Related
After speaking with a friend about a biweekly hard reset "schedule," I've decided to research the eversopopular application from SPB Software, which is their backup application, SPB Backup.
I've heard many good things about it, in terms of reliability, consistency, and the easy to use interface.
Now, having said all of that... are there programs that allow for a COMPLETE SYSTEM BACKUP & RESTORE? As in... all of the modifications, applications, registry, etc. I have now are SAVED, BACKED UP, and capable of being restored onto my device without consequence.
Is SPB Backup the ideal program for this? Please, feel free to offer your suggestions below... thank you in advance.
I have used SPB Backup on my HTC Kaiser and it did a complete phone backup minus the stuff in Rom. In other words, if I did a complete backup & did a hard reset, it would restore the phone back exactly to the state it was(MINUS what was on the SD card). So if you installed anything on the SD card, you would want to do a separate manual backup of your card. I restored numerous backups onto the Kaiser & it ALWAYS restored accurately and completely.
I have been using SPB Backup to backup my HD2, but have yet to do a complete restore from a hard reset (haven't had to). Maybe someone else can verify that it is 100% restoring fine....... Hope this info helps.
By the way, on Twitter, you stated that you found a "handy" application that allows you to automatically switch between interfaces such as: SPBMS, Titanium, and HTC Sense...... what's the name of it?.... TIA.
BIOYAM said:
I have used SPB Backup on my HTC Kaiser and it did a complete phone backup minus the stuff in Rom. In other words, if I did a complete backup & did a hard reset, it would restore the phone back exactly to the state it was(MINUS what was on the SD card). So if you installed anything on the SD card, you would want to do a separate manual backup of your card. I restored numerous backups onto the Kaiser & it ALWAYS restored accurately and completely.
I have been using SPB Backup to backup my HD2, but have yet to do a complete restore from a hard reset (haven't had to). Maybe someone else can verify that it is 100% restoring fine....... Hope this info helps.
By the way, on Twitter, you stated that you found a "handy" application that allows you to automatically switch between interfaces such as: SPBMS, Titanium, and HTC Sense...... what's the name of it?.... TIA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the reply.
I'll look a little further into this.
As for that application for switching between interfaces... I came across that on PPCGeeks from a guy named, "Darkness" who also created most of the disabling .CAB files for Titanium and Sense.
His interface switcher works really well. I downloaded the one specifically designed for Titanium and Sense. NOT THE SPB MOBILE SHELL VERSION!
And one more thing... all of the .CAB files I have installed, I installed them to my device, not my storage card. So, if those files are on my device... would those be backed up within the files that SPB Backup compresses?
Reignzone said:
........ As for that application for switching between interfaces... I came across that on PPCGeeks from a guy named, "Darkness" who also created most of the disabling .CAB files for Titanium and Sense.
His interface switcher works really well. I downloaded the one specifically designed for Titanium and Sense. NOT THE SPB MOBILE SHELL VERSION!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this info .... I'll check it out.
Reignzone said:
And one more thing... all of the .CAB files I have installed, I installed them to my device, not my storage card. So, if those files are on my device... would those be backed up within the files that SPB Backup compresses?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those .cab files would definitely be captured in the backup.
It hasn't had a completely good press but I use Sprite Backup on my HD2. I suppose it's habit after I first used it on my hx4700.
It will restore my HD2 to its backed up state, settings, programs, registry and tweaks. It will back up storage cards if you want it too. It has a mode that allows restoration of suitable data to another device too. It can back up to a network.
I schedule it to run daily and use it at other times as needed. When I restore, I usually hard reset first. Setting Sprite to 'delete all files' during a restoration does much the same. I set it to replace settings. The registry can be replaced or merged; it seems that this makes no difference.
The program has yet to let me down do I haven't felt the need to try SPB Backup.
You might also try the backup feature in SKTools. I find it works well and the software has additional uses.
BIOYAM said:
Thanks for this info .... I'll check it out.
Those .cab files would definitely be captured in the backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you again for your feedback.
I'm definitely feeling a little bit better about entrusting this software with my precious files.
DrATty said:
It hasn't had a completely good press but I use Sprite Backup on my HD2. I suppose it's habit after I first used it on my hx4700.
It will restore my HD2 to its backed up state, settings, programs, registry and tweaks. It will back up storage cards if you want it too. It has a mode that allows restoration of suitable data to another device too. It can back up to a network.
I schedule it to run daily and use it at other times as needed. When I restore, I usually hard reset first. Setting Sprite to 'delete all files' during a restoration does much the same. I set it to replace settings. The registry can be replaced or merged; it seems that this makes no difference.
The program has yet to let me down do I haven't felt the need to try SPB Backup.
You might also try the backup feature in SKTools. I find it works well and the software has additional uses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And thank you kind sir for your reply as well.
