As far as I can find, there seems to be no simple app that allows you to do a complete backup of an Android phone. I used to use either Sprite or SPB Backup under WM which allowed you to create an executable file which you could run after a hard reset to restore your phone to its position at the date you made the backup.
It looks like that's not possible under Android. The built-in backup doesn't seem to do a lot as I still had to put back my apps and many of my settings.
What I have found are Sprite for Android, My Backup Pro and Titanium Backup, although Titanium needs a rooted phone.
Is there nothing similar in Android that essentially creates an image of the phone so that you can do a full restore after a hard reset?
If not, what is the best way to backup as much as possible?
Well, with custom ROMS there can be app2sd (saves the apps on the sd). That also backs up the apps you have.
Otherwise it's also possible (after a hard reset) to login the market again and download all your previous installed apps again.
For a complete backup (e.g. also to save a certain version of a rom, a full NAND backup) you have to make a 'Nandroid' backup.
But! That is only possible with a custom recovery rom as far as I know. And there isn't one yet for the Desire.
On my Hero I've been updating quite some ROMs without the need of a hard reset. Which is already quite an improvement over the WM rom updating With Android you can update ROM without hard resetting, and it usually keeps working just fine.
But then again, I always make a full Nandroid backup before installing the new ROM just to be safe.
Also a former WM user and Sprite Backup did a great job on those devices. Seems like Android works differently with that respect. In fact Sprite Backup seems to get quite a few bad reviews on the Market.
Related
I've been using SPB Backup sucessfully for some time and its been an essential for someone who like to play around with the system as much as I do. I've been trying to find a piece of backup software that will work to produce a full backup with 6.1 as SPBs doent seem to fully work, even with the help of PIMbackup.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Sprite backup
hairyman said:
I've been using SPB Backup sucessfully for some time and its been an essential for someone who like to play around with the system as much as I do. I've been trying to find a piece of backup software that will work to produce a full backup with 6.1 as SPBs doent seem to fully work, even with the help of PIMbackup.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?
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Have you tried sprite backup?
I think that spb backup is the best... but i must affirm that sprite backup offerts more options than spb software (you can restore your data after a rom update)
This is a link for spirites abckup:
http://rapidshare.com/files/108897792/Sprite_Backup_6.2.1_PPC.Regged.rar.html
can you restore your installed software after you flash a different rom
yes, all apps you've installed and your pim, all file in \My documents and registry... all.
guyvice said:
yes, all apps you've installed and your pim, all file in \My documents and registry... all.
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How can you do that and different roms have different settings, doesn't that effect current rom functionality
I tend to find if you restore a backup with spb backup using different roms but same wm06.1 versions what tends to happen is that you end up with the rom that was backed up... BUT because there may have been different apps cooked in you find errors cropping up with soft resets needed a lot and sometimes major lockups that require hard resets.. And thats my 2 cents... cheers
Same release only
ultramag69 said:
I tend to find if you restore a backup with spb backup using different roms but same wm06.1 versions what tends to happen is that you end up with the rom that was backed up... BUT because there may have been different apps cooked in you find errors cropping up with soft resets needed a lot and sometimes major lockups that require hard resets.. And thats my 2 cents... cheers
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This is the same with sprite backup also.
So, if you want a new rom then only backup contacts and messages as there is no point to backup complete OS... Everything needs to be reinstalled anyway. these programs are just in case of events that require hard resets, no good to backup apps or anything...
ultramag69 said:
So, if you want a new rom then only backup contacts and messages as there is no point to backup complete OS... Everything needs to be reinstalled anyway. these programs are just in case of events that require hard resets, no good to backup apps or anything...
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I've you restore after a hard reset or a rom upgrade? what app have you used spb or sprite???
with spb if you do a hard reset you can restore all apps you installed and their settings, before your hard reset (but i've tested only with the same rom).
I use SPB Backup. I was saying that the full os backup is only good for HARD RESETS as it puts the complete os, registry settings and apps onto your hermes. If you reflash your os then restore your backup it overwrites the NEW os with the OLD os, however, because the new os probably doesn't have all the apps that the old os had cooked into it you get errors as the os cant find things it requires. Hope that cleared it up instead of smearing everything with mud....
