ITunes just told me that it "can't read the contents of this iPhone, click

the restore tab to restore this phone to factory settings".
What caused this? I just bought the phone yesterday and it seemed to synch with only one problem.
That problem was that the music on my old 3G phone didn't get copied over as it wasn't in my iTunes library anymore. Somewhere along the line, my pc hard drive filled up and I had to move all of my music to an external hard drive. I never bothered resynching it with iTunes, I just manually added albums to itunes periodically as I wanted to listen to them.
So today I went ahead and added the Music folder on my external drive to my iTunes library so that I could readd my lost music to my phone.
Now, after that operation completed, I get this error message. What gives? I think it's possible that the two aren't related. I'm really worried that I'm going to lose all of my data! Please help.

I've seen it. Typically when I update my or my wife's iThings, there's some kind of issue, probably because we sync the devices so rarely. Usually a cold reboot of both the iThing and iTunes fixes this.
To sync my iPad for the first time I had to reboot the computer itself (Mac Mini).
You are not alone I just feel sorry for the folks who restore their phone without first toggling the unit state of the on-off attenuator.
Message was edited by: Kurt Kober

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ITunes can't read the contents of my iPhone... Any fixes without restoring?

Whenever I plug my iPhone 4S running iOS 6 Beta 4 into iTunes 10.7 on my Windows 7 64 Bit machine, iTunes gives me an error message stating that "iTunes cannot read the contents of this iPhone. Please restore it". I absolutely CANNOT restore it... Is there any way I can fix it without having to restore?

Hi again,
You said iTunes won't let you back up, but you can do an iCloud backup from your iPhone. Go to Settings - iCloud - Storage and Backup and turn on iCloud backup. Then click Back Up Now at the bottom.
After that you can go ahead with the restore to factory settings and restore your data from the iCloud backup.
All your music will be wiped but you can sync it back.

ITunes can't read the contents of my iPhone

I try to sync my iPhone 5c, and it says it can't read the contents of my iPhone, and I need to restore it to factory settings; I can't do that, because I need to back it up, but iTunes won't let me do that either. Help?

Hi again,
You said iTunes won't let you back up, but you can do an iCloud backup from your iPhone. Go to Settings - iCloud - Storage and Backup and turn on iCloud backup. Then click Back Up Now at the bottom.
After that you can go ahead with the restore to factory settings and restore your data from the iCloud backup.
All your music will be wiped but you can sync it back.

ITunes is repeatedly saying it can't read the content on my iPhone 5c

Every time I connect my phone to my laptop (Windows 8 system), iTunes tells me it can't read the contents of the phone and suggests resetting it. I've done this several times, basically bordering on the obscene amount. If I had to pick an actual number of times, I'd say at least 20 over a week's time. Every single time I set up the phone, either from a back up or as a new phone, neither option fixes the problem, iTunes says it's syncing and then syncs nothing to the phone like it says it has. I usually try syncing a few more times just in case, but it never puts anything on the phone. I've uninstalled all Apple programs from my computer and re-installed them, I've taken my phone to the store I bought it at and had a completely new phone sent to me, I've reset it a billion times, I've turned it off and back on again, I've made sure to use the eject button every time I unplug the phone from the computer, I've checked to make sure I have the latest software updates, I use the cord from Apple and not a copycat version, and still every time (except for right after reset, before unplugging for the first time) iTunes says it can't read my phone and I need to reset it. I'm at a complete loss! Has anyone else had this problem and somehow managed to resolve it? I love my phone (and my iPad, which has also started doing this) and I don't want to switch to another device.

When you removed and reinstalled iTunes, did you follow the steps in the support document? Removing and reinstalling iTunes and other software components for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 If not, that can create its own set of problems. What kind of anti-virus software are you using on the computer? Have you tried to disable the firewall and anti-virus software? Do you have a passcode on the device? If so, do you unlock the phone before you attempt to sync? Others have reported this helps. You say the iPad has started to display this behavior. Have you done anything different to it or the laptop just prior to this starting? Are you logged into the computer as an administrator?

