Database Users

Backing up contacts before hard reset

Since having my TP2 i've been having a good old play with reg entries, getting rid of the voda branding, themes, had a tinker with loads of software.. but now my phone is doing a couple of anoying things and i wanna do a hard reset.... it doesnt pick up mms messages anymore and drops the call 90% of the time when i use the slide-to-answer thing.... I know the tweaks and software i wanna use now, so a hard reset seems like a good idea.
Whats the best way to go about backing up my contacts and keep the multiple numbers/email addresses/ facebook links / and if poss.... pictures associated with each contact ?

I just copy the pim.vol file from the root to my storage card using totalcommander, then copy it back when I have hard reset. Then do a soft reset and all is sorted

PIM Backup appears to be popular around here.

nice one peeps... ta... another proggy to add to my 'good shizzle' list

ohyeahar said:
PIM Backup appears to be popular around here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this. I end up resetting my devices a lot cos I'm always installing all sorts of applications that eventually mess up my OS.
I even used this to transfer all my contacts, appointments & messages from my Gene to the Rhodium.
Just remember to be patient after restoring sms's. Especially if you have a lot. It will slow down your device quite a but while it sifts through all your messages and puts them into the conversation format.

Is there a backup program that will restore everything before a crash.
Somthing that will restore all my program's.
When i mess som things up i must do a hard reset and i need to install every program again.
can it be faster.
pim backup wil restore only my numbers en sms isn't??????
Thx and sorry for the bad english

janshuizing said:
Is there a backup program that will restore everything before a crash.
Somthing that will restore all my program's.
When i mess som things up i must do a hard reset and i need to install every program again.
can it be faster.
pim backup wil restore only my numbers en sms isn't??????
Thx and sorry for the bad english
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprite Backup(not free) will backup everything including
your storage card, if you use the custom settings.
​

tkalli said:
Sprite Backup(not free) will backup everything including
your storage card, if you use the custom settings.
​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The custom settings of sprite or mine device?????
I dit some tweaks on mine decive of is that not a problem.
thx

Sprite backup can create a backup of your device, including your storage card. That's what the previous poster meant. You have to use custom settings to do this.
There is also Resco and SPB Backup so there is plenty of choice. Just try them since they are trials before you buy

AHA oke thx for the answer

Online and offline options
Personally I've been using Spb Backup and found it's reliable and reasonably quick (configuarable too). Did have some problems with using it either side of a ROM upgrade though... but, dare I say it or will I get booed... Microsoft seem to have done something right for once and their myphone over the air (wifi or 3G) backup service (beta) seems to work well and allows transfer of data to different phones and on either side of a ROM upgrade (you will obviously need a good data plan or wifi though)...
Link...
http://myphone.microsoft.com/mkweb/Start.po?mkt=en-US&ocid=sem_enus_g-myphone

I second the Sprite backup but if all you want is contacts it's hard to beat outlook.

What about MyPhone by Microsoft? It will not only backup your contacts (on a schedule too) but your sms,docs, music etc over the network or Wifi. You then can also logon to the website from anywhere and access them online!
edit: that will teach me to fast read the thread

manila 2.1 facebook links backup ?

Im using the new Energy rom, 06/08. I set up all the links in facebook to my contacts, but as most of you know the energy ROM gets updated often. Im a flash junkie, so I follow them.
Is there any way I can export the links, it took me about an hour to link them up and im not going to do that every week or so.
Thanks for your time.

Anthony2oo5 said:
Im using the new Energy rom, 06/08. I set up all the links in facebook to my contacts, but as most of you know the energy ROM gets updated often. Im a flash junkie, so I follow them.
Is there any way I can export the links, it took me about an hour to link them up and im not going to do that every week or so.
Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use SPB backup. The only thing is everytime I restore my contacts It restores every contact twice and I have to go through and erase them. Pim backup backs up contacts but I dont know how to carry over the facebook links.

