Root Flashing ROM over ROM

[CXXV]

Will flashing a new ROM over an existing one wipe out all the apps and settings. including contacts?

If so then what is the method to backup and bring it all back.

To much of a pain to continually re-install apps and resync (particularly since HTC sync doesn't work very well).

 

[LED]

If you are changing roms, then yes you need to wipe factory/data which will cause you to lose your apps, data, contacts, etc.

TitaniumBackup is a good app to backup your user apps, and restore them on the new rom. Your contacts should be sync'd with gmail, and those will restore automatically. One thing to be sure is that all your contacts are labeled as "google" contacts (not "phone").

 

[CXXV]

I do not want my contacts on GOOGLE. It totally messed up the way I keep my contacts when I tried it.

 

[LED]

I guess you could export the contacts to your sdcard, then import them after changing roms. There is a menu item to do that.

 

[Fynx]

then what is the purpose of the NAND backup? I though that kept your apk's for your reuse after the flash of the phone.

 

[LED]

then what is the purpose of the NAND backup? I though that kept your apk's for your reuse after the flash of the phone.

Nand backup is only to revert back to a rom. Its an "image" of your phone at the time you did the nand. You can't extract items from it to use on a new rom.

 

[majorpay]

If you start doing Froyo roms, it stores your apps and restores them everytime you go to a new Froyo rom. Of course, all your settings will be gone, but it really saves you the headache of going through the procedure of installing over and over again...

 

[CXXV]

Ok, so how do you restore using Tb after a new ROM.? Do you need to reinstall Tb and then restore.

Do the Froyo ROM's restore automatically?

 

[doogald]

Will flashing a new ROM over an existing one wipe out all the apps and settings. including contacts?

If so then what is the method to backup and bring it all back.

To much of a pain to continually re-install apps and resync (particularly since HTC sync doesn't work very well).

Install Titanium Backup and pay the developer a donation. You can back up all of your apps (including their data) and then restore the apps, including their market links (so you will continue to get market notices of updates) with a single click.

Titanium Backup for Android ? Official Site

I do not want my contacts on GOOGLE. It totally messed up the way I keep my contacts when I tried it.

Honestly, Android is so much easier if you have your contacts on Google. I'm not sure that I'd suggest Titanium necessarily for contact backup, because the developers does say restoring system data (like contacts) across different ROMs can be problematic. Perhaps others know of a good contacts backup and restore app, but I just use Google contacts (which, again, works great for me, because I sync Google contacts with all of my computers, so my address book can be updated in any of four places and the changes, additions or deletions are propagated to each platform automatically.)

 

[CXXV]

I just figured out I can copy contacts from People to the SD card and then restore them using People.

 

[erisuser1]

Nand backup is only to revert back to a rom. Its an "image" of your phone at the time you did the nand. You can't extract items from it to use on a new rom.

One comment to add to this, which reinforces how useful it is to have Nand backups.

If you have already moved on to a different ROM, and then sometime later find out that there is a Market app (or built-in Android functionality) to back something up to the SD card (contacts, bookmarks, SMS messages, CyanogenMod settings, emails, User dictionary, HTC_ime_mod keyboard settings, Apps, et cetera), you can always

- Make a Nand backup of your current ROM
- Restore the older ROM & install the app & perform the backup to SD
- Restore your (newer) ROM & install the app & perform the restore from SD.


Nandroid backup is the bomb. To some extent, you can go home again.


eu1


PS. I should also mention that from time to time (usually if I have trouble with the Market), I'll also pull the same stunt to go back to a previous ROM in order to extract an app .apk file to the SD card (using a root-aware file manager). It could be done offline using "unyaffs" and the data.img file from the Nandroid backup, but that requires using a PC.