Help required please. "Itunes can not read the contents of my iphone"

Greetings all,
I know this question has been asked before and I apologize for asking again but all the solutions provided don't seam to work for me, can anyone help me please.
I am receving the message: "Itunes can not read the contents of the iPhone. Go to the summary tab In iPhone Preferences and click restore torestore this Iphone to factory settings".
Now a little about my iphone, Itunes and my laptop and what steps i havealready tried.
I have an iPhone 4 running software 5.0
My itunes version is 10.5.0.142
I know these are not the most up to date versions but I have had this issue for almost 3 months now and updating the software back then was the first step I tried. I don’t believe updating to the latest will fix this issue as updating the last two times did nothing.
Every so often after starting Itunes, The program will stop responding and will require the three finger death kill (CTRL, ALT, DELETE) to open task manager to end the task of Itunes. Once it shuts down, I restart the iTunes and it runs smoothly, apart from not reading my iPhone.
When I run a diagnostic in itunes under the help tab, I get these fail messages:
Network Connectivity test: Secure link to Itunes store fail
Device connectivity test: Under support services: Itunes helper is not running. And under ports: No iPod, iPhone or iPad found.
Device Sync test: No iPod touch, iPhone or iPad found.
*See below for full diagnostic report*
I have restored back to factory settings twice.
I have shut down and restarted both my iPhone and laptop.
I am running Windows 7 32-bit on my laptop.
I am using ZoneAlarm as my fire wall, and have been disabling it when syncing my iPhone to prevent other error messages.
The iPhone is plugged into a genuine Iphone USB cable and is plugged into a USB port not a USB hub on my laptop, I have tried plugging it into all 4 USB ports and this issue still persist. The Cable is less then 5 months old, is not frayed or damaged in any way, have also borrowed 2 other cables from friends and still the same issue.
The iPhone does not even come up in windows explorer as a digital camera.
The iPhone is NOT jailbroken
I do not live close to a so called genius bar, however I have made the journey to them on 3 separate occasions last year when I first received my iPhone for a different issue, the so called genius's could not fix the problem so they just gave me a new (refurbished) iPhone, which did not extend my warranty. I will not be taking the iPhone back to them as I believe they can not resolve many issues, this is why I am reaching out to the power of the people in the wider apple community.
I have read in other forums about ifunbox and other programs for jail broken iPhones to isolate folders “iTunesDB” and "iTunesCDB" and delete them. If this is the issue is there a way to access these files through windows explorer as my iphone is not jailbroken.
I hope I have provided enough information and someone can help me fix this issue. If I have left anything out, please let me know. I thank everyone in advance for your patience and support.
Thanks
Hoggie27
FULL DIAGNOSITC REPORT
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (Build 7601)
Hewlett-Packard HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC
iTunes 10.5.0.142
QuickTime not available
FairPlay 1.13.35
Apple Application Support 2.1.5
iPod Updater Library 10.0d2
CD Driver 2.2.0.1
CD Driver DLL 2.1.1.1
Apple Mobile Device 4.0.0.96
Apple Mobile Device Driver 1.57.0.0
Bonjour 3.0.0.10 (333.10)
Gracenote SDK 1.9.3.494
Gracenote MusicID 1.9.3.106
Gracenote Submit 1.9.3.136
Gracenote DSP 1.9.3.44
iTunes Serial Number 001BAD14XXXXEA78
Current user is an administrator.
The current local date and time is 2011-11-16 10:04:53.
iTunes is not running in safe mode.
WebKit accelerated compositing is enabled.
HDCP is supported.
Core Media is supported.
Video Display Information
NVIDIA, NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M
**** External Plug-ins Information ****
No external plug-ins installed.
The drive H: Vodafone USB SCSI CD-ROM Rev USB is a USB 1 device.
**** Network Connectivity Tests ****
Network Adapter Information
Adapter Name:    {97524DB0-B9DC-41DB-8AFA-0CE6938F7C95}
Description:    PC
IP Address:    (HAS BEEN REMOVED FOR PERSONAL REASONS)
Subnet Mask:    255.255.255.255
Default Gateway:    0.0.0.0
DHCP Enabled:    No
DHCP Server:
Lease Obtained:    Thu Jan 01 11:00:00 1970
Lease Expires:    Thu Jan 01 11:00:00 1970
DNS Servers:    10.143.147.147
        10.143.147.148
Adapter Name:    {BFF0456E-DE42-4FEF-B1FA-1EA1C5EDEE42}
Description:    Vodafone Mobile Broadband Network Adapter (ZTE)
IP Address:    0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask:    0.0.0.0
Default Gateway:    0.0.0.0
DHCP Enabled:    No
DHCP Server:
Lease Obtained:    Thu Jan 01 11:00:00 1970
Lease Expires:    Thu Jan 01 11:00:00 1970
DNS Servers:
Adapter Name:    {D5511FFD-0CA8-4F62-B3CA-E90384FFCD03}
Description:    Broadcom 43225 802.11b/g/n
IP Address:    0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask:    0.0.0.0
Default Gateway:    0.0.0.0
DHCP Enabled:    Yes
DHCP Server:
Lease Obtained:    Thu Jan 01 11:00:00 1970
Lease Expires:    Thu Jan 01 11:00:00 1970
DNS Servers:
Active Connection:    PC
Connected:    Yes
Online:        Yes
Using Modem:    Yes
Using LAN:    No
Using Proxy:    No
SSL 3.0 Support:    Enabled
TLS 1.0 Support:    Enabled
Firewall Information
Windows Firewall is on.
iTunes is NOT enabled in Windows Firewall.
ZoneAlarm Firewall is installed.
Connection attempt to Apple web site was successful.
Connection attempt to browsing iTunes Store was successful.
Connection attempt to purchasing from iTunes Store was successful.
Connection attempt to iPhone activation server was successful.
Connection attempt to firmware update server was unsuccessful.
The network connection timed out.
Connection attempt to Gracenote server was successful.
Last successful iTunes Store access was 2011-11-16 09:59:57.
**** CD/DVD Drive Tests ****
LowerFilters: Afc (1.0.0.2),
UpperFilters: GEARAspiWDM (2.2.0.1),
F: hp CDDVDW TS-L633N, Rev 0300
Drive is empty.
**** Device Connectivity Tests ****
iPodService 10.5.0.142 is currently running.
iTunesHelper is currently not running.
Apple Mobile Device service 3.3.0.0 is currently running.
Universal Serial Bus Controllers:
Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B34. Device is working properly.
Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 3B3C. Device is working properly.
FireWire (IEEE 1394) Host Controllers:
1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller. Device is working properly.
Most Recent Devices Not Currently Connected:
iPhone 4 (GSM) running firmware version 5.0
Serial Number:    85107XQLA4S
**** Device Sync Tests ****
No iPod, iPhone, or iPad found.
< Edited By Host >

