Database Users

What is the best backup software out there?

Hey everybody...I already tried both but cannot determine which one is the best...any idea? =)

SPB Clone is an enterprise application designed to clone a pocket pc build across multiple pda's and you will need $300 to buy it.
spb currently have a spb backup version 1.0 currently in beta stages which I think backs up your data into a self extracting executable.
Sprite backup on the other hand is very good but the wm5 compatible version is currently in beta also.
I've always used Sprite but will be looking at what spb backup has to offer...

I use Sprite Backup too..very easy to configure. Only complaint is that for scheduled backups, it won't allow me to select specific folders from the SD card to backup...it's all or none.

Does sprite backup make an exact copy from the device too? Does it keep all settings, tweaks, gprs config,.... ??I d like to use a software which makes me able to make a self extracting copy EXACT copy (so when I install it, the device should be 100% the same as when I created the backup).

yes I believe Sprite Backup backups everything. All your registry settings, databases are fully backed up.

Yes, sprite Back-up is the best back up utility I have ever used...
it can back up every thing in your RAM... registry.. contacts.. files, SMS, e-mail.. etc
it doesn't take much time to restore a back up ( 2-3 min approx. ), and it stores the backed up file as .exe so it can run on the device even if sprite back up is not installed or registered...
I believe it is a must- have in any PPC
cheers

Thanks for your advices! I know what to keep now =)

I use Sprite Backup to do daily full backups (and automatically keep the last 3 backups) to the SD card and then use Rubber Stamp DataSync software on the desktop PC to sync the backups created by Sprite to the PC.
I also use Sunnysoft backup to do daily backups on important folders on the SD card. Both Sunnysoft and Sprite backups are then synced to the desktop via Rubber Stamp.
That way I have full working backups of the entire handheld plus SD card on a daily basis. I backup the entire SD card manually once a month.

Sprite gets my vote
Bought it last week, and already it has been put to use.
Faultless application, and worth every penny.

It's so much of a pain to lose data ...what makes it worst is that you have to reinstall everything from scratch which is time consuming ...
It's so much easier to use Sprite to do a backup when you are asleep and if something does go wrong, you only lose a day's worth of data.
My handheld crashed today because I deleted a wav file associated with the SafeMode so whenever I do a soft reset, the SafeMode hangs and thus I cannot proceed further. Very easy, did a hard reset, aligned the screen and did a soft reset. Then just execute the backup file from last night. It took me only 5 minutes to get everything working the same as it did at 7:00am this morning (that when Sprite does the auto backup)

my xBackup seems to keep me sane. 8)

I need a backup software

I'm looking for a good backup sfotware for my Jas Jar i treid SPB Backup
all the version but it didn't work good, when i do a restore i get the following message
Restore process has not responding for a long time, Do you want to cancel the restore?
the more important is to backup the SMS and restore it when i need
please help me
regarda

I have used SPB backup since the beta roms were released.
i performed a multitude of different backups and restores.
what I did learn is that if you are going to restore, you are better off performing a hard reset or a clear storage, put your device back to factory position, then restore.
provided you are restoring over the same versions of the ROM you should be ok.

Sprite Backup

Seconded!!
Sprite Backup is the one piece of backup software work investing in. Has got me out of trouble on a couple of occasions now.
It backs up all your files and applications AND the various registry entries and hidden files/folders that get installed.
If you are a fiddler and like trying various apps and hacks it's a must.

Thirded(??!!)
My M5000 had a couple of dodgy pixels so replaced it.
Even using the old Sprite backup (v5 instead of v5.1) my device restored without any hitches - I had my new device up and running within 10mins - all applications working!!
I never chose to restore the email dB's though due to problems on a previous device and version of sprite backup - but is easy enough to setup again.
Matt

Personally I have both SPB and Sprite
Sprite is faster, but SPB creates a single .exe file that you simply double-click to restore; i.e. there is no need to reinstall SPB before restoring your machine.
So my vote goes to SPB (just)

Actually Sprite has the option to make "self restoring backups" since their latest 5.1 release.

thanks, I'll check that out

Sprite for sure !
Alternatively: Sunnysoft's Backup Manager (IMO superior to Spb) but does not reach Sprite (yet)
Cheers
hrb

Sprite it is.
V5.1 is just released and restores everything as it was before hard reset. Scheduled backups etc.
It also claims to be able to backup AFTER a ROM upgrade or to a different device. I have tried this and it hasn't worked although the guys at Sprite are on the case.

Backing up my settings - How?

Ok, so having gone through 2 SPVM3100 now....I would really like to be able to save my settings (email, wifi, etc) to a cab file that I can reload in case I do a hard reset.
How do I do this?

