Many newer rooters seem to have questions about how to get the most out of Titanium Backup. There are so many options...what do you select and when? It took me a long time using this app to get totally comfortable with it and I thought I'd share what I've learned in case it helps others.
Much of what I'm stating here is my opinion only and I know I won't hit on nearly everything so this is intended to be a thread where everyone can share their techniques and methods.
Free Version Or Paid?
If you have any intention of flashing ROMs on even a semi-regular basis, save yourself the grief and get the paid version. If you do not, you will have to manually restore each app. This is time consuming and a pain. Try free if you'd like but most end up with the paid version so might as well clear that hurdle out of the gate.
Making Your First Backup
Once you're up and running, it's time to make your first backup. Right away the jury's divided on what selection to make. Here's my tip...choose Menu > Batch > "Backup all user apps + system data". You do not necessarily have to RESTORE system data but why not back it up just in case? We'll go more in depth on that issue later. Once your very first backup is complete, you can choose the "Verify all your backups" if you wish but after about the first time of doing that, I found the step to be rather unnecessary but the option is there if you want.
Set A Schedule For Automatic Backup
Once you have a verifiable backup under your belt, I think it's wise to set up auto backup. It's important to note that each backup you make overwrites the previous so you are not using up a whole bunch of SD card space, only insuring that you have the latest stuff backed up for your setup.
So on the main screen, press the "Schedules" button. First thing to note is that you can set up more than one schedule. The frequency of scheduling is very much up to user preference so I'll simply list my method and leave it at that:
1.) Backup all user apps + system data
I perform this backup once/week on Sunday, some people do it as much as once/day.
2.) Redo backups for newer app versions
I perform this backup once/week on Wednesday. This allows any market updates to get backed up only 3 days after my main backup so I'm never more than a few days from being up to snuff. Again, a person could go more but for me that's entirely adequate. If I flash a ROM and I'm short an update or two that landed in the gap, a quick visit to the market and I re-update the app if necessary. Easy.
Restoring
In my opinion, everything up to this point is really pretty straghtforward. But restoring is where it gets slightly more tricky. The most common need for a restore function for most users is probably going to be when flashing to a new ROM. Obviously, the only apps you'll have at that point is whichever ones the dev baked into the ROM by design. So head on over to the Market and red-downlaod Titanium. It will recognize the verification file on your SD card and you're back in the game. Now here is the two schools of thought on restoring following a ROM flash:
A.) If the ROM you are coming from uses the same framework as the ROM you're flashing to...you may be fine restoring all apps + system data (example: Sense to Sense).
or...
B.) To be on the ultimate safe side and avoid system conflicts, (FC's, etc) do not restore system data.
I typically choose option B. Once you get proficient at restoring via Titanium, you can have a new ROM up and running in a matter of about 10-20 minutes easily. My choice for restoring is almost always "Restore missing apps with data". Then you'll get all your apps and their individual data back without messing with system settings.
What are system settings? Ringtone, stock texting notifications, default connection type, etc. There just aren't that many of the usual suspect things to change that make it worth rolling the dice with restoring system settings and causing a conflict between the outgoing and incoming ROM. And definitely choose option B if you're flashing from a Sense to a Vanilla ROM for example. You're practically guaranteed to have conflicts.
As a final note, if you happen to be making a leap to an entirely different OS (2.2 to 2.3 etc), I highly recommend only restoring market apps, sometimes called user apps. We are now making such a major change that there's a need to be extra, extra careful. Sometimes when choosing the "restore missing apps with data" option in these circumstances, certain non-market apps might try to go along for the ride on the restore effort. My advice is to NOT allow this to happen making sure only apps you have installed from the market are checked. Simply uncheck any non-market items and run the batch operation. Again, this only applies when jumping from one OS to another.
But Iowabowtech, Why Even Backup System Data Then?
Couple reasons for this. Let's say something goes south with your current ROM (bootloop or similar due to loading an add-on) and it's been awhile since you did a Nandroid backup. Oops. Not that big of a deal due to Titanium. If need be, just reload the ROM from scratch, then this is an ideal time to restore apps + system data. You already know this configuration worked great with this ROM as it was saved while running this ROM. Now you almost instantly have your ROM back, plus all apps and their data, plus all your system settings. Pretty much nothing left to do.
