Database Users

alternative way to backup contacts?

Hi
Just got this thing the other day (O2 XDA Mini S) and am pulling my hair out with ActiveSync. A google and a look round these forums convinces me I'm not alone.
I'm now at the point where notes will sync, but Contacts and Calendar will not. This appears to be most likely because I'm not using an Exchange Server.
I give in. Can anyone advise whether this some alternative to ActiveSync that I can use to back up my contacts list? I'd hate to have to do it all over again.
I have a memory card, so adding software from that is no problem if necessary.
Thanks

You can try the backup tool Sunnysoft
in advanced mode is an option Backup PIM databases

lansalot said:
I'm now at the point where notes will sync, but Contacts and Calendar will not. This appears to be most likely because I'm not using an Exchange Server.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you just trying to sync with your pc over the usb link? You don't need Exchange Server for that - it sync's with Outlook directly. Have you set up what information you want to sync in ActiveSync's Tools->options?
Another possibility for not syncing is any firewall you are running - although, if it was that, you wouldn't even get Notes to sync.
John

yup
Thanks for that John, yep I've done all I can see that I need to do. Missing Exchange was about the only thing left I could think of. I think I might uninstall Outlook and reinstall it to see if that helps. Though I *hate* having to install that POS just so I can backup some settings !
Perhaps there's somewhere within the phone that will export the various settings somewhere. Or perhaps I should dig out VS2005 and attempt to write one myself. Backing up to storage card would be the best option I think, and from a look around the .net mobile CF, it would appear to be pretty well supported.
And I had to disable Zonealarm despite having all the appropriate configurations set up to allow it. I even put 169.254.x.x in the trusted zone, to no avail.
ActiveSync is a shocking piece of software - and I know from owning other phones that there's things like MobiExplorer and MobiManager that tends to work much better than the usual manufacturer-supplied stuff.
Chak, thanks for the lead with SunnySoft.

Copy the pim.vol file from the root directory of the device. This contains all your pim info (contacts, call history, tasks, calendar). You can't really make anything out of it if you try to view it, but when you hard reset, you can just overwrite the new one and soft reset to restore everything. I copy mine to my storage card every time i add something new that has to do with pim stuff.

guttrhead said:
Copy the pim.vol file from the root directory of the device. This contains all your pim info (contacts, call history, tasks, calendar). You can't really make anything out of it if you try to view it, but when you hard reset, you can just overwrite the new one and soft reset to restore everything. I copy mine to my storage card every time i add something new that has to do with pim stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in my case, pim.vol file is protected, so copying & replacing it after hard reset does not work. i have other workaround for backuping contacts (as my activesync with outlook simply does not work) - each contact via irda to computer. it saves contact as .vcf file that you can send to wizard back again after hard reset.

Try using total commander to get to the file.

I yust transfered the file via email inside my home WLan to the PC.....

Hey, is this a common problem for HTC devices or Windows mobile in general?
I just started searching because my calendar won't sync. (3 palm devices and 3 pda's later, I have 1,400+ contacts.)
Are there any workarounds that anyone knows?
I tried setting up the sync settings whilst the device was disconnected, but the calendar entry just disappears when I re-connect.
-Worried of Sheffield.

thanks
Thanks eva_d, I had already hit on the idea of bluetoothing all my contacts over (thankfully, there's not that many) from my nokia 6600. Luckily, the XDA didn't require my SIM to be in it during the transfer. It even took over the mini pictures I had for some of the contacts, quite smart.
But it would be some chore with more than the couple dozen I had.
I'm reading up on the windowsmobile classes in dotnet, I reckon the answer would lie in there somewhere. Writing an app in VS to back things up to some funky open format would be the ideal, even if it does just drop a directory full of VCF files for example.
Once I'm sure VS2005 is installed and working correctly (http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=41155), I'll throw some serious effort at it.