I would use either SPB Backup or SPRITE Backup. Be warned that last time i tried to restore from SPRITE the restore did not work properly. You may have better luck with spb backup as it tries to do less, but i have never restored from it so I cannot advise.

I believe there is a way to create a cab file using free software...I saw somewhere on here, but can't now find it. This is all due of course to the fact that activesync no longer supports creating a backup....

LeoPheonix said:
Be warned that last time i tried to restore from SPRITE the restore did not work properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The trick is to run the restore process twice: one after HR, and the second time after the first restore. The second time it restores all without a warning.

LeoPheonix said:
I would use either SPB Backup or SPRITE Backup. Be warned that last time i tried to restore from SPRITE the restore did not work properly. You may have better luck with spb backup as it tries to do less, but i have never restored from it so I cannot advise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprite 5.1 doesn't restore the registry that well. However, it does quite a good job of restroring over ROM updates and cross-devices. Provided you've done some "due diligence" like set the keyboard back to default before porting etc.
Hence i use sprite 5.0 which is the most thorough and reliable restore i can find. Leaves me precious little to do to set things back to as they were (some deleting of files only)

Backup?

Hi, everyone. I am tired of installing all the stuff to the phone every time i hard reset it. Is there a program that does a full backup? I want to hard reset it, run the backup program and have all the things working. Regardless if they are installed on the phone or on he memory stick.
Is spb backup well suited for the job. Remember i want everything to work.

Hi
What about the SPB backup ?
It cost a little, but it deserve it .

i prefer sprite backup

Spb backup is what I use...
It creates an executable backup file.
So after you hard reset, just run the backup. Nothing to re-install!
I always make a backup before I install any new apps!!
Stuart

Does Spb backup backs up messages and contacts?
or does it only backs up programs?

Spb will backup everything from contact, sms.... to anything/everything on your storage card!
Stuart

scl_electronics said:
Spb will backup everything from contact, sms.... to anything/everything on your storage card!
Stuart
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, thanks, i'm going to give it a try .

flext said:
i prefer sprite backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That one seems also great and profi.

i also recommend spb back-up

I think Resco Backup is the most complete backup / restore software, but as it's a new challenger in Windows Mobile, they still have some small issues. For me everything works except the SMS / MMS restore, which I backup / restore temporary with PIM Backup 4.8 (which is a freeware).

I have made a backup with SPB from R1 Generic_UK ROM and I'm trying to use the backup file for the R2 Generic_UK ROM.
After restoring I got the error message:
"MainWnd.cpp 198
Unable connect to server"
Any solution?

I had problems with spb backup as well. mine did install, but i ended up with flickering screen and as soon as I clicked on settings the phone froze, so i had to take the battery out. I have been reinstalling and resetting everything for the past 4 hours.

You need to remember, If you are updating your rom...
This is essentially putting an new version of the OS your Xperia!!
So the Only items you want to restore is Databases(contacts, datebook, sms...etc) and Data(my docs area)
You do not want to restore system files or registry!!!
This will conflict with the new ROM!!!
So You after you restore only the Data.... You need to re-install apps!!!
hth,
Stuart
btw, when you run your current SPB Backup file. It will give you the option of a full retore or choosing what you want to re-Install (selective restore)....stu

I recommend SPB Backup. I use it to restore my phone about 3 times and it works great.
Features I like:
- Very fast backup and restore!
- Backups *everything*, stand-alone restorer.
- Can compress the backup.
- Can choose what to backup/restore.
- And the best thing: SPB Backup Sync! It's basically an application like the Active Sync program on your PC. You can configure it to make backups everytime you sync and copy them to your PC automatically. Works great.

Myself had trouble with it, and I did try the Pim backup, small software perhaps do not backup all the programs, but, back-up, contacts and differents folders

orelsi said:
Hi, everyone. I am tired of installing all the stuff to the phone every time i hard reset it. Is there a program that does a full backup? I want to hard reset it, run the backup program and have all the things working. Regardless if they are installed on the phone or on he memory stick.
Is spb backup well suited for the job. Remember i want everything to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I test drove a few of the backup programs out there a while back and posted my fave two here: http://xperiancer.blogspot.com/2009/01/data-backup-be-prepared.html
I recently was notified of HTC Backup utility - a free utility, as well as the new version of Resco Backup which is supposedly better than SPB Backup. I will be checking them out in the next day or so and posting more at the blog.

What about a restore after a firmware update. Will it work?

orelsi said:
What about a restore after a firmware update. Will it work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer to just backup pim.vol, cemail.vol, the weather database and a few other files. Then just let the new ROM run and install everything I want and put the backup files in play. It's fast and automatic. No fuss and it's all built in.

sprite backup does the same as spb backup,it has all the same features but i found it does not give me half as many errors as spb

Can SPB Backup perform a COMPLETE system backup?

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.