Found a solution from a webstie to disable the iphone backup function for both Windows and Mac.

Ever since version 1.0, the iPhone has automatically backed itself up every time an iTunes sync was started. The feature makes sense on a phone and has definitely saved my bacon quite a few times. However, with the iPhone 2.0 update, the backup feature has gotten arguably out of hand. Most users report obnoxiously long backup times which make it extremely frustrating to refresh your iPhone's information.
So if you're tired of automatic backups that take forever, here's how to disable them.

For Windows users:
First, grab a copy of NotePad++[U]. The standard apps that come with Windows won't work well for editing the iTunesPrefs.xml file.
To apply this hack, you'll be editing the iTunesPrefs.xml, which is generally found at C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes. You may need to enable hidden folders if you don't see the "Application Data" folder.

1) Quit iTunes

2) Make a backup of iTunesPrefs.xml. If you mess up, you'll wish you had a backup, so it's a good idea to make one.

3) Open iTunesPrefs.xml using Notepad++

4) Search for "User Preferences" without the quotes and you should find something like "<key>User Preferences</key>"

5) Right below the first <dict> that comes after "<key>User Preferences</key>", paste the following:

<key>AutomaticDeviceBackupsDisabled</key>
<data>
dHJ1ZQ==
</data>

Your results should look something like this:

Before


After


6) Save the file and open iTunes. If all went well, your iPhone will sync, but it won't back up. To back up manually, right click your iPhone in the source list and choose "Back Up".

For Mac Users
Things are a little easier here. :]

Backup-disabler

This post has been edited by davidgary73: Aug 24 2008, 11:42 AM

Not sure if this was mentioned but anyways..

Those of us who use a Mac with their iPhone probably grab photos using iPhoto. It's an obvious choice since your Mac already comes with it. However, if you have a lot of photos, you may not necessarily want to fire up iPhoto to import one or two pictures from your iPhone.

Instead of iPhoto, try using Image Capture. It's light-weight, straight forward, and it's included on your Mac. Best of all, you can simply drag a photo out of Image Capture right onto your desktop.

Cheers