Our old pc died and I need help getting all of what is on my iphone into a new itunes setup on a new computer. I have authorized the new pc and now have my iphone apps on itunes. I need to get my music and pictures and also contacts/calendars into a new version of Outlook. Old computer is gone and I can't follow any instructions I've found that tell me to start with plugging my phone into the old computer.
Well the iPhone is not a backup device and is not intended to take things off. Only to compare and sync with a known library.
The issue you have is you never kept backups of your data.
The most you can do is go buy a 3rd party tool that accesses the iPhone in an unofficial way to get data off.
Or at min, you can connect to iTunes, DON'T sync. And from the file menu choose the Transfer Purchased content. This option will only take off any music or videos or apps you bought from iTunes itself, NOT any files you got elsewhere as it cannot verify you own a legal copy.
This is why everybody should have a backup plan for their data.
The sync process for all iTunes content is a one way transfer process only - from your iTunes library on your computer to your iPhone, and the same for photos transferred from your computer via the iTunes sync process.
Your iTunes library and photos stored on your computer should be included with your computer's backup along with all other important data - stored on an external drive or some other external media used for backup purposes only. Although some hard drives can last a long time, it usually isn't a matter of if but when that your computer's hard drive has a partial or complete failure. Maintaing a backup is important regardless the platform but even more so with Windows due to constant virus, adware, and spyware concerns even after paying for antivirus on an annual basis and any other anti-whatever that is required with Windows.
The iPhone is not designed or intended to be used as a backup storage device.
iTunes includes an option to transfer iTunes content that was purchased/downloaded from the iTunes store from an iPod or iPhone, but this is for iTunes content that was purchased/downloaded from the iTunes store ONLY. With your iPhone connected to iTunes 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 via the iTunes sync process are optimized for viewing on your iPhone - the original resolution of these photos is reduced on your iPhone, which is why transferring these photos in the opposite direction is not supported. Photos transferred from your computer should remain on your computer and be included with your computer's backup. There are some 3rd party paid utilities that provide for transferring these photos in the opposite direction, but the original resolution of these photos will be lost in the process.
Before syncing contacts and calendar events with Outlook 2003 or 2007, enter one contact and one calendar event in Outlook. Make these up if needed, which can be deleted later. This will provide a merge prompt with the first sync for this data, which you want to select.
Allan, Thanks for the post. I just reinstalled itunes because it was giving me an error while downloading songs. If you can believe it, I was looking for this information on Google UGH! I really need to depend on forums more often.
