Database Users

which is the best tested backup utility for the WIZARD?

I am planing on a ROM upgrade, I don't want to lose all my settings, so I am looking at a backup utility. I read a lot about sprite backup, is there a TOP list that I can choose from? Share good/bad experience pls.
10x

I have good results with spb backup http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/backup/?en
Creates a executable on the storage card so no need for pc. Other users given good reports.
Problem is with rom upgrade it may not work out as registry settings and other files will not be the same???. Dont know if sprite does the same. You will have to do manual backup of all the relevent files i guess.

I would also recommend SPB backup.

GliTCH82 said:
I would also recommend SPB backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
me too. it is the best utility for backup.

GliTCH82 said:
I would also recommend SPB backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I changed from SPB Backup to Sprite Backup. This one is more versatile. You can better choose what to backup or to restore. Make sure you install on your SD-card, so you can use it after a hard reset.

Mesias said:
GliTCH82 said:
I would also recommend SPB backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I changed from SPB Backup to Sprite Backup. This one is more versatile. You can better choose what to backup or to restore. Make sure you install on your SD-card, so you can use it after a hard reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zou can do the same with SPB backup. and by the way, who needs a serial for spb backup, pm me

I've always used Sprite Premium Backup in the past with WM2003/SE devices, and I have had to restore from a backup on many occasions. Never let me down. It creates a self-extracting backup on a storage card, and it also has a PC component that allows backups to your PC when connected via a USB port.
Unfortunately Sprite was without a solution for backing up WM5 devices for quite a while.
So I picked up SPB Backup, as mentioned by many other users here. SPB Backup appears to work fine, at least as far as creating the backups and storing them on my storage card. However I have not yet had to try to restore my device from a backup made with SPB Backup - which is the only real test that can be performed. And I don't feel like wiping out all my data just to test the SPB Backups.
Any backup application can appear to run fine; it's the "put it all back and make everything OK again!" part of any backup program that will make you love it or hate it!
Has anyone here who says that SPB Backup is working great for them ever attempted to restore yet? Not that I don't think that it will...
I would just like to hear that has successfully restored someone's device - it'll make me feel a lot better!

J-Mac said:
I've always used Sprite Premium Backup in the past with WM2003/SE devices, and I have had to restore from a backup on many occasions. Never let me down. It creates a self-extracting backup on a storage card, and it also has a PC component that allows backups to your PC when connected via a USB port.
Unfortunately Sprite was without a solution for backing up WM5 devices for quite a while.
So I picked up SPB Backup, as mentioned by many other users here. SPB Backup appears to work fine, at least as far as creating the backups and storing them on my storage card. However I have not yet had to try to restore my device from a backup made with SPB Backup - which is the only real test that can be performed. And I don't feel like wiping out all my data just to test the SPB Backups.
Any backup application can appear to run fine; it's the "put it all back and make everything OK again!" part of any backup program that will make you love it or hate it!
Has anyone here who says that SPB Backup is working great for them ever attempted to restore yet? Not that I don't think that it will...
I would just like to hear that has successfully restored someone's device - it'll make me feel a lot better!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've restorfed backups many times, as I tested various ROMS for the Wizard. each time i put a new ROM, I perform a backup restore from my card.

J-Mac said:
I've always used Sprite Premium Backup in the past with WM2003/SE devices, and I have had to restore from a backup on many occasions. Never let me down. It creates a self-extracting backup on a storage card, and it also has a PC component that allows backups to your PC when connected via a USB port.
Unfortunately Sprite was without a solution for backing up WM5 devices for quite a while.
So I picked up SPB Backup, as mentioned by many other users here. SPB Backup appears to work fine, at least as far as creating the backups and storing them on my storage card. However I have not yet had to try to restore my device from a backup made with SPB Backup - which is the only real test that can be performed. And I don't feel like wiping out all my data just to test the SPB Backups.
Any backup application can appear to run fine; it's the "put it all back and make everything OK again!" part of any backup program that will make you love it or hate it!
Has anyone here who says that SPB Backup is working great for them ever attempted to restore yet? Not that I don't think that it will...
I would just like to hear that has successfully restored someone's device - it'll make me feel a lot better!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it has without a hitch!

