Sync iPhone 4 with new Mac installation

I've just replaced the hard drive in my MacBook Pro with a fresh new OS 10.6.8 installation.  The old drive is still accessible via a USB external case.
I did not use Migration Assistant, as I didn't want to inherit any mess from the old system, and MA's options seem extremely unrefined - most checkboxes are very non-explicit about what it will migrate.
I have transferred all music, book and app files to the new iTunes from the old.  My new iTunes is logged into the same iTunes account as the old.
I've manually set up Apple Mail, but my Address Book is currently waiting for contacts, and iCal is also empty, which I presumed I could sync directly from my iPhone.
But I would like to re-sync my iPhone 4 with the new iTunes WITHOUT erasing the phone.  I have many hours worth of user configuration data within my many apps - favourites in GPS apps, saved game settings, documents in reader apps etc.
From everything I've read, this seems impossible!  The new iTunes installation insists on erasing the phone.  SURELY this can't be true.  How do I store my phone in it's current form and retain all current data and settings?
Any assistance greatly appreciated.

1. Disable auto sync when an iPod/iPhone is connected under iTunes>Preferences>Devices in itunes.
2. Make sure you have one contact & one event in the supported applications(Address Book & iCal) on your computer. These entries can be fake, doesn't matter, the important point is that these programs not be empty.
3. Connect your phone, iTunes running, DO NOT SYNC at this point.
4. Store>Authorize this computer.
5. File>Transfer Purchases(To make sure all purchased content on your phone will be in your itunes library).
6. Right click in the 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.
You should be good to go.

Similar Messages

  • How to sync iPhone with new Mac without losing all my iTunes?

    I have recently got a new MacBook after my old one crashed... but I have been told that anything not bought would be lost when I sync my iPhone with my new Mac... I have already transferred the bought songs etc... is there a way (cheap or free if possible!) to transfer my music and videos to my iTunes library on my Mac?
    Thank you very much!

    Hi,
    Option 1:
         If you have purchased a new Mac from an Local Apple store, I'd advise you to bring in your old computer along with your new one in, and have them assist you on transferring. (Assuming your computer doesn't not even power up)
    Option 2:
         If your computer can be powered up (seeing the Apple Logo), and your hard drive is fine, then you can connect the two computers by using a Firewire cable, and then transfer the music files by drag and drop.
         http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
    Option 3:
         There are 3rd party software that you may purchase used to extract music from your iPhone, but it will have to be done at your own risk.  You may Google for extracting music from iPhone for a start.
    -cwdlin

  • Upgrading from old Mac to new- how to sync iPhone with new Mac?

    Hi all,
    My dad is upgrading from an old iBook to a nice new iMac. He has spent quite a few days tweaking his new iMac and importing old files and folders. The one thing we haven't yet done, though, is iTunes. He has an iBook G3 that he syncs his iPhone with, and he wants to be able to "move" his whole iTunes setup to the new iMac so that it picks up right where the iBook left off, without needing to reset the iPhone.
    One thing to keep in mind is that the iBook had a tiny hard drive and thus the music files are actually on an external hard drive. I was wondering how to go about this feat. I read that using Migration Assistant deletes everything off the new Mac, so that's not an option at this point. Thanks for the help!

    If you had use Migration Assistant to start with it would have been easier.
    See if this article helps - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449?viewlocale=en_US
    MJ

  • How do i sync iphone with multiple macs? and few questions

    Hi
    I would appreciate if anyone would help me.
    1. I would like to know how to sync my iphone with different macs. I have a macbook 13 and a macbook 15 and would like to use BOTH to be able to transfer data without losing them. (address, apps, photos and music)
    would like to use this feature if I were to be suddenly on a trip and a friend would like to share some of his files (audio, apps, photos..etc)
    2. is it possible to use internet tethering on multiple macs or example a "spontanious" mac? (ex. if I were suddenly to use internet through usb on a friends mac while we were on a trip but it were programmed on my mac at home)
    3. my internet tethering is only working on one mac which I usually use to sync everything... i tried just using tethering through usb on the other mac wihtout any sync but somehow it didnt work... usually i just plug and play and start using firefox... by automatic detection...
    4. is there also a way to copy files from iphone onto a mac which would not be one of my libraries?
    5. why cant i use iphone like the ipod as a disk use?
    I am aware that these things are somewhat possible because i have read quiet a few artivles but they are sadly enough not so current... any help appreciated.