All the opinions and facts here certainly make me feel more comfortable with this process, as I am YET to actually perform a backup... not once. So, I figure it's better late than never, right?
I'll look into SKTools and certainly do some research about the Sprite software for Windows Mobile, because I'm familiar with their work for Android. On the Android platform, it did the job quite well.
Thanks again. All of this was reassuring.
I use SPB backup all the time on my HD2.. i have it scheduled to make a complete backup + SD card every second night..
It works very well and have tried to restore several times (just to test) without any problems!
However if you flash a new rom i would not advice you to do a complete backup, but instead make a partially backup of documents, contacts, email and so on..
It even keeps your email signature and settings when doing the parcial backup, so i also use it everytime i flash a new rom, together with either xda UC or auto install from sd card..
Hope it helps, and i can say for sure that this software works perfect with both EU and US roms..
Happy backup
never put your money in one place..means never trust 1 app for your backup specially you got a rahter-die-than-lose-your-files files
not so often i meet my bad luck to restore my files from such spb restore app but lucky me i had 2 similar backup from 3 backup apps maybe u will make it 2 apps thinking about space left
and always save at least 2 backup files with the same app but different time, kind'a storage eater right??but this useful when u got error from another file
hope this useful for u
maverick_endit81 said:
never put your money in one place..means never trust 1 app for your backup specially you got a rahter-die-than-lose-your-files files
not so often i meet my bad luck to restore my files from such spb restore app but lucky me i had 2 similar backup from 3 backup apps maybe u will make it 2 apps thinking about space left
and always save at least 2 backup files with the same app but different time, kind'a storage eater right??but this useful when u got error from another file
hope this useful for u
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...And check the restoration process before you need to use it in anger. Finding that there is something wrong with your backup files when you need to use them in anger is... frustrating.
I mentioned Sprite's ability to restore data to a new device. This includes devices where the ROM has been replaced. I haven't tried it and obviously, not everything can be transferred. The migration features might be useful in your situation though.
Microsoft's myPhone is worth a mention. It can be used to backup your PIM data and documents, photographs and music. I haven't tried using it to restore anything yet though. My PIM data is saved in Outlook and that is backed up to hard disks and in the Cloud via iDrive, DropBox, Humyo and Live MESH. It's probably the one thing I can least afford to lose.
I would appreciate if anyone told me if the SPB Backup utility backs up the SPB Mobile Shell layout as well (the way the icons are arranged and other stuff like that). That would REALLY help me save some precious time ...
SPB Backup - Great App
I bought this application a couple of days ago and I do a backup before I install some questionable apps or just in case I don't like the way it changed other things on my HD2. But I decided to go with the ROM from Sergio and everything seemed fine until I missed some calls and I just didn't like the changes on IE so this morning I decided to try my backup restore. I flashed back to the stock ROM and then ran my backup EXE file. It asked if I wanted to change the time to the current time (Sprite Backup doesn't have this option and restores to the backup time so you have to manually change it) so I moved forward. The backup was just the way I left it. I am glad I purchased this software. Just my 2 cents.
anrabi4 said:
I would appreciate if anyone told me if the SPB Backup utility backs up the SPB Mobile Shell layout as well (the way the icons are arranged and other stuff like that). That would REALLY help me save some precious time ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprite Backup can; it depends on the settings used. I think I'm right in saying that both Sprite and SPB Backup will restore a device to exactly the same state it was at when the backup was made. The only exceptions are where files on a storage card that were used by an application in internal memory have been changed or deleted since the backup was made. Files on removable storage can be added to backups in Sprite to avoid this happening.
dgreening said:
...It asked if I wanted to change the time to the current time (Sprite Backup doesn't have this option and restores to the backup time so you have to manually change it) so I moved forward...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprite Backup leaves the time alone. I used to hard reset (or delete all files and replace settings) and restore the backup. My HD2 sets the time itself either just after the reset or just after the restoration is complete so I find I don't need to do anything. It hasn't caused any problems that I am aware of so far.
dgreening said:
I bought this application a couple of days ago and I do a backup before I install some questionable apps or just in case I don't like the way it changed other things on my HD2. But I decided to go with the ROM from Sergio and everything seemed fine until I missed some calls and I just didn't like the changes on IE so this morning I decided to try my backup restore. I flashed back to the stock ROM and then ran my backup EXE file. It asked if I wanted to change the time to the current time (Sprite Backup doesn't have this option and restores to the backup time so you have to manually change it) so I moved forward. The backup was just the way I left it. I am glad I purchased this software. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
I caved in last night and purchased the SPB Software program as well.
I backed up my system last night... surprisingly though, it was much "smaller" than I had originally expected it to be. Something around 80MB, at least that's what the application "calculated" it was going to be. I suppose that could be in compressed form though...
Anyway, it seems to have done the job well. And I certainly love that I was able to create a backup copy on my SD Card, along with my desktop PC.