UC roms
ultramag69 said:
I use SPB Backup. I was saying that the full os backup is only good for HARD RESETS as it puts the complete os, registry settings and apps onto your hermes. If you reflash your os then restore your backup it overwrites the NEW os with the OLD os, however, because the new os probably doesn't have all the apps that the old os had cooked into it you get errors as the os cant find things it requires. Hope that cleared it up instead of smearing everything with mud....
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Its also make you have issue with the new now like freezing up and etc. Its just not worth the headache. Look in UC roms it is very little work to reinstall your app. Do a search for UC roms and read up on it. I'm tell is sweet I just did it for the first time it works like a charm.
Currently I'm trialing SPB BackUp and I must say that I really like it a lot! So far I've had no problems backing up, restoring, and re-connecting the phone with Active Sync as I did previously with Sprite BackUp. The best thing about SPB BackUp is that it allows you to restore everything even when you upgrade your custom ROMs...something that I do several times a day testing different ROMs. I highly recommend this program for those of you who flash custom ROMs on your phone and don't like to rely on PIM and go through re-installing each and every software and settings back on your phone. I'm debating whether to wait for my trial to end or just to buy it now!
SPB BackUp website:
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/pocketpc-software/backup/
Hi
Im Packing said:
Currently I'm trialing SPB BackUp and I must say that I really like it a lot! So far I've had no problems backing up, restoring, and re-connecting the phone with Active Sync as I did previously with Sprite BackUp. The best thing about SPB BackUp is that it allows you to restore everything even when you upgrade your custom ROMs...something that I do several times a day testing different ROMs. I highly recommend this program for those of you who flash custom ROMs on your phone and don't like to rely on PIM and go through re-installing each and every software and settings back on your phone. I'm debating whether to wait for my trial to end or just to buy it now!
SPB BackUp website:
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/pocketpc-software/backup/
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Hi. i also use SPB Backup and love it as it restores all my email a/c's and my tx messages. But i was wondering, u mentioned that with spb backup, u dont have to re-install all your apps/programmes each time u flash? can u please give me a tip on how to do this as i have no idea.i only see options for the usual ieim, texts,emails and there is a device option,but with so may sub catogories!....confusing i have a Htc TD2 with custom UDK Rom and manila sense 2.5.
I am a noob so please be patient with me
Thanks in advance.
It depends on if you do a full back-up. If you do then everything you back-up (including your storage card) is backed up unless you specify in options not to back it up. The only thing I don't back-up are previous SPB Back-ups.
To restore everything including programs that you had just do a full restore. If you choose customized restore then all the programs and settings to restore is in the "System Data". Uncheck PIM Data, Emails, and My Documents, and just leave the System Data checked and click next. From there it will restore all your programs and settings you previously had. BUT ONLY if you previously did a full backup or a custom back-up that included System Data.
I've had ZERO problems since using SPB Back-Up with any custom rom so far. I was using a trial Sprite Back-Up but it wasn't successful in restoring with different custom roms. SPB Back-Up also recently had an update with more finger friendly icons and IMO slightly more user friendly.
Im Packing said:
It depends on if you do a full back-up. If you do then everything you back-up (including your storage card) is backed up unless you specify in options not to back it up. The only thing I don't back-up are previous SPB Back-ups.
To restore everything including programs that you had just do a full restore. If you choose customized restore then all the programs and settings to restore is in the "System Data". Uncheck PIM Data, Emails, and My Documents, and just leave the System Data checked and click next. From there it will restore all your programs and settings you previously had. BUT ONLY if you previously did a full backup or a custom back-up that included System Data.
I've had ZERO problems since using SPB Back-Up with any custom rom so far. I was using a trial Sprite Back-Up but it wasn't successful in restoring with different custom roms. SPB Back-Up also recently had an update with more finger friendly icons and IMO slightly more user friendly.
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Thank You. Just tried it and it worked great. Its just that i was curious on how will it do it without me installing the cab files individually and or making a selection of cabs/programmes to install. Programmes such as Sahsimi work from a pre-difined list we creat ourselves and it installs all cabs one after the other. Thats why i was confused. But now i understand. Thank You again for your help and i totally agree with you. SPB Backup is great and would recommend it to everyone!