    #1: As has been said, you can't get around it. An iPhone cannot be synched to more than one computer for any media content (it can be for contacts and calendar information, I believe).
    #4: You can transfer items purchased from the iTunes Store to another computer but only if you disallow synchronization and authorize that computer to your iTunes Store account. There are third-party utilities that can transfer non-iTunes Store content.
    #5: there is no disk mode in an iPhone and no way to enable one, at least not in the sense of disk mode in earlier iPods. There are third-party apps that allow some file transfer to and from an iPhone.
    I can't help with tethering questions.

  • Issues syncing iPhone with old Mac

    Hi, I recently acquired an iPhone but I am unable to sync it with my Mac. My Mac is on the 10.4.11 OS X system and it cannot support the newest version of iTunes, which the iPhone apparently only works on. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can sync my phone?

    You can't. You need at least Leopard...Snow Leopard is your best choice...if your computer meets the specs:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/SP575
    $29 from Apple.

  • Sync iPad with new mac in without old mac

    Have moved to another city than my home, left iMac at home (old without intel so no cloud) -- bought new iMac and want to sync my ipad now to the new mac NOT the old.  It wants to erase my ipad --- don't want to lose my aps.  How do I stop the sync with old mac and switch to new -- won't be back in old house til mid-Feb so want to sync now with new.  As iMacs are different version and in different cities I couldn't just write my files from one to another so transferred via external drive my music and photos.  Now want to ensure I can sync my iPad.  Advice on how I do this without losing all my aps?  Thx. 

    Read this discussion and see my posts (Demo) and King Penguin's posts. If you follow the instructions that we discussed you should be fine. There are ways to get all of iPad content into iTunes on the new Mac discussed in this thread.
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3305461
    Whatever does not apply - just ignore. The only change in terminology for a Mac running iTunes is iTunes>Preferences>Devices - not Edit>Preferences>Devices like on a PC.

  • Syncing iPhone with new MBP and/or iMac

    I'm ready to upgrade my white MacBook 13" and I'm a new iPhone user as of Jan'10. My question is will it be painless to connect my iPhone to a new MacBook Pro or iMac and have iTunes recognize it? Would there be any complications maybe? Thank you in advance for any assistance!

    Restore iTunes on your new Mac: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1382
    Disable autosync in itunes, connect your phone, right click on it in the device list and choose backup.
    This will save data, pictures taken with the phone and settings to itunes. See what's included in this backup here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766
    Transfer your purchases the same way to copy all apps and bought media from the Store to your computer. Set up at least one contact and event on your computer to be able the merge your calendars and contacts after your phone got wiped during the first sync.
    The rest of the data can be restored from the backup you made.
    Restoring: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414

  • Keeping Contacts & Apps when syncing iPhone with new computer

    I just got a new netbook with Windows 7 Starter. I would like to transition from using my current work laptop to the netbook as the manager of my iPhone. When I try to sync my iPhone with the new computer it says that my iPhone's library is linked to another computer. It appears that all of my contacts and apps will be erased if I sync these items on the netbook.
    Does anyone know a way that I can keep this information without erasing? I already erased my music content from the iPhone. I foresee a real problem since this netbook doesn't have Outlook and all my contact information is in that format. I also don't want to have my apps all wiped out. Thanks for the help.

    iTunes content can be synced or manually managed with an iTunes library on a single computer, and photos can be transferred to the iPhone via the iTunes sync process from a single computer only. When transferring iTunes content and photos from another computer, all iTunes content and photos transferred from a different computer will be erased from your iPhone first.
    No other content is touched or erased when doing so including iPhone contacts especially if you don't select to sync contacts with a supported application on a new computer.
    iTunes includes an option to transfer iTunes content that was purchased/downloaded from the iTunes store, but this is for iTunes content that was purchased/downloaded from the iTunes store only. With your iPhone connected and without syncing, at the iTunes menu bar go to File and select Transfer Purchases From - the name of your iPhone. If you haven't activated the new computer with your iTunes account with iTunes, you should do so before doing this.
    With Windows, contacts can be synced with Outlook 2003 or 2007 along with calendar events, or with Windows Contacts for syncing contacts only.
    If you don't have Outlook 2003 or 2007 available on the new computer, you will have Windows Contacts available. Before syncing contacts with Windows Contacts, enter one contact in Windows Contacts. Make the contact up if needed, which can be deleted later. This will provide a merge prompt with the first sync with Windows Contacts, which you want to select.
    There is no Outlook format or Apple address book format with contacts. You can sync contacts with Outlook 2003 or 2007 or with Windows Contacts on a PC, and sync contacts with Apple's address book on a Mac.
    Contact, calendar events, and Safari bookmarks can be synced with the supported applications on multiple computers. With two Windows computers, with two Macs, or with a Windows computer and a Mac.