I also have SK Tools... so I think having a couple if not MORE than a few system restore and backup utilities is a good thing.
low-dogg said:
I use SPB backup all the time on my HD2.. i have it scheduled to make a complete backup + SD card every second night..
It works very well and have tried to restore several times (just to test) without any problems!
However if you flash a new rom i would not advice you to do a complete backup, but instead make a partially backup of documents, contacts, email and so on..
It even keeps your email signature and settings when doing the parcial backup, so i also use it everytime i flash a new rom, together with either xda UC or auto install from sd card..
Hope it helps, and i can say for sure that this software works perfect with both EU and US roms..
Happy backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I'm looking in the partial possibilities for restoring with the SPB, I can find in the "customize restore" those:
PIM DATA (CONTACTS, TASKS, APPOINTMENTS,...)
EMAILS
TEXT MESSAGES
MY DOCUMENTS
SYSTEM DATA (including: CUSTOMIZE... RESTORE FILES, RESTORE DATABASES and RESTORE REGISTRY)
If I flash a new rom, which exactly possibilities I have to choose?
SPB Backup works perfectly for me. Scheduled backup every night, restore complete system after hard reset, etc.
Don't forget the precious desktop companion SPBBackupUnpack: extract files, registry keys ... and more.
harrygol said:
When I'm looking in the partial possibilities for restoring with the SPB, I can find in the "customize restore" those:
PIM DATA (CONTACTS, TASKS, APPOINTMENTS,...)
EMAILS
TEXT MESSAGES
MY DOCUMENTS
SYSTEM DATA (including: CUSTOMIZE... RESTORE FILES, RESTORE DATABASES and RESTORE REGISTRY)
If I flash a new rom, which exactly possibilities I have to choose?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have restored PIM data, system databases, documents, mail and text messages between devices with Sprite Backup and it has worked perfectly. That includes the same device with different ROMs and even entirely different devices. Restoring the registry and software is sometimes problematic but SPB Backup has a ROM upgrade mode to help here.
I'd check out the support forum for your particular solution to see what works. Restoring the wrong items used to cause trouble and could create quite a mess. I haven't heard of anything in particular since the new restore modes were introduced.
Call me old fashioned, but, backup/restore tools always make me feel uneasy.
I know that there are many for whom they run "faultlessly" and for certain problems they really do offer solutions, however, the one situation that I have a concern about is the backup/restore across a ROM change, be it either a simple stock upgrade or a cooked ROM flash.
You would be throwing a set of data at a virgin phone that had been collected from a setup that had presumably either failed or been superceded!
In either event I would want to know that any potentially destabalising ellements had been eliminated and not "carried over" to, what should be, a fresh setup.
I can remember horrific problems caused by advice to use backup/restore on many other phones and they were all identified as having been situations in which the use was applied across a ROM change.
And lets be clear about this, we have enough trouble with badly coded software as it is. You only have to run down the new daily posts in these forums to see how difficult it is for many to achieve a stable/useable phone and that situation quite often occurs right out of the box!
For my part I must admit that I have become particularly fond of MyPhone.
It has always done the job for me, although I only use it for basic PIM restore after a new ROM flash, which I seem to be doing every couple of days at the moment. However, I do also allow it to retain a copy of my photos and music, but, I've never restored from it as the file sizes and subsequent time taken are too great.
I have identically synced (from within my laptop file manager, but, I have had need to do it directly phone to phone!) MSD cards of the same size in two seperate phones one being the HD2 and the other being a Nokia E71. These cards hold music, photos, documents, downloads, a section for reinstall apps and my current and previous ROM and radio images. This means that the cards are interchangeable and I keep an image of them on a USB stick. My apps are never installed to mem card.
My final piece of backup is by way of my trusty Ameo which holds one more complete data and app set.
So if any two pieces of equipment fail I can still recover the situation and notice that I give only passing mention to a PC or laptop.
I access MyPhone through my mobile broadband WiFi router which is constantly on and is powered through a UPS which gives about three days backup use.
With all this I have got a task 29, new ROM flash, reinstall of apps and settings down to about 35 mins.
It just came to me that we do lavish a lot of attention our our little pals!
Don't we?
Too much? LOL.
SPB BACKUP FAILED FOR ME ON HTC Touch PRO 2
I was used to restore my Touch 3g and my Qtek S200 with SPB backup and at all times successfully. So, I updated to last SPB backup software version (of course I bought that software). On Saturday I did something erroneous on my TP2 and needed to hard reset. After that, I tried to restore my full backups, one after other from newer to older and a total of 15. All of them restored apparently well, but HTC sense did not start-up any longer in any of the cases. I had to manually re-install all the stuff back and I just restore the emails and PIM from the backup. The PIM database did not longer sync with my Outlook. I had to recreate the partnership. After that, all my notifications were duplicated... a complete mess. I cannot understand what went wrong, because the backup and restore log files where always showing no error. I am using the stock ROM (WM6.5 + HTC sense 2.5) and all my software is either legal or GPL. Nothing special on my device apart of all my beloved data.
