[VileSlay]

My girlfriend recently upgraded from the original iPhone to the iPhone 4s with AT&T. She wanst to restore her backed up data (calender info, photos, etc) from her previous phone but iTunes is asking her for a password for her backup. Apparently her backup was encrypted with out being promoted to do so and there was never a password chosen.

I've searched the web and Apple's site and haven't found much. Some people are saying the backup is lost and the phone has to be set up as a new device. The people who suggest this also lay blame on users forgetting their passwords, but how could she forget a password she never chose? Other people suggest using variations of other passwords used in the past and even just entering "1234", none of which work.

We are at a loss on this one. Why would iTunes encrypt the backup without prompting for a password? How would one recover a password they never used before? Any ideas? We are running a Mac OSX 10.6.8, iTunes 10.6.1 and the iPhone 4s.

[prunejuice]

Make an appointment at the Genius Bar.

[DoubleHelix]

You have to set a password for an encrypted backup.

[VileSlay]

@prunejuice: Genius Bar was a dead end.

@DoubleHelix: According to my girlfriend, she was never prompted to enter a password for encrypting her backup. If she had been prompted and created one she would have had it written in her password book.

[VileSlay]

I think we'd have to have the original phone in order to do that. This is a new phone. AT&T transferred her contacts over, wiped her old phone and kept it. Usually they let you keep your old phone to transfer any internal memory data but I guess Apple policy doesn't let you keep your old phone.

[DoubleHelix]

They kept the old iPhone? Did you get some kind of trade-in deal or discount? You don't just hand over your property to a company. I can assure you, it's definitely not required.

[valis]

especially if you didn't wipe it first........

[VileSlay]

It was a trade in. She had the original 2G iPhone. She got a letter from AT&T stating that her phone may not work because they are phasing out 2G. She only paid $100 for the new 4S. They did wipe the phone for they showed her while they were doing it.

[DoubleHelix]

No such thing as an "iPhone 2G". Did she have the original iPhone from 2007? Still, AT&T isn't "phasing out" a portion of their spectrum any time soon, so I don't know what they would have told you.

[VileSlay]

I know its not called and iPhone 2G, but it was the first generation iPhone which ran on AT&T's EDGE network, considered to be a "2G network", which they will be slowly phasing out.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/att...rks-2012-03-01

The letter she received said: "We are constantly working to improve both our network and wireless device selection to ensure you have the best possible wireless experience. As we make these network improvements, your current older model 2G phone might not be able to make or receive calls, and you may experience degradation of your wireless service in certain areas.

It is important that you exchange you current phone for a new 3G or 4G phone to avoid wireless service problems."

And then they go on to detail the special upgrade offer. The sentence in bold was actually printed in bold in the letter. My thinking is that they are sunsetting the EDGE network, which is just a version of GSM, in larger cities, like us here in NYC, in order to open more bandwidth for 3G and 4G.