Re: thanks
lansalot said:
Thanks eva_d, I had already hit on the idea of bluetoothing all my contacts over (thankfully, there's not that many) from my nokia 6600. Luckily, the XDA didn't require my SIM to be in it during the transfer. It even took over the mini pictures I had for some of the contacts, quite smart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
copying contacts to other handset is bit risky, because various producers are using various interpretation of .vcf file format. for instance, when i copy contact from siemens s65 to wizard, email field is always ripped off the contact and polish national characters are also absent. copying contacts to computer via irda is quite safe, however personal ringtones assigned to contact and voice dials are sacrified. all other data within a contact are still present, including contact picture.

A bit more info on the missing calendar link:-
I have one laptop using activesync V.4.1 this was where i first discovered the problem.
Just tried laptop #2 running a/sync v.3.7.1 which has an older copy of my appointments in outlook. Calendar doesn't sync to this either, so it must be something inside the MDA.
Tried to search microsoft support to find a solution, but no entries found. This seems to indicate that it is a HTC issue. I had a MDA Pro briefly sync-ed up which worked Ok. The problems are with my MDA compact running WM2003.

pim.vol not only saves the contact but also the assigned ringtone and pic. only way to do it is copy to storage card.
then after hard reset it won't let you overwrite the new one but if you rename it to pim.vol.old it lets you do that. then you can overwrite it.

laich71 said:
pim.vol not only saves the contact but also the assigned ringtone and pic. only way to do it is copy to storage card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
contact pictures are NOT saved in pim.vol. when i restore contacts via irda from .vcf files on my laptop, pictures are already there.

I know this thread has moved on a bit, but I've just got my calendar to sync. again and I'm soooo relieved!
Take a look at this forum to find out how:-
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.pocketpc.activesync
Look at 'Cannot get calendar to sycnhronise' and the second reply.

Backing up the Contacts with Mail2Web Live Mail Service
I basically use the mail2web live mail service, and use its exchange server as the server source in Activesync. I only choose synching Contacts with this server (but you can choose others).
This way, all my contacts are always up to date in mail2web servers, and even if I need to hard reset, I can reget all of my contacts back very quickly.
Highly recommended...
Fast

please use the search PLEASE! ....search for PPCBckpContacts.exe
damn it!

Best backup for ROM upgrading?

Hi,
I want to start experimenting with new ROMs again, but I don't want to lose all my settings.
Programs and such aren't that much of an issue, as I have everything I installed on my PC, but I would like to backup the following:
- All contacts
- All messages, mainly SMS (emails are stored on IMAP anyway)
- GPRS settings
- Minesweeper highscores
Would anyone know of an app that won't copy the entire registry (as that'd beat the point of upgrading the ROM ), but will cover most of what I mentioned ?
Thanks,
TB

Upgraded ROM - 'People' still there??!

Hi,
Very confused about what happened during a ROM upgrade..
I went from 1.43 to 1.48, immediately following which I did a hard reset (perhaps not strictly necessary however commonly believed to be best practise when flashing ROMs).
HD2 started up, did it's initialization customisations, asked for my provider etc. I then went through and configured my connection with my Exchange Server and all my data sync'd up - all normal so far.
So now I had a fresh install, just with my Exchange data on (contacts / calendar / email etc). Definitely a clean install (just to emphasis the point!) as obviously my app shortcuts weren't there from the home screen, my weather cities of choice weren't there but instead the default, etc etc etc. All as expected.
BUT..
I flicked to the People (contacts) section of Sense (the second tab by default) and to my surprise there were the six faces of the people I had configured previously!! They were in the wrong order (no logic to the new order) but yup they were there!! VERY STRANGE!!
The only thing I can think of is either a) such configuration is stored on the storage card (which obviously isn't wiped during ROM upgrade) or b) it is somehow stored and sync'd back in the individual Outlook contact records themselves (unlikely I'm thinking..).
Any comments??! Even if just to confirm? Or am I going completely mad!!

Same here - very random - my photos and music have been juggled around too...

SimonW500 said:
Hi,
it is somehow stored and sync'd back in the individual Outlook contact records themselves (unlikely I'm thinking..).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is this^
When you add in a contact to favourites in sense and sync back to exchange, you will notice that your contact has been added to a category called "HTC Favourite".
Check Outlook on a PC to see the categories your contacts are assigned to.

