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ROM Change - Best way to keep the apps and files

Hi all,
I'm thinking about the change the ROM. What is the best way to keep all my apps and files? Can I just backup with Titanium Backup and restore it? I'm not sure if the SD card will be restored too through a factory reset.

I use MyBackup Pro - Paid app but does all the work for you in theory. Backs up everything. Quite cheap for a backup app.

And what's with the SD card? If I'm not completely wrong, I think the SD card is going to be deleted...

Maerki said:
And what's with the SD card? If I'm not completely wrong, I think the SD card is going to be deleted...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not unless you want it all to be deleted. When I flash a new ROM and wipe data, it doesn't delete the files on it, all my wallpapers are still in there and APK's I want to install.

I use titanium backup, a complete backup tool for root users which works really well

I use titanium, it works great even the free one
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Titanium Backup all the way mate.
There is a special partition layout that prevents the SD card (/dev/media) from being wiped. The only exception is if you flash a stock Google ROM - that will wipe the SD card.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

my backup root is the way to go saves all apks and data as well as photos, txts, call log, and most settings only have to redo a couple things whenever i flash

also think about using a custom launcher to preserve your homescreen setups, most people are loving NOVA launcher available here in the forums and it allows you to backup all your home screens so that after you push your new rom you wont have to re-set up your shortcuts.

I use both Clockwork and TiBu. I have never flashed a ROM that alsoformats my card, but I suppose its possible.
However, I have not always had good luck with TiBu restoring all icons and widgets. Apps and data always come across fine, except in cases of dramatically different ROM versions, like jumping from Gingerbread to ICS where data like contacts can fail to transfer. No big deal because I just re-sync with Outlook.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

For those using MyBackupPro, anyone have issues when backing up just data?
When I select data and use the default directory, /mnt/sdcard, I get "Error during backup:unable to open database file." Using version 3.0.6. I usually just tell it to backup SMS,MMS,Call Log.

Titanium backup synced to Dropbox

[Q] Best way to back up your phone when switching roms?

What are you guys using to back up your phones when switching Roms? I want to back up contacts, wifi settings, APPs etc.

If I'm switching ROMs I set them up from scratch again, after doing a Nandroid of the current one

Titanium Backup works really well. It's on the market. Probably on here somewhere also.

Will Titanium restore your screens? Its a bit tiring getting them alls setup and then starting from scratch on my droid incredible I never really set up the phone because I switched Roms so often.

veli69 said:
What are you guys using to back up your phones when switching Roms? I want to back up contacts, wifi settings, APPs etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use google for contacts and wifi settings, apps Titanium Backup
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

veli69 said:
Will Titanium restore your screens? Its a bit tiring getting them alls setup and then starting from scratch on my droid incredible I never really set up the phone because I switched Roms so often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, so for backing up your system you're going to want to use CWM and make a NANDROID backup. After you're done with that you will probably want to back up your apps. To back up app as well as data (such as angry birds scores) you will want to use Titanium Backup. Just remember not to restore system data, just apps/app data after flashing your ROM/Kernel.
For contacts (assuming you are on verizon) you had the option to chose where you store your contacts. Those options were either in your Gmail account or in "Backup manger" if you cant figure out where they are you can always make a file with all your contacts and place it on your SD card by going to the People App>menu>import/export>Export to storage.
As far as wifi settings go i am not aware of a way to do so.
And if you wanted to keep the launcher as it is (like where your apps are, folder, widgets, etc.) you will have to be on a custom launcher such as ADW or GoLauncher. This happens because the launcher is an app and when the app data is restored (from titanium backup) the placement of things are exactly how they were when you made the backup!

1) Nandroid. Always nanroid just to be safe - if something breaks, you need to have a working build to fall back on .
2) Contacts - I don't worry about it - they should all be synced with your Google account anyhoo.
3) Wifi settings - should also be synced with your Google account, and will be automatically restored when you set up the new ROM (assuming you tick the "restore data to my device" option in the google account setup screen).
4) Apps - TitaniumBackup for apps and data - not for system data though.
5) Launcher - some launchers will have an option built-in for backing up and restoring your screen layouts, folders, etc. Widgets will rarely be able to be restored no matter what method you use. You can also use Titanium to explicitly back up and restore your launcher's data - if you're still on the stock launcher, filter for System apps and look for an entry that starts out "[DESKTOP] Launcher ..." (it'll be in green) and backup/restore the data for that.