Another great use for restoring system data is, for example, if you accidentally delete a very important text message. The more you backup on the autoscheduling we discussed earlier, the greater the chance you'll have a backup that includes the desire text (food for thought). But since texts are system data you would do this:
Menu > Batch > Restore missing apps + all system data
Now wait...press "deselect all". You're only looking to restore a particular item so as to minimize your potential to bork other things. In this case, it would be by checking only the [SMS/MMS/APN] Dialer Storage option. Then press "Run the batch operation" button at the top of the screen and viola, your missing texts are back and nothing else is affected.
So in other words, you're pretty much restoring only what you really need in a sort of ala carte fashion to minimize risk yet get back what you need. Hence the reason to backup all apps + system data...just in case you ever need it.
Titanium Backup vs. Nandroid: Which to use and when?
This is a common question on the forums and it helps to know exactly what each option offers.
A Nandroid backup is a full sytem backup. I often describe it by comparing it to the Windows Restore program. It's an exact snapshot of your entire phone setup at that moment in time. So it can be very helpful when and if the SHTF because you can go almost exactly back to your current setup if you have a recent Nand backup. This is the fastest way to restore and you do not need to take ROM compatibility into account because the restore is a wholesale changeout of known, good configuration.
Note: Nandroid backups do not backup/restore the phone's radio or hboot. Those can be independently flashed between backup and restore operations and they will remain whatever they were flashed to.
Most times I use Titanium for restoring missing apps and data following a ROM flash. But what if you have an occasion to restore a Nandroid and it's been quite awhile since you made your last Nandroid backup? You may have several weeks between where new apps have been installed and those apps may have valuable data in them (like Angry Birds progress ).
This is where both Titanium and Nandroid can be used together. Use the Nandroid to go back to a previous configuration, and then use Titanium to restore any missing apps + data you've installed since. They work together beautifully.
Backing Up The Backup
Every once in awhile, I hook up to my PC and copy/paste the contents of my Titanium folder and also my Clockwork folder (for Nandroid backups) to my PC. Should you ever experience an SD card failure, you'll have at least a somewhat recent configuration you can return to. Once you get a new card, simply replace the folders from the PC and you're back up and running. This simple step can save a huge amount of frustration.
Much of what I'm stating here is my opinion only and I know I won't hit on nearly everything so this is intended to be a thread where everyone can share their techniques and methods.
Free Version Or Paid?
If you have any intention of flashing ROMs on even a semi-regular basis, save yourself the grief and get the paid version. If you do not, you will have to manually restore each app. This is time consuming and a pain. Try free if you'd like but most end up with the paid version so might as well clear that hurdle out of the gate.
Making Your First Backup
Once you're up and running, it's time to make your first backup. Right away the jury's divided on what selection to make. Here's my tip...choose Menu > Batch > "Backup all user apps + system data". You do not necessarily have to RESTORE system data but why not back it up just in case? We'll go more in depth on that issue later. Once your very first backup is complete, you can choose the "Verify all your backups" if you wish but after about the first time of doing that, I found the step to be rather unnecessary but the option is there if you want.
Set A Schedule For Automatic Backup
Once you have a verifiable backup under your belt, I think it's wise to set up auto backup. It's important to note that each backup you make overwrites the previous so you are not using up a whole bunch of SD card space, only insuring that you have the latest stuff backed up for your setup.
So on the main screen, press the "Schedules" button. First thing to note is that you can set up more than one schedule. The frequency of scheduling is very much up to user preference so I'll simply list my method and leave it at that:
1.) Backup all user apps + system data
I perform this backup once/week on Sunday, some people do it as much as once/day.
2.) Redo backups for newer app versions
I perform this backup once/week on Wednesday. This allows any market updates to get backed up only 3 days after my main backup so I'm never more than a few days from being up to snuff. Again, a person could go more but for me that's entirely adequate. If I flash a ROM and I'm short an update or two that landed in the gap, a quick visit to the market and I re-update the app if necessary. Easy.
