Back-up vs. Synch Phone?

[Myron]

I keep getting a message from my iPhone 5 warning me that my phone has not been backed-up. I connect the phone to my PC and go into iTunes and devices. There is a choice if you want to synch or back-up; however this always goes automatically to synch and it refuses to go to back-up. Why is this happening? What exactly is the difference between synch/ back-up? Thanks.

 

[willerz2]

Make sure you authorize the PC for your device. Click on Store on the top, then Authorize This PC. If prompted to, log in with the credentials that matches the Apple ID on your device.

And not that syncing and backing up are different. Syncing does not retrieve data from your device onto your PC, it simply matches and patches the missing files that are not in either libraries. Backing up means retrieving user data and storing it onto your PC for a rainy day (as you might already know).

 

[Myron]

I did what you said to back-up phone. I clicked on Store and authorized PC. I had to give my Apple ID/Password. I connected both via cable and again the PC went into Synch mode. Still can't back-up. When it does a synch, it goes directly to Step 4. What's the problem now? A mystery. My PC uses Windows 7, if that matters.

 

[dbplumb]

If you right click on your phone when it is connected to iTunes you should get the option to back up.
You can turn off auto sync in iTunes > Edit > Preferences > Devices > Prevent iPods etc from syncing automatically


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

 

[willerz2]

Are you clicking the actual Backup button on your device's profile?

 

[Myron]

Sorry to be so annoying, but I cannot locate my iPhone's profile. When I go into Settings, there is nothing about synchs or back-ups. On my PC however, when I go into iTunes, I see a choice I can make between synch or back-up. Is that what you are referring to? Why can't I choose both synch and back-up? What exactly is the difference? I thought synch saves all my data and photos in case my phone gets lost or breaks. How is this different from a back-up? Can my PC do both a back-up and a synch from the same phone? Thanks for your patience.

 

[zstairlessone]

If you don't back it up for long periods of time it will save the backup info on the phone and your available storage goes away.