How to activate an iPhone 5 with an inactivated SIM card I would like to use my iPhone 5 with an inactivated SIM card. I tried restoring using iTunes but each time I turn the phone on it starts all over again and asks me what language, what country, enter pass code etc. It connects to my Wi-Fi and then wants to know if I want to restore from iCloud, iTunes, or start new. I've tried this several times. 

I would like to test this phone out before I activate the nano sim card. My old phone is an iPhone 3 and uses a larger SIM card so I don't want to deactivate that until I am sure the new one will work.
You can't activate the phone using an inactive sim card. However, if the phone is unlocked you can use any active sim card to activate it. 

Take one from a family member or a friend. It's a few seconds process.