What do you use to back up and restore to PC? I tried Wondershare Mobile trans but it sticks at a certain point and I have to cancel and it takes hours and I lose progress! Any info on what others are using for backup tp PC would be great!
My Phone Explorer
MyPhoneExplorer | Functions
www.fjsoft.at
There is a bit of a learning curve to set it up as you want to,but once you do get the hang of it you can back up all the usual things (contacts,calendars,photos,music,etc)
Everything on my unrooted 10+ is backed up to the SD card which I use as a data drive and store all critical data there. The SD card is backed up to the PC data drive and a seperate hdd stored remotely. Critical bookmarks are saved on Colornote which is 3X backup.
Smartswitch is used for some backup and apps like Poweramp have their own backup files.
All apks and updates are backed up with ApkExport as well; no Playstore or cloud crap needed for a full restore. I can do a full restore with no external sources needed.
After 2 forced reloads I streamlined the process... with over 349 gb of data, the data drive saves hours of uploading from the PC.
Implement a complete plan now before you need it and have triple redundancy in place.
Only two types of data users; those who have lost data and those that will.
Crashes both software/hardware caused are mostly unpredictable and can happen at any moment.
The 10+ is rock solid stable but no OS is completely impervious to poorly written apks and malware. Be prepared... or suffer.
jenmal said:
I tried Wondershare Mobile trans
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That is the only product that worked at all from that company. Well, of those I tested because of this.
File encrypted! How can I open it!! HELP!!
I see, but how come when I load up a bruteforce program (passfab for rar as an example), it doesn't detect it as an encrypted file? Like, sometimes it doesn't even show up visibly in my directory as a usable file. I get what you're saying, but...
forum.xda-developers.com
Better stay away from their software. Too heavy and bad programming in general. Also backups can be restored only if you buy the s*it...
Better just take an attitude that nothing is that important. Tons of stuff but I don't have backups at all. If it goes it goes. Before computers how people managed to live at all without them...
Have never used 3rd-party apps , free or paid. I do it via simple scripts.
Related
So now that I have a phone with an internal SD card, I am particularly worried about data, or what would happen if I can no longer take it off of a device. Previously an SD card could just be removed from a dead device, but not so now.
I'm using foldersync to mirror data, but I was wondering what were the essential folders to sync. I can figure out most of them, but I'm struggling with the Android folder in root. Is there any valuable information in here or is it all temporary and so not required to be backed up?
sshaikh said:
So now that I have a phone with an internal SD card, I am particularly worried about data, or what would happen if I can no longer take it off of a device. Previously an SD card could just be removed from a dead device, but not so now.
I'm using foldersync to mirror data, but I was wondering what were the essential folders to sync. I can figure out most of them, but I'm struggling with the Android folder in root. Is there any valuable information in here or is it all temporary and so not required to be backed up?
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if you don't care about storage space and automation and you happen to use TotalCommander for PC, it has perfect "Synchronize Dirs" feature, with in my personal experience (after many tests of different solutions) wins every time due to high customisation, ease of use and option of binary comparison
You don't need to backup the Android folder. It's mostly just full of data files for certain apps. Like Google Maps saved map data, cached music from Google Music, game data, small preferences files for some apps etc. Nothing important. Even if you delete the contents of the whole Android folder, they'll be re-created on boot or when you run those apps next. Map data, Google music etc should be downloaded again manually. It's a waste of space to back it up as it can be 2GB or more sometimes. Generally, only backup your personal data like pictures, videos, music, downloads etc. Things which you've put there yourself. Also backup any folders of backup related apps like SMSBackup&Restore, Titanium Backup and recovery folder with nandroid backups. Personal files + backup app data is all you need to backup from the SD card. Everything else is insignificant and will be recreated anyway by the respective apps.
Thanks sashank, that's what I thought. It's a pain to backup because of the size and usage.
Looking at the docs however it seems apps can put whatever data they want there, including settings. So I guess this depends on the app itself and how well it behaves itself. I guess I will have to be discerning and backup individual files in the folder depending on how important the app is to me. Which sucks.
p107r0 said:
if you don't care about storage space and automation and you happen to use TotalCommander for PC, it has perfect "Synchronize Dirs" feature, with in my personal experience (after many tests of different solutions) wins every time due to high customisation, ease of use and option of binary comparison
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Well I'm using Foldersync to do this automatically already. I just didn't want to spend time and energy maintaining a backup of redundant cache data!