Hi AM_Kidd.
Thanks for your reply.
I have done a complete uninstall and re install of iTunes and all related apple programs from my laptop through control panel, add remove programs and also by going through program files and deleting all tracers of any left over folders remove programs may have missed.
My apologies for forgetting to add this in my original post.
Thanks again

Itunes keeps telling my it can not read the contents of my iphone and that i need to reset it back to factory settings. I dont want to do that there is nothing wrong with my phone and my computer recongnizes that the phone is there.

I tunes keeps telling me that it can not read my phone and it wants me to reset to factory setting there is nothing wrong with my phone and my computer reads the phone. What should I do I already did the restart of the apple mpbile device service.

Do an iCloud-backup, reset the iPhone and restore is from the iCloud-backup.
Let me know if it works

ITunes can't read the contents on my iPhone!!

In addition, I can't restore my iphone due to error 3014. Please help me out!!

Have you used any Apps that weren't made by Apple with your iPhone or modified the hosts file on your computer?
See this Apple doc -> iTunes: Specific update-and-restore error messages and advanced troubleshooting
Error 3014
This error occurs when iTunes is unable to reach gs.apple.com in a timely fashion. Follow the steps below in Unable to contact the iOS software update server gs.apple.com.
Try restoring the iPhone from recovery mode after re-creating the hosts file or using another computer.