When you boot after first wipe it asks you for Google account details, then it will pull down your contacts, wifi settings etc. which we want.
But it also starts re-downloading all your Market apps, which we don't want because we've got them in Titanium Backup and we want to restore them with data (save games) and be linked to the Market for updates.
What's the correct way to handle this?
I've created issues before where some apps don't list in 'My apps' in the Market, and don't auto-update unless I search for them at which point it says 'Installed'.

I usually enable airplane mode immediately after the Google account setup, reboot, restore from titanium, reboot, and then turn the radios back on.

ClockworkMod Rom Manager. Its the best tool there is. yu can flash roms by pressing a simple button.

make sure you understand the difference between clockworkmod and titanium backup before you start modding your device. CWM will restore your phone exactly to how it was when you made the backup, everything from your screens, apps, setting, contacts, call and text logs. When you restore with CWM it will erase everything that was done after the backup point. Another thing to keep in mind is that you cant choose to restore specific things in CWM like you can with TB, you have to restore it all in one shot.
TB will restore apps, system apps and data associated with those apps. TB can also be used to backup settings, wifi access points and bluetooth pairings.
So if you get a bootloop or softbrick you have to use CWM. You need to do a factory reset/wipe before you flash a new rom, this is when you would use TB. Use TB to restore the apps, data and settings.
SMSbackup and calllogbackup in the market is also good for backing up or texts and call logs if you want to keep them. google will backup your contacts if you allow google to do this but you can always just save your contacts on your sim card

never ever restore system apps and data.
Especially if it was meant to be a full wipe.
Even then, clean start is always best so wipe and stop reporting bugs if you didn't do a wipe.

s2d4 said:
never ever restore system apps and data.
Especially if it was meant to be a full wipe.
Even then, clean start is always best so wipe and stop reporting bugs if you didn't do a wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On that note, some data for system apps can be safely restored - just never do it as a batch process. If I'm going to try restoring any system data, I do another full nandroid first (just in case) and then restore data one at a time.

I'm shocked no one has mentioned this app yet. Appextractor let's you restore things from your nandroid, Obviously some things shouldn't be restored, but many things can be safely restored.

EKnofsky said:
I'm shocked no one has mentioned this app yet. Appextractor let's you restore things from your nandroid, Obviously some things shouldn't be restored, but many things can be safely restored.
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Click to collapse
The only problem I had with app extractor is the amount of SD storage space it uses - and doesn't automatically clean up. My nandroids are already ~2.7GB - I don't really want the whole thing also stored uncompressed. I quickly run out of storage space that way.
Oh, and it's painfully slow.
AppExtractor is useful if there's an important app you forgot to back up in Titanium, but doesn't really make sense to me as your primary restore method.

Isn't the Titanium data wiped when a new ROM is flashed? I assume that before flashing anything, copy the /sdcard directory to another computer?
And after flashing a new ROM, I assume that Ti has to be downloaded first in order to restore the other apps

thereddog said:
Isn't the Titanium data wiped when a new ROM is flashed? I assume that before flashing anything, copy the /sdcard directory to another computer?
And after flashing a new ROM, I assume that Ti has to be downloaded first in order to restore the other apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you're using the factory recovery, the Titanium data will remain intact. You will have to reinstall Titanium from the market - or use the tool built-in to Titanium to create a flashable *.zip. Just flash that *.zip before you boot your ROM the first time and you'll have Titanium pre-loaded.

use adb! works without root
adb backup [-f ] [-apk|-noapk] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|-nosystem] []
- write an archive of the device's data to .
If no -f option is supplied then the data is written
to "backup.ab" in the current directory.
(-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks themselves
in the archive; the default is noapk.)
(-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the device's
shared storage / SD card contents; the default is noshared.)
(-all means to back up all installed applications)
(-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automatically includes
system applications; the default is to include system apps)
( is the list of applications to be backed up. If
the -all or -shared flags are passed, then the package
list is optional. Applications explicitly given on the
command line will be included even if -nosystem would
ordinarily cause them to be omitted.)
adb restore - restore device contents from the backup archive
example: adb backup -all -system -shared -apk

nitramz said:
use adb! works without root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. I had seen adb backup alluded to elsewhere but not a concise post detailing the usage. I'd rather not have to use my computer to handle backups, but it sounds like a pretty cool option.