Restoring
In my opinion, everything up to this point is really pretty straghtforward. But restoring is where it gets slightly more tricky. The most common need for a restore function for most users is probably going to be when flashing to a new ROM. Obviously, the only apps you'll have at that point is whichever ones the dev baked into the ROM by design. So head on over to the Market and red-downlaod Titanium. It will recognize the verification file on your SD card and you're back in the game. Now here is the two schools of thought on restoring following a ROM flash:
A.) If the ROM you are coming from uses the same framework as the ROM you're flashing to...you may be fine restoring all apps + system data (example: Sense to Sense).
or...
B.) To be on the ultimate safe side and avoid system conflicts, (FC's, etc) do not restore system data.
I typically choose option B. Once you get proficient at restoring via Titanium, you can have a new ROM up and running in a matter of about 10-20 minutes easily. My choice for restoring is almost always "Restore missing apps with data". Then you'll get all your apps and their individual data back without messing with system settings.
What are system settings? Ringtone, stock texting notifications, default connection type, etc. There just aren't that many of the usual suspect things to change that make it worth rolling the dice with restoring system settings and causing a conflict between the outgoing and incoming ROM. And definitely choose option B if you're flashing from a Sense to a Vanilla ROM for example. You're practically guaranteed to have conflicts.
As a final note, if you happen to be making a leap to an entirely different OS (2.2 to 2.3 etc), I highly recommend only restoring market apps, sometimes called user apps. We are now making such a major change that there's a need to be extra, extra careful. Sometimes when choosing the "restore missing apps with data" option in these circumstances, certain non-market apps might try to go along for the ride on the restore effort. My advice is to NOT allow this to happen making sure only apps you have installed from the market are checked. Simply uncheck any non-market items and run the batch operation. Again, this only applies when jumping from one OS to another.
But Iowabowtech, Why Even Backup System Data Then?
Couple reasons for this. Let's say something goes south with your current ROM (bootloop or similar due to loading an add-on) and it's been awhile since you did a Nandroid backup. Oops. Not that big of a deal due to Titanium. If need be, just reload the ROM from scratch, then this is an ideal time to restore apps + system data. You already know this configuration worked great with this ROM as it was saved while running this ROM. Now you almost instantly have your ROM back, plus all apps and their data, plus all your system settings. Pretty much nothing left to do.
Another great use for restoring system data is, for example, if you accidentally delete a very important text message. The more you backup on the autoscheduling we discussed earlier, the greater the chance you'll have a backup that includes the desire text (food for thought). But since texts are system data you would do this:
Menu > Batch > Restore missing apps + all system data
Now wait...press "deselect all". You're only looking to restore a particular item so as to minimize your potential to bork other things. In this case, it would be by checking only the [SMS/MMS/APN] Dialer Storage option. Then press "Run the batch operation" button at the top of the screen and viola, your missing texts are back and nothing else is affected.
So in other words, you're pretty much restoring only what you really need in a sort of ala carte fashion to minimize risk yet get back what you need. Hence the reason to backup all apps + system data...just in case you ever need it.
Titanium Backup vs. Nandroid: Which to use and when?
This is a common question on the forums and it helps to know exactly what each option offers.
A Nandroid backup is a full sytem backup. I often describe it by comparing it to the Windows Restore program. It's an exact snapshot of your entire phone setup at that moment in time. So it can be very helpful when and if the SHTF because you can go almost exactly back to your current setup if you have a recent Nand backup. This is the fastest way to restore and you do not need to take ROM compatibility into account because the restore is a wholesale changeout of known, good configuration.
Note: Nandroid backups do not backup/restore the phone's radio or hboot. Those can be independently flashed between backup and restore operations and they will remain whatever they were flashed to.
Most times I use Titanium for restoring missing apps and data following a ROM flash. But what if you have an occasion to restore a Nandroid and it's been quite awhile since you made your last Nandroid backup? You may have several weeks between where new apps have been installed and those apps may have valuable data in them (like Angry Birds progress ).
This is where both Titanium and Nandroid can be used together. Use the Nandroid to go back to a previous configuration, and then use Titanium to restore any missing apps + data you've installed since. They work together beautifully.
Backing Up The Backup
Every once in awhile, I hook up to my PC and copy/paste the contents of my Titanium folder and also my Clockwork folder (for Nandroid backups) to my PC. Should you ever experience an SD card failure, you'll have at least a somewhat recent configuration you can return to. Once you get a new card, simply replace the folders from the PC and you're back up and running. This simple step can save a huge amount of frustration.