Hi I've just found my old Wildfire s and want to recover sentimental files off of it but I can't get it to sync as new HTC sync manager won't support it and file recovery programs won't recognise phone till I sync it to pc, is there an free software I can do this with as I'm not good with technology and only have windows vista thanks
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Wildfire s sync
- Thread starter CUff666
- Start date
When you say "recovery" do you mean recover deleted files, or just copy files from it?
You may be able to find a copy of the older "HTC Sync" app with a web search. But can't you just set the connection type to transfer files and copy using windows explorer? What Android version is it running? I'd have thought the Wildfire S might be old enough to still support Usb Mass Storage, which would mean you could even run file recovery software over usb (not an option with later versions).
You may be able to find a copy of the older "HTC Sync" app with a web search. But can't you just set the connection type to transfer files and copy using windows explorer? What Android version is it running? I'd have thought the Wildfire S might be old enough to still support Usb Mass Storage, which would mean you could even run file recovery software over usb (not an option with later versions).
I'm very surprised about automatic updates, because HTC Sync and HTC Sync Manager were different programs, and I'm sure it never auto-updated on my PC (not that I ever really used it). I might add that I don't enable automatic updates of any software any of my computers (both OS manufactures and app developers like to set automatic updates as the default, but I never allow that: they can tell me about updates, but I choose whether to apply them).
Does it not have settings for the connection type (charge only vs file transfer)? And you really do want to recover deleted files, rather than just copy stuff off? Because in the latter case another solution would be to just use a file manager on the phone to copy stuff to the removable SD card, then stick that in a USB card reader and copy to the computer.
Rooting means hacking the phone so you can give user-installed apps system privileges. The method depends on the phone, especially with older phones, but at least some of these will involve factory resetting the phone (happens automatically when you unlock the bootloader, for example) which would be counter-productive if you are trying to copy data from it. And it's not clear that being rooted would help you with this anyway.
Does it not have settings for the connection type (charge only vs file transfer)? And you really do want to recover deleted files, rather than just copy stuff off? Because in the latter case another solution would be to just use a file manager on the phone to copy stuff to the removable SD card, then stick that in a USB card reader and copy to the computer.
Rooting means hacking the phone so you can give user-installed apps system privileges. The method depends on the phone, especially with older phones, but at least some of these will involve factory resetting the phone (happens automatically when you unlock the bootloader, for example) which would be counter-productive if you are trying to copy data from it. And it's not clear that being rooted would help you with this anyway.
Still struggling to get recovery program to recognise phone and can't find us mass storage option on phone is there any free file recovery programs that may bypass HTC sync as really need to recover files and can't find any old sync versions I can run on computer as it's on vista and using old version of Internet Explorer and won't run new version
When you connect the phone to a computer, what options does the phone give you for connection type? If you can't see anything asking you to choose the type, look in the Developer Options in Settings (I think the Wildfire S is old enough that you probably have that without having to play any childish games of finding the build number in Settings and tapping on it repeatedly to enable the menu). And if you can't see anything there, try plugging it in and seeing if there is anything then.
I'm hoping that when you set it to transfer files (may be called "Disk Drive" mode??) it will allow the file recovery to work over usb (something like Recuva, if you are using Windows), since the Wildfire S definitely would have used USB Mass Storage for such transfers. The only question is whether it mounts the internal storage at all: I think my old Desire (2010) only mounted the SD card anyway, but that is also where it stored photos by default (it had almost no internal space: 147MB free after a factory reset), and of course if the photos were on the card you could just stick that in a card reader and recover them that way. I just have a vague memory from years ago that the only way I could see the internal storage (/data) on my old Desire using a computer was using Linux.
I'm hoping that when you set it to transfer files (may be called "Disk Drive" mode??) it will allow the file recovery to work over usb (something like Recuva, if you are using Windows), since the Wildfire S definitely would have used USB Mass Storage for such transfers. The only question is whether it mounts the internal storage at all: I think my old Desire (2010) only mounted the SD card anyway, but that is also where it stored photos by default (it had almost no internal space: 147MB free after a factory reset), and of course if the photos were on the card you could just stick that in a card reader and recover them that way. I just have a vague memory from years ago that the only way I could see the internal storage (/data) on my old Desire using a computer was using Linux.
Linux is a different computer operating system.
