Is there a way to backup the iphone without entering a passcode that was previously set?

Question

I have a passcode on my iphone, which I recently dropped. Both the front and back screens are cracked severely. I can see when someone txts / calls, so the phone appears to be working, however it is not usable. I cannot access anything on the phone using the touch screen. The screen continues to shake as if there are multiple fingers trying to operate it at once.
Although it would be nice to get back into the phone, I would prefer being able to back it up just one more time. I sync frequently to icloud, but the last time I backed it up to my pc was 11/16/2011. I can access everything I've backed up(txts, images, etc via other applications), but I have some important correspendeces that took place between then and now that I would like to have.  
Is there way for me to backup the phone without entering the passcode?  Also, I have read through some of the discussions, and pardon my ignorance but I wanted an unequivocal answer to this question:  If I restore the phone from the backup of 11/16, will I lose everything after that date? And, are there other alternatives?
I have tried some things which I thought would be clever ways to bypass this problem, but alas...here I am asking for help. I find it frustrating that I can sync to icloud (still) yet I cannot backup to my pc without passcode. I guess a good alternative would be if I could access my txts on icloud? I may consider replacing the screen, but I don't know if this will fix the problem since the phone looks pretty bad. I also prefer not to replace the screen since I wont be using this phone any longer.
Your comments / suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
reaL

Answer 1

Restoring a phone from a backup will put the device back to the state it was when the backup took place, i.e. all info that you had on that phone before using the backup will be gone.
You could try to restore the phone, which will back up the actual data on the phone, including the passcode, and use this backup to set up a new phone with. The passcode will still be the same, because it is  part of the backup.
More info here, iPhone and iPod touch: Wrong passcode results in red disabled screen
Not being able to fill in the passcode is not much different from forgetting it.
If you cannot remember the passcode, you will need to restore your device using the computer with which you last synced it. This allows you to reset your passcode and resync the data from the device (or restore from a backup). If you restore on a different computer that was never synced with the device, you will be able to unlock the device for use and remove the passcode, but your data will not be present. Refer to Updating and restoring iPhone, iPad and iPod touch software.
Also have a look at this one: iTunes: About iOS backups