Can't restore verizon iphone 4 from iphone 3gs backup

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Can't restore verizon iphone 4 from iphone 3gs backup

Hi everyone,

I just received my Verizon iPhone 4 - I've been waiting forever for this - AT&T does not have any 3G coverage in my area.

Anyway - I tried to "restore" the new phone from the backup of my old iPhone 3gs, but itunes won't show the 3gs as an option in the list of backups. The only backup options I have are my iPad, my daughter's iPod touch, and of course, the iPhone4.

However, if I plug the 3gs in, itunes gives me the option of restoring it from all of the backups - the 3gs, the iphone4, the ipad, and the ipod touch.

Any ideas what could be causing this problem? I thought it may have something to do with the fact that I updated the 3gs to ios 4.3, but I updated the ipad as well.

Anyone have any ideas?

- Damion

Verizon iPhone 4, iOS 4

Posted on Mar 10, 2011 1:35 PM

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Answer 1

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Mar 10, 2011 1:39 PM in response to djb255

You're not getting that option because it appears you've already created a backup of your iPhone 4. When you first got your phone & plugged it in, iTunes running, did you set it up as a "new" device?

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Answer 2

djb255 Author

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Mar 10, 2011 1:43 PM in response to wjosten

When I first plugged in the phone this afternoon I set it up as a new device because the 3gs wasn't included in the list of options to restore from.

I don't know why itunes would care that I already backed up the iphone 4. I've been backing up the 3gs for nearly two years yet itunes gave me the option to restore the 3gs from the iphone 4 backup...

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Answer 3

wjosten

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Mar 10, 2011 1:53 PM in response to djb255

Missed this from your initial post:

I thought it may have something to do with the fact that I updated the 3gs to ios 4.3

If you've updated your 3GS to iOS 4.3, you won't be able to use that backup to restore to your Verizon iPhone 4. The current iOS for your phone is iOS 4.2.6, thus you can't use your 3GS backup to restore to your Verizon phone.

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Answer 4

djb255 Author

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Mar 10, 2011 1:58 PM in response to wjosten

Are you sure that is the problem?

I only ask because itunes lists my iPad as a restore choice, even though it is also updated to 4.3.

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Answer 5

wjosten

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Mar 10, 2011 1:59 PM in response to djb255

Are you sure that is the problem?

Positive.

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Answer 6

sn4p2k

Level 4

1,228 points

Mar 10, 2011 3:08 PM in response to djb255

hes correct there is settings in the 4.3 os that are not in the 4.2.6 os and thats why you can't restore the backup

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Answer 7

djb255 Author

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Mar 10, 2011 3:33 PM in response to sn4p2k

That does seem to be the most reasonable explanation, but why on earth wouldn't apple mention this ahead of time? I just did the update last night - for no reason in particular...

However, I still don't understand why the ipad is a restore option - it's also running 4.3.

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Answer 8

DrShaw

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Mar 14, 2011 3:44 PM in response to djb255

Is the only answer to wait until a v4.3+ release of the iOS comes to the CDMA phones? There has to be a thousand people who have migrated to Verizon in the last week with 4.3 GSM phones who are stuck up the river without a paddle right now!

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Answer 9

Mar 14, 2011 5:51 PM in response to djb255

Actually this situation sort of indicates that the VZW iphone will get the iOS 4.3 update sooner rather than later. The plot thickens yet again!

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Answer 10

Mar 16, 2011 1:53 PM in response to brassman1234

Rather than doing a restore, connect the old iPhone to iTunes, richt click on the iPhone to transfer apps and purchased content to iTunes, then set up the new Iphone as a separate device, and select the content you want on it from the synch tabs for the new device.
That should work. (I did this with an iPod touch with iOs 4.3 and a new verizon iPhone.

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Answer 11

Jun 2, 2011 9:50 PM in response to DrShaw

I just got a verizon iphone 4 a couple days ago, and seem to be running into the same problems mentioned above. My ATT 3GS is version 4.3.3, the Vz is 4.2.8. Is this why I can't find my 3GS backup in the drop-down menu when I try to restore that backup to the iphone 4? I see people were having this problem in March. Have there been any solutions since then? I have contacts and notes and calendar items that I'm not going to re-enter by hand.

Thanks

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Answer 12

diesel vdub

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Jun 3, 2011 4:33 AM in response to asperanda

Until Apple releases iOS 4.3.x for the VZW iPhone, your option is to set up the VZW phone as a new device and sync your content.

There is no official way around this.

asperanda wrote:

I have contacts and notes and calendar items that I'm not going to re-enter by hand.

There is no reason to re-enter anything by hand, set up syncing for your device and then sync it just like you do your current iPhone. If you utilize MobileMe or an exchange account for syncing contacts/email/calendars, set it up on the device.

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Answer 13

Jun 3, 2011 5:16 AM in response to diesel vdub

asperanda wrote:

I have contacts and notes and calendar items that I'm not going to re-enter by hand.

There is no reason to re-enter anything by hand, set up syncing for your device and then sync it just like you do your current iPhone. If you utilize MobileMe or an exchange account for syncing contacts/email/calendars, set it up on the device.

Good point; my email and contacts will populate once I sync with my yahoo account (no Mobile Me right now). I was using the calendar on the iphone, that syncs with my personal calendar on my macbook pro. Since that's not tied to an email account, I'm not sure how to get the calendar on the mac to sync with the new phone.

The other issue seems to be syncing the notes from the old phone to the new phone. I'm not crazy about the Notes app since it doesn't alphabetize notes, but I've used it anyway when I'm in a hurry and need to jot something quickly. So can I sync the notes from the old phone to the new phone?

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Answer 14

diesel vdub

Level 7

22,178 points

Jun 3, 2011 11:08 AM in response to asperanda

asperanda wrote:

So can I sync the notes from the old phone to the new phone?

Connect the device, then select the items you want to sync from the appropriate tabs.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1386

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Answer 15

SLEA

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Sep 27, 2011 2:22 PM in response to djb255

I too swapped over from AT&T, and have been fighting the same issue, my old iphone 4 has 4.3.5, my new iphone 4 has 4.2.10 I fortunately kept my old phone so i havn't given up hope. Yes I can sync and get all the apps, notes, contacts, etc.. but I spent ALOT of time stacking the apps on my old iphone 4, i turned 16 pages of apps into 2 pages and they are categorized. The only way to get this is using the backup from my old phone which doesn't show up..

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