iPhone Sync Slow? Disable Slow Backup Process!
Posted August 18th, 2008 | 3 Comments
You’ve probably realised by now that it’s not a good idea to sync your iPhone if you’re in a hurray.
Every time you sync your iPhone after adding or removing any Apps/games it will make a full image backup which can take a very long time. The more Apps you add to your iPhone the longer it will take!
Of course the backup is important, if your iPhone is ever corrupt you will need a backup to restore your data. But if you don’t mind taking the risk, or you don’t care if you lose your data in the event of a problem it is possible to stop the backups happening.
Personally I have stopped them but will occasionally turn it back on. So if the worst happens I will at least be able to restore my phone to how it was a week or so ago. Here’s how to do it on a Mac, sorry I don’t know how to do it on PCs yet.
1. Make sure iTunes is not running
2. Open Terminal.app (Applications/Utilities)
3. Enter the following command
defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true
4. Open iTunes and connect iPhone
Your phone should now sync without performing the backup process.
If you want to turn it on again in future, in Terminal this time enter
defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool false
If anybody knows how to do this for the PC please leave it in the comments as i’m sure many PC users would like to be able to turn backups off too!
alex
13.09.08
anybody done that 4 windoze yet?
btw, great blog :)
Shaun
13.09.08
alex: Thanks for the comment! The instructions to disable backup on Windows are below, although if you havn’t already I would install the iPhone 2.1 update soon as it had made the backup process much quicker and most people are happy with it now.
All you need to do is copy a snippet of text and paste it. Be sure to backup the iTunesPrefs.xml file and kill iTunes before starting. The instructions are as followed:
1. Locate your iTunesPrefs.xml file. It’s usually located in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes or C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes.
Hint: If the folder Application Data does not show up, make sure that hidden files are visible in the Windows Explorer
2.Backup your iTunesPrefs.xml file
3.Open iTunesPrefs.xml using a capable text-editor (e.g. Notepad++, Ultraedit, but not MS Notepad)
4.Search for a section called User Preferences and paste the following snipped into the User Preferences Section after the first:
dHJ1ZQ==
5.Save the file and restart iTunes. Backups should now be disabled. To enable backups again delete the XML Snippet from iTunesPrefs.xml file.
alex
13.09.08
hi. the update has made the backup quicker indeed. but still, it’s good to have the option to sync fast when you’re in a hurry. thanks for the snippet.
cheers!
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