SMS is going to be very difficult to do this way. They are not stored as a set of separate files, but as an SQL database, and that is stored in a region you can't access directly without administrator access (which without some hacking you don't have on the phone). These are messages that have been deleted? If not then you should be able to get them off in other ways (a message backup app, or even just forwarding them to yourself).
SMS is going to be very difficult to do this way. They are not stored as a set of separate files, but as an SQL database, and that is stored in a region you can't access directly without administrator access (which without some hacking you don't have on the phone). These are messages that have been deleted? If not then you should be able to get them off in other ways (a message backup app, or even just forwarding them to yourself).
Hi, I have a query - my first post here.
In some ways a parallel query to the one above so I've appended to it ....
I have a Wildfire S that I still use actively but it's pretty old - its running Android 2.3.5, HTC Sense version 2.1 ... it's a 2012 build.
I've had it from new and I am pretty sure it used to connevct to my PC but TBH, I've been slack about backing up etc ... I never really liked it much so used my solid old Nokia for most of my personal stuff and a bit of the business stuff, too - however, in recent months I've had to use the Smartphone more and so it's accumulated a lot of data ...
The issue is that on a Win XP box, I can install and run HTC Sync but it can't see the phone, even with Sync selected as the connection mode - the phone displays a message saying that it is looking for HTC Sync, then, that it can't find it. The phone is definitely connected, however as in Disc Drive mode, I can see the full directory tree.
Even odder, I can't copy the address book, for instance, to the SD card as the phone says there isn't one to copy to - however, when looking at the available space on the phone, it reports a value for .... the SD card. I can't actually see an SD card physically installed, though - or even a slot for one.
Anyway, long story short, I'd like to transfer everything I have on this phone to a shiny new Samsung S10 and retire the HTC as a back-up phone - but I am daunted by the thought of manually copying 5-600 sets of contacts across, never mind anything else.
The other option I looked at was Smart Switch, built into the Samsung - however, there doesn't appear to be an option to select MTP mode on the HTC, (which is coninced I am connecting it to a PC and so looks for HTC Sync anyway) ... so that kyboshes using the Smart Switch system ...
Any ideas, anyone?
In some ways a parallel query to the one above so I've appended to it ....
I have a Wildfire S that I still use actively but it's pretty old - its running Android 2.3.5, HTC Sense version 2.1 ... it's a 2012 build.
I've had it from new and I am pretty sure it used to connevct to my PC but TBH, I've been slack about backing up etc ... I never really liked it much so used my solid old Nokia for most of my personal stuff and a bit of the business stuff, too - however, in recent months I've had to use the Smartphone more and so it's accumulated a lot of data ...
The issue is that on a Win XP box, I can install and run HTC Sync but it can't see the phone, even with Sync selected as the connection mode - the phone displays a message saying that it is looking for HTC Sync, then, that it can't find it. The phone is definitely connected, however as in Disc Drive mode, I can see the full directory tree.
Even odder, I can't copy the address book, for instance, to the SD card as the phone says there isn't one to copy to - however, when looking at the available space on the phone, it reports a value for .... the SD card. I can't actually see an SD card physically installed, though - or even a slot for one.
Anyway, long story short, I'd like to transfer everything I have on this phone to a shiny new Samsung S10 and retire the HTC as a back-up phone - but I am daunted by the thought of manually copying 5-600 sets of contacts across, never mind anything else.
The other option I looked at was Smart Switch, built into the Samsung - however, there doesn't appear to be an option to select MTP mode on the HTC, (which is coninced I am connecting it to a PC and so looks for HTC Sync anyway) ... so that kyboshes using the Smart Switch system ...
Any ideas, anyone?
Contacts should be simple:
* If you sync contacts with Google, just enter the same Google account into the new S10 and let it sync the contacts. Job done.
* If not, go into the HTC's contacts app (People, if I remember correctly - it's been a long time). In its settings there will be an option to "export" the contacts. When you do this it will write the whole lot to a .vcf file (if you have different types of contacts, such as Google, unsynced, etc, you may need to do this for each type). Connect your phone in disk drive mode and copy the vcf to a computer, then copy it to your S10. "Import" into the S10's contacts app and you are done.
You won't have MTP on the Wildfire as Android adopted that in Android 4 (conversely this is why you do have USB mass storage as your "disk drive" mode, which was replaced by MTP).
