We’ve received some emails over the past couple of months seeking tech support regarding an iPhone 4 restore and sync issue within iTunes. The issue involves the system’s HOSTS files when trying to restore the phone. Below is a how to for fixing your iTunes Error 1004 on both a Mac and Windows machine.

How to Restore Your iPhone 4 with iTunes Error 1004

First try a hard reset by pressing the sleep/wake button and the home button for several seconds. If you are still experiencing an issue, perform the following per your system configuration:

If you are using a Mac:

- Open Finder
- Hold down the COMMAND + SHIFT keys and press the ‘G’ key. This allows you to go directly to the folder.
- Enter “/private/etc/” into the field and press “Go”
- Find the “hosts” document in the directory
- Then drag the document to your desktop
- Open the document in a text editor
- There will be a line that contains “gs.apple.com”. You can choose to either remove it entirely or place a # (hash) mark to void the line. You may then save the file.
- Then simply drag it back to original “/private/etc/” folder you pulled it from. Authenticate the actions accordingly.

If you are using Windows:

-Locate the “hosts” file in one of the following directories, depending on your OS:
If using Windows 95/98/Me, head to the c:\windows\hosts
If using Windows NT/2000/XP Pro, head to c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
If using Windows XP, Vista, 7, head to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
- Then right click the document, “Open With” and select Notepad or a text editor.
- There will be a line that contains “gs.apple.com”. Remove it entirely and save the document.

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