Back up iphone 5 onto laptop but won't allow???

[MumToBe2015R]

DH has backed my phone up before but this time after downloading the latest version of iTunes think it was 11.1 he said. It finds the iPhone once plugged in but after that the 'back up' link is faded and won't allow to click. Turned iCloud off on iPhone like it stated on Apple step by step. Is there a setting maybe on the laptop? Or iTunes which is not right? My phone is literally on its last days so want to back it up before it just dies on me lol

Please help?

[WomanActually]

What ios version is your phone on?

I can back up my ipad on my laptop because I'm still on ios 7 (didn't like the reports of ios 8 and 9 fucking up older ios devices) but I also have an older version of iTunes on my laptop because the versions from the last year haven't worked with my device. I dunno if I just got unlucky or if you need the most current ios on the phone with the most current version of iTunes.

Are you connecting to the PC with a cable? Have you tried backing up over wifi?

Also, it might be worth checking that when you plug phone to laptop that the PC is authorised. You usually get a pop up on phone saying "trust this computer". It's also in the iTunes settings somewhere. Sorry I'm not at PC now.

Sometimes turning your phone off and on fixes things too.

Its possible to get your apps and data off using third party software such as ifunbox. I use it a lot.

One more thing, is there def enough room on the PC to perform the back up? I dload a lot of apps and until ios 8 a copy would be stored on my PC, and every time an app was updated another copy would be stored, I had over 300gb of apps clogging my hard drive. I now go through every month and upload my fave apps to Dropbox ( cos sometimes apple remove them from store and purchase history and they can never be redownloaded, with the IPA file in Dropbox I can re install whatever I want)

[WomanActually]

Also, you can use the iCloud back up as a last resort, and when you get a new iPhone it'll restore from that.

I don't trust it though and worry all my save files will vanish :)

[MumToBe2015R]

thank you your reply. My phone is on iOS 8.2, were connecting the phone via cable not wifi but will tell hubby to give that a try.

Do you know if back ups can't be done with a windows computer & only MacBooks? Because we don't have a MacBook. DH read somewhere last night that may not be allowing to do a back up as its windows. Laptop has 139gb free space, so more than enough as my phones only a 16gb.

I don't get the message on my phone like you said when I plug it in to iTunes. Could it be there something's going wrong?

Last resort it iCloud but how about if I get a samsung phone how would I get all my stuff back?

[WomanActually]

You can back up with windows, it doesn't have to be a mac (I use windows)

If you get a Samsung phone any apps and games you have bought on the Apple AppStore will not work. Apple apps and games only work on apple products. You'd have to buy the same app again from google play or amazon store.

You could try saving your contacts to SIM card, so when it's put in another phone the contacts will be there ready.

I think I sent mine to new phone via Bluetooth.

Do you have Dropbox? I love it because any photo I take on my ipad instantly gets uploaded and my husband can view them if he has Dropbox on his nokia and is logged in to my Dropbox. It was great for when we were on holiday as my Mum could see the pics. Might be worth trying it to at least get your photos into online storage that can be accessed from any device just in case your phone karks it.

I used a programme called ifunbox to get my mils contacts and photos off her old iphone (She was switching to Samsung) but it took me quite a while. It was a year or so ago but there was other similar programmes available, it was just a case of dragging and dropping stuff from the ifunbox interface and into my windows PC and then connecting her new phone and dragging it all onto that.

[WomanActually]

Also, you might not be getting that message because your PC is already trusted if it's been used before.

I was wondering if system restore would work? So you set the PC to a restore point before your dh updated iTunes, the older version might work, maybe.

I'm the type who makes things sound more complicated than they need to be, I'm confident around a PC and often sort families phones and laptops etc out but can I hell explain what to do in a way that makes sense :)