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All this wiping, how do you people keep your data

i'm reading through all the posts for people updating to the new firmware and wiping away all their data without a care. how can you afford to do that so easily?
I have lots of data like SMS messages I need to keep around, applications that cant be downloaded anymore (such as hello aim beta, wifi tether), settings, etc.. that I just can't wipe my phone. how are you people keeping this data around?

I personally use apps to Sd card and to backup sms and such I use MyBackup Pro available on market for about $5. It works great. Go try it. You can even back up applications with it.

John5788 said:
i'm reading through all the posts for people updating to the new firmware and wiping away all their data without a care. how can you afford to do that so easily?
I have lots of data like SMS messages I need to keep around, applications that cant be downloaded anymore (such as hello aim beta, wifi tether), settings, etc.. that I just can't wipe my phone. how are you people keeping this data around?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I usually will run a nandroid backup first then i can just flash it back without any trouble after the wipe.
I also have GSCRIPT on the phone and have a script that backs up all my apps to the SD and then I have a SCRIPT that will reinstall all my APPS when it is all said and done if I need it for those times that I am unable to backup first.

John5788 said:
i'm reading through all the posts for people updating to the new firmware and wiping away all their data without a care. how can you afford to do that so easily?
I have lots of data like SMS messages I need to keep around, applications that cant be downloaded anymore (such as hello aim beta, wifi tether), settings, etc.. that I just can't wipe my phone. how are you people keeping this data around?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always make a nandroid backup. As a matter of fact, I make a nandroid backup weekly or before I do anything drastic to my phone like delete all SMS or try something new. Nandroid backup process takes but 5 minutes. Most of the apps can be downloaded over again and most of SMS are of no importance. All my pics and audio and wallpapers are on SD, so that automatically gets moved.
If I ever need to reference to something, I just flash the nandroid backup, look up what I need and then flash back to the other nandroid backup etc. So far that is my game plan, but i've yet to do this as I've never really had the need to go back.
It is tedious process especially for the apps but I have kept a list and it isn't too bad.
there are other wifi tether programs that are probably better than what you had before.
anything and everything is out there apk wise, if you know where to look.
but, there are backup programs and since I don't use them (other than nandroid), hopefully someone can comment on them.

question, i can do a nandroid backup fine without any problems. i believe i am using jf1.42 recovery image, but lets say my phone bricks, whatever nandroid backed up for me, how do i install it back again? n00b question i know but ive searched around and havnt found that answer yet.

I haven't wiped my phone in over a month.

I use MyBackup Pro. Backs up all your Data, Apps, and settings. And, of course, I make a nandroid backup before I flash anything.
madunix said:
question, i can do a nandroid backup fine without any problems. i believe i am using jf1.42 recovery image, but lets say my phone bricks, whatever nandroid backed up for me, how do i install it back again? n00b question i know but ive searched around and havnt found that answer yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's a quick and easy explanation: http://androidcommunity.com/forums/168953-post6.html

I've tried the Nandroid back up, but for the life of me I can't get ADB working on my computer. Is there a script to run it through recovery mode or through the terminal emulator?
Thanks

Hi Aim beta is still available in the market (Is it different from hello AIM beta?) and wifi tether for root users is still available at google code. If there was a program that I wanted that was no longer available I would just back it up to SD before wiping. For SMS I use SMS backup. That way SMS streams are available all the time in my gmail (not that I consider my SMS messages all that important)
Settings take me a little while to get back but usually if I am wiping to put on a new ROM my workflow will change a bit so redoing settings from scratch is not a big deal.
Given that contacts calendar and mail are synced with gmail, wiping is less a concern for me than it was with WM. Reloading apps takes a bit of time but it is not a major effort since most things are either on the market or on my SD.

...what everyone else said.
Also, I use fastboot on the computer side (Windows XP) to get Nandroid's backups back on my phone. This only works if you have the engineering bootloader, though (the thing with the three skateboarding androids). First, you'll have to copy "boot.img," "data.img," and "system.img" to whatever folder fastboot's in. Open up your command prompt. The command line you use is this:
cd *whatever directory fastboot's in*
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash userdata data.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I use nandroid and mybackup pro.

Heres a question for the ages. If i do a nandroid backup on say...JF's 1.5ADP and then update to Haykuros image, after a wipe, would i have a problem if i was to fastboot flash my data.img file? Would it cause problems? I have yet to try it.