naughty said:
I am planing on a ROM upgrade, I don't want to lose all my settings, so I am looking at a backup utility. I read a lot about sprite backup, is there a TOP list that I can choose from? Share good/bad experience pls.
10x
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
naughty,
After I posted I re-read your post and realized what you are hoping to do.
A word of advice - don't!
Backups are great for restoring your device after a hard reset - especially those most-hated unexpected hard resets.
But for a ROM upgrade, you really want to start with a completely clean device. Your device most likely has a lot of abandoned registry entries, shortcuts, and general crap that you really don't want cluttering things up after a ROM update. I do a lot of beta testing so I always have a lot of crap left over from continually installing and uninstalling applications.
On any device running WM5 has, to some degree, a problem with uninstalling and/or upgrading programs. It's a Microsoft bug that hasn't been fully corrected yet. So even if you think that you have kept the device clean, it has junk left over from every time you had difficulty uninstalling something.
For any hard reset where you are just reinstalling exactly what you had before the reset, by all means, restore from a backup.
But for a ROM upgrade, I would advise against it.

J-Mac said:
But for a ROM upgrade, I would advise against it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was suspecting something like this..
I will probably delay the ROM upgrade, now that I think I have to re-do my
1. Voice dials
2. GPRS settings (my provider doesn't have wutomatic)
3. MMS settings
4. Email settings.
5. the installed software should be re-installed and configured..

Does anybody know what files contain the contacts, calender, tasks, notes etc. (The equivalent of the .pst files in Outlook)

i belive at the root level in file explorer, there is a file called PIM. I think that is it. Pretty sure.

Claudio said:
Does anybody know what files contain the contacts, calender, tasks, notes etc. (The equivalent of the .pst files in Outlook)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to be able to view the databases on your device. These are not readily available via the file explorer.
You can see them with some third-party applications, such as SK-Tools amd Mem-Maid.
You cannot view the contents of the DBs except by looking at your contacts, calendar, etc.
Actually I have heard that someone has created or updated an app that does let you view individual items in DBs. Not sure which one offhand, but I'll post back if I find out.

I'm with Jmac on this.
I went from 287 to 217 ROM afterwhich I restored my apps with SPB.
The new comm mgr was overlaid, activesync is no longer active nor does it sync and some stuff don't work ne more.
SPB only provides the option to selectively restore PIM, system and ? (something else). It doesn't have the option to restore specific apps.
Tonight when I flash again, I'm going to manually install my stuff again and just use Activesync to get my PIM data.

Claudio said:
Does anybody know what files contain the contacts, calender, tasks, notes etc. (The equivalent of the .pst files in Outlook)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes pim.vol in the root directory of the device contains all contacts and appts - copy to storage card as backup

dimushor said:
Mesias said:
GliTCH82 said:
I would also recommend SPB backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I changed from SPB Backup to Sprite Backup. This one is more versatile. You can better choose what to backup or to restore. Make sure you install on your SD-card, so you can use it after a hard reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zou can do the same with SPB backup. and by the way, who needs a serial for spb backup, pm me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um, no you can't. You can select specific files and folders to backup but you cannot restore when you are away from your PC. Sprite allows selective restores even on the device itself.
A word of advice - don't!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of time I would agree with you. However, with Sprite's restore after upgrade feature, you can safely restore a backup. I have done it several times on pre-WM5 devices and Sprite has updated the current WM5 version to do the same.

JNGold,
I understand that Sprite just released 5.1 a day or two ago; that's the version thar is supposed to do this.
Have you tried 5.1 yet to see if it works now?

JNGold said:
dimushor said:
Mesias said:
GliTCH82 said:
I would also recommend SPB backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I changed from SPB Backup to Sprite Backup. This one is more versatile. You can better choose what to backup or to restore. Make sure you install on your SD-card, so you can use it after a hard reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zou can do the same with SPB backup. and by the way, who needs a serial for spb backup, pm me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um, no you can't. You can select specific files and folders to backup but you cannot restore when you are away from your PC. Sprite allows selective restores even on the device itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How come? I always do restore from my miniSD card.

The new SpriteBackup also allows to create self-installing/self-extracting backups. Works great on my Wizard. I restored backups several times - without any problems.

