seems a lot simpler.

Can't copy large video files FROM iPhone to PC