Preparing iPhone for software update???

I just updated iTunes and tried syncing my iPhone. I then downloaded the new iPhone software update and it went to "preparing iPhone for software update." It's been like this for an hour now, and I can't do anything. I can't even close iTunes. Has this happened to anyone? How long did it take your phone to prepare for "software update"? What should I do? Help....

Spent 93 minutes on the phone with support. Could not solve the problem of getting out of the restore loop. As a last resort they said to use another computer to restore the iPhone. Went to my iMac and it worked, but back on my G4 I still can't sync to iTunes, Doesn't even open up when I plug in the phone!
And all my data was lost during the restore. Lot of people out there with this problem!!! hope theyn come up with a fix soon,

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