HT1766 How can I change the location of my iPad backup to an external hard drive (I'm using Windows XP)?

Question

Hi Everyone,
My computer's hard drive isn't very big and it's getting quite full backing up my iPhone and iPad. I would like to transfer the back ups to an external hard drive but I haven't figured out how to do this. Also, I would also like to move the Apps folder to the external hard drive.
Although I hope to eventually purchase an Apple computer, for now I still have a PC running Windows XP. Does anyone know how to transfer these files to an external hard drive using Windows XP?
My iPad is the newest with retina display, 128 GB Wi-fi.
Many thanks!

Answer 1

Relocate iOS device backups
Assuming you're running Windows Vista or later you can use the following steps:
Open a command prompt by hitting the start button and typing CMD<Enter> in the search box that opens up.
To move the current backup folder from C: to D: type in this command and press <Enter>
Move "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
Where <User> is your Windows user name.
To make iTunes look for the data in the new location type in this command and press <Enter>
MkLink /J "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
If your external drive has a different letter or you already have a folder called "Backup" then edit "D:\Backup" accordingly in both commands.
If you're still running Windows XP you can use Junction (cmd line tool) or NTFSLink (shell ext). In both cases you move the existing folder to a new location, create an empty folder where the old one used to be, then use the tools to get the operating system to link the two together and silently redirect any file operation on the old location through to the new one.
Note that while this method works for iOS device backups it cannot be used to redirect sections of the media library.
tt2