Take care and happy new year to all @ XDA!!!
Thanks!
Im Packing - thanks for the info. The fear of having to start over again put me off updating my phone. Could never find out for sure that system files and apps were updated.
Following your advice updating to the latest rom went like a dream
Forgive me but I gave some wrong information. FULL BACKUPS do not include storage card. You must do a Customized Backup and check the Storage Card under the System Files box. That will include everything on your storage card, but you can choose, in the menu options, to skip previous backup files so that you don't take up too much room. Also, High Compression on backups seems to work so far. Have not had one problem using high compression vs. normal.
Im Packing said:
Forgive me but I gave some wrong information. FULL BACKUPS do not include storage card. You must do a Customized Backup and check the Storage Card under the System Files box. That will include everything on your storage card, but you can choose, in the menu options, to skip previous backup files so that you don't take up too much room. Also, High Compression on backups seems to work so far. Have not had one problem using high compression vs. normal.
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what exactly "system" back up do? does it not overwrite roms settings? and/or system data? which i think would cause problems expecially if you restore it to a rom with different version/build?
hit thanks button before u say thank u . ...
thank u so much man for back up solution . i am going to try now .
Is there any full Android backup app? I used to use a program for WinMo called SPB Backup (or something like that) that would basically image the phone (except for the rom). It was really nice to have a full backup (like Acronis for PC) since I knew I would never lose any customization, no matter what happened (other than losing my MicroSD card).
I am hoping something similar exists that I can have on my Evo.
Thanks!
Kido1986 said:
Is there any full Android backup app? I used to use a program for WinMo called SPB Backup (or something like that) that would basically image the phone (except for the rom). It was really nice to have a full backup (like Acronis for PC) since I knew I would never lose any customization, no matter what happened (other than losing my MicroSD card).
I am hoping something similar exists that I can have on my Evo.
Thanks!
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=459830 standard, this is what people call a nandroid backup.
Paid version of titanium is $6 well spent.. does full backups meaning after flashing u can be right where u left off before the flash
What's the difference between nandroid and something like Titanium? From what I've been able to gather nandroid just creates a full system backup (sort of like a partition image on a PC?) whereas Titanium can actually backup all your apps, their data, and even your settings (which is pretty much impossible to do on a Win PC w/o backing up the entire OS/partition). Am I right or am I working off outdated info?
I've yet to decide whether I'm gonna root or not, been trying to figure it out today... The most prominent reasons I can see to do it are the free WiFi tether and having the ability to create/restore these kinds of backups w/ease (possibly worth more than WiFi tether to me, since I could just use PDANet otherwise).
Impulses said:
What's the difference between nandroid and something like Titanium? From what I've been able to gather nandroid just creates a full system backup (sort of like a partition image on a PC?) whereas Titanium can actually backup all your apps, their data, and even your settings (which is pretty much impossible to do on a Win PC w/o backing up the entire OS/partition). Am I right or am I working off outdated info?
I've yet to decide whether I'm gonna root or not, been trying to figure it out today... The most prominent reasons I can see to do it are the free WiFi tether and having the ability to create/restore these kinds of backups w/ease (possibly worth more than WiFi tether to me, since I could just use PDANet otherwise).
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nandroid backups are complete images of your entire setup. ROM and everything(apps, settings, etc.). Titanium backup will backup everything EXCEPT the rom, that is all settings, all apps and their settings.
I use a combination of both. I make nandroid backups of whole setups that I have just to my liking so that I can restore them if need be. I make titanium backups of everything so I can switch ROMs and still restore everything to my liking.
In the end, Titanium Backup is probably what you're looking for.
Question, how does backing up Apps with programs like Astro and TI or whatever work? Does it just keep you from having to re-download them from the market when you do a full wipe and flash a ROM? If so, does it restore their market link so that they are updateable? Or do they just do app data?
Sorry, I'm confused. I don't normally have much app data, so I just re-download all my apps each time, and was wondering if I was 'doing it wrong'.
And which program is recommended for backups?
