music library question for someone tech savvy (PC)

[RHS1985]

hello, i just updated my iPhone to iOS5 on a new laptop (PC not MAC) that did NOT have any music on it.......

Situation: when i decided it was time to update to iOS5, i read the prompt to back-up my iPhone.
So i did the backup.
I am not sure what "sync" folders were check-marked, if any, and I'm not sure if i had the 'all music' checked in the box, either, or if it was Library" or ... what..

So I did the back-up, then i did the download and installed iOS5.
Then for about an hour I was a real hot mess because my contact were gone (i could see all the history of calls made to all my contacts but none of the names were displayed, just the phone number).
Finally, I was able to get my contact list back, by doing a "restore" on my iPhone..... 30-minutes later, there's all my contacts~!

Now i can't find my music that was INSIDE my iPhone, and was "backed-up" to this new laptop, and now I can't find where it went.
When I click on "restore" I do NOT get a list of "restore-back-to" dates.... but I do get a message that all the music will be wiped out and replace with the library found on the computer. Which is empty. Is doing this going to do something, or ruin something?

It's not the end of the world because all the songs and CDs are stored on external hard drives... but it would be nice to get the music back into the iPhone....
Did I do something wrong, or do I need to go to the iCloud???
I"m not a fan of the iCloud.....

 

[Alli]

Backing up on your iPhone to your pc is not a traditional backup. If your music was not on that pc and you had not already been backing up to it, you lost it the instant you did the backup as it overwrote your iPhone with what was on that pc.

If you had been backing up to that pc, but kept your music on an external storage device which was not connected when you did the backup - same outcome.

If you had been backing up to that pc, kept your music on external storage, and didn't have it connected when you did the restore - same outcome.

Short answer....connect your external storage.