Looking for al FULL backup app

hi!
i once owned a sony m600i. there was an application which made a complete, full backup of your device. including os, apps, setting...etc. like an image.
so you could play around with the device, and once it got messed up or you wanted your "old device" back, you just started the application and flashed back the image.
is something like this out there for winmobile? an application that can create a complete backup image of the whole device?
thanx

hebbe said:
hi!
i once owned a sony m600i. there was an application which made a complete, full backup of your device. including os, apps, setting...etc. like an image.
so you could play around with the device, and once it got messed up or you wanted your "old device" back, you just started the application and flashed back the image.
is something like this out there for winmobile? an application that can create a complete backup image of the whole device?
thanx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe it helps:
SKTools
SPB-Backup
SpriteBackup

greg17477 said:
maybe it helps:
SKTools
SPB-Backup
SpriteBackup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your hints. but it seems that you can't do something like a complete device-image with these softwares. it's more like backing up contact, apps, messages...
but thanks anyway

I use SPB Backup and it works perfect. You can also do a full system backup. Be carefull though with using a backup on a different rom...

damogwai said:
I use SPB Backup and it works perfect. You can also do a full system backup. Be carefull though with using a backup on a different rom...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and that's the point. i want to play around, check different roms, different apps and settings. once finished playing around, i just want to revert my phone back by copying the image onto the device! no flashing of the old rom, no installing and configuring of the old applications.... that really worked well on my sony m600i...this must also be possible under winmobile

also looking for a complete backup, something like acronis true image on a pc...

How to Sprite/ SPB backups work with updated custom ROMs?

Have been playing around with Sprite and SPB Backup. They seem to do a good job of restoring the phone to the last backed up state. This is important for me, because my phone has been very moody and keeps hard resetting itself. Restoring from a backup brings back lot of my data and app installs. The thought of manually reinstalling everything make me shudder.
Now given the incredible rate at which chefs keep updating their ROMs, how do you keep updating to the latest, and then restore your settings and apps from a backup? I ran into strange errors when I updated from Topix 1.5 to 1.6 and tried to do a restore. The phone simply froze up. So that backup was useless and I had to redo all settings and reinstall all apps. My assumption is that system files would have changed when the ROM got updated, and the older ones from the backup were incompatible.
is there a better way of doing this? I would like to have the latest and greatest ROM, without having to reinstall apps or redo my email and facebook/ twitter settings. Update ROM, restore from backup, and you are done!
and sorry if this question is a repeat. i am a recent convert to windows mobile (thanks to hd2 - the hardware is too good to resist), and i am still finding my way around this wonderful forum.

Same question
I was searching xda-dev just to ask the same question...
Spb backup is great for backing up all contact data + all programs and their configs. It has saved me many times.
Now I want to do a rom upgrade (my first ;-) )...
Is there any shortcut to reinstall all programs and configurations with a Spb backup after doing a rom upgrade ?
May be restoring all except the windows directory ??
Thanks in advance.

It looks like you both need some advice!
it is a well known fact that you should ONLY use SPB/Sprite, if you are flashing EXACTLY the same rom.
However if you are flashing from ROM A -> ROM B you should NEVER use either of these programs as they can really damage your instalation.
you should use PIMBackup for this, it takes Contacts SMS/MMS etc,and you can assign custom files.
MoHed said:
I was searching xda-dev just to ask the same question...
Spb backup is great for backing up all contact data + all programs and their configs. It has saved me many times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So yes you can use it for this, BUT if you are suggesting this below:
MoHed said:
Now I want to do a rom upgrade (my first ;-) )...
Is there any shortcut to reinstall all programs and configurations with a Spb backup after doing a rom upgrade ?
May be restoring all except the windows directory ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is INSANITY!! you will destroy your install!! you should never back up program instalations because it is to messy, just flash and reinstall you apps!
or use SASHIMI, which is an auto installer!!
SS

Spb backup did the job for me
Use the spb backup in the rom upgrade mode
Untick the "override file"
and it "almost restore" back to everything I was in before the rom upgrade without the need to reinstall all the applications and imput all the data all over again.
However in the htc sense stock page I got to import my stock data from my backup as the above process failed to restore it. Save and except for this issue I am overall very happy with the obove method of getting a better performing rom without the need of reinstalling all the applications and imputting the data all over again.

A very promising approach
Thank you both for the prompt and enlightening replies.
I have looked into Sashimi; it looks like it is too complex a process to go through if you are going to update rom once or twice a year.
Using Spb backup as described by Leslie Lee looks VERY interesting. I am definitely going to try it.