Try MyBackup PRO. It does exactly what you need. I have used it before and it is good.

Few questions on using Titanium back up on GNEX.

I've used Titanium to do my back-ups on my old Galaxy Vibrant, so I have a general understanding of how it works. My question is this though, when I did back-ups in the past, they were saved to the SD card (I think), but the GNEX doesn't have an SD card. So if I do a back-up, won't the back-up I just made get erased when I wipe data before flashing a new ROM? Also, what about my pictures, will they get erased? I have hundreds of pictures on my phone, maybe even over 1000 TBH. I don't want to have to reload everything again. And last, does Titanium back-up your progress in games? I seem to remember that it does, but I don't remember for sure.
Any guides out there for doing Titanium back-ups on the Gnex? Why didn't those silly people just give us an sd card slot

ok even though it does not have a physically removable sd card it still does not get wiped when flashing roms and wiping the data cache partition. only if you do a factory data reset from the phone's settings. I've never needed to do that so dont worry i have 1000's of pics too. I'd back em up just in case on your laptop for safe measure though anyways. also when you backup th apps it does not save game progress unless you backup the app's data. then it should save preferences and progress and all that good stuff. Thank me if it helps!!

Ok, another thing I just thought of. After I flash the new ROM and enter my email, the phone is going to start automatically downloading all my apps, obviously I don't want to do that since I'm going to restore them with Titanium. How do I turn off the auto-downloading of apps?

After I flash the new ROM and enter my email, the phone is going to start automatically downloading all my apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it won't. It only restores your apps if you decide to not turn off the "restore my apps and settings" option. It's on by default, simply turn it off after you've entered your Gmail account. It's the next or the second screen after you logged into your Gmail account.

Ok, now my phone doesn't want to mount when I connect it to my computer. It charges, it just won't mount. ftw....

Hotstuff5964 said:
Ok, now my phone doesn't want to mount when I connect it to my computer. It charges, it just won't mount. ftw....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure about the mount issue but I will tell you to definitely leave the auto restore on and let the market automatically download your apps after a wipe. You want to do this because it will automatically install the apps where as titanium will take forever and you have to manually tap install. Then once the apps are installed go to titanium and just backup so data only which is you game progress and preferences and such. I found this out the hard way lol
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

In my experience, the restore and wipe cache (maybe wipe data too) only clean the system/ or /cache, and leave the sdcard/ untouched. So the data backup by Titanium back-ups should work rightly.
BTW, I have some problem about using Titanium back-ups. If I always want to keep the newest backup of both application and system data, are the any useful script?
Although there's a script could backup the new application that installed after last backup, but what about the new system app/data? Because sometimes I may have change ROM and it will add some new system app/data.
So far, I use the script that backup all the system/application data. But I wonder it may leave duplicate backup to some app, that's the condition I want to avoid.
Any idea?

[Q] ROM Hopping Help

I want to hop to a new ROM, but it is a real pain to restore everything. Is there a quick way?
I am on Wompasaurus. Before was LJ1 stock rooted then MA7 DeOdexed then Womp. I want to try some more but hours and hours it takes to get everything running is ridiculous.
I have Titanium Backup, TWRP(GooManager), ROM Manager, ROM Toolbox and SManager. If I need something else, I get it.
SIDE NOTE: I was able to backup the 4.2 Gallery. But Titanium backup cannot find the 4.2 Camera.

Lord Sekhmet said:
I want to hop to a new ROM, but it is a real pain to restore everything. Is there a quick way?
I am on Wompasaurus. Before was LJ1 stock rooted then MA7 DeOdexed then Womp. I want to try some more but hours and hours it takes to get everything running is ridiculous.
I have Titanium Backup, TWRP(GooManager), ROM Manager, ROM Toolbox and SManager. If I need something else, I get it.
SIDE NOTE: I was able to backup the 4.2 Gallery. But Titanium backup cannot find the 4.2 Camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Titanium Backup and Backup Your Mobile. Titanuim backup for apps and data. Backup Your Mobile for call logs, sms, mms, user data dictionary and wifi networks. I believe ROM Toolbox will do all of that and more. However just make sure that you save your backups to external sd and not internal sd as you will lose them if you do a full wipe of internal memory when you switch ROMs.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

Small problem. I use extsd2internalsd2.
Where should I put the backup?. Currently I transfer all my backups to my desktop.
EDIT : I installed Backup Your Mobile and ran it. THANKS!!

