Is Backup/Restore REALLY this tedious?

[DAE51D]

Please tell me I'm doing something wrong or newb here.

I've tried both Astro and MyBackup Pro, and both of them require me to manually one-by-one "Install" and approve the install of each application. I had to tap "Install" then "Done" probably 100 times! WTF? Astro didn't seem to get ALL the applications either. It showed them all listed and I could check them, but they weren't part of the backup directory?! MyBackup Pro got them all it seems. Furthermore neither of them installed the applications BACK to the SD card from whence they came originally! I have to use another application to move them all again.

This is incredibly tedious and obnoxious. My PalmOS just backed up everything as part of the HotSync and a restore was equally as simple. It backed up ALL the .prc and .pdb files. Isn't there a way to set a config/setting somewhere that says, "never prompt me for permissions"? My Palm never prompted me for permissions like this. It reminds me of the Windows Vista UAC debacle.

Furthermore it restored the APPLICATIONS ONLY -- where the flying F is all my DATA?!?! aCar doesn't have my vehicle info in it. EiWeight doesn't have the months of pounds/body fat I've been tracking. What do I have to do to get the data/settings back for ALL my applications??!

Also, on a MyBackup Pro note -- it's stupid that it doesn't show you how far along in the asinine "Install"/"Done" process you are. Do I have 100 apps to go or 2 apps to go? I don't know. I'm just stuck hitting virtual buttons until the end...

 

[Szadzik]

You are doing things the wrong way. In Titanium Backup there is something called Batch and there you can do lots of operations with just one click.

 

[KlaymenDK]

What he said! Except, be aware that this only works with the "Pro" version. It's not exactly expensive though.

Ti is what comes closest to my old PalmOS setup, with a few generations of automatic nightly backups. Ti backs up everything, and you can restore app/data/both as you wish.

It's saved me once in a while, too, when my phone had some sort of aneurysm and lost something, or when I realised after upgrading some app that the previous version was actually better.

 

[shrink57]

Titanium Pro does fit the bill but a key point was not mentioned (or I missed it). The device must be rooted.

 

[sremick]

Titanium Pro does fit the bill but a key point was not mentioned (or I missed it). The device must be rooted.

You can't do a full proper backup without root access. Even Mybackup (which allows for some functionality even without root) admits to this.

Considering the PalmOS environment was effectively "rooted" by nature (as were most portable devices until the introduction of the iPhone), I doubt the OP will have a problem with this if he's trying to recreate his previous PalmOS experience.

- A former Palm vet.

 

[DAE51D]

Well, I just got this Evo 4G on Saturday and I'm not really looking to root it (yet) until I get the hang of everything and make sure I have solid backups.

Having said that, where is all my DATA for these applications and why isn't it backed up/restored?? I assume it stored in the sqllite DB but it seems that there should be some way that mybackup or astro would know this and dump out the proper "sql" or whatever for each application it is archiving. mybackup pro had some option to backup the "data" or the "applications" (which is silly they split it up), but the "data" option only has:

• contacts
• call log
• bookmarks
• sms
• mms
• system settings
• android home
• alarms
• dictionary
• calendar
• music play list
• gdocs
• note everything

So basically useless. where is everything else!?

How can I get all my data from the Motorolla Droid (old one) that I was playing with, onto this new Evo?

What's worse is that I haven't switched my phone number over from AT&T to Sprint yet, and for some cockamamie reason, they said I have to basically format and re-install my phone when that switch happens (and it can take up to 5 days) as they tie everything to the phone number or something stupid like that. So I fear that I'll have to yet again go through and re-setup all the applications, logins, etc, again if I can't figure out how to make a reliable backup. UGH!

By the way the same goes for my "Folders". It was tedious and annoying to have to set them all up (especially since you can't re-order items within a folder that I can see). How can I get those Folder settings to my new phone with all the applications "in" them?

 

[Benjie]

I purchased Sprite Backup and it failed to restore my Evo after I did the initial rutting. After a while and a bit of reading, I came across Astro and then Titanium Hickup and after a couple of days with Titanium Hickup, registered it and set it to backup the device every night at 2a.

 

[KlaymenDK]

Well, I just got this Evo 4G on Saturday and I'm not really looking to root it (yet) until I get the hang of everything and make sure I have solid backups.

I can respect that. Still, these days, rooting is ludicrously straightforward and failsafe.
I understand that most normal users should not be "let into" the root account until they understand what that entails, but I guess most of us here are perfectly able to handle it -- after all, I do have root access on all my "other" *nix computers.

Having said that, where is all my DATA for these applications and why isn't it backed up/restored?? I assume it stored in the sqllite DB but it seems that there should be some way that mybackup or astro would know this and dump out the proper "sql" or whatever for each application it is archiving.

You say "the sqllite DB" ... Same as on PalmOS, every app has its own separate database(s) for storage, plus a common system base for preferences. Unlike on PalmOS, the Androd security model fences every app into its own little sandbox. That's one reason why there's no "HackMaster" and certainly why all proper backup apps need to have root access -- in other words, you'll find no proper backup tool that does not require root.

mybackup pro had some option to backup the "data" or the "applications" (which is silly they split it up), but the "data" option only has:

• ...some
• ...items
• ...listed

So basically useless. where is everything else!?

Those are probably the ones for which open APIs exist to read the data without root access. And it can't even read *all* data, just what the APIs publish. It really is a shame, for those of us knowing how brilliant PDAs *can* work.

How can I get all my data from the Motorolla Droid (old one) that I was playing with, onto this new Evo?

Again, I'll have to say ... root both devices, and use Titanium Backup.

By the way the same goes for my "Folders". It was tedious and annoying to have to set them all up (especially since you can't re-order items within a folder that I can see). How can I get those Folder settings to my new phone with all the applications "in" them?

You're talking about stock Android folders, yes? I don't know for sure, but I would wager that if you used an app like Apps Organiser, you would be able to restore your setup. AO also allows you to "star" items, so that they appear first in the otherwise-alphabetically-sorted folder listing (*A, *C, *D, B, E, F, ... if that makes sense?).

I feel for you and hope you get this all sorted out, my friend.