iphone could not be restored – my night with apple
iphone could not be restored error 1604
I was about to cry.
I’m not an early adopter of technological greatness by any stretch, and the gift of an iPhone just weeks before the latest version was to be released didn’t change that. I wasn’t going to be one of those freaks standing in line at the Apple Store for two days to get the iPhone 3G.
I even wrote an article on a marketing web site two days before the release warning people to sync and back up their phones before trying to 
upgrade their iPhone software to v2.0 because part of the process would wipe everything stored on it.
And then yesterday came.
And I backed up my phone.
I downloaded the iPhone v2.0 update and I cried when I got the message "iphone could not be restored error 1604".
That was 6:01pm.
I tried everything I knew to do and was met with a refreshing variety of new errors:
iphone could not be restored error 1
iphone could not be restored error 6
iphone could not be restored error 2003
iphone could not be restored error 9
There are actually a few errors I neglected to write down as a matter of fact, but I am writing this because I want other people who had similar errors to learn from the seven and a half hours of work I put in to getting my phone restored and upgraded to iPhone v2.0.
Before you try anything else, if you are on a Windows machine, create a new user from the Control Panel:
Start > Settings > Control Panel > User Accounts
Start up the new user and go through the process with iTunes by opening iTunes with your iPhone in the cradle.
The reason this process works is because the new user fools the Apple servers into thinking that you don’t already have the update software and therefore downloads a fresh (and probably less buggy) copy.
Using this process starting as a new user on my computer, I was able to restore a bricked iPhone beginning at 1:02am and finishing at 1:31am.
More useful links on this topic:
Apple Support – Restore Error Messages
July 13th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
saving money on phone calls-a true frugalista would not spend their hardearned money and time on cell phones, iphones etc…that is just my personal opinion. i have a land line since the age of 18..without long distance service..and it continues to serve the purpose for which it was intended. living without all the newfangled gadgets has not put a crimp in my lifestyle. if anything, it has probably added years to my life and savings into my bank account. i call my lifestyle as slowing down and smelling the roses…
July 15th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I appreciate your opinion, Caryn. Thanks for taking the time to express it.
Unfortunately my work has me traveling quite a bit and not being accessible to my clients would mean that I would lose work which would not be good!
My iPhone was actually a gift from a loved one.