ITunes could not backup iPhone because the iPhone disconnected windows 7

I have been backing up and syncing my iPhone 4s through Windows 7 for the past 2 years. I am running iOS 8.1 on the iPhone and recently downloaded iTunes version 12.0.1.26. I can no longer sync my contacts or backup the phone and get the following error:
iTunes could not backup iPhone because the iPhone disconnected
I have tried plugging directly into the laptop, not the Sony laptop hub
I have deleted all previous backups on the laptop
I have restored the the iPhone
I previously spent hours with Apple Support because the iPhone would not sync with the previous version of iTunes.
HELP!

I may have a work around/solution.
I had this problem when on iOS 8 beta 5. Now again on 8.1. I have found a repeatable fix, however it does require part of a working backup of your device. Not sure if it works with any device of the same type, but it does with the part from your own. Anyway:
Locate your current backup within Finder/windows explorer.
Go into the device backup folder (will be titled the UDID of your device) and cut the info.plist, manifest.mbdb, manifest.plist and status.plist files, and paste them somewhere else for storage just in case.
Now you need those same 4 files from a working backup of your device. Paste them into the backup folder where you just removed the others from.
Restart your computer and device.
Plug in and try backup. You'll notice the date of last backup on the summary page will say the date of the backup in which you took the 4 files, as this info must be in one of the files.
Often this allows a backup to complete successfully for me.
Unsure if all steps are required (such as restarts, and if all 4 files are needed or just one is the key), but it seems to work reasonably frequently like this when having this problem.
I have kept a working copy of those files for use whenever this happens.
I also keep a backup on another computer/hard drive in case this ever fails.
Sometimes this isn't necessary, and you can just change the name of the current failing backup folder so that it creates a whole new one, but often this fails for me still. Also you may need lots of extra space available if you have large backups.
Hope this helps someone

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Error--iTunes could not back up because the iPod disconnected

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Hi, I'm hoping someone can help me find a solution to my problem.
When a backup is attempted, it starts off as if it's working, then stops and the following error message appears: "iTunes could not backup iPhone because the iPhone disconnected". But, the iPhone doesn't really disconnect! It must be some type of internal glitch.
The iPhone is a 3GS and I have mostly pictures and contacts, two songs, a total of 33 apps. The iOS is updated (6.1.6). I do not know if this phone was ever jailbroke. I have been able to backup this phone before, but cannot now. The last backup was 9/21/13, it is now 3/2/14.
Sorry if there is too much info, or not the correct info to find a solution!
Also, I must say that although I am not a tekkie, I've seen many different types of various programs and I find that iTunes is not very intuitive...don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, just my humble opinion.
Thank You,
Camp917

Hey Lawrence,
A big THANK YOU!! to you! Your suggestions worked!
Before I changed USB ports (more on that in a sec...), I employed one of your suggestions that you gave to someone else with the same problem...and that was to clean the connector on the bottom of the phone with a soft dry tooth brush. I couldn't believe the amount of lint that came out! Especially what was found in either end...had to do some very careful picking. (Almost enough lint to knit a small sweater!!)
Changing the USB port was the second and final step required for a successful backup. My computer is a laptop, and I did have a USB Bluetooth adapter (for another device) installed. I removed the adapter, plugged the iPhone into that USB port, crossed my fingers...and it worked!!!
Now if I can figure out the rest of this darn program, I might upgrade to a new iPhone!
Again, thank you very much Lawrence!
Rich

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I just attempted to back up to iCloud... failed. Everything else is backed up to my computer. I am also linked to Microsoft Exchange through my job for important client contacts. I have information written on the "notes" section for a lot of my contacts. Do think that will be deleted? I can always connect my contacts from work to my phone but I'm more concerned about the notes in each contact. SO FRUSTRATING. Am I at the point to do a complete restore???
I also just tried another suggestion that shrunk my "other" folder to 4.77g. I think that's still a large file if it holds corrupted data.
Again,
Thank you for quick response!
Shrinking the "other" folder:
1- Held the power and home button down for approximately 6 sec, NO MORE THAN THAT otherwise it wil go to DFU mode. It will power itself off.
2- Power it back on.
3- Then connect the device directly to your computer and "sync"
This reduced my "other" file by 1.5g. Maybe more for others.

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Message was edited by: mtnmedic

FIXED IT!
Before I got to my fix, here are the things I tried, none of which seemed to resolve the issue or improve the situation:
*Checked cables and connections
*Restarted iTunes
*Restarted my PC
*Checked to make sure PC date/time/time zone were all accurate
*Checked to make sure my security software (MS Security Essentials and Windows FIrewall) were up-to-date and no conflicts
*Made sure I had proper permission for the iPad backup folders. To ensure that, I selected the folders and clicked on "Take Ownership" in the context menu.
*I made sure that my user account is an Administrator account on this PC
*I logged out of my primary user account and logged in as the Computer Administrator (basically, a different user acccount that is an Administrator) and tried to do the backup to iTunes from there.
Failing with all of those things, many of which are suggested from the Apple knowledge base, I was just about to backup my iPad onto another machine, then transfer the backup to this PC and restore the iPad from here using that file, maybe even removing and re-installing iTunes, etc. Everything so far short of wiping the iPad and starting over from scratch, which I feared might end up happening.
Then, a lightbulb went off in my head. Why not do a reset on the iPad itself? Not the usual soft reset but the kind of reset that restores function to an iDevice when it isn't responding: press and hold both the Power and Home buttons at the same time and hold them until the device restarts, ignoring the "slide to turn off" prompt. After it finished booting up, I connected it with my PC, which brought up iTunes automatically, then...lo and behold, instead of seeing the rapid synch then error, it went right into backup. Took about fifteen minutes but it finished the backup without a hitch and synched the iPad.
So there you have it: one more thing to try. Maybe the FIRST thing you should try? It was so simple! I wish I'd figured that out BEFORE I did all that other stuff I mentioned above!
I'd like to read comments from anyone who has also experienced this problem and has tried my "fix" suggestion.

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Help me please - itunes could not backup iphone because the backup could not be saved on this computer.. tried everything I believe!!

ive tried everything ive read on here plus search www...
still comes up with the error in step 6 of 6 while syncing.. or about a third of the way in if performing a manual backup
driving me nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anyone got other ideas??

BT I tried option 1.. nothing happened
I really want to avoid restoring if possible

ITunes could not backup iPhone because the iPhone disconnected windows 7

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