Mark, Point taken. I guess my counterpoint is that I only expect to ever own one iPhone that is in use at any point in time so any of those backups I made for the older device will be unnecessary once it's replaced and I've backed up the new device. Therefore, I don't have to worry with backups of my older devices which will get overwritten I assume when my new device of the same name gets backed up. Less stuff for me to keep up with and at my age, that's a real bonus.
If I change my mind and rename my device, I'll post back with my backup results. Alan -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of M. Taylor Sent: Monday, July 20, 2015 1:20 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: A Very Specific Question About iPhone Backup Files Hello Alan, Thank you so much for this information; the website is great. Based on your reply, I would wager that you have not given your device a new name other than that which was set by default. I make a practice of renaming each of my iOS devices immediately upon purchase. If one does not do this, then, in theory, all of the devices would have the same name. This could be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending upon one's needs. My point is that, assuming that you have not renamed your latest device, if you are encrypting your backups, only one file is being updated/created. The remaining backups would be from your non-encrypted backup sessions. If you have not done so, rename your latest device to something like Alan's iPhone 6 or something that is easily distinguishable from your other devices. Then make an encrypted backup once or twice and see how many entries are created and let us know. Thanks again for your help on this. Mark -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alan Lemly Sent: Monday, July 20, 2015 7:14 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: A Very Specific Question About iPhone Backup Files Mark, I'm running iTunes for Windows 11.4.0.18 and often make an encrypted backup of my iPhone 6 running iOS 8.3 as I also did with my previous iPhone 5. I had 8 backup files listed in the Devices dialog under Edit, Preferences all of which begin with Alan's iPhone. Some of the backups listed also included the date next to Alan's iPhone but about half of them only said Alan's iPhone. If I lingered over the specific backup, ZoomText would announce the date it was made even though no date text was included in the list. I then researched where iTunes places encrypted backup files on the computer and found it is in a folder which includes the name MobileSync\Backup. The actual subfolder name is much longer and depends on the version of Windows you're running as to its location. Here's a link to the Apple Support article in case you're interested: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204215 This folder had a series of 8 subfolders under it which I assume correspond to the 8 backups I previously mentioned. The files under these subfolders included a string of alphanumeric characters in their names but had no file extensions. I'm telling you this in case you want to poke around with Windows Explorer. Good luck and I hope this helps. Alan Lemly -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of M. Taylor Sent: Monday, July 20, 2015 12:53 AM To: [email protected] Subject: A Very Specific Question About iPhone Backup Files Hello Everyone, Today, in preparation for installing a copy of iOS 9 on one of my iPhones, I decided, after backing up both my 5 S and 6 Plus, both running iOS 8.4, to see what backups are being listed in iTunes. Now keep in mind that I am using iTunes 11 for Windows on a Windows 7 PC but I will appreciate replies from Mac users, as well as PC users running the latest version of iTunes. I noticed that for both my 5 S and my 6 Plus, there is only one backup listed in the table of backups while there are multiple backup entries for my iPhone 4, 4 S, and even my old 3GS. The multiple entries for these older devices are delineated by their dates. I have not attached these older devices to my PC in over two years. The only explanation I can come up with, on my own that is, is that only the 5 S and the 6 Plus are using encrypted backups. Can that be the reason for each device's singular backup entry? I expected to see multiple backup entries, delineated by date, for both my 5 S and 6 Plus but there are none. There is only one entry for each device. So, I would ask you to let me know what you have listed in your iTunes backup table for your series 5 or series 6 device. To see your list of backups,do the following: 1. Open iTunes on your computer. 2. >From the Edit menu, select Preferences. 3. Select the Device Tab. Here you will see a list of device backups. Thank you in advance for any feedback on this. Mark -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. 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