So that is my experience with SPB backup that was always good, has turned to be negative. Of course, now I am afraid to try again.
Anybody has experience the same?
Any idea?
Thanks folks.
Have a few questions I am sure some one can help with. I have been using Ti Backup to backup apps when updating Roms. No problem with the apps and bookmarks. Having trouble figuring out how to save text messages. I have tried saving MMS app and restoring but no prior texts. I have tried restoring just data and no go. What am I missing? What folder are the actual text messages saved in?
I also would like to pre load the ROM with apps before installing, but keep getting errors. Is this a signing issue or just me?
I have just started to use android commander to backup apps. I have tried to reinstall them back into the updated ROM, but also keep getting errors.
I really like Ti Backup, but it really takes a long time to run batch, go through each app, install, and hitting done for each app. May be there is a faster/easier way with Ti Backup.
Any help would be appreciated
Mac
You can make a zip using TB with all your apps which flashers them into /data.
il Duce,
Sorry for being so stupid. Do you mean zipping the backup file that TB uses? I don't see any option for making a zip with TB. Is it in the pro version?
Sorry again for my ignorance
Well I have pro, but I think its in both? Its in menu, more, create update zip. If you dont have that you can do an advanced restore of data with CWM. There are times you wouldn't want to, like going from froyo to ginger or back. Also sense to aosp. Full wipes are generally recommended, but these other things may work for you.
I used the create update.zip earlier today, and I got an error saying that it needed to use Edify. I might have an older version of TiBu, though. I was hoping to get it added to the list of things to flash from the start along with gapps, but no luck. It's not much more work to install the .apk and then batch restore from there, though.
I think switching to Pro allows you to do the batch without having to approve and accept each individual app installation. Not to mention that nice Dropbox storage.
Just use SMS Backup+ to backup SMS and MMS.
Quick Tip for using Titanium Backup
1. Backup "application widgets". Once you restore your launcher, restore this and reboot so that your widgets will work and you don't have to reconfigure your home screen widgets (which would say "problem loading widgets" otherwise).
2. Backup "accounts" to remember the fact that you have "allowed" access to your google account for various apps (mainly google apps and any app that accesses your google account). This is also required to remember your facebook and skype passwords.
3. Backup "LogProvider" for the call log. A lot of people think call logs are backed up by "contacts storage" but they're not.
4. "contact storage" backups your speed dial
5. "dialer storage" backups your SMS/MMS. After you restore you need to reboot for it to take effect.
6. No need to backup "calendar 1.0". Just calendar 1.1. (this backups the setting not the actual content provided that you sync with google)
7. Most settings in Setting cannot be backed up (ie. Voip account, wifi hotspot ssid, ringtones, volume, etc). Simply re-enter them.
8. After upgrading your rom version or migrating to a different rom, before you restore, for "system" apps, make sure you check each one to see if the version has changed. If so, don't restore or you will probably have force-closes down the road. This is especially true if you move to cyanogen or miui, don't restore system apps at all.
9. Generally you don't need to save system apks unless you plan on uninstalling them to experiment instead of freezing.
10. Don't backup/restore "market" settings or you'll lose market links to your apps. In fact after you restore all your user apps you won't see all of them linked in the market even if titanium backup is set up to remember the links. Just use titanium to clear the market user data, restart market and you're ready to go.
11. Titanium backup does not save your default programs. (ie. DEFAULT browser, dialer, and for different file types).
12. Let TB save the settings to sd card. The next time you install TB you won't need to install the "pro" app. It remembers.
13. TB does not remember what apps are frozen. So after a reinstall, you need to refreeze whatever apps you want to freeze.
Other things good to know:
If you migrate to a new rom, although titanium Pro has an option to attempt to restore system apps to be compatible, try only restore user apps just to avoid force closes.
If you have a fixed set of apps you know you want to freeze, create a filter containing these apps. If you install a new rom, you can freeze all of them all at once without having to go through each.
Can you expand on what you mean in point 1.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Scenario:
I have, say, go launcher or touch wiz as my launcher, I put widgets on my home screen like weather, google search bar and maybe a music player widget. I can use TB to backup my launcher, which would supposedly backup where these widgets are located on your home screen. However after reinstalling the rom, if I restore my launcher without restoring "application widgets", the place where these widgets are supposed to be will show "problem loading widgets". And you would have to remove these problematic widgets and recreate them.
So when you backup your launcher, backup "application widgets" as well. When you restore, restore both of them. And preferably after restoring, reboot before you go back to your launcher
By the way "application widgets" is an actual backupable item in TB (shown in green)
Is this making any sense?
Thanks and yes you are making perfect sense.
Many times I've had to delete then replace widgets from my launcher after restoring using TB so I'm interested in where in TB to find this option.