Yea I know how to backup my contacts. Infact they sync to outlook. I just dont want to have to restore the facebook links everytime.
Thanks for your reply

this would be very helpful for me also. i too am an energy rom user & would luv to know how to backup the facebook links. dscottjr81 can you verify SPBbackup does work for this?? i also wonder if Sprite Backup would work? i know PIMbackup does not carry over the facebook integration.
anyone?

maybe the facebook stuff is in the facebook.vol in your root directory? \facebook.vol
just try it

facebook.vol is for the facebook application produced by microsoft.

you use the link your contacts in the manila contacts page, right?
I have nothing else of facebook installed, and have the \FacebookInfo.vol on my phone, so I think thats one of the files for the "manila facebook" ..
but here is another solution: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=538513

Il back that file up and restore it see if it works. Il also use your link in the event it dosnt work.
Thanks very much.

I have over 75+ facebook links in my phone, so having to do them all again would of been very troublesome for me. I did however figure out how to backup all of the links and current PIM information for your phone.
Backing up and Restoring the ENTIRE PIM(Calendar, Contacts, Tasks) and the Facebookinfo Vol file is the only way to get your Links back intact.
Before you do this, you should do the following things to prepare for the restore. If you have an active sync partnership with a computer allready, in your active sync settings on the PPC for that connection, set you sync conflict mode to "Keep items on my device". This will prevent dupes from appearing in outlook on your PC as well as on your phone. If your synced with an Exchange server or google mobile, unfortunately the Exchange connector lacks this feature. You'll just have to manually De-Dupe those.. Sorry.
When all of this is done, Download and Install Total Commander (Google it). Open total commander and in the root of your device, rename the "pim.vol" and "facebookinfo.vol" files (If they exist. If not, then fill out your personal card and link atleast one facebook contact). Once these are renamed, copy your old pim.vol and facebookinfo.vol files into the root, and soft reset. You should now have all your contacts, tasks, calendar entry's, and facebook links.
Edit: I just checked my gmail account after doing this method (Which is being synced via the exchange connector) and I only found a few dupes which may of been left over. Post your experience if you do this as well.

Try using microsoft my phone, looking at the details it has synced to my account it saves the fb links as a note, ive not reflashed the phone since i got all my links connected, i only got the phone yesterday and am trying out my 1st rom since moving over from the Kaiser. Loving the diamond compared to my old trusty heavy Kaiser.
I have always used Microsoft my phone for backing up, i like the sync my location as if i ever loose of get my phone stolen at the press of a button it will tell me where it is

langers1 said:
Try using microsoft my phone, looking at the details it has synced to my account it saves the fb links as a note, ive not reflashed the phone since i got all my links connected, i only got the phone yesterday and am trying out my 1st rom since moving over from the Kaiser. Loving the diamond compared to my old trusty heavy Kaiser.
I have always used Microsoft my phone for backing up, i like the sync my location as if i ever loose of get my phone stolen at the press of a button it will tell me where it is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone does not backup/restore facebook links. I'm not sure if it is even aware that manila creates them. Where did you see this in details? The sync details in my phone is very basic and doesn't say anything that detailed. When I look at the sync settings in the latest version of my phone, it doesn't even give an option to backup notes, and there is no mention of notes in the online profile either. Where did you see this?

Backup Software Problem

Hi,
I've used SPB backup for years on my PDA's so when I backed up my HD2, everything looked like it backed up ok. Had to hard reset the HD2 but didn't think much about it because I had a backup exe. Ran the exe twice and nothing changed. Im pretty sure I have the latest version that is compatible with WM 6.5.
Do you have to turn off HT sense in order for the back up to work properly?
I've read in the forum that others have had good luck with Sprite, anyone use either of these programs successfully?
Thanks for any insight you can provide
Mike

mhmobile said:
Hi,
I've used SPB backup for years on my PDA's so when I backed up my HD2, everything looked like it backed up ok. Had to hard reset the HD2 but didn't think much about it because I had a backup exe. Ran the exe twice and nothing changed. Im pretty sure I have the latest version that is compatible with WM 6.5.
Do you have to turn off HT sense in order for the back up to work properly?
I've read in the forum that others have had good luck with Sprite, anyone use either of these programs successfully?
Thanks for any insight you can provide
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used SPB successfully, except for the fact that when sync'ing after restore, the PC does not recognize the device as a device that was already connected, and sets up a new Mobile-pc connection (which makes a second connection on the mobile, and can cause problem sync'ing mail).
I have read that others had problems with restored SMSs when using SPB, I did not check that.
I had a VERY BAD experience with the Sprite backup.
I just would NOT restore the contacts and calendar data,
and messed up the multi-language support after ROM upgrade,
no matter what restore method I selected.
So -
in my experience concludes that - NO backup program is reliable.

