# How can I force my PC to recognize my iPhone3G as a disk drive, not an iPhone



## agent_washingtub (Feb 6, 2015)

I have an old iPhone 3g with some deleted pictures and information that I would like to recover.
I wanted to know if there is a way I can force Windows to see the iPhone as a regular drive
so I could use EaseUs Data Recovery to recover the raw data files.

I have tried every other iPhone recovery software available to no avail.
A main problem is the fact that the lock button (upper right corner) is completely
broken, and many of the programs require me to hold that button down to work.

Maybe there is a way to wipe the data and the OS so the PC can recognize 
it as an empty drive?


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

what IOS is it running 
I dont know all the models 
BUT I thought if you plugged in the phone , it was seen as a drive - I know the 5's and 6's on IOS 6,7,8 do that 
possible a setting in itunes

have you tried plugging it in and running itunes 
looking at the device - is it seen by itunes ?

You usually only see the drive with images in 
The music etc are not shown
So you will not be able to see the entire harddrive


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## agent_washingtub (Feb 6, 2015)

If you look in My Computer, you see that the iphone is not listed under Hard Drives, it is listed under 'iPhone'. Yes I can see that one folder, but If it was viewed as a Hard Drive I would also see the installed apps as well as the OS. 

iOS is 4.2.1
Build Version 8C148

Yes I remember trying to choose the setting in iTunes to use the phone as a USB Drive,
but the option does not exist for this iOS or model it seems.
I do not believe this is a problem that can be solved with iTunes.


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