I updated to IOS 5, and now my Notes are missing.

I actually did this quite awhile ago, and am only now posting this question.

I updated my iPhone 4 to IOS 5 within hours of its release, and the first thing I noticed was that the handy notepad I use for recording daily lists and whatnot has been wiped clean. I did backup my phone before doing the IOS 5 upgrade, and have not synced my phone since, so i will assume my 40 or so notes are somewhere on my PC. It is my work PC, and I am using Outlook.

Can someone please instruct me on how to go about setting iTunes to a) give me my old notes back, and b) not remove them after future syncings?

The fact that the default setting is to remove these notes is grounds - in my book at least - for someone to be skinned alive. I have seen similar posts on missing notes, but no follow through on their recovery. To say that I need these notes is an understatement and most certainly redundant.

Now... Who can help me?

Much appreciated, in advance!

Thanks for your quick reply.

I think the best answer I can give you on the 'update' question is that I plugged my phone in, was prompted to back it up - which i did - then i accepted the notice to install the new IOS 5. I did not restore, as I was reasonably sure that that would mean a significant loss of personal data, pictures, and music, etc. I didn't access a backup as far as I can remember - at least not as a first step. When I was finished 'updating' and had ejected my phone I was satisfied with the result - until i noticed the notes were missing.

I have used ibackupbot as you have suggested (as i have no interest in losing any changes i've made since the update that might come with a restore), and with a bit of looking around i was able to access a text version of my notes. From this I was able retrieve some of what i needed - even if only manually - so thank you very much for that!

I do have one other question now. When i ran ibackupbot, it automatically accessed an iPhone file from my PC dated 7 months ago. I know i have updated and backed up my phone several times since then, but a basic search of my PC's drive hasn't revealed any other, newer backup files. Is it possible that the backup I did a couple months ago is hidden somewhere else on my PC's drive and I just need to know what i'm looking for?

I know that's a very broad, newbie question, but i'm asking in case what i'm looking for is hidden or buried in some cryptic file or folder name.

Thanks again for your help with this.