Depending on what you want from your backup solution, Microsoft MyPhone is particularly good!
It syncs data to & from an online store where you can view it via a web interface. You can sync your data with MyPhone, hard reset the device, sync your data again and it's just back.
What's more, you can set it to automatically sync data on a periodic basis. I have it run a sync at 4am every day, and it's only ever failed a couple of times, and I've been using it for over 6 months now!
Have a look at it - it should be on your phone, but it's in the marketplace if it's not there. Alternatively, just google MyPhone.
Hope this helps

johncmolyneux said:
Depending on what you want from your backup solution, Microsoft MyPhone is particularly good!
It syncs data to & from an online store where you can view it via a web interface. You can sync your data with MyPhone, hard reset the device, sync your data again and it's just back.
What's more, you can set it to automatically sync data on a periodic basis. I have it run a sync at 4am every day, and it's only ever failed a couple of times, and I've been using it for over 6 months now!
Have a look at it - it should be on your phone, but it's in the marketplace if it's not there. Alternatively, just google MyPhone.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, right,
just the small fact they dont back up the data on their servers make it just as unreliable.
(The server crashed no too long ago, and they had no backup, and many users lost their data)
http://www.securecomputing.net.au/N...rver-failure-causes-smartphone-data-loss.aspx
http://www.scmagazineus.com/microsoft-server-failure-causes-sidekick-data-loss/article/152114/

Som30ne said:
Yeah, right,
just the small fact they dont back up the data on their servers make it just as unreliable.
(The server crashed no too long ago, and they had no backup, and many users lost their data)
http://www.securecomputing.net.au/N...rver-failure-causes-smartphone-data-loss.aspx
http://www.scmagazineus.com/microsoft-server-failure-causes-sidekick-data-loss/article/152114/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you rely 100% on a backup then you are gonna get screwed sometimes. Like I said, mine syncs daily, so even if it didn't work for a couple of days I wouldn't actually lose any data unless my phone went down.
So basically, if everything fails then yes, you'll lose your data.
Anyway, neither of the articles you linked even mentions the MyPhone service.
Thanks for the info though

Just as a matter of interest, cloud services like MyPhone seem to be on the increase. However who is asking the questions of these service providers as to how safe and secure our data really is?
So if I upload a thousand contacts onto MyPhone how do I know that someone isn't going to get their hands on that data or, worse still, use it for either commercial advantage or nefarious purposes?
I am not against cloud services per se; however these services, including MyLocation, seem to be getting accepted without any of us either fully understanding how secure all this data is, who actually holds it, what the impacts are on our right to privacy, etc, etc.
Just asking the question chaps. Interested in your sensible views.
WB

I'm with you, WB, I suspect we (the global "we") are losing our grip on our data and privacy without even realising it.
personally I just sync with outlook for contacts and mails and I backup outlook every week or so. I doubt ill use cloud services for some time to come.

hey dude, i am using spb backup i hard reset lots of times because i trial lots of softwares, till this date never had any problems! SPB been really reliable

I've been using SK Tools to backup my HD2 since I got it. It works fine with the HD2 except for one small but weird issue.
The first time I restored a backup from SK Tools, it restored everything just fine, except, when in ActiveSync, I could not copy or write to the phone, nor could I install new software on the phone. It seems like the permissions on the phone had been changed to "Read Only" for all files and folder. However, if I then connected the HD2 to my PC, but select it to connect as an external drive, I could then perform read/write data from/to the SD card. However, if I started to install a new .cab file from the SD card it would still fail during installation.
The way to overcome this issue, was for me to perform a hard reset, connect the phone to my PC with ActiveSync, perform a read/write to/from the phone, then after that, do the restore with SK Tools. If a file had been read and written to the phone/SD card with Activesync prior to the restore, it would then restore perfectly, and everything will be back to normal.
Other than this one weird issue, I haven't had any problems with using SK Tools for backup.

