When I plug in my 3G iphone to my computer, a message box pops up and says "This iPhone cannot be used because the Apple Mobile Device is not started" I recently had a virus and i had my computer cleaned out and updated all my programs. Since then my iTunes seems to not recognize my iPhone even though it says that this is an authorized computer for this iPhone. Hope someone can help me so i can update me phone and synce it again.
I tried that and still nothing happened. Even when i go into the File menu it says sync iPod but it isn't highlighted so i can't even click on it. Doesn't say anything about iPhone
If an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is not recognized in iTunes on Windows, the Apple Mobile Device Service (AMDS) may need to be restarted. If AMDS cannot be restarted, you may need to remove and reinstall the service.
I see no reference per the link provided for this to go into the File menu to stop and restart the AMDS.
I see you've gotten immense amounts of significantly helpful replies, but let's put this out there too:
Apple uses non-standard USB connectivity, so it has to run a few services all the time to recognize your iPhone/iPod/iPad, etc. One of them is Apple Mobile Device service. It seems like the service is not running for you at the moment.
I don't have Windows around at the moment, but assuming this is on Vista/7, Press the start button and type
Services. Select Windows Services (or similar name) in the results that show up. It will bring up the services control panel, so you can see which services are running. Look for Apple Mobile Device and if it is not running, right click and select start. Also edit the service settings so it starts up with Windows.
Alternatively, try re-installing iTunes and it should take care of the above.
Lastly, if you are using Norton/McAfee and the rest of them, get rid of them. Instead Google for "Microsoft Security Essentials" and install it. Extremely useful, very powerful and very much free security solution. It also stays out of your way and doesn't mess with everything else. Virtually no performance hit. I recommend it to everyone using Windows.
ok so i did go into the services and start the apple mobile device. now when i plug in my phone the message does not come up but it still does not recognize my phone. the device is not showing up on the side like it used to. guess i am making a little bit of progress. Thanks
Ok so after i turned on the apple mobile device and thought it didn't work, i then closed out of iTunes and opened it up again and it finally worked. So thank your very much!! 🙂