I recommend Titanium Backup, but with the caveat that you should do some research to see how it works. It will back up apps, user settings, and even system settings - but that doesn't mean you can just restore them willy-nilly. For instance, if you backup your apps and app settings, then flash a new ROM, then restore those apps and settings, there may be conflicts between the new ROM and the old programs. It's really more of a just-in-case way to back things up. People have also reported that MyBackup works well. I use TI myself.
In fact, please read this article by flipz (he developed the Fresh ROMs).
All it does is basically takes a snapshot of your system. It copies app files and settings databases. Later, you can restore the apps and data (and even things like account settings and scenes if you know what you're looking for) and be back where you were, as long as things work correctly. There are batch operations, but it all still takes a while to be safe and know that you're not restoring things that will break your system.
It's good, but I recommend a complete nandroid backup (ClockworkMod or Amon RA) if you're not jumping around between ROMs. That's really a better "everything" backup method.
Hope that helps.
Dear All
Having a rooted Desire with Froyo and Apps2SD+, i needed to migrate to a bigger 16 GB card. In that (failed) effort I decided to remove all apps and then restore them.
I backed them up via MybAckup Pro and Titanium Backup. Then, after reboot, no backups were detected by TB. I even wrote to the support but no answer. I had to revert to MyBackup Pro which apparently had a mind of its own regarding which apps to restore. Now Google Maps is missing on my phone and neither will it install. Also, com.gapps are closing on me every minute.
I have decided to do a factory reset but it'd be nice if a few questions are answered first:
1) I understand that NANDROID is the best way to back up; however, it doesn't provide me a way to restore apps one by one or in batches. Any solutions?
2) When I do a factory reset, will I end up with a clean phone with root and my current custom ROM, or the phone as it came from Orange?
3) Is there a way to install Google Maps and to remove the gapps errors without factory reset?
4) If I restore from NANDROID after factory reset, will all the errors/instability come back as well?
Thanks
1) Nandroid does an image of your custom phone, like for example Norton Ghost would do. Its like saving the setup/state of the phone at the time you do the backup.
2) A factory reset deletes all user data. You end with your current ROM as it was a clean install, it will not change the ROM you're using. If you're using a custom ROM you will still be with that custom ROM.
3) Can't Google Maps be downloaded from Market? Also you can try to extract the .apk from a ROM and copy it to yours via adb for example. As for the errors I dont really know if they're because data corruption and a reset will fix them or its the apk that isnt working as intended.
4) As I said earlier, doing a Nandroid is doing an image of the current state of the phone. If you do a Nandroid of a phone that has errors and you restore it, the errors wont disapear.
If you want to have a backup of the list of apps you already have you can use AppBrain. Its a little app that syncs your list of apps from the phone into a google account so when you do a full wipe you have only to install that app again and sync with the saved google list of apps. It wont save the data of the aplications but it will save the list of the ones you've installed.
Azureus: That is a most helpful reply, I sincerely appreciate it.
Google maps is not appearing in the market. I tried to sideload it and it still doesn't install. Thanks for the GREAT AppBrain trick.
I would appreciate if you could answer:
1) Which is the best, most stable custom ROM to use with official Froyo+Sense, Apps2SD+ ? I have doubts about stability of current ROM.
2) Which app can enable me to back up apps and then restore them one by one, given that Titanium Backup is not working for me somehow?
1) I personally use OpenDesire and its a non Sense UI ROM, so I dont really know what Sense UI ROM is the best. I've tryed several Sense UI ROMs and two that gave me a good feeling where LeeDrOiD Mod and the official Sense ROM of OpenDesire Team.
2) I've tryed several apps for data backups and the one that I liked most was Titanium Backup... May I ask why isnt working for you? I've tested both the free and donate version and they seem to work pretty well...
Thanks. Will try Leedroid now.
As for titanium, or backs up everything all right but when I try to restore it shows nothing. Don't know why is that
Titanium Backup saves the backups by default in a folder as the same name as the app in your SD. Have you tried deleting all the folder and doing backups again to see if the restore works? You can also go to settings and change the default folder in which it saves the backup to see if its a problem with de folder/SD or its the app.