I've tried the Samsung Smart Switch app (I think that's the name) via wireless and wired and just using Google backup/restore but my application data absolutely refuses to copy over to the new phone. My apps are copied over but the underlying data that goes with them, nowhere to be found. I know Google says that after the restore is complete, when the app is installed on the new phone, the data (that it just got done backing up to Google drive), will be restored. I've factory reset my Note 10 Plus twice now and tried all sorts of different ways but save game data and data from pretty much all my apps just isn't being restored. I'd take my phone to Verizon but due to distance, that isn't possible. If I can't fix it myself, I guess I'll just start my games over but would really like to avoid that.
Any ideas?
Apart from missing call logs or text messages, am trying to figure out why I need to use Samsung SmartSwitch (setting up another new S21 and have setup previously another S21 and used SmartSwitch)
All apps used are on Google Sync and contacts are all on contacts.google.com for the accounts I primarily use.
What important or essential "stuff" will be missed by non-use of SmartSwitch and just letting Google restore "it's things" ?
This is what samsung backs up
So basically there is no value in SmartSwitch for my additional phone as Google itself has the important bits. It is no trouble to connect wifi for the office, home and bluetooth for car. Old messages are not important at all. Contacts all on Google.
xdafly said:
So basically there is no value in SmartSwitch for my additional phone as Google itself has the important bits. It is no trouble to connect wifi for the office, home and bluetooth for car. Old messages are not important at all. Contacts all on Google.
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Hi. I just used yesterday to change my old A8 to my new S21. I didn't have any trouble. Even my app layout on the screen were similar. I recommend you use it. No damage and it makes migration easier. Just remember to backup you whatsapp history before changing sim to the new phone. Then, when you open wap in the new, it will say that detected a backup and ask if you want to restore it.
Goog luck!
Have setup now several new S21 phones and have *not* used SmartSwitch. Nothing went missing and nothing was missed. All apps that mattered were handled by Google Drive/Docs/Sync. Some apps needed a re-identity verification which was simply password/text or email message for 2-step-auth
Will not continue to use SmartSwitch on any tablets or phones
do you guys know how to copy existing wifi passwords from an old not Samsung device to a brand new S21? during inital setup it doesn't ask to recovery from a google backup and smartswitch copies all but wifi settings
privateer00 said:
do you guys know how to copy existing wifi passwords from an old not Samsung device to a brand new S21? during inital setup it doesn't ask to recovery from a google backup and smartswitch copies all but wifi settings
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/86zkzf
Trust nothing.
Make backup hard copies of all critical data and store in at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other. A flash drive can be used too but it must be backed up by hdds. Verify the copies integrity and -do not- use cloning apks to copy, especially music databases (it can and will lose needed null data).
What's in the cloud isn't in your hand and can be lost forever. Let that sink in...
Plan ahead and backup now or you will lose data.
Google backup wastes a lot of battery backing things up and from there forward. Unfortunately if you have no SD card slot you lost your best backup tool.
As for SmartSwitch it probably will work but it could also drag with it issues from the old OS or fail to work. Have at least one other backup plan using hdds. Stagger doing backups between the hdds to minimize the chances of your database being compromised by malware.
$hit happens... count on it, otherwise sooner or latter the odds will catch up with your data.
I've just bought an S21 to replace my S10e work phone but been struggling for the past 2 hours trying to restore my call logs, messages, apps, homescreen and everything else. Prior to doing this, I successfully completed a backup on my S10e to the Samsung Cloud.
When trying to restore my data to my S21 is where things get really messy and complicated! Powering on the S21 for the first time doesn't provide me with an option to restore from the Samsung Cloud. I had to get past the initial setup of the phone to reach the default home screen before I was able to attempt a restore from Samsung Cloud. It's now on the Settings, Home Screen & Apps bit and is taking absolutely forever!
1. Is this normal for a super fast phone like this?
2. It's not restored my WhatsApp & its message data. Why is this?
The last time I restored my data on my iPhone using iCloud, it took less than 30 minutes for everything.
Get a OTG .5tb flashstick for "dirty" backups.
A SD card slot makes life much easier...
In addition to the above...
Use at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC to redundantly backup critical data.
Do not rely on SmartSwitch, backup by cut/paste for critical data. Verify the copy is readable and the correct size and folder amount.
