New computer - old library on external HDD, lost playlists and contacts etc

[jasoncordelle]

I've searched around but can't seem to find the info I need regarding this specific issue:

When upgrading to 4.2.1, my I was prompted to do a backup, which I did.

The issues started about then. My computer was old. It was running out of space. 3/4 of the way through the upgrade, there was an issue with the computer not having enough available memory, so the iphone was put into recovery mode and was unusable.

I tried freeing up space and trying again several times to no avail.

I went out and bought a new computer. I thought, "no problem - itunes library is on the external - it'll just work"...WRONG.

I am now without any of my contacts, playlists, or any other "nice to haves" on my iphone. I have my music (without ratings - not a biggie) and all of my apps.

I just don;t have the crucial stuff from my phone itself...contact data.

I had over 200 contacts on my phone...now I have none.

What can I do?

My old computre is still working (just) and the new one is set up with iTunes and the library is on the external drive...what did I do wrong and how can I restore my phone using the old backup that I had from a day befoe this debacle?

 

[rockmyplimsoul]

Your ratings and playlists are part of your "iTunes Library.itl" file, which is normally located on your computer's iTunes folder, not the external drive (though you can put it there if you want). If you want to recover these items, then copy the .itl file over to the new computer. Assuming you're a Windows user and that the external drive has the same drive letter as it did when connected to your old computer, you shouldn't have to do anything else to recover ratings and playlists. However, if the drive assumed a different letter you would need to re-assign the letter to what it was when connected to your old computer if you want to use your previous .itl file.

As for your contacts, those are part of your backup file, which is not on the external drive even though your media is. If you copy your last backup file over to the new computer, you should then be able to restore the iPhone from the backup, which will re-load your contacts. The backup file for your iPhone on your old computer would be located at:

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

Windows Vista/7: \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

Put all the backups (or just the latest) in the same folder on your new computer, then open iTunes and connect your iPhone, then right-click on the iPhone and select "Restore from backup" and choose the latest one. If you also copied over your .itl file, then you should do a full Restore and then select the appropriate backup file at the end of the process. Just make sure that if you've sync'd the iPhone prior to all this, there might be a backup that is dated after the desired backup from your old computer.

 

[jasoncordelle]

Thanks RockMP...that's exactly what I needed...I shall try this as soon as my kids go to bed and stop bugging me to use the new computer.

 

[jasoncordelle]

Did it, done it, awesome work!

Such a relief to have my contacts back!

This is the very reason I joined iLounge in the first place, for the sort of help you just can't get by googling!

Thanks very much!

 

[rockmyplimsoul]

Cool, glad it worked out!