iPhone 4s - Setup or restore when plugged in?

[sharingan_sasuk]

Hi all, I'm helping a friend to backup her iPhone via iTunes before they hand it in for a replacement. It doesn't have much on there and they are fine with redownloading paid apps and songs, but do want their contacts, notes and photos backed up.

Now normally when I connect an iPhone such as my own into iTunes, it should give me the summary page right away with tabs such as 'Info', 'Music' etc...

But with hers, it only says 'Set up as a new phone' or 'Restore from a backup'. This is the case on another machine I tested via iTunes. Obviously I don't want to restore from a backup and replace everything she has on there, but I'm not 100% certain 'Set up as a new phone' is safe too. Would that factory reset the handset and set it up as a new one?

So you can see my issue here. I need to backup, but need to get past this screen. However, I don't want to risk it and lose everything because I haven't backed up yet! One thing to note is that she has iCloud set up on her iPhone. Maybe I should just sync everything on her iCloud and transfer her stuff that way instead? Her Notes and Photo Stream weren't enabled but if I do that now, it should start syncing to the cloud right?

 

[Dr Delphi]

I would do iCloud tbh, that way the data is definitely safe on apples servers - and much easier to start again with the new phone. As a sidenote however if you do want to force a backup on a computer then (on a mac) hold control and click on the phone in the side bar in itunes, should give you the option to make a backup. Obviously doesnt copy music apps etc. but does make sure all your contacts, mail, messages and call stats are saved.

[edit:] Yes, If you enable photostream then all her photos will be uploaded and saved.

 

[Rossi86]

Sounds like she has never plugged it into that computer, can you confirm she has?

Set up as new phone will either require a restore or it will setup as a blank phone.

Best thing I would suggest is to turn everything on for icloud, like contacts etc, then go into the phone backup under manage storage and make sure all apps and camera roll is on.

Then click backup now. Once that is done confirm the backup is on there under manage storage. Then with the new phone no need to plug into computer, just go through the menu and choose restore from icloud. (ensure it is on wireless and to be safe on power).

Leave it a while and all will be as it was when backed up to iCloud.

 

[sharingan_sasuk]

Thanks for the help all. She took her phone home and it was still presented with the set up or restore screen. Fortunately I managed to force back up via iCloud and was able to restore most things such as contacts, messages and photos onto her replacement handset. Seems iCloud back up had never been turned on!