Hendrik of eidac has figured out a way to stop iTunes from backing up your iPhone on a Windows machine. It’s actually pretty easy to do. Instructions inside.
All you do is copy the 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 <dict>:
<key>DeviceBackupsDisabled</key>
<data>
dHJ1ZQ==
</data>
5. Save the file and restart iTunes. Backups should now be disabled. To enable backups again delete the XML Snippet from iTunesPrefs.xml file.
When you’re done, it should look like this:
I’ve tested it myself and can say that it works. Thanks Hendrik!
\\ tags: disable iTunes backup, windows
July 27th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
What about Mac User’s?
July 27th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Refer to my previous post here:
http://iphonefreakz.com/2008/07/27/mac-users-disable-iphone-backup-for-faster-sync/
July 27th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
i couldnt find anything in step one… i searched for C:\Documents and it wouldnt even find that! so i finally found them on my own and i went into it and settings wasnt there.. any help?
July 28th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Are you on Vista?
July 28th, 2008 at 10:20 am
For Vista it is in C:\Users\username\AppData\Apple Computer\iTunes\
July 28th, 2008 at 10:53 am
AT LAST!
Was waiting for this one… :)
July 28th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\iTunes\
i found it :lol:
July 28th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
I don’t see a “User Preferences” in my iTunesPrefs.xml file… :(
July 29th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Hey I found the file and opened it with notepad ++, i could never find the part with user preferences, I found machine preferences twice :shock: . Any help will be greatly appreciated :razz:
July 29th, 2008 at 1:00 am
It’s in the middle of tons of code and random letters. Notepad++ has a search feature at the top (binoculars) use that and search User Preferences. It’s there, just really hard to find.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Yea I had already tried the search option and I still didnt find it, I pretty much went through all the lines to look for it…but no luck, if you can give me your email, ill send you my file and let me know if you can take a look at it, my email is saiyamvora13@gmail.com
July 29th, 2008 at 1:47 am
yea i’ll email it to someone too… I used the search before posting here first and had no luck
July 29th, 2008 at 4:08 am
My email is bhdude76@yahoo.com
Email it to me and I’ll see what I can do.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Located iTunesPrefs.xml file and used Notepad++ to look for DeviceBackupsDisabled in iTunesPrefs.xml.
It’s not there. iTunes version is 7.7.0.43. OS is Windows XP.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
for everyone who can’t find the “User Preferences†string, i may be able to help:
On my computer there are two files named “iTunesPrefs.xml”, one in the …\Application Data\… folder and one in the …\Local Settings\… folder. Only the file in the …\Application Data\… folder has a “User Preferences†string. I don’t know why there are 2 preference files in two locations, but thy are not the same, so make sure you edit the correct one.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
you’re looking for a “User Preferences Section” and adding the DeviceBackupsDisabled key.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
“you’re looking for a “User Preferences Section†and adding the DeviceBackupsDisabled key.”
oh ok. thanks. I have tried and it works.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:01 am
**FOR VISTA USERS**
C:\Users\USER NAME\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes
July 31st, 2008 at 11:36 pm
[…] Also, we would like an iTunes update that gives us the choice to enable or disable iPhone backups, since they are dreadfully slow. But there are ways to do this now with a little effort. For Mac, go here, and for Windows, go here. […]
August 24th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I have written a small Windows program called “iPhone Backup Switch”. The program will allow you to enable and disable the iPhone backup feature in iTunes. I have tested it pretty well in Windows XP and VISTA. There is a backup feature that will backup the iTunes configuration and let you restore a previous version, if something goes wrong. Comes complete with installer and uninstaller.
Get it here:
http://www.microseconds.com/backupswitch.html
Spread the word please!
August 26th, 2008 at 2:32 am
Hey I found the file, opened it up with Notepad++ found the user prefs section… made the edits and SAVED the file.
I reopened the file JUST to be sure my edits were saved and they were. My problem is that when i open up iTunes it seems to overwrite my edits! :evil: :evil: :evil:
how the heck do i get iTunes to STOP overwriting my changes???
September 1st, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Thanks man i was one hour into the back up and not even half way, so i decieded to take action and thankfully found this site THANKS ALOT :grin:
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:42 am
It works!!!! Awesome… Itunes sucks…shitty software i ever seen.
February 9th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Hi there.
I am running iTunes 8.0.2.20 on a Windows 7 OS (my iPhone is running OS 2.2.1)
I did everything you explained before. However, when I run iTunes, it re-writes the iTunesPrefs.xml, deleting the modification (the command after the 1st on User Preference). Is there any other workaround?
Regards.
White Dane
SP – Brazil
February 11th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
AWESOME!!!!!! i was so sick of how slow itunes syncing is. i’m stoked this worked perfectly.
June 3rd, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Realy awesome! It worked perfectly :-))
Thank you very much indeed.
June 24th, 2010 at 3:43 am
THANK YOU! I’ve been standing by my com for six hours to update my i3GS to iOS4 cause of the backup, and then oops, “an unidentified error occured”. Hooray.
Thank you so much, really.
September 26th, 2011 at 11:36 pm
OMFG I found something exactly like this but couldn’t find the right file because there are two but THANK YOU SO MUCH ABG for telling me its in Roaming.
I use windows 7 so for all the awesome people
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WINDOWS 7
Correct iTunesPrefs.xml location
C:\Users\Jeremy\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 14th, 2011 at 10:45 am
Does not work with 5.0