Can itunes backups be moved to a different computer?

icebox93

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I lost my iphone to stupidity (Iphone taken into the pool) on the road here in south Florida. So I got a new iphone at the Apple store, but I don't have a recent local backup on the laptop I have with me. But I did do a backup right before leaving home, so there's a usable backup there. I have remote access software installed on the pc with the backup, so I can access it on the road. The question is, if I move the pc itunes backup to the itunes backup folder on the laptop I'm using on the road, will it be accessible here? I'm not going to be home for a while so I'd like to get this done before I get home.

Thanks!
 

Fausty82

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I lost my iphone to stupidity (Iphone taken into the pool) on the road here in south Florida. So I got a new iphone at the Apple store, but I don't have a recent local backup on the laptop I have with me. But I did do a backup right before leaving home, so there's a usable backup there. I have remote access software installed on the pc with the backup, so I can access it on the road. The question is, if I move the pc itunes backup to the itunes backup folder on the laptop I'm using on the road, will it be accessible here? I'm not going to be home for a while so I'd like to get this done before I get home.

Thanks!

You can easily move your iTunes library from computer to computer (instructions here), and the short of it is that it will do what you want... but it will recognize the laptop as a different machine and force your iPhone to wipe and re-sync everything... I'm guessing that you should end up where you want to be, but it might be a bumpy ride... Good luck.
 

icebox93

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The apple link is about moving the music library, but the backups I want to move are things like contacts, home screen orientation and folders, and the like, not the music. These backups, on windows 7, are stored in the C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup directory, not the media directory. I can do without my podcasts and music for the time being. I keep my whole music library on a different device and only rarely use my phone for music.

The backup is 1.7GB and I have enough space in my dropbox so I can move it down here, but I don't want to waste the upstream bandwidth if its not going to work.
 

iDonev

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In theory there should be a way to plug the iPhone in your laptop and have it appear as a USB device on your main computer, the same way you do it with a virtual machine. I don't have a link to such software, but it's working searching for.

If you decide to migrate your library to your laptop, you'll have to wipe your device and start over. Worse still, once you get home you'll have to wipe it again if you start using your main desktop.