Was it jailbroken?
Nothing is lost. Everything is on your computer and can be put back on the phone.
Turn it off, wait five minutes turn it back on, at the same time turn off your computer and restart.
Plug in the phone DON”T touch anything, let it do its thing.
Restore if necessary, if not just let it update.
you may need to update to the latest version of itunes.
Just a thought , I am FAR from an expert
IBTJ - In Before the Jokers!
Tell him to
1) Turn off his iPhone (Hold down the button on Top for a few seconds...then on the screen slid it to the off position).
2) Remove his Sims card (with a paper clip you just push it in the hole). Wait one full minute.
3) Then turn it on without the Sims card and let it fully come up.
4) Then shut it back off, and once off. Put back in the Sims card.
5) Turn it back on.
Once up sync it with iTunes and he should be good to go.
One other thing he can do if still has trouble. Have him hold down his On/Off button on top of the phone and the home button down at the same time for about 10 seconds or so... Then let go. It’s call a soft reboot. Nonetheless, try the first above. Good luck.
Use the Restore to Factory Settings button on I-tunes. This will clear up a lot of problems. Your phone will be wiped of apps, but they are backed up on I-tunes and will be reinstalled when you sync.
IBTAH - In Before The Apple Haters.
EVERYTHING??? OMG!!!!
My daughter had a total McMeltdown. She wasn’t able to save data but the Apple store was able to get the device working again. I wasted two days trying resets, downloading new iTunes, talking to support, asking people here and generally banging my head on the wall.
Good luck. But if all else fails, try the Apple Store.
that's the spirit, sister!
Try this:
1) Power off the iPhone.
2) With iTunes open, hold the home button down on the device and plug in the usb cable and wait for the device to be recognized.
3) You should see a pop up message to click on restore in iTunes. May take a few minutes for everything to sync up.
May not help, but couldn’t hurt :)
Hold in both the home button and the off button (top right) simultaneously for ten seconds to force a hard shutdown and reset. Once that has shut down, press the on button (top right) to turn the iPhone back on. Then retry the restore iPhone to factory new and reinstall software with iTunes.
Are you using a Mac or a PC for the computer?
If this fails, make an appointment with your closest Apple store. You might luck out and have the Genius give you a brand new iphone4 in exchange for your old iPhone 3. I had a friend take in an out of warranty MacBook and when they couldn’t fix it, they gave him a brand new MacBook!
kidding.