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Backups: Nandroid v. TiBu

Can someone help me understand the difference between a Nandroid backup and using Titanium Backup? Is it similar to the difference between image-based backup vs. file/application based backup? Under what circumstances would one be better than the other?

Your simile is spot on. Nandroid backup is used to completely restore a system with all apps and data.
Titanium Backup is used to restore/reinstall apps and data without changing your system. It's really handy if you get brave and decide to flash a new ROM on your phone. TiBu can put all your previously installed apps into place very quickly.
If you don't like the new ROM, just restore your old system from the Nandroid backup.

Ok, so help me think this through.
I've already Rooted/S-off/flashed a ROM on my phone. So presuming that the ROM image I download via CWM or XDA is on my card anyway, and I have TiBu (I have the paid version) that I can use to selectively restore apps, settings and data, would not Nandroid be redundant in this case?
OlafTheOx said:
Your simile is spot on. Nandroid backup is used to completely restore a system with all apps and data.
Titanium Backup is used to restore/reinstall apps and data without changing your system. It's really handy if you get brave and decide to flash a new ROM on your phone. TiBu can put all your previously installed apps into place very quickly.
If you don't like the new ROM, just restore your old system from the Nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

The point of a nandriod backup is to easily go back to a working setup without having to spend time installing apps and tweaking all the numerous settings to your liking. 5 minutes to restore a nandroid backup vs. 2 - 4 hours of installing & tweaking.
DInc with CyanogenMod 6.1 & Invisiblek #28 kernel.

Download Nandroid
Where do I download Nandroid?
Will this one work from the G1 thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=459830
Thanks

Nandroid is actually part of Clockwork Recovery. If you reboot to recovery mode you can make and restore backups from there.
As you say your on a custom ROM I assume Clockwork Recovery/CWM/ROM Manager was installed as part of the process.

There is a good overview of ClockworkMod Recovery at http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/what-is-clockworkmod-recovery-and-how-to-use-it-on-android-complete-guide/#features

BillTheCat said:
Can someone help me understand the difference between a Nandroid backup and using Titanium Backup? Is it similar to the difference between image-based backup vs. file/application based backup? Under what circumstances would one be better than the other?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just wondering about the same thing, so thanks for the thread.
Making a Nandroid backup right now ;-)

BTW, nandroid backups are stored on your SD card. You can free up space by either deleting or moving them to storage off the phone. Just keep a backup of your preferred restoration ROM on the SD card. Also, at the very least, it's a good idea to save a backup of the original manufacturer's ROM somewhere.
DInc with CyanogenMod 6.1 & Invisiblek #28 kernel.

technoplunk said:
There is a good overview of ClockworkMod Recovery at addictivetips dot com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the link.
One issue though... it says ClockWorkMod requires ROOT access to create a backup rom image, which on my phone (ATT Aria with HBOOT 1.02) require to have S-OFF first with alpharev, yet most instructions tell you to create a nandroid backup first (which makes sense in case something goes wrong)...
Am I missing something ? you can't create a back, and you take risk doing S-OFF+Root to get there.
I want to remove unwanted ATT crapware, and install non market apps, but I need root access for all this. right ?

Whats the best way to backup apps & settings when using custom roms?

Still having wifi issues with ALexanders Miui for X10, and wanting to know any advice on the best way to save/restore apps so that I dont have to start fresh on every minor rom update... Thanks!

Titanium Backup is really good for that, backups app data and the apk to your SD for when you need 2 restore apps.

havent heard of that one,.. i think i'll look into it.. sorry, im not the OP but i was interested in it aswell.

Titanium Backup
Thanks, titanium backup looks the goods.
Can you usually restore apps okay when going to different roms?

Apps yes, it just installs the apk. Data, depending on which data and ROM yes. I've backuped everything when using ARHD and never had a problem restoring everything when I wipe and upgrade it. When I put on MIUI I didn't let it restore all the data, just a few things to get call logs, save games n stuff.

[Q] What to do to avoid data loss when flashing

This question stems from a few niggling performance/lag issues on my Samsung Focus which I think will be cured by a fresh official ROM flash, but I do not want to lose any of my personal data.
I presume that when flashing a ROM, all data is lost. How can I essentially restore the lost data on the phone?
Can I backup using WP7 backup v1.9 (found on these forums) and then restore? Would this negate the point of the flash? What files are not backed up/restored (system files)?
Thanks,
jt

jt3204 said:
This question stems from a few niggling performance/lag issues on my Samsung Focus which I think will be cured by a fresh official ROM flash, but I do not want to lose any of my personal data.
I presume that when flashing a ROM, all data is lost. How can I essentially restore the lost data on the phone?
Can I backup using WP7 backup v1.9 (found on these forums) and then restore? Would this negate the point of the flash? What files are not backed up/restored (system files)?
Thanks,
jt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you set zune to back up everything then all of your pictures and music is on your computer (Note: your ringtones will be gone). Your documents should be on Sky Drive unless you saved them localy, if so you can move them Sky Drive, your games and apps can be re-installed using either the Market Place or the re-installer app.

Thanks for the tip. I was already aware of those possibilities.
I think the SMS restore is a bit of an issue. From what I've read the only program available isn't perfect yet, so that leaves a complete backup/restore as the only option to preserve my messages.
This begs the question as to whether flashing then restoring a backup is a pointless exercise.

The sms tool , is this one you are talking about ? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1448197
Flashing and then restoring from a previous backup will not work. Backup is a complete image, it wipes out anything else.

