Change backup location?

The original advice is slightly outdated. Use Relocate iOS device backups instead. Source and destination drives must be formatted as NTFS. If you still cannot make it work show me the actual command that is rejected and I'll try to make sense of it.

tt2

As posted above:

The original advice is slightly outdated. Use Relocate iOS device backups instead. Source and destination drives must be formatted as NTFS. If you still cannot make it work show me the actual command that is rejected and I'll try to make sense of it.

tt2

See http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000713.htm to see what format each drive is in now.

iTunes (the application) will normally be installed on C:\ but you can choose to install it elsewhere.

The iTunes library will normally be created in User's Music, which is normally on C:\ but can be set elsewhere, or you can choose a new location for the library. See Open a different iTunes Library file or create a new one - Apple Support.

The iTunes Media folder will normally be inside the iTunes library folder, and while that can be put elsewhere I don't recommend it as it complicates the process of backing up and migrating the library later.

tt2

You might not have the correct privileges when using the command line. This action is probably better performed using Windows Explorer. See Relocate iOS device backups for the current version of my advice on this topic. Review the rest of the Make a split library portable user tip for advice on organizing the library.

tt2

As above, see Relocate iOS device backups for the current version of my advice on this topic. The move command worked when I first tested it but it seems that it cannot be relied upon. Moving the data with Windows Explorer seems to be more dependable.

tt2

Thanks turingtest2 for the tip -- this saved me (the local drive on my Surface Pro was constantly running out of space and I had backups from four devices on that disk, totaling about 40 Gb out of about 109 total on that disk).

Two things I would add, though:

• It can be useful to test by looking for the Backup directory after you move it, to see that it isn't there, then after you run the Mklink command, to return to that location and see that you see something that looks like a directory in that spot. If you see this, you're probably on the right track.
• For anyone interested in looking at what the Mklink command does, it's documented here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753194.aspx

Using the Move command to move the folder appears to be unreliable, probably due to permissions. I now suggest using Windows Explorer for that task. Unless you are running Windows XP you don't need a third party tool to create the link.

Relocate iOS device backups

Assuming you're running Windows Vista or later you can use the following steps:

1. Using Windows Explorer move the current Mobile Sync Backup folder from C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup to your chosen location, e.g. as X:\Backup where <User> is your Windows user name and X: is your preferred drive.
   
2. To make iTunes look for the data in the new location open a command prompt by hitting the start button and typing CMD<Enter> in the search box that opens up, then type in this command and press <Enter>MkLink /J "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "X:\Backup"

If your external drive has a different letter or you already have a folder called "Backup" then edit "X:\Backup" accordingly.

In your case I'm assuming that you have copied the Backup folder to F:\ and renamed it as F:\iTunesBackup. The command should be:

MkLink /J "C:\Users\Han\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "F:\iTunesBackup"

However before executing it make sure that there is no file or folder called Backup in the folder MobileSync or the command will fail with the error shown. Typically this will happen if you have copied the original Backup folder instead of moving it.

tt2

Hello MY Dear

I have this problem

1. Make sure that you have the “Backup” folder fully copied to the new destination drive. Once you do so, you can either delete the “Backup” folder from the original location or rename it to “Backup_OLD”. At the end of this guide, you can delete the “Backup_OLD” folder
2. At the original folder location, press the SHIFT key, right-click and select “Open command window here
3. In the command prompt window, manually type in the following command where E:\ is the new drive location (drive letter may vary) and “Backup” is the name of the iOS backup folder you just moved:

mklink /J “%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” “E:\Backup”

You will now see the command prompt window return a success in creating a junction

A new folder shortcut called “Backup” will appear in the original location

for full describtion go to this link

"http://www.copytrans.net/support/how-to-change-itunes-backup-location/

Thanks

For this command to work the following must apply:

• The backup folder must exist at D:\MobileSync\Backup
• The folder %AppData%\Apple Computer\MobileSync must exist and not contain a folder or link called Backup
• The D: drive must be in NTFS format

%AppData% will be replaced by the path to the roaming folder in your user profile, typically C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming.

tt2

The original location of the Backups is in a folder called MobileSync

This folder is located in: C:\Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

And to do move this folder's location, you will have to:

• Copy the folder to the new location (for example at the root of an external hard disk drive (HDD)
• Go to the orinal folder location C:\Users\*USERNAME*\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\
• Delete the folder "Backup" within or rename it "BackupOld" to keep it
• Press Shift+Right Click to open a Command window from that location
• Type the following command

mklink /J “%APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup” “<Your External HDD>:\iTunes Backup”

• Close Command prompt
• Launch a backup, see if it has been properly located and iTunes sees is as the latest

~dhaliaturiaga

Hello,

i have some problems when restoring the backup as the C: has full.

So what i did is to move the backup file to D: as above command and make a junction link to D:

when i open up itunes to restore, it says your iphone never been backed up.

please help me to manual restore from the new location that i have moved in D:

Thanks

Hi,

well below is my command

instead of using CMD. C:>Move "C:\Users\ZZain\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Zul\My_Personals\Backup2013"

i actually used cut and paste into y D: and

after i did that, i created a junction

MkLink /J "C:\Users\ZZain\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Zul\My_Personals\Backup2013"

let me write the situation

1) i backed up into C:

2) backup successful (actually i dont realise it backed up into C: all the while i thougth it was D: )

3) i restored to factory setting (for some reasons) and it was successful

4) i want to restore from my backup again, half way the systems said "..could not be saved"

5) I checked C: and now its full, probably that was the reason why it could not restore from backup in C:

6) Cut and paste backup file into D:

7) create a junction and successful as i can see the shortcut folder

8) open itunes, but the restore from backup was disable, just like you never made any backup before

Now i just want to restore iphone from my last backup but i cant. file path and name is just like above. Please let me know if i'm wrong anywhere.

My guess is that when things went wrong at step 4 iTunes cleared the list of available backups. I've seen a post somewhere on how to recreate, or at least edit such a list so that it includes a specific backup folder, but offhand I can't recall where. I'll try to do some digging and come back to you.

tt2

I'm pretty sure there is .plist file stored somewhere else in your progile that tells iTunes what backup sets are stored in the folder and which device they belong to. If one has a working copy of that file it may be possible to edit so that it "sees" the backup folder you want to work with. As I say I'm sure I've run into this before but I'm struggling to pin down a reference that reveals exactly which file needs to be located & tweaked.

tt2

Well I still can't track down the article I remember, though not for want of trying.

Why not try backing up the device as it is, close iTunes, then rename the newly generated backup folder by adding say (NEW) to the end of the folder name, copy the rest of the folder name and give it to one of the other backups that you have, then try restoring from the only backup that iTunes knows about. With luck you will be able to recover the state of your device as it was before things went wrong.

Good luck. 🙂

tt2