I'm probably looking right at it but just can't see it. Can you steer my in the right direction in TB?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Nice to learn new things, especially the widgets, hate having the "problem loading widget" all the time.
Thanks for highlighting these.
Ok found it.
It's an item in the app list called "application widgets" with the TB icon next to it.
Cool thanks never noticed it before.
Great tip.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Having a Problem
Ok so I am tring to do an Extract from CWM Backup...
Just Flashed Jugg. 2.0 everything is running great!!!
But TBP is just stuck at Restoring 0% on my first program... I have even followed their help page. cleared the market memory... What am i doing wrong please help...
T-mobile - SGH - T989
ROM: Juggernaut 2.0
Bardouns said:
Ok so I am tring to do an Extract from CWM Backup...
Just Flashed Jugg. 2.0 everything is running great!!!
But TBP is just stuck at Restoring 0% on my first program... I have even followed their help page. cleared the market memory... What am i doing wrong please help...
T-mobile - SGH - T989
ROM: Juggernaut 2.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you enabled USB debugging and UNKNOWN sources?!
yes on both
---------- Post added at 08:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:16 AM ----------
Ok... Don't know WTF... but its working like lightning now... have no idea... didn't do anything except download google text to voice... weird
Been using it for years and didn't figure out the speeddial backup. Good post. A couple thoughts in general as far as backup strategy.... IMO freezing is better than removing system apps because space is not an issue with the sgs2 like it is with some (older) phones. Swap a lot of roms and sooner or later your are going to either on accident or purpose delete something you shouldn't have and then have to restore. Going down the list and freezing them only takes a minute and is readily reversible with the same end result. If you must be rid of them freeze them first and give it a few days for any oddness to show up. Then uninstall.
Agree on restoring system apps. Always a good way to get odd behavior or fc's and the like. Normally there is no need anyways as the new rom has the same system apps in it and most of the settings can be remembered elsewhere. I do back up system apps though in case I want to grab an apk that isn't in the new rom.
Also IMO its a good idea to copy the entire contents of the internal sd over to the pc after doing a nandroid and ti backup. This way if things go to hell you have everything. The process I use is to do a ti backup and then nandroid in recovery. I mount while still in recovery and copy everything over to a folder on the pc. Now I have all my pics, everything. I use the external sd for music and other items that I know will move from rom to rom so that I don't have to hassle with them. Do this and your covered in every way if you have problems with your ti backup or nandroid. Both can happen sometimes. Also if your phone dies, goes missing etc at least you have a backup as recent as your last rom swap which for us is probably not too long ago. lol I keep the most recent two backups and delete the oldest as I make new ones with each new rom. This only takes a few minutes extra during the rom swap and if you need it you will be glad you have it.
Thank you for tips!
Very helpful. Been using TB for a while now but did not know all the details!
thanx for your efforts...
got some useful tips. I thought I know TB, but I didn't.
Nice write-up!
Any advice on what to do when you try to restore an app and it tells you "problem parsing the package"?
Seam to happen more often with apps that did not come from Android Market or Amazon Appstore...
Very good guide and not just for newbie's.
Thank you.
App Folders i nApp Draw
i cant seem to figure out where the folders in the app draw are actually stored. i tried to do a restore from a previous rom (apps only, widgets ect) but im not sure where to go for app folders, thats if it will even do this for me.
Many Thanks...
...to the OP & others for this thread & the tips in it ;-)
Just rooted yesterday & ran TI backup. Have run it again incorporating the tips in this thread. Very good suggestion to copy the lot over to PC as well.
Also, people should remember to make a copy of their EFS file & keep that somewhere safe off the phone (keep a copy on your external SD card as well).
Everything I've read so far suggests you're royally boned if you trash your EFS, so making a couple of copies & keeping them in various spots (one on the external SD/one on PC) makes sense to me. Hellcat's kTool does a bangup job & is a nice little app to have handy ;-)
Hi everyone. If someone can give me the confirmation about the following:
1. is Titanium backup saving the settings for the backed up app or only the app itself?
2. are social hub, readers hub, game hub, talk, IM, safe to freeze or unistall cos I don't use that?
3. When you freeze the app, is the icon gone or it stays under "menu"?
4. is Email app safe to freeze/uninstall or I need that for using Gmail app?
I'm on stock 2.3.3 + CF-Root-SGS2_XX_OXA_KH1-v4.1-CWM4 for now.
thank you and regards.
Thanks - very helpful to have more information.
3. Backup "LogProvider" for the call log. A lot of people think call logs are backed up by "contacts storage" but they're not.
This was really helpful. Thank you.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
DISCLAIMER : This guide assumes that you already know how to flash a custom ROM. Also, these instructions work well on my Desire HD running ICS. They should ideally work on any device/ROM/Recovery combination, just that you may have to figure out the system settings/apps that correspond to the ones that I'm referring to. But remember that if you choose to follow these steps, you are doing it at your own risk, and you assume any and all potential consequences, including (but not limited to) loss of data, corrupting your sdcard, bricking your device, physical damage to your phone or self, and/or loss of bladder control.