Switching to a custom ROM and keeping all apps/data

So I am considering possibly installing one the CM ROMs on my Explorer (I guess CM10 if there's a stable ROM). However, I don't want to lose any of my apps or data (e.g. saves in games, settings in various apps, messages, contacts etc.). Right now I am on stock ROM with DarkTremor's a2sd script and all my apps and data on the SD-EXT partition. What would be the best method to make the transition? Backup all apps with Titanium Backup and restore once I install the new ROM? Or is there some way to install a new ROM and keep the apps on my EXT partition working?
If there's no easy way to do it, I'll probably stick to stock ROM. I don't really want to have to reinstall all my apps manually.

Some of your data is in sdcard, so no worries, contacts should be synced to Google, and messages can be backed up with Titanium Backup(Pro?).
Titanium Backup Free can back up and restore apps and app data(includes settings), but not batch, so you have to get Pro or back up/restore all your apps one by one.
However, transition from Sense GB to CM JB/ICS is super-massive, so don't report any bugs if you choose to restore system data.

SifJar said:
So I am considering possibly installing one the CM ROMs on my Explorer (I guess CM10 if there's a stable ROM). However, I don't want to lose any of my apps or data (e.g. saves in games, settings in various apps, messages, contacts etc.). Right now I am on stock ROM with DarkTremor's a2sd script and all my apps and data on the SD-EXT partition. What would be the best method to make the transition? Backup all apps with Titanium Backup and restore once I install the new ROM? Or is there some way to install a new ROM and keep the apps on my EXT partition working?
If there's no easy way to do it, I'll probably stick to stock ROM. I don't really want to have to reinstall all my apps manually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium backup is the best tool for backup and restoring apps. Get the Pro version its worth it, i change ROMs like in a day or two so i always have a backup with data of all my apps and whether u are coming from gb to ics/jb or going back to gb , just restore the apps. And dont ever restore system apps on a new ROM it is not recommended and csn create instability.
I hope this helps
sent from xda premium using my fingers

I already have TB Pro, so no worries there. Thanks for the reassurance, I may look into this further. I've been getting more and more fed up of GB when I keep seeing new devices with ICS or JB, think it might be time to make the switch.
So I can restore all user apps and data, but I should leave out system data? Sounds OK, I don't think I'll lose much by not restoring system data.

Yup I do the same.. Just the system apps.. and keep a copy of the titanium backup ( with apk as i use the free version ) on my comp.. System data wont mostly restore as GB and CM10 are almost incompatible.. you will get loads of fcs..
Hit thanks If i helped !

akshat.shenoy said:
Yup I do the same.. Just the system apps.. and keep a copy of the titanium backup ( with apk as i use the free version ) on my comp.. System data wont mostly restore as GB and CM10 are almost incompatible.. you will get loads of fcs..
Hit thanks If i helped !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you do not restore system data on any ROM. It will cause FCs. You should only restore apps and app data

Titanium Backup error 3 when flashing "update.zip" from TWRP!

TL;DR: How to fix Titanium Backup error 3 while flashing "update.zip" from TWRP?
I have been using Android for more than five years now seriously and it is a bit funny that I did not know I could restore data to newly flashed ROM.
Previously, I would just wipe system and flash new ROM not touching data partition and that worked just fine.
That is past seems.
I have flashed new ROM which is based on stock Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus ROM so I could get official updates. The problem is my phone lost one fifth of its performance according to benchmark and it experiences random reboots (I hope not while I am typing ?)
All in all, by restoring previous data on new ROM some of the files seem not to be overwritten well on new ROM (possibly application versions not getting downgraded well).
LogCat did not help.
I deleted my data (I have backup of course) and my system works normally so it is a data problem.
That is where Titanium Backup came into play.
I made backup of all user applications and an "update.zip".
When I want to flash "update.zip I get error code 3.
Some say it is due system partition but I formatted it in couple of manners and I am still unable to restore.
Is there any other way to restore applications and its data to new ROM?
I have tried backing up the applications and moving the Titanium Backup folder to SD card and moving it back when I flash new ROM. Backup does not get detected.
Thank you in advance!

dedq said:
TL;DR: How to fix Titanium Backup error 3 while flashing "update.zip" from TWRP?
I have been using Android for more than five years now seriously and it is a bit funny that I did not know I could restore data to newly flashed ROM.
Previously, I would just wipe system and flash new ROM not touching data partition and that worked just fine.
That is past seems.
I have flashed new ROM which is based on stock Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus ROM so I could get official updates. The problem is my phone lost one fifth of its performance according to benchmark and it experiences random reboots (I hope not while I am typing [emoji854])
All in all, by restoring previous data on new ROM some of the files seem not to be overwritten well on new ROM (possibly application versions not getting downgraded well).
LogCat did not help.
I deleted my data (I have backup of course) and my system works normally so it is a data problem.
That is where Titanium Backup came into play.
I made backup of all user applications and an "update.zip".
When I want to flash "update.zip I get error code 3.
Some say it is due system partition but I formatted it in couple of manners and I am still unable to restore.
Is there any other way to restore applications and its data to new ROM?
I have tried backing up the applications and moving the Titanium Backup folder to SD card and moving it back when I flash new ROM. Backup does not get detected.
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When switching ROMs, restoring data from a previous ROM causes issues, especially when the data contains system data and apps from the previous ROM, user apps and their data usually restore fine, but the system stuff doesn't.
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