  • Transferred my Library to new laptop, but how to associate/sync iPhone with new laptop?

    I got a new laptop. The old laptop is still working. I transferred my library using the Home Sharing method and all of my items were moved except my apps. I plugged in my iPhone to the new computer and used "Transfer Purchases from iPhone" option and all of my apps were added to the library. But, now I don't know how to associate the iPhone with the new computer. When I plug in my iPhone to the new computer. It starts to sync. It says steps 1 through 3, spins for 20 seconds and says complete, but nothing was done. I do not get the "this iPhone is associated with another library" message when I plug it in to new computer, perhaps because I've authorized both computers. All I can find in my searches is how to avoid losing all of your data and how to transfer your library, but none has dealt with this exact situation. I am stumped as to how to get iPhone associated with new computer. Can I transfer my backup from the old computer and restore from backup? Other thoughts? Sorry if the answer is somewhere (I'm sure it is), but I have spent two days looking.

    Randers4, so I carefully followed the directions (only one that confused me was about adding a fake address/calendar entry, is that for Macs, I'm using a PC?.)  I restored it from the backup and everything looked good. I had hope, the final step says to sync it and when I did, I had the exact same problem. It spun, went quickly through only 3 steps (even though there were 7 sync steps with my old laptop) and nothing changed. It clearly didn't sync.
    So, I had an idea that I would back up everything by right clicking in the left pane and forcing a back up on the new computer, and then erasing the entire phone and then restoring from the backup I just made to see if that would make a difference. So, after I tried that and it restored, it was weird. All of my settings were there. Some folders were there, my pictures were there, but all of my apps, folders, music and video was missing and it still wouldn't sync. So, then I had to plug it back into my old laptop and do a restore from there to get that stuff back.
    Shouldn't I get a message when I plug the iPhone into the new laptop saying this phone is connected to another computer? I tried "Reset Warning Messages" but it doesn't do anything. At this point, I don't care if I lose some of the stuff from my iPhone (texts, etc)...but I want it to sync to the new computer because my old laptop is on its death bed.
    So frustrating, all of my iTunes content is on the new computer, the only piece that is missing is getting it to "talk" to the iPhone. Times like this I wish I wasn't a poor teacher and could afford to get a nice Mac laptop.

  • Syncing iPhone with empty mac?

    Hi all,
    My hard drive crashed on my macbook, and I'm trying to sync my iphone with my new imac, which has none of my contacts etc on it. Is it possible to push all my content on my iphone onto my new (empty) mac?
    Help - I really worried that syncing will wipe my phone, and I can't seem to back up that content anywhere. I have mobile me but that too doesn't seem to be able to sync from phone to empty mac.
    Thanks

    Yes, it will wipe your phone unless you do the following:
    1. Make sure auto sync is NOT CHECKED when this device is connected.
    2. For contacts, set up a least one contact in your address book & make sure you select merge contacts from the list.
    3. When you first connect your phone, go up to file, & select transfer purchases from this ipod to this computer. This will put purchased content on your new computer, including any purchased apps.
    4. After you've transferred purchases, put a least one contact in your address book & selected merge contacts, you can then sync.
    5. Music you may have riped on your own, will be deleted unless you have a backup to put back on your computer.
    You can also use third party software, there are many out there, use google to look. An example is:
    http://ipodrip.com/
    Message was edited by: wjosten

  • Synced iPhone w/ new MAC and not working

    I synced my iPhone with my new Mac about a week ago when I first bought the MacBook, I'm a first time Mac user.  I bought a song on iTunes today and wanted to transfer it onto my iPhone, but it's not letting me transfer, am I doing something wrong? Any help would be great, thanks!

    What do you mean "not letting me"
    What did you try?
    What happened?
    Error message?
    What did it say?

  • Sync iphone with new macbook

    I've had an iphone for a while now....no issues.  I've always synced it with my iMac....no issues.  Just bought a new Macbook Pro.  Instead of syncing my iphone with the iMac, I ONLY want to sync with the new Macbook.  I just want my itunes, photos and contacts backed-up on the new Macbook.  I've been all over the web, searching for an easy solution.  I tried migration assistant, that created a second home folder on my Macbook using all of the old stuff on the iMac.  Should I buy a software program for Mac to make this easy?  I'm not a go into the sub, sub, home, sub-folder and delete this or that kind of guy.  I could be with SPECIFIC instructions as to how to go about it, but too many sites speak a language I don't.  Any help would be appreciated for the semi-computer challenged.  Thank you.