Had always good experience with Sprite Backup, used it on "O2 Orbit II", HTC Touch HD, and now using Sprite Backup on HD2.
On HD2 i didn't need a Image restore yet, but I do not expect to get a problem in this case.
File restore worked well!
Using the default Sprite Backup configuration contacts, calendar and tasks will not be backed up, because in the case of a Image restore Sprite-Software says you can get double entries afterwards when sync with Outlook.
manilla

Thanks all for your input, maybe this was just a glitch. I'll stick with SPB unless it happens again...

I've tried Sprite Backup and SPB Backup to get my call history and SMS's on to my HD2 (from a TyTN2) but have a problem with the results form both. Messages display in the Sense tab, and in the "all messages" list if the traditional non-conversational view mode is used they all display correctly and can be opened and viewed. If I leave the phone in conversation view however, I can't view any of the conversations. The conversations appear in the list, but if I tap any of them it goes straight bcak to the Sense tab showing the newest message. Photos for contacts are also not displayed against the conversations. If I send a text to someone it starts a new conversation and displays the photo. These new conversations open properly when you go back to them.
I can't work out what is causing this, anyone else had this problem?

Best backup solution for HD2?

Afternoon XDA!
I plan on a bit of a rom flashing marathon on my phone this next week to see what else is out there and perhaps even teach myself a thing or two.
My question is - which application is best for backing up my contact and SMS (and perhaps shortcut) data for the HD2? On older devices I've used PIM backup to take care of contacts and messages, but with the HD2's Facebook integration will this method work? I'd ideally not have to link everyone back up with their profiles after flashing.
I've heard that SPB backup may have issues if restoring from one rom to another so not sure how well it'd work.
What's your recommendation?
Thanks

Hi there,
Spb backup works great for me. Had tried some others but have been using spb backup 2.0 since my Touch HD. Never had any problem.
HTH,
Sam.

I also use SPB Backup.
​

I'm more than happy using MS myphone - backs itself up each night so I don't have to think about it. 200MB of storage, can even do pics and vids.

Hi, I use Myphone and Googlesync for my backups. Additionaly installed apps are on my PC or my Marketplace or PocketPCfreeware accounts and my data is on my SD card and PC. I think one of the problems people have experienced when they use full backup programs is if they accidently restore the registery from their old configuration over their shiny new system. Oh and one of my friends lost all his Footprints when he flashed without exporting them to his SD card (using the Export feature of Footprints).
Hope this helps.

cMMY69 said:
Hi, I use Myphone and Googlesync for my backups. Additionaly installed apps are on my PC or my Marketplace or PocketPCfreeware accounts and my data is on my SD card and PC. I think one of the problems people have experienced when they use full backup programs is if they accidently restore the registery from their old configuration over their shiny new system. Oh and one of my friends lost all his Footprints when he flashed without exporting them to his SD card (using the Export feature of Footprints).
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you use google sync on the hd2? is there an app that I have to download?

Spb backup works great for me too!

Hi, Googlesync involves configuring an Exchange server at the address m.google.com in ActiveSync on your phone. It will then treat your GMail as an Exchange Server and you will have options on what to sync. Here is the info at Google: http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=138636&topic=14299. 2 key points noted by Google; Back up Calender and contacts first (I suggest MyPhone) and don't try and sync tasks.
Regards.

cMMY69 said:
one of my friends lost all his Footprints when he flashed without exporting them to his SD card (using the Export feature of Footprints).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But using export, you have to do it one by one. Is there a way to export all the footprints?
I found that it is easier just to restore the footprint folder content and all my stuff is back.
By the way, I just learnt that HD2 came bundled with Sprite Backup! At least in the HK versions. I don't know why HTC hasn't talked about it anywhere. It is sitting on my SD card and I never knew that it was there.

alex fung said:
But using export, you have to do it one by one. Is there a way to export all the footprints?
I found that it is easier just to restore the footprint folder content and all my stuff is back.
By the way, I just learnt that HD2 came bundled with Sprite Backup! At least in the HK versions. I don't know why HTC hasn't talked about it anywhere. It is sitting on my SD card and I never knew that it was there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can restore the foorptints folder, if you have backed it up to start with. That hadn't occurred to my friend

Good stuff
I want to back up my HD2 (full backup). Any software that works to restore everything as it was, e.g. contacts, sms, email account, facebook links with contacts, cab files, quicklinks etc?

undacova786 said:
I want to back up my HD2 (full backup). Any software that works to restore everything as it was, e.g. contacts, sms, email account, facebook links with contacts, cab files, quicklinks etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just make sure to copy all the files on your phone to a backup location
Or try PIM Backup: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=299705

use spb movilbiles

SPB backup is the best, for me.