As for the SD card, take the back off the Wildfire (possibly the battery too). The SD slot is under there somewhere.
* If you sync contacts with Google, just enter the same Google account into the new S10 and let it sync the contacts. Job done.
* If not, go into the HTC's contacts app (People, if I remember correctly - it's been a long time). In its settings there will be an option to "export" the contacts. When you do this it will write the whole lot to a .vcf file (if you have different types of contacts, such as Google, unsynced, etc, you may need to do this for each type). Connect your phone in disk drive mode and copy the vcf to a computer, then copy it to your S10. "Import" into the S10's contacts app and you are done.
You won't have MTP on the Wildfire as Android adopted that in Android 4 (conversely this is why you do have USB mass storage as your "disk drive" mode, which was replaced by MTP).
As for the SD card, take the back off the Wildfire (possibly the battery too). The SD slot is under there somewhere.
Thanks for the help above, Hadron .... and sorry to be so slack in coming back to you to record my thanks.
I eventually found an old, old backup on a dis-used Google account.
That more-or-less let me do what I needed to do.
I found the SD card in the end - weird system but if anyone else is looking for it and can't find it, take the back off the phone and you'll find the slot on the bottom left of the long sides if you are looking at the back of the phone with the camera lens uppermost.
Finding the SD card didn't really help as the phone resolutely refused to export the phone book to it anyway ... dammit!
When you say the phone wouldn't export the phone book to the SD card, what exactly happened when you tried?
The generated file had null contents on most occasions (multiple attempts). I think the best it managed was two entries.
I checked the SD card for damage but it allows the copy and retreival of files from other devices - I didn't try a different SD card in Wildfire though.
Hmm, that's weird.
The only thing I can think of: it might export just certain groups of contacts at a time, e.g. unsynced (phone only), or Google, rather than the entire phonebook. I'm pretty sure that's how my HTC One worked. So if there is a setting to choose which set of contacts it exported and it defaulted to a group that had no contacts in it (which you might thing is dumb, but software can be dumb) then maybe that could explain an empty vcard file.
If it's not that then I've no idea. I'd expect a bad card to produce a file that was unreadable rather than empty, so if it won't write the contacts that sounds like a phone software problem (and as these files are just plain text you can just look and see whether it is correctly formatted but empty or whether they are cut off or corrupted). In which case I'd check the app to see whether it allows you to send contacts some other way, e.g. via bluetooth (which it probably will one-by-one, not sure if it will send multiple that way).
The only thing I can think of: it might export just certain groups of contacts at a time, e.g. unsynced (phone only), or Google, rather than the entire phonebook. I'm pretty sure that's how my HTC One worked. So if there is a setting to choose which set of contacts it exported and it defaulted to a group that had no contacts in it (which you might thing is dumb, but software can be dumb) then maybe that could explain an empty vcard file.
If it's not that then I've no idea. I'd expect a bad card to produce a file that was unreadable rather than empty, so if it won't write the contacts that sounds like a phone software problem (and as these files are just plain text you can just look and see whether it is correctly formatted but empty or whether they are cut off or corrupted). In which case I'd check the app to see whether it allows you to send contacts some other way, e.g. via bluetooth (which it probably will one-by-one, not sure if it will send multiple that way).
Mmmm, there were for possible files (IIRC) to export but all were null value.
I really did *try* every possibility as I have come unstuck with the dumbness of all sorts of software in the past. My background is very dated now but it used to be in digging data out of databases using Perl / MySQL.
As I mentioned, using the old backup, I did a fair percentage of what I wanted to do, by way of moving the contacts and have done the last bit manually. It just wasn't worth spending the time to fight what I think is probably problematic software in an old and now, (justifiably, by HTC) unsupported phone ...
I really appreciate your help though. Chapeau!
I really did *try* every possibility as I have come unstuck with the dumbness of all sorts of software in the past. My background is very dated now but it used to be in digging data out of databases using Perl / MySQL.
As I mentioned, using the old backup, I did a fair percentage of what I wanted to do, by way of moving the contacts and have done the last bit manually. It just wasn't worth spending the time to fight what I think is probably problematic software in an old and now, (justifiably, by HTC) unsupported phone ...
I really appreciate your help though. Chapeau!