Help I need to backup my phone

[dougiefresh22]

I am sure this is not a new question. I did do a search for backing up my phone, but I did not find anything that made me totally comfortable. This is actually my girlfriend's phone, so if anything goes wrong I will be in big trouble.

She has an HTC Hero and it has been running very slow. I mean VERY slow. She will hit the "phone" button to make a call and 5 minutes later (no exaggeration) the phone screen will come up. Trying to text is an all night event. It has become ridiculous, so I figured I would just reset the phone and start over. Before I do though I need to back up her contacts, SMS (handscent), and pictures. What is the best way to do this?

I think I got everything to transfer to her SD card, but is there an app or something that I can use as well to be super sure I get everything?

 

[MahaloCat]

Google backs up contacts
Pics are on SD card.
There are Apps for SMS - handscent might be able to do internally -

You need to ROOT Download Rom Manager - flash Clockwork Recovery and make a backup

Phone is slow b/c its stock - check out all things root...lots of folks to help

 

[dougiefresh22]

you say google backs up contacts. How does it do this and how would I retrieve them after a wipe?

 

[LBPHeretic]

you say google backs up contacts. How does it do this and how would I retrieve them after a wipe?

Google backs up your contacts into the GMail account you sign into when you first setup your handset. If you signed into that GMail account on a computer, you would see that it has the same contacts as your Sprint HTC Hero.

They contacts are automatically synced up to your handset when you first sign back into it after wiping it. This works in both directions as well. For example, if you change a contact's email address on your computer, that will be reflected on your handset as well. If you added a contact on your handset, it would also be added to your contacts in the GMail address on your computer. It is extremely useful because it means you never have to painstakingly enter all of your contacts into your handset again. It is also a boon for people who like to switch custom ROMs often because it means less setup.