Thanks for the quick reply and confirmation - good to know I'm not going mad!
So can someone explain how this is done? ie. kept on storage card / sync'd back to Exchange / AN Other?
I'm particularly concerned if it is sync'd back to Exchange, as until now I often try quite a few Windows Mobile devices and enter in my Exchange details etc on the assumption that nothing that particular device does is actually kept once I wipe the phone.

Audio Oblivion said:
It is this^
When you add in a contact to favourites in sense and sync back to exchange, you will notice that your contact has been added to a category called "HTC Favourite".
Check Outlook on a PC to see the categories your contacts are assigned to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow - another amazing quick response!!
Excellent - thanks for the info - well spotted! Now despite my above comment I can live with this more than happily, actually see it as a useful feature!
Thanks again.

Moving People around?
Following on from the above (loosely!)..
Is there an easy way to move the ordering of these shortcuts around?
Being the picky individual that I am (!) I have them in a certain order, which effectively means that even though the right people are 'remembered' I still have to delete and create them all again to put them in the right order.
Thanks again..

Your photo and Music are located on your SD card. SD card is not impacted by either HARD RESET or Memory Flashing.
You favorties contacts are part of a group... And this informations is stored in the contact information on your Exchange server (like if you've put them in a group named "Restaurants" "Best Friends", etc. But it's not storing their positions; If you flash hard reset multiple times, it will always put them in the same position. (Sync order? Older first? By phone number? no idea right now)
For the other informations (shortcuts) it's not saved either on your SD card, MyPhone account nor Exchange server... no way to get them back automatically..

Kridek said:
Your photo and Music are located on your SD card. SD card is not impacted by either HARD RESET or Memory Flashing.
You favorties contacts are part of a group... And this informations is stored in the contact information on your Exchange server (like if you've put them in a group named "Restaurants" "Best Friends", etc. But it's not storing their positions; If you flash hard reset multiple times, it will always put them in the same position. (Sync order? Older first? By phone number? no idea right now)
For the other informations (shortcuts) it's not saved either on your SD card, MyPhone account nor Exchange server... no way to get them back automatically..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good summary - spot on!
It seems with this little integration of Outlook groups, and the use of MyPhone, re-flashing roms or hard resets are getting slightly more "user friendly". I realise there a 3rd party apps to do this (and more) however to me half the beauty of doing such a flash/reset is to NOT carry things over other than pure data (ie. not config)..

People
The faces images info is stored in the pim.vol but whatever you used to reinstall contacts(Exchange?) has sorted them in the wrong order.
I use a method which comes from doing countless rom upgrades.
I used sashimi but realised all it was doing was copying and restoring the pim.vol
Don't use PIM backup as going back & forth from backup and restore seems to lead to corrupted pim.vol files. I know you haven't done that but just a warning.
The way to get a mirror restore, is to copy the pim.vol file in the root folder(device\) before reinstalling to your sd card or pc, then copy back over the empty pim.vol after reinstalling. You can't do it in the device explorer or in activesync but with resco explorer or fexploreext you can. I avoid activesync so I don't get either duplicates or wiped out contact/calendar info. This may seem laborious but after hundreds of rom flashes it has value in being quick and safe. I have 450+ contacts I have accumulated in 7 years of owning PPC/WM's and always have a plethora of calendar items which I can not afford to lose or have corrupted.
If you want to backup sms's you can use PIM Backup.
Maybe you would find it easier to use MS Myphone. I have avoided it so can't give a review.

