I Can't Back-up/Sync/Update My Phone Anymore Since I Have A New Laptop?

Question

The old computer is gone, I deauthorized it before I wiped the HDD.  So, now I have a new laptop with iTunes on it and I can't sync to it without wiping my entire phone? What can I do?   This makes no sense.  I am using the same Apple ID, the old computer is gone and deauthorized, should I not be able to do this?  There has to be a workaround or are you telling me you can never buy a new computer once you have an iPhone? (being sarcastic but there has to be a way)
I don't want to erase my phone, I currently back-up to the cloud so I am unsure what to do.  The iPhone Apple ID is teh same as the iTunes Apple ID.  Please help.  I am sure someone here has bought a new computer since the advent of the iPhone.  ;-)

Answer 1

I appreciate all of the help.  All I really need to be able to do is restore all of my settings and address book and all that.  I use iTunes Match and all my apps are allready in iTunes, so all I need to do is put those apps back on my phone.  I would think this to be simple and I should not have to oull everything off of my phone except settings.  This is more complex than it needs to be.  If I were to connect it and have the phone overwritten, what would happen?
I am pasting the instructions below with questions:
1. Disable auto sync when an iPod/iPhone is connected under iTunes>Preferences>Devices(under Edit menu if using Windows).
2. Make sure you have one contact & one event in the supported applications on your computer(iCal & Address Book on a Mac, Windows Address Book or Outlook if using Windows). These entries can be fake, doesn't matter, the important point is that these programs not be empty.  I don't understand, I don't use Outlook, and what is Windows Address book?
3. Connect your phone, iTunes running, do not sync at this point.
4. Store>Authorize this computer. The computer is allready authorized. 
5. File>Transfer Purchases(To make sure all purchased content on your phone will be in your iTunes library).   Umm, I use iTunes Match and all the apps I have are allready in my iTunes, so is this necessary?
6. Right click your phone in the left device pane & select "Reset warnings".
7. Right click again and select "Backup".
8. Right click again & select "Restore from Backup", select the backup you just made. When prompted to create another backup, decline.
9. This MUST be followed by a sync to restore your iTunes content, which you select from the various tabs, You'll get a popup regarding your contacts & calendars asking to merge or replace, select "Merge".  Do I need to do this?
Your phone should look just like it did when you started, with no data loss.
You should be good to go.