Lord Sekhmet said:
Small problem. I use extsd2internalsd2.
Where should I put the backup?. Currently I transfer all my backups to my desktop.
EDIT : I installed Backup Your Mobile and ran it. THANKS!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Extsd is your external sd which is where you want to keep your backups as well as always keeping a copy some where else like a desktop.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

In case anyone is reading my thread for help / ideas, I figured out a shortcut.
When every app is working, use TB Batch Action -user apps. Save this to some place safe. Before doing a full wipe re-backup apps with changing data . i,e. games

After you get your ROM setup exactly like you want it go into twrp go to backup and make a nandroid backup. Backup your data, boot, and system I believe they are. (The first three options) choose the option to compress the backup as it will save it the exact same way just save space by compressing it and shaving 40-50% off the size.
Then after it says backup wad successful. Reboot system. Use ROM toolbox and backup all your user apps+data. Then go to your contacts choose export to sd.. Make a"V card" export all your contacts to your sd. Then download sms backup&restore app.. backup all your texts. Then after these steps are done reboot to recovery (TWRP) go to wipe and wipe (assuming you already have other ROM zips on your sd or external sd saved and ready to flash) wipe cache, Dalvik cache, system, factory reset, system, factory reset.. In that order. Back out to main TWRP menu. .
Choose Install and install your ROM zip of your choice. After it installs successfully and reboots setup your phone and get to home screen. Go to market install rom toolbox again. After that is installed open and scroll to backups. Restore all Apps+data that you want. While that's restoring open contacts choose import from sd.. choose vcard files... choose the one you just made and restore...
Once your apps restore open sms backup&restore them restore your texts... setup any thing else you want/need widgets settings options etc..
After the new ROM is setup to your liking. Scroll back to the top and repeat till you have solid Nandroid backups (Twrp backups) of all the ROM'S you want.
Then anytime you want to change between then you reboot to recovery (twrp) wipe with above said method then hit restore choose the ROM you want to restore to and voila you'll literally be where you left off to a T even the same messages and websites still open... Only thing you might want to do between nandroid flashes is backup any NEW apps you downloaded recently. Our make a new backups of text messages with sms backup&restore if you want your texts always up to date...
If this helped which I hope it did cause its laid out, then hit the Thanks button:good:
Have a great afternoon
-Tw1steD

Backing up SMS, apps etc before ROM install...

Hi guys, sorry for the lame question. I feel bad asking because I've done dozens of different ROM installs on all kinds of different phones down the years, but there's always something I've never got.
How do I back up all my SMS's, installed apps etc and restore them after I've done a FULL WIPE and installed a new ROM? (SMS is the main one, I hate losing all those)

spireite_uk said:
Hi guys, sorry for the lame question. I feel bad asking because I've done dozens of different ROM installs on all kinds of different phones down the years, but there's always something I've never got.
How do I back up all my SMS's, installed apps etc and restore them after I've done a FULL WIPE and installed a new ROM? (SMS is the main one, I hate losing all those)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The process I'd suggest you for transferring your data when switching ROMs is:
1. Back up
For SMS's, use SMS Backup & Restore. It creates a backup XML which will be used to restore your SMS's after wiping.
For apps and their data, use Titanium Backup (Requires root).
For calls, Call Logs Backup and Restore. It also creates a backup XML like SMS Backup and Restore.
For contacts, I personally sync them using my Google account. If you don't like this you can use MyPhoneExplorer or any contacts backup app.
2. Full Wipe & ROM install
2b. Root your ROM if it is not rooted already.
3. Install Titanium Backup from an APK or Play Store.
4. Use Titanium Backup to restore user apps and their data. I suggest restoring ONLY user apps, unless you know what you are doing. Now it is also a good time to check which apps you really need to restore, since you may have back ups of applications that you don't need anymore.
5. Restore your SMS's and call logs from their backup XMLs using their respective applications.
6. Restore your contacts by syncing or by using the app you chose to back them up.

I've found some that backup to XML won't work if you have pictures in your messages. So either, save the pictures off, or you can use this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=backup.email.inapp&hl=en
It uses your Google account to backup and store your MMS/SMS messages. It works great.

How about using LG backup. It can backup both apps and data so I think it can both backup sms and call logs...