iPhone back up
how do i back up my data while my phone is in disabled mode and i do not know the password?
iPhone 4S
You don't.
Everything since your last backup will be lost when you restore it.
5 replies
Connect it to the same computer it was last synced with, right-click on the name of the phone on the left side of iTunes and select Back Up. If the passcode was set after you synced last and you don't know it iTunes will prompt you to enter the passcode so this will not work and you will not be able to back it up. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1212.
I have not synced it yet, so i have no data backed up and my contacts are very important. So if i restore will all my data be earased or will it back it up for me?
If you've never synced, when you connect to iTunes it will tell you to enter your passcode (which you don't have) so your only choice will be to force it into recovery mode to restore it, which will erase the phone and you'll lose your data (since you don't have a bakup). This is covered in the linked article under "If you have never synced your device with iTunes". This is by design so if your device was stolen with the passcode set no one could access your data.
If you have never synced it, and your contacts are not being synced to a cloud service (like iCloud or Google) and you have forgotten your passcode, then your contacts are gone.
A restore does not automagically perform a backup.
Backup backs up your data, restore puts a backup back on the phone. Ye ken?
iPhone back up