iOS 4.3 trying to update to 6.1.2, backup takes too long

[Fid]

Greetings,
My wife's iPhone 4 32gb is at iOS 4.3. When I click update the backing up part after two hours is less than 5% finished.
She had so many pictures that there was only .02GB free. I copied all of the pictures to her computer. She deleted enough pictures so that now she has 6.1GB free.
There are only 1.96GB of apps on the iPhone.
All of her pictures, purchases, contacts, and apps are backed up to the computer.
The 6.1.2 iOS is already downloaded.
Should I put into DFU mode and do the update from there?
Is there a way to get the backing up part of the update to go faster. I had read about deleting all of the apps one by one and then all of the photos and then trying the iOS update again.
I am thinking the DFU will be the faster way to go.

 

[Fid]

I right clicked the iPhone on the list of the left and made sure the backup was done, again right before I was to update to 6.1.2. I checked for the contacts, and any new photos. I made screen shots of the springboard, just in case something didn't get installed.
I decided to put it into DFU mode and have it skip the backup when you click the update button. That is the one that takes too long.
After the iOS was installed and the apps were restored I only had to put the music back on the iPhone.. The whole process took about two hours. It finished a little bit before she got home from work.
Fid