How to unencrypt itunes backup and recover data on windows machine?

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Level 1

9 points

How to unencrypt itunes backup and recover data on windows machine?

I cannot find the ideal "community" for this.

How can I unencrypt the backup file and then restore the photos on a windows machine?

A friend was advised by an Apple employee to backup her old device (iphone SE) to itunes then when she got her new phone (iphone 8+) she could restore her backup to her new device. She was required to give back the SE to Apple for the deal she got on her phone. However, she cannot restore her itunes backup to her current phone as it keeps causing crashes. I have contacted Apple and they say there is nothing they can do to help and she will have to pay a third-party to get her data back even though the issues are with Apple's products... no surprises there then.

We have checked her backup with third-party solutions and the data she wants is not corrupted (photos). I would like a free solution to recover these files even if I must do some legwork.

1) We do not have the original iphone SE to attempt a backup to icloud/unencrpyted backup

2) We have no spare iphone to try a backup to this device

3)I have thought about emulating a mac in a VB then using xcode to emulate an iphone SE, restoring to this emulated device and pulling the files that way - this seems like a very long-winded way and would rather not

4) Apple has no software that would allow me to do this

5) Third party solutions show the files but all require payment, I would rather avoid paying extortionate fees when not required

I'll update this with any information that I can

Posted on Nov 16, 2018 6:21 PM

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Answer 1

awbane Author

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Nov 17, 2018 11:52 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

Thanks Chris for your suggestion though this is also a paid software solution of which many exist. Seems like this is a standard Apple case:

Apple and Apple employees make a poor suggestion/mistake, has no solution for when it goes wrong, and makes the customer pay for it

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Answer 2

awbane Author

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Nov 17, 2018 12:22 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

The backup is not corrupt, all third-party solutions are easily able to identify all the files within. Restoring the backup to the new device causes it to crash, though the reasons for this are not known as we do not have another device to test it on. The Apple employee in-store gave no indication of potential issues with transferring/backup and restore to the new device. When on the phone with Apple, I was advised that customers are recommended to backup to icloud rather than itunes. My friend had asked in store regarding backup to itunes and she was told it wouldn't be a problem and they are basically the same which the apple employee on the phone told me was not true.

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Answer 3

awbane Author

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9 points

Nov 16, 2018 9:46 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

Thanks for the video and it would probably be a somewhat effective way of getting some back. I am not sure that it would work though due to the encryption on the backup. Instead of a list of files I have a list of folders with multiple files in each

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Answer 4

javaliga

Level 10

120,173 points

Nov 16, 2018 6:30 PM in response to awbane

As far as I know, your only "free" options are given in the "Turn off iTunes backup encryption" section of:

About encrypted backups in iTunes - Apple Support

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Answer 5

ChrisJ4203

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236,285 points

Nov 16, 2018 7:32 PM in response to awbane

This is an older link, but I know that it has worked. See if this will get you the information that you need. It is a youtube video, and I can say that it is not a bad link. TUTORIAL: RECOVERING PICTURES AND VIDEOS FROM A CORRUPT ITUNES BACKUP FOR IPHONE/IPOD/IPAD. - YouTube

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Answer 6

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,285 points

Nov 17, 2018 11:58 AM in response to awbane

Apple and Apple employees make a poor suggestion/mistake, has no solution for when it goes wrong, and makes the customer pay for it

Apple provided the exact instructions one would need when trading in a device. You make a backup and restore the new device with the old backup. No one can predict if a corrupt backup occurs. Things happen when dealing with computers and software. Unfortunately, that is what happened here. While the software comes with a cost, it is not that expensive, and if the user really wants the information back, then they will need to decide if it is important enough to pay. Apple is not in the business of recovering data, and it is stated in their instructions that they are not responsible for lost data. If you watched this forum for a while, you would see that Apple would be doing nothing to fixing others problems.

For future reference if all that is desired from a backup is pictures, one is best with a Windows computer to import photos to the computer on a regular basis and therefore they are backed up to the computer and can be handled any way in the future.

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Answer 7

awbane Author

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9 points

Nov 17, 2018 1:04 PM in response to turingtest2

Hey tt2, sadly she has been using the device for a couple of months now and doesn't want to try restoring to the device again. I would assume this is where the issue may have been originally. I'm trying to locate a spare iphone to test it on but hard to find. Also, my idea of restoring the backup to an emulator seems to not be viable

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Answer 8

awbane Author

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Nov 16, 2018 6:53 PM in response to javaliga

Can you unencrypt a backup with this? Also, can you pull the files directly from a backup file like an android? I haven't got a non-encrypted backup to test

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Answer 9

javaliga

Level 10

120,173 points

Nov 16, 2018 7:18 PM in response to awbane

no and no.

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Answer 10

awbane Author

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Nov 16, 2018 7:19 PM in response to javaliga

OK well thanks anyway

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Answer 11

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,285 points

Nov 17, 2018 6:20 AM in response to awbane

That is the best I can offer. I know there is software out there for the Mac, iExplore I believe is the name, but I'm not aware of something for Windows. But that may give you a starting point.

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