Does mybackup pro back up paid apps?

I dont really care about my txt i mean i got alot of txt but nothing to much to be save..I use appmanger to save my .apk apps to sd. and contacts are sync to google so yeah thats all i do.

If you have apps to sd it's as easy as following any apps to sd tutorial. All your apps that are already on your sd card will pop right back into your phone. In case anyone didn't know this. I tried and found out that it worked. So PM me for more details. I can't do much right now. But I can let you know what commands to type in adb shell or terminal emu.

Using the apps to sd, once I set the links up, everything is back, although my protected apps show up as the .apk name as with a gear icon. I have to uninstall then re-install those. But I am looking around for ways to remedy that. I think I found one post, but haven't wiped since I found it.

[Q][Android]How do I batch reinstall apps after flashing custom rom?

I've just started trying out custom roms and I've noticed while some roms such as CyanogenMod lets you restore all previously installed apps upon installation other ones doesn't. If I flash a rom which doesn't support it all my apps still stand as installed if I search for them in market on the computer however it's a pain to manually reinstall all apps so is there anyway to trigger something which reinstall all apps like CM do?

well, i don't know what PHONE you are using, but on my inspire 4g with a gingerbread rom, altho the rom doesn't do much with app reloads, just by signing into my google account my apps reappear on their own.

Use Titanium Backup. Run a batch backup of user apps. Then when you install a new rom, run a batch restore. This will restore data as well - game progress, an app's settings, etc. The free version only allows one backup at a time (if you backup the app again, it overwrites the last backup) and you have to agree to the permissions of each app. In the paid version, you can set the max number of backups yourself and everything will install in the background. There's tons of other cool stuff the app can do, I suggest checking it out.
(from... Evo/MIUI/Tapatalk)

plainjane said:
Use Titanium Backup. Run a batch backup of user apps. Then when you install a new rom, run a batch restore. This will restore data as well - game progress, an app's settings, etc. The free version only allows one backup at a time (if you backup the app again, it overwrites the last backup) and you have to agree to the permissions of each app. In the paid version, you can set the max number of backups yourself and everything will install in the background. There's tons of other cool stuff the app can do, I suggest checking it out.
(from... Evo/MIUI/Tapatalk)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the way to go. Trust me on that. One more thing if you kind of like a certain rom but you just want to try others make sure you do a nandroid back up. This makes life a hell of a lot easier if you don't like rom boot back to recovery and restore your last back up. I nan once a week so I keep a fresh image cuz I am always adding and removing apps.

tazfanatic said:
This is the way to go. Trust me on that. One more thing if you kind of like a certain rom but you just want to try others make sure you do a nandroid back up. This makes life a hell of a lot easier if you don't like rom boot back to recovery and restore your last back up. I nan once a week so I keep a fresh image cuz I am always adding and removing apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This saved me a time or two..good advise!!

tazfanatic said:
This is the way to go. Trust me on that. One more thing if you kind of like a certain rom but you just want to try others make sure you do a nandroid back up. This makes life a hell of a lot easier if you don't like rom boot back to recovery and restore your last back up. I nan once a week so I keep a fresh image cuz I am always adding and removing apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as my experience when (this afternoon), TI is the ONLY way to go (although, you'll want to root first).

A follow up question on this topic. I have TI Pro and made a backup of apps and data. After flashing an update ROM on my EVO, I could get most of the apps, but not all of them back. Actually, some apps would not even reinstall -- e.g. Twitter gave me some error about a shared library missing. Any ideas?

I bought the paid version of Titanium backup but during batch restore, I still have to press install/cancel and open/done for each app. Is that correct or did I miss changing a setting?

holgalee said:
I bought the paid version of Titanium backup but during batch restore, I still have to press install/cancel and open/done for each app. Is that correct or did I miss changing a setting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure, I have never had to do this, and I have not changed any settings that I know of.

I am about to flash my first ROM on my Inspire. I did a NAND backup and copied all the contents of my sd card to my computer.
My question is if I transfer it back onto my sd card after flashing will it restore my apps and other data?

Bluecham said:
I am about to flash my first ROM on my Inspire. I did a NAND backup and copied all the contents of my sd card to my computer.
My question is if I transfer it back onto my sd card after flashing will it restore my apps and other data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Apps need to be installed, not just copied (that's assuming that you're talking about apps on the SD card, and not on the phone's memory).
Do as most of the posts above suggest and do a backup using Titanium Backup. Then you can batch restore (with the paid version) or app-by-app restore (with the free version) after flashing your new ROM.