Pure data
Pure data is great, but once there are uc(user customisation) compliant Leo roms, there will be available, a beautiful way of reconstructing about 80% of all settings, applications and shortcuts. It restores all one's customisation in pristine order, with only the new rom's updated functions.
SimonW500 said:
Good summary - spot on!
It seems with this little integration of Outlook groups, and the use of MyPhone, re-flashing roms or hard resets are getting slightly more "user friendly". I realise there a 3rd party apps to do this (and more) however to me half the beauty of doing such a flash/reset is to NOT carry things over other than pure data (ie. not config)..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Xaddict said:
The faces images info is stored in the pim.vol but whatever you used to reinstall contacts(Exchange?) has sorted them in the wrong order.
I use a method which comes from doing countless rom upgrades.
I used sashimi but realised all it was doing was copying and restoring the pim.vol
Don't use PIM backup as going back & forth from backup and restore seems to lead to corrupted pim.vol files. I know you haven't done that but just a warning.
The way to get a mirror restore, is to copy the pim.vol file in the root folder(device\) before reinstalling to your sd card or pc, then copy back over the empty pim.vol after reinstalling. You can't do it in the device explorer or in activesync but with resco explorer or fexploreext you can. I avoid activesync so I don't get either duplicates or wiped out contact/calendar info. This may seem laborious but after hundreds of rom flashes it has value in being quick and safe. I have 450+ contacts I have accumulated in 7 years of owning PPC/WM's and always have a plethora of calendar items which I can not afford to lose or have corrupted.
If you want to backup sms's you can use PIM Backup.
Maybe you would find it easier to use MS Myphone. I have avoided it so can't give a review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good tip with with pim.vol file..
For what it's worth, I too have a similar amount of valuable contact and calendar data, however to date I'm pleased to report no amount of heavy ActiveSync (direct Exchange Server connection) abuse has caused any serious issues.

Activesync issues
There's always a first time, and 2nd and so on...
p.s. I'm not sure I want to flash roms the way I did on my HD,
but when I was doing it, activesync gave me a lot of problems.
SimonW500 said:
Good tip with with pim.vol file..
For what it's worth, I too have a similar amount of valuable contact and calendar data, however to date I'm pleased to report no amount of heavy ActiveSync (direct Exchange Server connection) abuse has caused any serious issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Xaddict said:
There's always a first time, and 2nd and so on...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - very true! For this reason I try to take a copy of all my contacts within Outlook at least once a month; both protects me from any wayward devices as well as any modifications I may make and then regret (change of numbers, deletions etc!).

I love this feature
usually , one had to reconfigure all the favorite contacts after a hard reset.
Now, when syncing with Exchange, like said above, your favorites will be restored with pictures and all. Great
Never had them pop back in in the wrong order though.

lucid said:
usually , one had to reconfigure all the favorite contacts after a hard reset.
Now, when syncing with Exchange, like said above, your favorites will be restored with pictures and all. Great
Never had them pop back in in the wrong order though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, I upgraded from HD to HD2, as soon as i sync with exchange i got my favs back in the correct order with all my emails , text messages etc etc.

Best backup solution for HD2?

Afternoon XDA!
I plan on a bit of a rom flashing marathon on my phone this next week to see what else is out there and perhaps even teach myself a thing or two.
My question is - which application is best for backing up my contact and SMS (and perhaps shortcut) data for the HD2? On older devices I've used PIM backup to take care of contacts and messages, but with the HD2's Facebook integration will this method work? I'd ideally not have to link everyone back up with their profiles after flashing.
I've heard that SPB backup may have issues if restoring from one rom to another so not sure how well it'd work.
What's your recommendation?
Thanks

Hi there,
Spb backup works great for me. Had tried some others but have been using spb backup 2.0 since my Touch HD. Never had any problem.
HTH,
Sam.

I also use SPB Backup.
​

I'm more than happy using MS myphone - backs itself up each night so I don't have to think about it. 200MB of storage, can even do pics and vids.

Hi, I use Myphone and Googlesync for my backups. Additionaly installed apps are on my PC or my Marketplace or PocketPCfreeware accounts and my data is on my SD card and PC. I think one of the problems people have experienced when they use full backup programs is if they accidently restore the registery from their old configuration over their shiny new system. Oh and one of my friends lost all his Footprints when he flashed without exporting them to his SD card (using the Export feature of Footprints).
Hope this helps.

cMMY69 said:
Hi, I use Myphone and Googlesync for my backups. Additionaly installed apps are on my PC or my Marketplace or PocketPCfreeware accounts and my data is on my SD card and PC. I think one of the problems people have experienced when they use full backup programs is if they accidently restore the registery from their old configuration over their shiny new system. Oh and one of my friends lost all his Footprints when he flashed without exporting them to his SD card (using the Export feature of Footprints).
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you use google sync on the hd2? is there an app that I have to download?

