I've seen a few threads now where people seem to be completely flubbered about what Nandroids are and some wanting to know whats the difference between a Nandroid and Using something like Titanium Backup. What to backup How to restore it. Nandroids not restoring getting an "Opps something went wrong" message. Which Recovery is better? Rom Manager is broke.
So with all this where to begin? Lets Start with Recoverys
Clockwork Mod
Amon RA
Twrp
These are the 3 recoverys for the HTC EVO. Most of the users here will probably prefer Amon RA. I know I do and I highly recommend it over clockwork which has had wipe issue's and causing all kinds of havoc. Now Twrp (Team Win Recovery Project) Has done something evil. They have released a GUI for Recovery. I am very impressed with it. I look forward to seeing some of the bugs worked out and it being perfected a bit more. So Twrp is one to keep in your focus but I would probably wait to use it as my recovery until its more reliable and stick with Amon RA. As far as what you should pic only advice I'll give is you want a fully dependable recovery and for many here that recovery is Amon RA.
Now the Second thing is Rom Manager. It is buggy. It does not always wipe well. It will not help you when all you have is a recovery to go into and you don't know where to begin. Recovery is your friend. Get to know it, Use it, and soon you'll love it. ROM Manger is Not your friend it pretends to be then breaks it off in ya at the most crucial time you can imagine. Nuf Said.
"Opps something went wrong" now your fu While it can be a bit tedious you should test out your nandroids to make sure you have no issues. If I'm going to flash a new rom I will Nandroid then turn around and restore it just to make sure I don't have problems. (Now I am not like super perfect) I do not do this 100 percent of the time however I do have a good Nandroid on my phone at all times. Who knows what wrong and yes you can move the log file over to the sdcard but it wont help if you don't know what your looking at so best thing is to test your nands out.
Do I need a backup program if I Nandroid? Yes you do. A Nandroid is a "Clone" of the moment in time in which it was taken. Think of a Picture. If you ever had your picture taken you understand that you were photographed but have changed since the picture. Well its the same for a Nandroid. It takes a picture but as soon as you change something on the phone the nandroid is really just been outdated. A Backup Such as Titanium Backup will give you a suitcase that you can take some of your stuff to a new place with. This differs in the fact that a Backup is only concerned mostly with the User Data and Applications. Now Some will want to keep contacts / call logs / sms these are all keepable using backup programs.
Notice How I stated some of your stuff? When you go on a trip you don't take your dishes and furniture with you no you leave them home. Well somethings when you move to a new ROM you don't want to take with you like System data or apps. These would cause problems with your new ROM much like trying to haul a dresser on a Plane will cause you problems. Really All you ever want to move to an new ROM is User Data? (this includes your sms/calllogs etc)
How many Nandroids should I keep? 10, 20, more?
Personally I have 3. Maybe 4. Never more than that. Why? Well its simple Programs Update, ROMS Update. Some Roms I didn't care for. My SDCARD is Not for only Nandroids. Nandroids weigh in around 500 - 600 megs. This can add up quick on a standard 8 gig storage. (I'm on 16-2 i use for sd ext) I also have a ton of photo's and I have a couple of ROMS and Kernels and I also have ringtones and notification sounds. Yes I dared to have things of interest to me on the card and its not all for backups and Nandroids.I also never keep more than 3 copies of my titanium backups.
So with all this where to begin? Lets Start with Recoverys
Clockwork Mod
Amon RA
Twrp
These are the 3 recoverys for the HTC EVO. Most of the users here will probably prefer Amon RA. I know I do and I highly recommend it over clockwork which has had wipe issue's and causing all kinds of havoc. Now Twrp (Team Win Recovery Project) Has done something evil. They have released a GUI for Recovery. I am very impressed with it. I look forward to seeing some of the bugs worked out and it being perfected a bit more. So Twrp is one to keep in your focus but I would probably wait to use it as my recovery until its more reliable and stick with Amon RA. As far as what you should pic only advice I'll give is you want a fully dependable recovery and for many here that recovery is Amon RA.
Now the Second thing is Rom Manager. It is buggy. It does not always wipe well. It will not help you when all you have is a recovery to go into and you don't know where to begin. Recovery is your friend. Get to know it, Use it, and soon you'll love it. ROM Manger is Not your friend it pretends to be then breaks it off in ya at the most crucial time you can imagine. Nuf Said.
"Opps something went wrong" now your fu While it can be a bit tedious you should test out your nandroids to make sure you have no issues. If I'm going to flash a new rom I will Nandroid then turn around and restore it just to make sure I don't have problems. (Now I am not like super perfect) I do not do this 100 percent of the time however I do have a good Nandroid on my phone at all times. Who knows what wrong and yes you can move the log file over to the sdcard but it wont help if you don't know what your looking at so best thing is to test your nands out.
Do I need a backup program if I Nandroid? Yes you do. A Nandroid is a "Clone" of the moment in time in which it was taken. Think of a Picture. If you ever had your picture taken you understand that you were photographed but have changed since the picture. Well its the same for a Nandroid. It takes a picture but as soon as you change something on the phone the nandroid is really just been outdated. A Backup Such as Titanium Backup will give you a suitcase that you can take some of your stuff to a new place with. This differs in the fact that a Backup is only concerned mostly with the User Data and Applications. Now Some will want to keep contacts / call logs / sms these are all keepable using backup programs.
Notice How I stated some of your stuff? When you go on a trip you don't take your dishes and furniture with you no you leave them home. Well somethings when you move to a new ROM you don't want to take with you like System data or apps. These would cause problems with your new ROM much like trying to haul a dresser on a Plane will cause you problems. Really All you ever want to move to an new ROM is User Data? (this includes your sms/calllogs etc)
How many Nandroids should I keep? 10, 20, more?
Personally I have 3. Maybe 4. Never more than that. Why? Well its simple Programs Update, ROMS Update. Some Roms I didn't care for. My SDCARD is Not for only Nandroids. Nandroids weigh in around 500 - 600 megs. This can add up quick on a standard 8 gig storage. (I'm on 16-2 i use for sd ext) I also have a ton of photo's and I have a couple of ROMS and Kernels and I also have ringtones and notification sounds. Yes I dared to have things of interest to me on the card and its not all for backups and Nandroids.I also never keep more than 3 copies of my titanium backups.