Titanium is excellent , however I find backups arent always compatible between roms. I sometimes get errors after a restore. For that reason I just sing into Market after flashing a new rom and let the apps re download.

TI Backup
I purchased the pro version, batch backed up all of my apps. Installed MikG on Evo 4g and now I can't access TI back up. I also did a nand back up. when I restore data nothing happens. Please help. I just want my apps back.

Originally Posted by plainjane
Use Titanium Backup. Run a batch backup of user apps. Then when you install a new rom, run a batch restore. This will restore data as well - game progress, an app's settings, etc. The free version only allows one backup at a time (if you backup the app again, it overwrites the last backup) and you have to agree to the permissions of each app. In the paid version, you can set the max number of backups yourself and everything will install in the background. There's tons of other cool stuff the app can do, I suggest checking it out.
that's the right way..

Two options.
1. Push your apps recorded in your android market library to your phone.
2. Use titanium backup.
Titanium backup is easier, but since you do a reset to make everything fresh, I would prefer the first option.
What you do is to go to android market library from your PC browser. It has all your apps listed. For each app, use the install button to push it to your phone. You need not wait between apps. Just push which ever app you need and they will automatically get downloaded and installed to your phone. For some reason, Google has kept the reinstall feature hidden. See this for details -
http://www.skipser.com/p/2/p/how-to-reinstall-android-apps.html

I don't know, google play used to reinstall my apps when I was on stock sony rom, but since I use Cyanogen now, it doesn't do it. I always keep checked option "keep backed up with bla bla", but it doesn't restore automatically :/

iarydroyoffice
boscharun said:
Two options.
1. Push your apps recorded in your android market library to your phone.
2. Use titanium backup.
Titanium backup is easier, but since you do a reset to make everything fresh, I would prefer the first option.
What you do is to go to android market library from your PC browser. It has all your apps listed. For each app, use the install button to push it to your phone. You need not wait between apps. Just push which ever app you need and they will automatically get downloaded and installed to your phone. For some reason, Google has kept the reinstall feature hidden. See this for details -
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks

[Q] Extracting data from old backups

Hi all,
Before my old tablet was returned to the store, I had made a nandroid backup of all my files. This is the same backup I tried to flash over my new tablet, which made s*** hit the fan, hard.
That being said, I've got my tablet working, rockin, and rollin. But I do have some important files that I'd like to extract from that nandroid backup. Whats the best way of going about doing this?
In specific, I know that CWM allows me to perform a selective restore, where I can choose which partition to restore individually. Would this method be advisable?
In particular, I'm trying to get some of the settings files for some of my apps, for example, FuelLogPro. It had all of my saved fill-ups for the past few months and that's data I'd rather keep (although I won't be crying if I lose it).
Any advice?
Thanks,
Opethfan89

You have this app : Rom Toolbox lite which works well
Try it, really simply and free.