All full backup apps can have attendant problems if used from one flash ROM to another (ie not just a reflash of the same ROM).
They carry over file associations, registry settings etc and I believe contribute to instability issues.
So be aware and use them at your own risk.
For everything else (PIM, texts, browser favourites etc) MyPhone is sweet.

SPB Backup has an option to restore after a ROM upgrade. Though this doesn't work flawlessly (e.g. not all shortcuts were retrieved and had to be created manually) it does do the important things.

I have always used SPB Backup, never had an issue.

I use Microsoft Myphone. I dont get what the issue with it is. I dont both backing up texts as last time I did it was boring waiting for 4000 texts to restore back to the phone. I store all pics/music on my memory card so its only a case of contacts, bookmarks, calendar etc. All my FB links seems to magically reappear as well. I think this might be something to do with the Facebook tab though. *Credit to who ever built it*

I know im a newb. But how do you restore from my phone. Im new to windows mobile. I lost all contacts, calendar entries, etc. I saved to microsoft my phone, but how to restore? Also backed up to a few other outlets but cant figure out howto restore any of them. LOL

Sprite Backup for me. http://www.spritesoftware.com/
It's perfect, backups anything you want, including SD card. Using this with my Samsung Omnia sometimes gave an error in the report (although it didn't have effect on installing my backup!) but with the HD2 it doesn't even give this error. Backing up is easy, just set preferences and run it! The backup is an exe-file that you run from your device or SD card after you've done a hard reset. It basically saved my life several times after having to do hard resets!

[Q] Syncing to Outlook

Hi all,
Just recently my HD2 has locked up twice. The only way out I could find was to perform a HR on both occasions. Unfortunately the first time this happened I lost all my contacts as I hadn't backed them up to the sim card (this is now remedied). However I was able to get my contacts back via the My Phone app so there was no big drama.
On each occasion, and more importantly, I also lost all my Calendar entries which weren't backed up as I've never used Outlook before, I get by just fine with Hotmail. However, I really can't keep losing all my calendar entries as its so much hassle having to re-enter all my work stuff, appointments etc. So I'm now seriously considering purchasing a copy of Outlook 2010, which ain't cheap!
What I need to know is if i have to HR again following syncing my appointments with outlook, if need be can I reverse sync my appointments out of outlook back to my phone? I'm not that clued up about this syncing process which I'm sure you've noticed.
Just out of curiosity, is anyone aware of any other software which will sync my appointments other than Outlook? As its a costly bit of kit just to sync my stuff as I don't think I'll use all the bells & whistles ie e-mail etc.
Appreciate any replies.

Just use the Microsoft My Phone app it will backup your calender for you. Just open Microsoft My Phone then touch on Menu at the bottom of the screen and then touch Options. Then just place a check beside tbe things you want to backup.

T-Macgnolia said:
Just use the Microsoft My Phone app it will backup your calender for you. Just open Microsoft My Phone then touch on Menu at the bottom of the screen and then touch Options. Then just place a check beside tbe things you want to backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow! Thank you, thank you & thank you again! I didn't know this. I will try this tonight.
Thanks, appreciate your help.

Also look at SPB for backing up data to SD card which will not be lost when Hard Reset is needed.
If you are getting many lock ups you would be advised to install a better ROM such as Energy 23699 build which is very pratical & runs far smoother than buggy network operator ROMs.

For higher/better prevention of losing your essential data, you can use MS MyPhone and Outlook, like I do.
But for restoríng data: first synch with Outlook, then with MyPhone, otherwise you will have have double entries of contacts and appointments.