So, my phone was stolen but I got it back, however...

[nixontankgirl]

So, this is the second time in 2 weeks it was stolen! And not by 'friends' but by strangers in a bar. And the second time I have got it back.

The first time I got it back in less than an hour so no problem.

This time it took 3 days. By the time I got it they had done a factory re set on the phone and had sold the 16gig SD card to some one else who had wiped it. I was lucky (or resourceful) enough to get that back too.

I recovered lots of files from the SD with Recuva.

However many of them I have no idea what they are. I have searched for APK files hoping that I can re install my apps that way but cant really find any other than android system files.

My phone was rooted, I had apps2SD, Titanium backup, back up your mobile, etc. Is it possible to recover my fone to a previous state using any of these apps with a corresponding file? The thing is I have no idea which app associates with which type of file.

Any help would be appreciated, I am sure you all know how long it takes to get your phone to a stage that you are really comfortable with it.

In return I can maybe help you get your phone back if it ever gets stolen...hahaha

 

[mikedt]

You're not likely to find the app APKs on the phone itself, however you should find all your apps on Google Play listed under My Apps > All, and you'll be able to download and install them again. When I replaced my phone that's what I did, I didn't have any APKs, I went to my apps list on Play. As for restoring data a particular app uses, that might be down to how that app handles it.

 

[nixontankgirl]

Yep, I have seen the list on Google Play. My wifi situation is really bad and often cant even download an app. I will continue to try.

But I have files related to other back up Apps that I got from my SD card. I was wondering if I download the App again would I be able to associate the file to the back up? For example if I have a file of saved text messages and I download the same app can I direct it to find the file somehow? I tried with SMS Backup but it cant find the files. I am sure if I moved them to another directory it would find them but I have no idea where to move them to.

 

[nixontankgirl]

I have sorted out my of the issues, got all my old texts messages, photos, and contact list sorted out.
I got a better wifi connection and started to D/L all my old apps, TB, Apps2SD, etc etc. However I got half way through the list and have run out of memory....wtf...Where has it gone?? I have been through Settings> Manage Apps and everything looks on order, there are no Apps there that shouldnt be and no bloat ware. Whats happened and what can I do?? Its a bit annoying, I only have 30mb left and havent even got half my apps back, everything has been moved onto the SD card with TB....
Can you give me a clue just what is going on...????
Cheers.

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

Do you remember how much space you had left before? Since, you had to re-download everything, could some unknown updates have consumed more storage?

You can try clearing your cache partition with clockworkMod and try continue downloading your apps.

Android Device Manager might help you find your phone quicker in the future.

 

[nixontankgirl]

Thanks for the input!

I had 30mb left before with all my apps on, now I have 30mb left with only half my apps on. Before I started downloading my apps I looked at the app list in manage applications. There were a bunch there that were 'faint' I presumed that is because they were no longer on either the phone or SD so I deleted them. I dont understand anything any more hahaha

 

[nixontankgirl]

I cleared the cache but it didn't seem to free up any space.

 

[nixontankgirl]

And I only have 2.3.6 and Android device manager needs 4.1 or higher....

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

Thanks for the input!

I had 30mb left before with all my apps on, now I have 30mb left with only half my apps on. Before I started downloading my apps I looked at the app list in manage applications. There were a bunch there that were 'faint' I presumed that is because they were no longer on either the phone or SD so I deleted them. I dont understand anything any more hahaha

Did they become faint after you moved them to the sd card? Did you previously try restoring from a backup? Were you able to recover any of your backups? It be best if we could restore a whole backup.

If your contacts are synced and you can back up your text messages, you could wipe everything and start from scratch again. Reflash the rom, restore your contacts and messages, then restore your apps.

And I only have 2.3.6 and Android device manager needs 4.1 or higher....

Android Device Manager should work for you. I can find and ring my Evo just fine and it has 2.2.

 

[nixontankgirl]

Dude, that was totally it! I thought I had deleted the Dalvik Cache.....then I down loaded "Clear Cache" and it wiped out 40mbs!!!

 

[nixontankgirl]

Did they become faint after you moved them to the sd card? Did you previously try restoring from a backup? Were you able to recover any of your backups? It be best if we could restore a whole backup.

If your contacts are synced and you can back up your text messages, you could wipe everything and start from scratch again. Reflash the rom, restore your contacts and messages, then restore your apps.



Android Device Manager should work for you. I can find and ring my Evo just fine and it has 2.2.

They were faint from the start, but I think it is done. I had some old back ups that I recovered with Recuva, I downloaded the back up app and just put the back up in the apps folder, that went fine. I have recovered almost everything now! Am really relieved, especially now I have 70mb free!! Cheers!

I will have a look at registering with Device Manager. It is a lot easier than having to threaten to burn shops down and break legs. Which is actually what happene!! hahaha. I am still in The Philippines and thats how it works here! I hired 3 bad asses for $10 each and they got the phone back! hahaha.

 

[nixontankgirl]

Android Device Manager should work for you. I can find and ring my Evo just fine and it has 2.2.

Ermmmmm. I know this is a little off topic but if I open settings>Security> Device administrators it just says there are no administrators and there is no option to add one...

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

Dude, that was totally it! I thought I had deleted the Dalvik Cache.....then I down loaded "Clear Cache" and it wiped out 40mbs!!!

Glad you got it fixed and sorted out. I should of made it more clear what cache I meant.

Ermmmmm. I know this is a little off topic but if I open settings>Security> Device administrators it just says there are no administrators and there is no option to add one...

You shouldn't have to do anything like that. Just follow the link and log-in to device manager with your gmail account.

This thread has more options similar to Google's. Android Lost looks like a good one.

Did you mean the Android Device Manager app? I don't think I would bother with the app unless you have other Android devices.

 

[nixontankgirl]

OK, I will check out those links, but I am thinking it may just be better to get a 'party phone'.
And I looked at Task Manager this morning, I havent put any apps on since I last looked at my available storage and the available space has shrunk by 22mb since I went to sleep...whats up with that?

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

Task managers are best avoided. They cause more worry and trouble than their worth on Android.

Are you sure you're not confusing that space with ram? You could again try clearing cache again and see if that frees anything up.

The cache partition is where the system stores temporary files. Clearing it might temporarily get you more space.

 

[nixontankgirl]

Definitely not confusing the storage with the RAM... I have cleared the Dalvik cache several times with the same result.....suddenly freeing up 70mb of space then during the next few hours 30mb is lost again somehow...

 

[SulkyAndroid17]

Dalvik is the virtual machine that runs the apps on Android. "ART" is the upcoming new VM that KitKat has introduced.

Android apps are written in Java and then converted to a Dalvik executable. Dalvik then does additional optimizations to the code. It then caches the result so it doesn't have to perform the optimizing process every time the program is run.

Deleting the cache will cause your apps to start up slower until the cache is rebuilt. This happens at boot. Which is why after clearing the Dalvik-cache, it takes longer to boot up.

 

[nixontankgirl]

Oh OK. Because with "cache clear" it says the Dalvik cache is 55mb, so I delete it, many apps stop responding, I re boot and the cache just grows larger. So, now I understand why! So basically I have 30mb left and that's as much as I am going to get. Ah well, no worries. Thanks!

And sorry for my late reply, we have a storm warning here, flooding, cancelled ferries, strong winds etc.....