Rooted/Custom Rom'd my AT&T S4, now for some basic a

[Thread in wrong area! Mods please move to AT&T S4 under Q/A!]
I recently rooted/installed CleanROM for my S4, but now I have some basic questions regarding what actually happened in the process and how I could improve it. (First smartphone, first Android).
1. Is flashing the exact equivalent of installing a kernel/ROM/app in a recovery like TeamWin that is zipped in an SD card? All I did was select my zipped file and install--the guide says to use GooManager but I never used it. Also, does updating TWRP, kernel, or ROM (same application/kernel/ROM, but newer version) require that you delete the old ZIP, copy over the new ZIP, then install it? Is there a cleaner method (I feel that since we have to wipe to prevent old files from interfering with new ROM that maybe parts of the old version of a ROM may be redundant or may interfere with the new ROM?
2. Is there a way I can save the phone settings when dealing with one ROM and transferring these settings to another ROM? I really don't want to spend 20 minutes to go through all the settings and change it to my liking every time I install a new ROM.
3. With TWRP I could backup the entire ROM and also be able to install that backup ROM if I don't like the new ROM installed? What does Titanium Backup offer in regards to this aside from backing up app data and the ability freeze/uninstall system apps?
4. Does Titanium Backup leave any residual files? I see other apps designed to uninstall system apps and Titanium Backup seems like an all-in-one jack of all trades.
5. I thought I wiped everything and to me, that sounds like reformatting the entire drive. I only wiped system, boot, and data though (good enough for ROMs, according to what I've read). I was surprised when I saw my videos that I had already backed up to my PC accessible on the phone. Should I just wipe literally everything (I assume it would be cleaner) like cache, preload, EFS, modem, recovery, etc.? Will wiping literally everything be like reformatting my phone (since my phone was not reformatted because my personal videos was still there when I installed my custom ROM? If I were to install completely different ROMs cleanly and wanted to keep my personal files, I would only need to wipe system, data, and boot?
4. Do I have to use CASUAL again to install an updated TWRP?
5. Does backing up a ROM also backup its root? I'm going to assume this is a dumb question and the answer is no. I'm also guessing I have to block OTA updates from AT&T to ensure I keep my root. How would I go about doing this? Also, would my phone be "safe" if I stick to my ROM (no updates or anything) for 4+ years? I'm asking this as an extreme case because I feel like I'm missing out on AT&T security updates that could protect my phone and also I don't think the developer my ROM (CleanROM) will do frequent updates).
6. I had problems with my computer not being able to recognize my phone and my SD card in the phone after I wiped everything and before I installed a ROM. I literally had to take the SD card from the phone and use an SD card reader to transfer my custom ROM/loki then put it back into the phone. Was I missing a driver?
7. What are some must-have apps a newly rooted user would want?
8. I read that you only need 1 EFS backup and you don't need to back it up every time you are going to install a custom ROM. Can I get a confirmation?
9. What does Goo Manager do and would I want it?
10. Is it essential that I keep up to date with news about my custom ROM/phone to ensure my phone is secured?
**Not Root/ROM related--Is swiping an app away from the Recent Apps List (long-press home button) the equivalent of killing an app? I use the Recent Apps List often but I don't want to go about swiping apps away if means it is killing it, since I read that killing apps are bad and actually drains battery life. Also, is there a mod that lets you access the Recent Apps List by long-pressing the menu one? I only see a mod that kills the app if you long-press it.
Thanks. I'm hoping for many responses as I have more questions to ask but not a lot of free time (I will check back on this thread every several hours until there are no more responses on the thread.

I think you are in the wrong forum.

@work said:
I think you are in the wrong forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, I clicked the edit/delete thread but can't find the delete button. Under reason for editing I told the mods to move it to AT&T S4 under Q/A. I'm new to XDA, what should I do?

otumsel and
just wait,someone will be along and move it.

[Q] Backup/Restore To New ROM

I'm not a big ROM tester and pretty much remain on stock. I do have root, custom recovery and unlocked bootloader on my GS3 (4.1.2 stock).
When you guys switch ROMs and a clean flash is required, what exactly are you all doing to backup and then restore your data?
Are you just backing up "all user apps" with Titanium and then immediately installing Titanium on the new ROM and restoring the backup?
What about system settings? You just run through those one at a time and set them to the way they were? What about custom contact ringtones and other customizations?
Sounds like a lot of work to me, but maybe I'm missing something.
Is there a better way to do this?

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm really trying to figure out how you guys are ok with doing a full wipe so frequently.

I am by no means a "constant ROM'er", but I have tried it a few times on a few different devices. Here is generally what I do:
1. Back up apps and data with Titanium Backup. I usually back these up to a folder on my external SD card just to be safe. Even though a factory reset shouldn't erase your backups on your internal memory, I just like to be safe.
2. After flashing a custom ROM I install TB as the very first app. ***HINT: If you have your phone setup to automatically restore apps thru Google, apps will automatically begin to download and install. This can slow down the whole process of restoring your apps and data. To keep this from happening, you can either disable the automatic restore OR don't sign in to google when you first set up the phone (that way google won't know which apps to begin to restore).
3. Run TB's restore apps & data BUT RESTORE SYSTEM APPS/DATA AT YOUR OWN RISK. In most cases from my own experiences and others, system apps and data do NOT restore well after flashing a new ROM.
Again, I am no expert and I simply follow the guides and advice of those much smarter and more experienced than I on these forums. Something I said above could be wrong so please correct me if anyone sees a fallacy.

I appreciate the reply. That's pretty much what I though. It's still a lot of work to tweak all the system settings back to the way they were. Ringtones, custom contact ringtones, various system settings, etc.