Restoring iPhone from previous Backup: do another backup first???

Question

Level 1

19 points

Restoring iPhone from previous Backup: do another backup first???

I was told by a MobileMe rep that I should restore my iPhone from a Backup. When I connect the iPhone to iTunes (not set to automatically back up when connected!) and press Restore, I get the following message:

"Do you want to back up the settings for the iPhone “iPhone4 VB” before restoring the software? [2 options]: BackUP Don't Backup"

No matter which of the two I click on, I get to the next message:

"Are you sure you want to restore the iPhone “iPhone4 VB” to its factory settings? All of your media and other data will be erased, and the newest version of the iPhone software will be installed."

Actually I do NOT want to restore to factory settings, but to yesterday's backup. Where and how to I get to this option?

P.S. I once did a restore to factory settings and it was quite a lot of work to get my iphone back to the way it used to be (among others, a need to rearrange all apps into pages and folders, etc.)

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Veit

iMac, MacBookPro and PowerBook G4 (i.e PowerPC), and MacMini (also PowerPC), Mac OS X (10.6.5), iPhone 4 (vers. 4.1)

Posted on May 12, 2011 11:43 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Warterp

Level 1

4 points

Mar 4, 2017 7:41 PM in response to vburger

Yean , i fully agree with you , because i have suffered the data lost without backup before, and the data recovery program is very complex when without backup ,if we have completed the data backup files before data losing ,

Maybe we can extractor backup data on iPhone , that is good idea,

Reply

Answer 2

May 12, 2011 11:59 AM in response to vburger

First, backup your iPhone (right click on your iPhone under devices and click Back Up). To restore from a backup, right click on your iPhone under Devices in iTunes and click Restore from Backup. You can then choose which iPhone backup you want to restore from. Hope this helps.

Reply

Answer 3

vburger Author

Level 1

19 points

May 12, 2011 12:12 PM in response to TheOn3LeftBehind

Thanks so much for the quick response. I was not aware that a right click is a click with the Ctrl button, which then gives the "restore from backup" option. I just wonder, why the Restore button in the middle of the screen does not give this as an option; quite confusing. But, thanks a lot!!!

Reply

Answer 4

danjah

Level 1

0 points

Nov 28, 2011 12:12 AM in response to vburger

Yeah, totally awesome until iTunes only offered me the most recent backup point - aka the point at which I plugged my iPhone into my PC today, instead of the useful point where I backed up before upgrading to iOS5 from iOS4, because most of my proprietary and bespoke applications completely crash my phone since "upgrading" to iOS5. I guess now I'm stuck unless I downgrade even further to factory settings?

Btw, at least in Google Chrome, the "edit" function of this forum does not save edits. Lame.

Message was edited by: danjah

Reply

Answer 5

danjah

Level 1

0 points

Nov 28, 2011 12:13 AM in response to danjah

Even more awesome, this forums' "edit" functionality doesn't function.

My edited message, because I distrust enough to copy before submitting:

"Yeah, totally awesome until iTunes only offered me the most recent backup point - aka the point at which I plugged my iPhone into my PC today, instead of the useful point where I backed up before upgrading to iOS5 from iOS4, because most of my proprietary and bespoke applications completely crash my phone since "upgrading" to iOS5. I guess now I'm stuck unless I downgrade even further to factory settings?"

Reply

Answer 6

danjah

Level 1

0 points

Nov 28, 2011 12:14 AM in response to danjah

Oh, ok, it does work, it just doesn't show me it worked for some random period of time, as I notice my prevuious edit has now taken effect. Triple awesome! Broken iPhone upgrade, broken rant, broken edit!

Reply

Answer 7

May 9, 2012 11:50 AM in response to vburger

please help me...someone...i can't find a previous backup...on itunes....i can't find my contacts pics..and so on...can anyone help me?

Reply

Answer 8

May 23, 2012 9:14 AM in response to pirania_bc

It's not a good solution, but I went to Library/Application Support/Mobile Sync/Backups and selected the device's backup that I didn't want anymore.

Then I went into Time Machine and restored the version from a few days ago.

Then I restored that one to my iPhone.

There's probably a better way.

Reply

Answer 9

Mar 11, 2013 4:09 AM in response to vburger

iTunes has a nasty habit of deleting the previous backup every time it does a backup. If you really have an old backup intact, there is a way to restore from it. It's a good idea to manually go into your backup directory and manually copy it over to a new name once in a while. That way iTunes won't touch it, and you can use it in an emergency such as yours.

Reply

Answer 10

bneilbel

Level 1

0 points

Mar 13, 2013 4:24 PM in response to lawrywaiter

my issue is that it is offering me 5 backups, all names after my device with only one showing a date (and it's not the one I want) Is the latest back up the one on the top or the one on the bottome of the list?

Reply

Answer 11

Sep 29, 2013 10:35 AM in response to vburger

Assuming you have older backups:

* Mac OS: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

* Windows XP: %AppData%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

* Windows Vista: %AppData%\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

* Windows 7: %AppData%\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

Go onto iTunes, right click on your device on the left-hand side bar, and their should be an option 'Restore From Backup', or something similar, click that and it'll help you to restore iPhone from previous Backup.

Reply

Answer 12

Medrian

Level 1

0 points

Sep 29, 2013 10:47 AM in response to vburger

It is very easy to backup iPhone data with the help of third-party iPhone Backup Software. With the help of comprehensive software you can easily transfer data of your smartphone to your PC within few simple clicks. So, if iTunes fails to backup your data then third-party software could be best option for you.

Reply

Answer 13

Jun 22, 2013 2:48 AM in response to Beth Katz

hey can i know the steps. how to do it.

Reply

Answer 14

Jul 28, 2013 8:57 AM in response to TheOn3LeftBehind

Ahhh it overwrites my previous Backup data.... Oh dear! what should i do now? its all gone!

Reply

Answer 15

fgytz

Level 1

0 points

Sep 29, 2013 11:04 AM in response to vburger

In order to recover iPhoen from old bacukp, run through the following 4 easy steps:

STEP 1:Make sure iTunes doesn’t automatically sync with iPhone when connected.

STEP 2:Connect your iPhone to iTunes and Back up by selecting Preferences > Backup from iTunes, or right-click on your iPhone and choose back up.

STEP 3:Restore your iPhone by selecting Restore under Preferences.

Note that restoring the iPhone will restore the previous iPhone firmware. Your iPhone will be completely erased after the new firmware is installed. So make sure your back up is good!

Reply