Restoring iphone without itunes?

I just updated my os X and itunes. I want update my phone to ios 5. Whenever I have just itunes open it works fine. As soon as I plug my phone in the color wheel spins without stopping. Itunes immediately stops responding. So I was wondering if there's a way to restore my phone without pluggine it into itunes? I'm pretty sure that the issues I'm having have something to do with my phone. I plugged in my phone to my girlfriend's computer and it did the same thing in itunes. I figured the best mode of action would be to try to restore the phone without plugging it in to itunes, and then after it's restored trying plugging it in again. I have my phone completely backed up on my HD so I'm not worried about losing anything.