To anyone who is searching through this post looking for an answer to the original question, let me tell you this. NO.. YOUR INFORMATION IS NOT GONE AND YOU CAN STILL GET IT BACK. If your iphone is stuck in recovery mode, you can still get your photos, contacts, and any other information needed back again.
I know you're probably frustrated like I was of people saying things like "just restore from back up", or "you have to restore the iphone first to get it working again"...or suggesting tools like Dr. Fone, and TinyUmbrella which don't work at all because the phone isn't being recognized in Windows explorer or by the USB in general.
This is what you have to do. Repeat, this is ONLY for an iphone that is able to be turned on an all you get is the usb plug saying plug into itunes screen (the Recovery Mode screen).
This process is for Windows. I think some MAC users will be able to follow it also, but the instructions are for PC users.
1.) Turn your iphone on if it isn't already.
2.) Load up itunes (make sure you have the latest Itunes. I would even suggest that you uninstall your itunes if it isn't up to date, through Control Panel Add/Remove programs, and then go to the Itunes website and download the latest version.)
3.) When you load up Itunes, it will tell you that your iphone needs to be updated or restored. Just click okay or cancel to get that dialog box out of the way. Then just minimize the itunes for right now.
4.) Download the LATEST firmware for your correct model of iphone. Just choose your model from the drop down boxes. Once you've chosen everything, click the Download button. It will produce a link. Just click the link and take note of where that file downloads on your computer.
5.) Once the download finishes, go back to Itunes...and you'll have two buttons to click... Restore and Update. VERY IMPORTANT: Hold down the SHIFT key and click UPDATE (SHIFT + UPDATE) .
6.) A box will pop up to search for a file. Navigate to the folder that you downloaded the firmware file in step 4 to. And choose that file.
7.) Then Itunes will tell you things like Blah blah..this file might not work, if your phone can't be updated it will have to be restored....blah blah. Just click OK through all of that and start the update.
8.) Your phone will update to the latest firmware after a pretty lengthy process, maybe about 30-40 mins. Could be longer, but it will work. Don't get anxious, don't unplug the iphone because you think it's frozen or something. There will be times when it seems like it's not doing anything. Just sit back, put on a netflix movie, and continue to monitor the process from time to time. Soon your iphone will turn back on...and everything will be updated and back to normal.
BACK IT UP IMMEDIATELY 🙂
I hope this works for a lot of you out there, and I hope it gives those of you like me who felt there was no hope.......a little bit of relief.
<Edited by Host>