MoHed said:
Thank you both for the prompt and enlightening replies.
I have looked into Sashimi; it looks like it is too complex a process to go through if you are going to update rom once or twice a year.
Using Spb backup as described by Leslie Lee looks VERY interesting. I am definitely going to try it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PM me and ill explain sashimi!! (i have been using for 5 years abd i WILL NOT use a different app!! trust me it is that good!!)
I will show the way grasshopper!!
SS

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.

What is your app restoring method?

So doing fresh installs of roms is hard work (you get the idea).
What is your way to restore the apps you use and love to get back as soon as your phone is fresh? What method do you use? Is there an/several apps or piece of software that you prefer? What do you think is the most effective solution?

Titanium backup works pretty well as long as you don't touch system apps.

Since the first release of Titanium Backup I only use that app. With pro version the restore of hundred apps is really quick. The only thing is a problem restoring account settings in nougat builds, which didn't work properly... But that's OK for all of time Titanium Backup saves to you

guessingagain said:
Titanium backup works pretty well as long as you don't touch system apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
strongst said:
Since the first release of Titanium Backup I only use that app. With pro version the restore of hundred apps is really quick. The only thing is a problem restoring account settings in nougat builds, which didn't work properly... But that's OK for all of time Titanium Backup saves to you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that titanium backup is very popular, but there might be something else out there, someone who has used titanium backup and figured out a better paradigm. A app name does not complete the story of a great restoring practice!
It's a start with two votes for the Titanium backup. But where do you store your data, because that is also not really clear. If you are paying I guess that you would use a web service, which one is the best? Or do you relay on your computer because it might be faster file transfers through USB then a web service? Because once the backup is done and it is time to wipe, nothing will be salvaged? Or do you go for the USB as android system mounted extend or as a separate sd-card disk? Here are lots of pro and cons.

I am probably being a little anal but I kept my Titanium backups on my SD card, Google Drive, and Dropbox. I really could tell no difference between Google and Dropbox as far as cloud storage goes. I played around with Hellium but I always liked the extras I used in TB like freezing/defrosting apps, SMS backups, converting user apps to system apps and on and on. It is a full featured app.

benedictusg said:
I know that titanium backup is very popular, but there might be something else out there, someone who has used titanium backup and figured out a better paradigm. A app name does not complete the story of a great restoring practice!
It's a start with two votes for the Titanium backup. But where do you store your data, because that is also not really clear. If you are paying I guess that you would use a web service, which one is the best? Or do you relay on your computer because it might be faster file transfers through USB then a web service? Because once the backup is done and it is time to wipe, nothing will be salvaged? Or do you go for the USB as android system mounted extend or as a separate sd-card disk? Here are lots of pro and cons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not used any alternatives after I started with titanium so can't help you there.
For storing in case of flashing roms I just keep in the SD card cause that hasn't failed yet.
Only when I'm going from custom to stock or vice versa do I update my google drive backup. I use google drive because its faster for me than anything else no other reason.
USB backup to PC or a separate SD card might be required for only when you wipe storage (internal and SD) which I can't imagine when. But backup sometimes when you have connected the phone to your PC for any other reason. Otherwise I don't really do that much as it is too much of a bother.

OK I'm convinced. Could you tell me more about how you use titanium backup. What is your setups after all these years?
Do you make your own flashable collections?
(I purchased the pro Ti and connected Dropbox)

benedictusg said:
OK I'm convinced. Could you tell me more about how you use titanium backup. What is your setups after all these years?
Do you make your own flashable collections?
(I purchased the pro Ti and connected Dropbox)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to use titanium backup? Mate, there are tutorials out there and the help page, a little reading and trying and that's it. It's not difficult and there is no "setup" you need

strongst said:
How to use titanium backup? Mate, there are tutorials out there and the help page, a little reading and trying and that's it. It's not difficult and there is no "setup" you need
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have set it up and already know how to use it (been using it for years). I'm asking about how you use it and not how I should. Get it?
It is considerably more interesting to discuss "user cases". No manual or guide will ever give that because the approach to the question is different.

Not sure if anyone uses it still but I use Nandroid Manager for most of my restores but its hit or miss on working right since 6.0. Titanium just never seemed to work right for me. I almost got to the point of just letting Google restore my phone for me and just relogin to apps. Best to save everything to the cloud in my opinion then there's no worries. Lol