Spb backup works great for me too!

Hi, Googlesync involves configuring an Exchange server at the address m.google.com in ActiveSync on your phone. It will then treat your GMail as an Exchange Server and you will have options on what to sync. Here is the info at Google: http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=138636&topic=14299. 2 key points noted by Google; Back up Calender and contacts first (I suggest MyPhone) and don't try and sync tasks.
Regards.

cMMY69 said:
one of my friends lost all his Footprints when he flashed without exporting them to his SD card (using the Export feature of Footprints).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But using export, you have to do it one by one. Is there a way to export all the footprints?
I found that it is easier just to restore the footprint folder content and all my stuff is back.
By the way, I just learnt that HD2 came bundled with Sprite Backup! At least in the HK versions. I don't know why HTC hasn't talked about it anywhere. It is sitting on my SD card and I never knew that it was there.

alex fung said:
But using export, you have to do it one by one. Is there a way to export all the footprints?
I found that it is easier just to restore the footprint folder content and all my stuff is back.
By the way, I just learnt that HD2 came bundled with Sprite Backup! At least in the HK versions. I don't know why HTC hasn't talked about it anywhere. It is sitting on my SD card and I never knew that it was there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can restore the foorptints folder, if you have backed it up to start with. That hadn't occurred to my friend

Good stuff
I want to back up my HD2 (full backup). Any software that works to restore everything as it was, e.g. contacts, sms, email account, facebook links with contacts, cab files, quicklinks etc?

undacova786 said:
I want to back up my HD2 (full backup). Any software that works to restore everything as it was, e.g. contacts, sms, email account, facebook links with contacts, cab files, quicklinks etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just make sure to copy all the files on your phone to a backup location
Or try PIM Backup: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=299705

use spb movilbiles

SPB backup is the best, for me.

All full backup apps can have attendant problems if used from one flash ROM to another (ie not just a reflash of the same ROM).
They carry over file associations, registry settings etc and I believe contribute to instability issues.
So be aware and use them at your own risk.
For everything else (PIM, texts, browser favourites etc) MyPhone is sweet.

SPB Backup has an option to restore after a ROM upgrade. Though this doesn't work flawlessly (e.g. not all shortcuts were retrieved and had to be created manually) it does do the important things.

I have always used SPB Backup, never had an issue.

I use Microsoft Myphone. I dont get what the issue with it is. I dont both backing up texts as last time I did it was boring waiting for 4000 texts to restore back to the phone. I store all pics/music on my memory card so its only a case of contacts, bookmarks, calendar etc. All my FB links seems to magically reappear as well. I think this might be something to do with the Facebook tab though. *Credit to who ever built it*

I know im a newb. But how do you restore from my phone. Im new to windows mobile. I lost all contacts, calendar entries, etc. I saved to microsoft my phone, but how to restore? Also backed up to a few other outlets but cant figure out howto restore any of them. LOL

Sprite Backup for me. http://www.spritesoftware.com/
It's perfect, backups anything you want, including SD card. Using this with my Samsung Omnia sometimes gave an error in the report (although it didn't have effect on installing my backup!) but with the HD2 it doesn't even give this error. Backing up is easy, just set preferences and run it! The backup is an exe-file that you run from your device or SD card after you've done a hard reset. It basically saved my life several times after having to do hard resets!

How to back up your HD2

right first things first ive done a few searches and coldnt find anything
I would like to know what you guys use to back up your phone. Im mainly after backing up my sms inbox, contacts and installed apps and settings. Ive had to factory reset my phone twice in the passed week lol lost everything and now have it tweeked to my liking now. so I best back up everything asap incase
thanks for any replies

Hi..
there is an app called microsoft my phone , on the start windows tab,,
regards
op

and i dont fancy paying £18.19 for SPRITE BACKUP

the_operator said:
Hi..
there is an app called microsoft my phone , on the start windows tab,,
regards
op
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with this guy....I use Microsoft "My Phone" too....I like to mess with my phone and this program syncs everything that I need and stores it online. I can even access and make changes from my PC if I feel the need. Everytime I change my ROM I just sync it up and all my contacts, calendar etc are back on the phone!

