Change backup location?

If you can identify which backup folder is which, or you have no devices that you need to restore right now, then you can delete the existing backup folders manually and then backup each device in turn.

tt2

I am running Windows 8.

On the "Move" I got:

C:\>Move "C:\Users\Han\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "F:\iTunesBackup"

Access is denied.

Windows File Explorer "right click" drag and "move" worked

C:\>help MkLink

Creates a symbolic link.

MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target

/D Creates a directory symbolic link. Default is a file

symbolic link.

/H Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.

/J Creates a Directory Junction.

Link specifies the new symbolic link name.

Target specifies the path (relative or absolute) that the new link

refers to.

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

Cannot create a file when that file already exists.

Doesn't work either -> Junction v1.06

F:\Downloads\Junction>junction "C:\Users\Han\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "F:\iTunesBackup"

Junction v1.06 - Windows junction creator and reparse point viewer

Copyright (C) 2000-2010 Mark Russinovich

Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

Error creating C:\Users\Han\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup:

Cannot create a file when that file already exists.

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

The system cannot move the file to a different disk drive.

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

Cannot create a file when that file already exists.

Please help.

Thanks.

Thank you very much tt2

IT WORKED...!!

I did in fact use the Windows Explorer to "move" instead of "copy" and the C:\Users\Han\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup directory was empty.

I deleted the directory and ran:

C:\Windows\system32>MkLink /J "C:\Users\Han\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "F:\iTunesBackup"

Junction created for C:\Users\Han\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup <<===>> F:\iTunesBackup

It created a link to the directory on F: drive and resulted in a 16GB space recovery on the C: drive.

EXCELLENT.

I tried using the above solutions, but it will not work for me. I'm using Windows 7. I tried the move and it tells me "Access is Denied". I tried to run the cmd line as administrator without any success. As for doing the MkLink, it tells me over and over "cannon create a file when that file already exists."

Please help!

The MkLink command will fail if there is still a Backup folder inside MobileSync. Windows may fail to move the folder when you try if there are files in use at the time. Make sure iTunes is shut down, cut the Backup folder from the original location, paste it into the new one, then use the MkLink command.

tt2

Have you managed to relocate the iOS backup area using the advice above? There may be other steps you can take to free up space on your C: drive, e.g. deleting temporary files, cleaning the Windows Update cache, etc. OTA updates may fail if the device does not have enough free space. Reboot the device before trying again.

tt2

You cannot create the link while the old folder is still in place which is why the instructions say to move the folder rather than copy it. Once you have created the link the files appear to be where they were before, but they take up space on a different drive. iTunes will be able to update backups as if nothing had changed.

tt2

It is a while since I tested out junction. I assume you have moved the Backup folder to G:\Backup. As I understand it the next step is to create a new empty Backup folder inside MobileSync then use the following command:

junction "C:\Documents and Settings\SIUMING5\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "G:\Backup"

tt2

Are both the C: & G: drives formatted as NTFS? The link can only be created from one NTFS drive to another.

Did you create the empty Backup folder on C: as suggested on the Junction page? Or have you tried without it?

tt2

The idea is to move the the backup folder that contains the device backups to the new drive. If it won't work from the command prompt then use Windows Explorer. Once the backup folder is on the alternate drive use a linking tool to redirect the original path to the secondary drive.

tt2

Your solution worked for me for many years until a recent (a few mths ago) iTunes update stopped iTunes from seeing the backup files. It writes and updates the backup files perfectly even only overwriting the backup files with recent updates. With the latest update, the iPhone 4 updates became visible on the iTunes Device summary screen, but not under devices in preferences. I have tried a fresh iTunes install and redoing the virtual drive to no avail. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for your solution to this issue and your updates to it. I've been looking for a way to resolve this iTunes problem for a while, so it made my day to find a solution that just worked. Don't know why Apple doesn't include this in the iTunes UI, just one of the many mysteries of iTunes, I guess. Hopefully Apple has someone monitoring the forums and will realize it's a common problem.

Cheers!

Hi,

I've never used this community before. I have this exact problem. I copied my c drive backup folder to d drive and tried to run this command in the cmd, but I must be doing something wrong. If I can get this fixed I will be so happy. The backup file is 40 gb

I may be in over my head. Apple support gave me bad info. I copied over the back up folder to my d drive. I then deleted it from my c drive. This was the cmd command that wouldnt work. It said the folder already existed

mkLink /J "%AppData%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\MobileSync\Backup"

Hi,

I'm dead. I used the cmd command, but then deleted all my backups because I got the error message. Now, even after reinstalling itunes, I cant manually back up to the computer or even the icloud. There isnt any folder/files left.