WARNING : Following this guide may lead to ORD, or worsen your condition of ORD.
When you flash a custom ROM, a full wipe is always recommended. And it definitely is a stressful process, especially if you like to try out a lot of different ROMs. I now follow a method which I find is quite reliable, not as stressful and is fast, so I thought i should share it. I must warn you though, that this is quite an organized approach, so it will require patience from your part to set it up. But I assure you, once you've done it, your ROM wiping and flashing process becomes much easier
I'm going to detail this out in both offline and online methods. With the "Offline(OFF)" method, you will not require an Internet connection to restore all your data. Everything is backed up using Titanium Backup. With the "Online(ON)" method, part of your data will be restored from the amazing "Cloud"
Most of this guide is common to both methods, so I've highlighted the specific methods accordingly. If you're following the offline(OFF) steps, then you dont need to follow the online(ON) steps, and vice versa
APPS YOU'LL NEED
1) Titanium Backup - The free version will serve the purposes of this guide, but its just easier and faster to restore using the Pro version. The Pro version doesnt ask you to tap "Install" every time you restore an app. And if you forget to backup something, you can retrieve it from your Nandroid Backup(provided you remembered to do that ).
2) ES File Explorer - This app allows you to backup an app to the sdcard. Any other file manager/app that can do the same thing will work too..
(ON) 3) SMS Backup+ - This app allows you to backup all your call logs and sms/mms to your Gmail account.
INITIAL SETUP
1) Open Titanium Backup
2) Choose Menu->Filters
3) Tap the "Create Label" button, name your label, and then tap the "Add/Remove elements" button to pick which apps this label will be assigned to.
I have an "Important" label - for apps that I absolutely need on every flash, an "Extras" label - for more occasionally used apps, and a "Games" label. Make sure you dont add any system settings like Accounts, Application widgets, Bluetooth Pairings etc. to any of these labels. We will be handling them separately.
4) Choose Menu->Preferences and enable Auto-sync TB settings
(ON) 5) Now open SMS Backup+
(ON) 6) Set it up to backup your call logs, sms and mms to your Gmail account. You can assign labels to each of them so that they are neatly categorized in your GMail. You can also setup auto-backup for convenience.
1ST BACKUP
1) Open Titanium Backup
2) Choose Menu->Filters, scroll down, select all your labels and tap Apply.
3) Choose Menu->Batch->Backup all user apps + system data.
You'll need to backup system settings separately -
4) Choose Menu->Filters, and in Filter by type, choose System
5) Scroll down and make sure none of your custom labels are selected and then tap Apply.
6) Backup the following, these are the ones important to me, you may want to add more to this -
i) Accounts
ii) Application Widgets - Widgets placed on the homescreen of your favorite launcher.
(OFF) iii) Calendar Storage
(OFF) iv) Contacts Storage - Your contacts and call logs.
(OFF) v) Phone/Messaging Storage - Your sms/mms
vi) Settings Storage - Be careful when you restore this. For eg: its not a good idea to restore CM9 settings to an AOKP ROM or vice versa. This is best used when you know exactly what you are doing. Also, a lot of differences between ROMs will probably be the fact that it provides some new customization options in the settings. So restoring this doesnt make sense unless you know for sure that they are the same. Handle with care.
vii) User Dictionary
viii) Wi Fi Access Points
(OFF) Now you need to backup Titanium Backup itself, since thats the first app you will want to install, after a ROM flash.
(OFF) 8) Open ES File Explorer,
(OFF) 9) Choose Menu->Manager->App Manager.
(OFF) 10) Press and hold Titanium Backup and then choose Backup(the apk will be saved in /sdcard/backups/apps)
(ON) 11) Now open SMS Backup+ and tap Backup
Thats it !! You're all set now !
See post #2 for info on how to easily backup and restore your data.
Hope this helps in making ROM flashing an easier task
If you thought this was helpful, hit "Thanks" !
If you have any suggestion that might make this an even easier process for everyone, please do share !
And Happy Flashing !
Now before you flash any new ROM, just follow these steps.
BACKUP
1) Open Titanium Backup, make sure none of your filters are selected, then choose Menu->Batch->Redo backups for modified data
(OFF) 2) You can optionally backup Titanium Backup's apk again using ES File Explorer. This is only to ensure that when you install it in the new ROM, you have the latest version
3) Take a Nandroid Backup if you wish to(recommended).
Perform a full wipe, flash the new ROM, and reboot.
When the startup wizard pops up -
(OFF) Skip the sign in to Google part, but complete the wizard.
(ON) Sign in using your Google account, and complete the wizard.