Seem those guys never upgrade their phone, uh!
Every time you have to re-enter all config stufs (e.g. e-mails accounts & passwords, connections settings, and so on); everything can be saved by ActiveSync or My Phone EXCEPT those specific configs!!!
I just found CeRegistryEditor (link to ceregeditor.mdsoft.pl/?lang=en): it allows to backup & compare registry entries with file(s) by using ActiveSync connection.
Everytime you add/change some specific settings just compare entries with previously saved one and save it with mnemonic name; once you re-initialize your phone just load all saved keys, of course without forgetting to re-install all related programs, if needed!
Your phone will be just as you want in a couple of minutes. That's it!
rg,
Stefano

Definitely SPB Backup.
Give that a shot... it's a costly bit of software... but completely worthy.

Sprite Backup is a must for anyone, especially for those who wants to do some tweaking.

sprite back up
Exactly 12 hours ago my Leo 's sence stopped launching and I was in a horrible time.I had collected 79 nice opera bookmarks and doing a hard reset should clean all of them !
spb back up was not the solution ,cause it can't back up favourites.and Microsoft my phone couldn't sync cause the wi-fi was dead ! so I beamed up Sprite back up tool from my old Hd .
and it selected percisely what I wanted...I think spb phone plus or suit has the same function for backing up favourites but SPRITE is perfect.

I want to back up my hd2 too, can anyone tell me how to use Activesync for backing up plz

Hi,
i think you can't use AS for backup. You could copy all the user-data and programm folders but not the registry entries. You need special backup software for this purpose. I know Spb Backup and Sprite. Although i ve registered bith i mainlay use Spb because it works better for me. I think it is worth his money.
Bernhard

Re: HD2 backup
Personally I store everything on the storage card - and use Jeyo Mobile Companion to backup and restore contacts, sms, call history etc prior to flashing... works like a charm...
And in conjunction with Microsoft My Phone - never lost anything so far... even able to recover my business mobile while roaming...

trying to put my nubers on the adroid version how can i do it

haircuts91 said:
trying to put my nubers on the adroid version how can i do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As with Android you need to set up a GMail account, so you can access the app market.
Set up a new exchange e-mail account on your WinMo phone - Use the details you used in the GMail account. Once it is set up, the GMail account will pick up your contacts when you sync the phone (via the phone's Activesync).
When you go into Android sync your Gmail account.

PIM Backup.

haircuts91 said:
trying to put my nubers on the adroid version how can i do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you use hotmail, just use activesync/exchange connection on your android

I got a question, when you install the wp7 on the HD2, do you also lose files from the internal memory? like the camera software or the album software or everything from internal memory?
so which backup file can i use to save all those folders and files?

I tried SPB.
Downloaded it ok.
Ran it ok.
Then at the end of the process it crashed the phone.
Booted but sense wouldn't load at all. Start worked but irratic and laggy, settings didn't open.
Tried numerous soft resets but nothing worked.
Did a hard reset and used Microsoft MyPhone to restore contacts, tasks, SMS and calendar all perfect apart from havingbto resync contacts with facebook.
I did have to download all my apps and mods again and confit email etc. A real pain but didn't loose anything valuable,
MyPhone very useful and free.

BEERSHARK said:
I tried SPB.
Downloaded it ok.
Ran it ok.
Then at the end of the process it crashed the phone.
Booted but sense wouldn't load at all. Start worked but irratic and laggy, settings didn't open.
Tried numerous soft resets but nothing worked.
Did a hard reset and used Microsoft MyPhone to restore contacts, tasks, SMS and calendar all perfect apart from havingbto resync contacts with facebook.
I did have to download all my apps and mods again and confit email etc. A real pain but didn't loose anything valuable,
MyPhone very useful and free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
I use spb backup for over a year and it works more that perfect.
Maybe you are doing something wrong (although I can not imagine what can go wrong in such an easy installation). I have used it for numerous backups and restores.No problem at all. Spb Backup is Highly Recommended.
Regards,
John