    All you need to do is move all the contents of your iTunes folder on your iMac, to the empty iTunes folder on your MacBook pro to get your iTunes media synched.
    For photos, replace the empty iPhoto library on your MacBook Pro with your old iPhoto library from your iMac.
    For your contacts, create a "dummy" in Address Book on your MacBook Pro.  You will be prompted to "merge" the contacts on your phone and from Address Book when you first synch.

  • Sync iphone with new macbook without erasing info - don´t have backup

    Hello everybody,
    although I have googeled and searched in this forum I couldn´t quite find the exact answer to my problem:
    Unfortunately, a few weeks ago my Windows PC went kaput. Fortunately, I bought a new Macbook Pro which is awesome.
    Buuut I cannot find a possibility to sync my iphone 3gs with my new mac without losing all the information on it. I do not have a backup for the iphone on an external hard disk.
    What can I do??
    Thanks in advance for you help!
    Mike

    Without a backup for your iTunes library that was on your PC and for any photos on your iPhone that were transferred from your PC, transferring any iTunes content and photos from your new Mac or from any new computer will erase all iTunes content and photos from your iPhone that were transferred from your old PC. Not all information on your iPhone will be erased when doing so, just iTunes content and photos that were transferred from your PC.
    Just one reason why including your iTunes library with your computer's backup along with all other important data is a good idea.
    iTunes includes an option to transfer iTunes content that was purchased/downloaded from the iTunes store from an iPod, iPad, or iPhone, but this is for iTunes content that was purchased/downloaded from the iTunes store only.
    First you need to authorize your Mac with your iTunes account with iTunes if you haven't already done so. With your iPhone connected and without syncing, at the iTunes menu bar go to File and select Transfer Purchases From - the name of your iPhone.
    Before syncing contacts with the Address Book and calendar events with iCal on your Mac, enter one contact in the Address Book and one calendar event in iCal on your Mac. This will provide a merge prompt with the first sync for this data, which you want to select.

  • Sync iPhone with new computer but keep text messages / photos etc

    Hi,
    So I have an iPhone 4 that I always synced with my Mac Book Pro. I now use a Mac Pro tower computer as my primary machine. I hear you can only sync with one computer at a time (is this true?) well if so, I'd like to start syncing my iphone with the tower for now on, but am concearned cause my friend was in the same predicament and had a bunch of stuff erased. I see online a lot of people say to manually transfer your music to the new computer and sync, but I want to make sure everything else is properally done as well including contacts photos and the text message / call history etc.
    My itunes music is already transfered to the tower. I beleve my "contacts" app is mostly updated on my tower , and even more updated on the phone itself. The photos are only on my iphone, and the text message / call / voicemails are only on the phone ( I dont even think those could be backed up). So - should I just go ahead and try and sync it with the new computer?
    What option would I choose...I don't think I wanna swipe it...and although I have my music on the tower, my contacts / photos are on the phone so what is the best way of properly doing this?
    Thanks

    You just have to set your preferences in iTunes.
    You can choose not to delete contacts etc from the iPhone. After you connect the iPhone, click on the iPhone icon that shows up in iTunes, and go to the appropriate tab, and check / uncheck what you want or don't want.
    I don't think text messages get deleted or changed.

  • How to sync Iphone with new itunes library?

    I used to sync my iphone with itunes on my macbook.
    My macbbok was lost, and i got a new macbook.
    Now when i try to sync with the new itunes libaray, it prpompts that it will delete my exisiting data on my phone, This would mean losing all my contacts, and text messages etc.
    Is there a way i can sync to a new itunes library without losing my data?
    thanks
    nazmul

    Sorry to hear about your macbook.
    Others have reported that if you have at least on contact and calendar entry on your new computer when you sync, then it will not erase you iphone, it will simply merge the two. While that makes perfect sense, I have not tried it myself.
    As for the texts, I don;t think you can get those back.
    Music can only be synced to one library at a time, so the music will be gone. However, in Itunes you can "transfer purchases," at least putting your itunes purchased music on your computer.
    It is always a good idea to have a backup. I use an external hard drive. Then you will have a complete backup if anything happens to your computer.
    Good luck. I hope it works out.

Maybe you are looking for