RESTORE
(OFF) 1) Open the File Manager that came with the ROM, and go into backups/apps(or wherever you saved your apk) and tap on the Titanium Backup apk to install it
(ON) 1) Open Play Store, and download Titanium Backup
2) Open Titanium Backup, and go to Backup/Restore
3) Choose Menu->Filters, scroll down, select your label("Important") and hit Apply.
4) If any of your "Important" apps are already installed, tap it and choose Restore->Data Only.
5) After that Menu->Batch->Restore missing apps with data
6) Deselect the apps that you dont need and tap "Run the batch operation"
7) You can repeat steps 3,4,5 and 6 for all your labels now or at a later time.
(OFF) Before proceeding, you need to make sure that all the apps that were added to the Accounts & Sync section in the previous ROM, are now installed in the current ROM. Apps like Google+, Facebook, HaxSync, LinkedIn, Twitter, Whatsapp etc. This is because we are about to restore the Accounts, and these apps need to be there if you want their "Accounts" to get restored correctly. Also, when we eventually restore Contacts, the restoration will be more complete if the accounts related to those contacts already exist. So we need to set this up beforehand.
This is where you start restoring System data. Now you need to be careful with this. ROMs that are completely different from each other may start acting buggy if you restore this data. I would suggest not doing this across different versions of Android. And if you know that the 2 ROMs are from different bases then you should definitely pick what you're restoring here.
8) Choose Menu->Filters.
9) In Filter by status, choose Backed up
10) In Filter by Type, choose System and hit Apply
11) And then Menu->Batch->Restore all system data. Now before you run the operation, deselect Contacts Storage. If your new ROM is very different from your old one, then deselect Settings Storage too. If you see anything else that you feel may not be compatible, deselect those too.
12) Tap "Run the batch operation"
13) Reboot(or Hot Reboot)
(OFF) 14) Now open Titanium Backup, Backup/Restore, tap Contacts Storage and restore Data Only
(OFF) 15) Reboot(or Hot Reboot)
(ON) 14) By now, your Calendar and contacts should have gotten sync'ed automatically. Just add other accounts to your Settings->Accounts&Sync section, and the rest of your data should get sync'ed up
(ON) 15) Open SMS Backup+ and Restore your call logs and sms/mms.
wow. after posting it feels like a really really long process !
but trust me, its just how i've explained it. Once you set it up, its a piece of cake
Ha ha quality post for persons that are unaware of how simple this is.
I use MyBackup pro myself for apps and data. Does the same thing imo. But also does a great job of everything else. Sms, bookmarks, dictionary, ect ect all in one application
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium
Guys when I was on Sense roms I was able to restore my syncs accounts and all my emails accounts with Titanium... but since I'm on ICS, no matter what I do, I can't seem to restore those two things....
I restore data from Accounts (something backed up from TB itself) and data from Email but no go...
Anyone?
Restoring Accounts has worked for me on ICS. There are 2 things you need to do.
1)Before restoring, make sure all the apps needed for those sync accounts are already installed/restored. For eg: Facebook, Google+, Whatsapp, HaxSync, etc...
2) After restoring Accounts, reboot/hot reboot your phone.
crazyjc81 said:
Restoring Accounts has worked for me on ICS. There are 2 things you need to do.
1)Before restoring, make sure all the apps needed for those sync accounts are already installed/restored. For eg: Facebook, Google+, Whatsapp, HaxSync, etc...
2) After restoring Accounts, reboot/hot reboot your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normal sync accounts, ie FB Twitter Google etc, I also can restore...
The problem is restoring email and exchange accounts... no matter what I do, cannot seem to restore them... they don't appear on the sync accounts nor inside the email app...And of course, I reboot the phone...
I guess the problem is probably from Titanium...
Too bad that the support for the TB is crappy as hell...
Strange. Not sure why it is not working for you.
I got a chance to test this out today, and it worked.
1) Restore Accounts. reboot
2) Restore Email app - Data only.
Assuming exchange accounts would work the same way.
Next time I'm going to try again... thkx for the feedback...
This can't be the first guide for how to backup before flashing can it?
rootingdestroyer said:
This can't be the first guide for how to backup before flashing can it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure you'll find other "how to backup" topics, but I've not found one as in-depth as this one. This is just the way I feel is the easiest to do it, specially because I like to flash ROMs a lot, and am very particular about my data. If that is the case, this is a really good way to do it.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA
Thanks for the tutorial.
After restore the apps that should auto launch after reboot only start auto launch after I open them once. After that everything runs smoothly. Is there any option I'm missing in order to prevent having to open this apps one by one?
Thanks in advance.
I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you asking about the app defaults? Like say of you have 2 browser apps and you set one of them as the default, you want that to be restored? I'm not sure how :-(
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA
Nope that's not the question. For example tasker or accuweather when i restore them they will only start working on the background after i open each of them manually first.