Itunes can't read the contents on my itouch

When I connect my itouch to my pc, itunes doesn't automatically come up, and when I open it, it says that it can't read the content on my itouch, although it lists all the songs I've loaded on it. It recommends that I restore my itouch to factory settings, which I really don't want to do, since it says everything will be erased. I have uninstalled and reinstalled itunes, and it still can't read the content of the itouch.
For those of you who have done a factory restore, were you able to get any of your former things back that were erased? How do you do it?

Welcome to the discussions,
Did you already try to reset your device by holding the sleep and home button until the Apple logo comes up again?
Try if you can transfer your purchases from the ipod to your computer by selecting "transfer purchases" from the File menu in iTunes with your device connected.
If this works, select "backup" from the same menu after that. This will perform a manual backup without the sync process involved.
If your ipod can't transfer the purchases, you'll have to restore to factory settings and lose all the content which is not in your iTunes library at this time.
Apps can be downloaded again for free, music can't: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519
Restoring from a backup will bring back all of your data and settings, more details here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766 and how to here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414
Message was edited by: Ingo2711

When I go to plug in my iPhone 5 to my PC it will charge my phone but it doesn't show up that it's connected to my computer or in iTunes. I have tried just about everything that I can find on the internet but nothing is working. Any other suggestions?

When I go to plug in my iPhone 5 to my PC it will charge my phone but it doesn't show up that it's connected to my computer or in iTunes. I have tried just about everything that I can find in the support discussions but nothing has worked. Any other suggestions?

If you have carefully follow ALL of the steps in that article, you are using a USB port directly on your computer and not a USB hub (don't use a front port on a tower or desktop either, as they are an internal hub) and you installed iTunes correctly using an Administrator ID and you have tried disabling your antivirus and firewall then there is no hope of it ever working. Look at the tip again, and go through it carefully, not skipping any steps.
Note, BTW, that an iPhone will not show up on a computer, only in iTunes. If there are photos in the Camera Roll then it will appear in Windows as a digital camera only.

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Try disabilng the Enable Disk Use option from under the iPod's Summary tab, applying the changes, and seeing if that helps.
Otherwise, temporarily disabling any antivirus, security, firewall, or file indexing software that may be running on your system and then try restoring your iPod again.
B-rock

Every time I sync my iPhone with iPhoto I end up getting duplicate photos on my iPhone. The other problem is that I can not delete the dups on my iPhone. Does anyone have an answer to this problem?

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Create a album: When viewing albums, tap Edit, then tap Add. Select photos to add to the new album, then tap Done. Note: Albums created on iPhone aren’t synced back to your computer.
Rename an album Tap Edit, then select an album.
Rearrange albums Tap Edit, then drag up or down.
Delete an album Tap Edit, then tap the delete sign.
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In iTunes the only folder that I can see listed is the man one into which iTunes stores pictures, which I have named iPhone Photos.
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I am going around in ever decreasing circles here and getting nowhere fast!!

I have uploaded photos from the past and they are grouped by dates. How do I seperate those photos into their own folder/album so that I can easily identify the contents. Also, what is the difference between Album, Smart Album and folders?

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as to organization - events are generally time based and are the basic automatic organization - you can merge and split them to make them work better for you but they are not a good way to do detailed organization - best to leave them time based
albums are logical things that contain photos and are just pointers to the photo in the event so they take no extra space and all changes to a photo anywhere are reflected everywhere
Smart albums are the same except they are automatically filled based on the criteria you set when you create them
Folders are containers that you create and a folder can contain albums, smart albums or other folders so they are a big help in organization - like a vacation folder that holds folders for France, USA, China with each of thos folders holding albums of photos from the country
LN

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iPod touch User Guide (For iOS 4.3 Software)
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Hello there, Choochg.
The following Knowledge Base articles offer up some great steps for how to restore your iPhone:
iOS: Back up and restore your iOS device with iCloud or iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1766
and
iCloud: Restore your iOS device from iCloud
https://support.apple.com/kb/ph12521
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.

ITunes just told me that it "can't read the contents of this iPhone, click

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