The restore finished in the end. It just took a very long time. Some apps didn't restore themselves so I had to do a compare against the home screen on my S10e and download the missing apps.
WhatsApp didn't even get backed up to Samsung Cloud so I had to back it up to Google Drive and restore from there.
The whole process has been quite clunky and confusing but got there in the end.
Hello all,
This is my first post here. I did some searching and didn't find a direct answer to this scenario, but my apologies if I missed something.
Recently I used my PC to move files from my phone's internal storage onto a microSD card that was mounted in the device. I used the cut & paste function in Windows explorer (didn't occur to me that I could do it on the phone itself), and did this in batches. Unfortunately since that time I've discovered some of the files are corrupted--they have the appropriate size, but can't be opened. Perhaps there is a way to analyze the file structure of the JPEG to see if a byte is missing, but aside from that, I'm interested if I can run TestDisk on the internal phone storage in some way to see if the files could possibly be recovered. I found a few tutorials (example: https://roubert.name/joakim/androidfilerecovery/), but all of them require rooting, and unfortunately my phone is not rooted.
From my review of the procedures on this forum, it seems that unlocking the bootloader and/or rooting ends up requiring that the phone be wiped. Is there any way around this? And does anyone have any other suggestions on investigating whether my photos can be recovered or not?
Thanks for any help!
Lost most likely. Copy the files to the PC. There are more tools available for Windows than Android.
From now on copy/paste, verify size and readability, then delete the source files.
Check Event Viewer during the transfer time to see if errors were reported in Windows. Maybe a bad cable, port, driver issue, etc.
In the future regularly and redundantly backup critical data on at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. I keep all critical data, music, vids, docs, backups go on the SD card and use it as a data drive. Only apps, the DCIM (backed up to the SD card regularly) and download folder go on internal. Then I backup the SD card.
There can only be one folder on Android with the name dcim. So when you backup the images in the internal memory dcim folder to the SD card rename it something like Master Pics to avoid issues.
Think it through and develop a system; everything you need to do a full reload/restore should be on the SD card. Few people utilize the SD card as it should be... it shouldn't be just a random collection of files. It adds an extra layer of protection for your data. Always use a quality V30 rated card like the Sandisk Extreme.
Any chance the photos were backed up to some service online? Google Photos is free and generally present on most Android phones, Samsung has their cloud, and some carriers do as well...
In the future, like @blackhawk said, backups are FAR more important than recovery. ANYTHING important to you should be backed up ("3-2-1" is a good policy to practice). For photos, Google Photos is great because it's free (to a limit, of course) and very easy to use. I've been recommending that to everyone, even iPhone users, because recovery is harder than ever these days - SSDs and flash can fail catastrophically and without warning much more easily than the old spinny drives which usually give some warning.
Sorry there isn't much better news. You may be able to find some un-delete software and try it. There may be paid services as well, but for the most part, it's probably lost...
If you do find something that works, do let us know... always good to find out new options! Good luck.
schwinn8 said:
Any chance the photos were backed up to some service online? Google Photos is free and generally present on most Android phones, Samsung has their cloud, and some carriers do as well...
In the future, like @blackhawk said, backups are FAR more important than recovery. ANYTHING important to you should be backed up ("3-2-1" is a good policy to practice). For photos, Google Photos is great because it's free (to a limit, of course) and very easy to use. I've been recommending that to everyone, even iPhone users, because recovery is harder than ever these days - SSDs and flash can fail catastrophically and without warning much more easily than the old spinny drives which usually give some warning.
Sorry there isn't much better news. You may be able to find some un-delete software and try it. There may be paid services as well, but for the most part, it's probably lost...
If you do find something that works, do let us know... always good to find out new options! Good luck.
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Sadly, no. Didn't use a backup service online. Thanks for the advice though--I used to be pretty good about backing things up routinely, but have gotten lax. Sadly this is the consequence.
DakenSG said:
Sadly, no. Didn't use a backup service online. Thanks for the advice though--I used to be pretty good about backing things up routinely, but have gotten lax. Sadly this is the consequence.
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That's a typically error when using MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) and you shouldn't use it for transferring files whenever it's possible. MTP was developed to offer a wide range compatibility for the most storage devices but it's very buggy and very slow.
Next time you should use the internal file explorer to copy data to your SD. This is the best practice.