Another newbie with a root question

[@ndroyd]

I dont even have my phone yet (today after work) i think i have alot figured out already. I am comfortable rooting it for sure but where my confusion lies is here: All of these roms out there are basically like a tweaked OS i can drop on my phone that give you different options and interfaces/gui. So everytime you switch to a new rom you lose your data right?? Because you are basically flashing it. So can you back up the data in that rom and push to another rom easily or are you better off redownloading apps and resyncing your pim data manually. And as far as purchased content you obviously can back that up and reinstall to new rom?

Am i on the right page here? i am just trying to put it all together in my head.

So then when i get my phone i would probably want to root first thing and find the rom i like before entering any data and tweaking?

Thanks in advance! and i hope i can conribute to this forum very soon.

 

[No_u]

I use Google itself to back up all my contacts etc. It works great
For apps I use Titanium Backup, you can backup the full apps plus data. You don't need to worry about that.

I also HIGHLY RECOMMEND backing up the full ROM and data before flashing a new ROM. If anything goes wrong you can just go back to that. I have a few old backups, even of when my phone was still using HTC Sense.

What phone have you got? Not all phones have a lot of ROM's or are rootable at all.

 

[Yeahha]

What phone are you getting? I would suggest not rooting the phone first thing and first get comfortable with the OS and the tweaks you can do without rooting first, if this is your first Android device I strongly recommend not rooting the device as soon as you get it.

Yes when you flash a new rom you are replacing the OS, you wipe all the data stored on the phone prior to the flash. Everything on the SD card will be safe, you can use titanium backup to back up your apps and data, if you don't you will need to redownload all your apps. Your contact info will be backed up to your google account so you don't need to worry about that.

Roms are specific to the phone so you can't use a rom built for a Droid 1 on a Droid Incredible so make sure when you are looking at roms you are looking at the ones for your phone. Once you buy an app via the market it is yours as long as it is still on the market, if you change phones, get a tablet whatever you can download it again and again.

I can't stress enough that if this is your first android phone rooting it first thing is not needed, you should learn the OS first and use the phone for a while prior to rooting.

 

[@ndroyd]

I use Google itself to back up all my contacts etc. It works great
For apps I use Titanium Backup, you can backup the full apps plus data. You don't need to worry about that.

I also HIGHLY RECOMMEND backing up the full ROM and data before flashing a new ROM. If anything goes wrong you can just go back to that. I have a few old backups, even of when my phone was still using HTC Sense.

What phone have you got? Not all phones have a lot of ROM's or are rootable at all.

Thanks for the reply, I am staring out the window looking for a fedex truck delivering a Thunderbolt to me on VZW. So you are saying i need to make a backup of the factory rom to put the phone back to virgin if need be?

 

[@ndroyd]

What phone are you getting? I would suggest not rooting the phone first thing and first get comfortable with the OS and the tweaks you can do without rooting first, if this is your first Android device I strongly recommend not rooting the device as soon as you get it.

Yes when you flash a new rom you are replacing the OS, you wipe all the data stored on the phone prior to the flash. Everything on the SD card will be safe, you can use titanium backup to back up your apps and data, if you don't you will need to redownload all your apps. Your contact info will be backed up to your google account so you don't need to worry about that.

Roms are specific to the phone so you can't use a rom built for a Droid 1 on a Droid Incredible so make sure when you are looking at roms you are looking at the ones for your phone. Once you buy an app via the market it is yours as long as it is still on the market, if you change phones, get a tablet whatever you can download it again and again.

I can't stress enough that if this is your first android phone rooting it first thing is not needed, you should learn the OS first and use the phone for a while prior to rooting.

Thunderbolt on VZW coming off of many years of blackberry. I will also be connected to an exchange server via active sync. If it is not recommended i root, than i wont. Thanks a million for the advice.

 

[@ndroyd]

Its here!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Yeahha]

I love root access, and roms can be a great way to refresh the phone, I would never suggest you not root, but as this is your first android experience I would suggest you wait before you start to root and rom. Play with the phone stock for a while first, see what it can do. That way when you do root and rom you can look at what the rom dev has changed prior to flashing the rom and you can decide if you want to try it and you have a basis to make that decision. I'm not saying wait 6 months before you start rooting, but you should know what HTC wanted your experience should be before you see what other people think it should be so you have base comparison. After a week or two you will likely know what the phone can do and would be able to flash a new rom and be able to make a good judgement of the rom based on the stock experience.

 

[@ndroyd]

I love root access, and roms can be a great way to refresh the phone, I would never suggest you not root, but as this is your first android experience I would suggest you wait before you start to root and rom. Play with the phone stock for a while first, see what it can do. That way when you do root and rom you can look at what the rom dev has changed prior to flashing the rom and you can decide if you want to try it and you have a basis to make that decision. I'm not saying wait 6 months before you start rooting, but you should know what HTC wanted your experience should be before you see what other people think it should be so you have base comparison. After a week or two you will likely know what the phone can do and would be able to flash a new rom and be able to make a good judgement of the rom based on the stock experience.

great advice, i am going to play with it until i feel the time is right, i just like to tinker with stuff too much. I am currently sticking the sim in and getting ready to activate. Thanks for the input everyone, talk to you all soon.

 

[Yeahha]

Enjoy!