That's a good point. I'm not sure where the "start at boot" data is stored. SystemUI maybe? Something to try for my next ROM flash
Sent from my A500 using XDA
If you find out, please let know
Sorry i havent tested this out yet, but if it is in the system settings or SystemUI, I wouldn't recommend restoring it, since most ROMs differ from each other in these areas. It might just screw things up.
Will let you know once I find out.
Sent from my A500 using XDA
Tested it out.
1) Restore the app.
2) Restore settings storage
3) Reboot twice.
I dont know the reason. But when you reboot the second time, the app automatically starts.
Try it out and let me know.
Sent from my A500 using XDA
Just happen to have found this post via search. Just a quick question.
Any way we can manage batch restores without the hassle of tapping "install" and "done" for almost every app? Thanks.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
wEgGiE_wORm said:
Just happen to have found this post via search. Just a quick question.
Any way we can manage batch restores without the hassle of tapping "install" and "done" for almost every app? Thanks.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you buy titanium you don't have to do that.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using xda app-developers app
This may have been covered elsewhere, but I'm having a hard time finding it.
I backed up my old phone contacts with Titanium. I've been using my Nexus 4 with the imported Google contacts, but there are some gaps. I'd normally place the old Titanium Files into the Titanium Folder (via Windows) and restore.
However, I have limited access to the file structure for the Nexus 4.
I've tried work-arounds like Dropbox, etc... but, in all honesty, I wasn't sure what I was doing. The file I managed to pull and restore via dropbox gave me a error in the Nexus that would end process the contact area.. so I defaulted back to the normal contacts Titanium Nexus backup. So.. back to the original setup.
Can anyone tell me how to get an old Titanium file of contacts to merge (ideally) with the Nexus? I could probably just replace it with the old file as well, seeing as the Nexus will auto-add contacts to google (apparently).. so that would be easy enough to update.
Any ideas? The easiest, I think, would be to gain access to the Titanium file under windows.. but I can't find a way to do that. Most of the file structure seems to be locked out/invisible.
I'd appreciate any ideas or help!
cetkat said:
This may have been covered elsewhere, but I'm having a hard time finding it.
I backed up my old phone contacts with Titanium. I've been using my Nexus 4 with the imported Google contacts, but there are some gaps. I'd normally place the old Titanium Files into the Titanium Folder (via Windows) and restore.
However, I have limited access to the file structure for the Nexus 4.
I've tried work-arounds like Dropbox, etc... but, in all honesty, I wasn't sure what I was doing. The file I managed to pull and restore via dropbox gave me a error in the Nexus that would end process the contact area.. so I defaulted back to the normal contacts Titanium Nexus backup. So.. back to the original setup.
Can anyone tell me how to get an old Titanium file of contacts to merge (ideally) with the Nexus? I could probably just replace it with the old file as well, seeing as the Nexus will auto-add contacts to google (apparently).. so that would be easy enough to update.
Any ideas? The easiest, I think, would be to gain access to the Titanium file under windows.. but I can't find a way to do that. Most of the file structure seems to be locked out/invisible.
I'd appreciate any ideas or help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is your old phone model? I'd suggest using a file manager to bring the file to an accessible location on the phone (possibly the root of your usbstorage), then you can copy it to your computer hopefully via usb. It could also be that you need to change the permissions on that file so you can see it on windows. You can access most of the file structure inside usbstorage, where your titanium backup folder should be ideally located.
vorbatello said:
What is your old phone model? I'd suggest using a file manager to bring the file to an accessible location on the phone (possibly the root of your usbstorage), then you can copy it to your computer hopefully via usb. It could also be that you need to change the permissions on that file so you can see it on windows. You can access most of the file structure inside usbstorage, where your titanium backup folder should be ideally located.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The old phone is an HTC Sapphire, but that connects to the computer fine & the titanium file is already saved on the computer.
Ok, I figured out the problem. The file structure for the Nexus won't show up with debugging enabled. Disabling it gets the new MTP protocol to work for me. Any idea if it's supposed to work that way?
Thanks for the help!
cetkat said:
The old phone is an HTC Sapphire, but that connects to the computer fine & the titanium file is already saved on the computer.
Ok, I figured out the problem. The file structure for the Nexus won't show up with debugging enabled. Disabling it gets the new MTP protocol to work for me. Any idea if it's supposed to work that way?
Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm weird...It should work regardless of having debugging enabled or not. If you can access your files without debugging being enabled, then just stick to transferring using MTP. It shouldn't really affect transferring files that much since you still have access to the root of your storage.
Don't restore your contacts that way. It will cause issues as the way HTC stores its contacts are very different then anything you will find here.
Wayne Tech Nexus
zelendel said:
Don't restore your contacts that way. It will cause issues as the way HTC stores its contacts are very different then anything you will find here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the head's up. I figured google-based would be the same. I've already done manual entries for most of them, so I'll stick with that.