Your contacts are backed up in the cloud by Google, so once you log in on the other side of ROMming they will all restore. As soon as you root and get a custom recovery image on your Droid, MAKE A BACKUP so you have something to fall back on. THEN you can WIPE and install a custom ROM, overclock, theme, etc. Remember to backup, backup, backup!

 

yep, you don't really need to do anything before you root. if you are planning on installing a custom ROM, that's when the backups begin. rooting will also allow you to download great backup apps like TitaniumBackUp and ROM Manger. Titanium will not only save your apps, but the information (settings, high scores, etc.) for them as well. ROM Manager is great making complete image backups, it will install a new recovery mode and allow you to name your backups whatever you like. once you start messing around with multiple ROMs, that is extremely useful. if i ever get stuck in a bootloop, i know i can just load my trusty "StockFroyo" backup and start over.

 

YES. Backup the phone's known good state as early in the process as you can. That way if you get stuck in a bootloop while loading a ROM you have a fallback position and can return the phone to the state it's in now. Depending on which recovery you use (I suggest ClockworkMod), you shouldn't have to rename ROMs so keeping them organized will be easy. Since a ROM is the phone's operating system, you can't delete one for the other. If you don't like a ROM (or your Droid doesn't like it), then do a wipe and install another one. The new ROM will overwrite the old one.

Good luck and happy ROMming!

 

What you saw was probably the Beautiful Widgets app, which is available in the Market and doesn't require root. I have yet to see a 2.2 ROM that has Sense ported to the Droid.

 

Well, if I'm wrong I'm wrong.. not like it would be the first time

 

use SoupOrRoot,

http://androidforums.com/droid-all-...olution-droid-thread-d-d-latest-v2-0-4-a.html

there are 5 very easy steps to follow in that thread. it honestly took me longer to get my USB cable from my bedroom than it did to root the phone.

 

Neither did any of us... the first time we did it. Do it once and you'll be an expert.

Find a good ROM you like. I would suggest Bugless Beast 0.5 or Ultimate Droid 1.0.0 for you. They're stable and fast, though UD1 has more customizations. Download it to your PC and then mount your Droid via USB cable. Move the ROM to the root of your SD card and then unmount it.

AFTER YOU HAVE BACKED UP YOUR PHONE in recovery (x+power), wipe the phone and install ROM from SD card... then reboot. ROM goodness!

 

Some people have reported having to run it 3-4 times to get the root to stick, although it worked on the first shot for me. Can't hurt to run it a couple more times on your phone and see what happens.

 

Mine did the same thing and the developer told me to pull the battery wait a minute then put the battery back in. That worked for me. He said it was stuck in a boot loop. Good luck.