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Titanium Backup

S

smguffer

Newbie
ok so i've taken the first step and rooted my wife's old phone (avail 2) ... i been doing some research and the next logical thing seems to be installing Titanium Backup and backing up all of the important stuff that I want before i REALLY start messing with stuff.

So im in the process of backing stuff up now, but im a bit disappointed because the free version of Titanium backup won't allow me to freeze apps (so i can decide if they're necessary or not) .. i need the "donate" version i believe.

so does anyone else know of any apps that will allow me to freeze programs?


any other tips would be great... like if im already headed in the wrong direction lol
 
To be honest, if you're going to play with the phone the paid version of Titanium is well worth it. For example, it allows you to batch restore apps as well as batch backup, and also allows you to restore apps from nandroid backups (full system backups made from recovery) for at least some recoveries, keep more than one backup of an app, etc (list of extra features can be found here).
 
TB is worth every single penny and one of the first root apps anyone should buy.

That said, now that you are rooted do yourself a favor and make a complete nandroid of your device in recovery before you start freezing or removing apps.

In the event something goes wrong, so long as you can boot into recovery you can restore the nandroid and take the phone right back to the minute you made the backup.

Very handy to have.
 
What recovery do you have?
Nandroid is a backup made in recovery of the complete phone, everything, so if something goes bad, you just boot into recovery and restore it to go back to exactly how it was when you made the backup.
It isnt a replacement for titanium though and like the others i recommend buying pro. When you get to restoring apps youl realise that pro is more than worth the asking price :)
 
Have you tried booting into recovery? Its usually a key combo from the phone being off. Youll maybe have to google it.
for example on a nexus its hold in power+volume up+volume down.
On a samsung its home, power, volume up.
When you find the combo it will take you into recovery. Do you know if you have TWRP or CWM recovery?
 
power + volume works for me as well.. im on the screen right now.. and im not sure which (if either) of those recoveries.

Android System Recovery <3e>

Volume up/down to move highlight enter button to select.

rebooot system now
apply update from ADB
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
apply update from external stor
apply update from cache
md5 check
 
Right you have stock recovery which is pretty useless :(
I know nothing about that phone but the next thing to do is find out how to put a custom recovery like CWM, TWRP or Philz.
They will let you make a nandroid.
With stock recovery, if anything goes wrong you have a lot less options to fix things painlessly :beer:
 
Nandroid backups (and restores) are done from a custom recovery, not a stock recovery. If you're familiar with PCs, a Nandroid backup would be like creating a clone image of your hard drive. It's a perfect copy of the state of your phone at the time of backup, and it can be used to perfectly restore your phone to that state, almost regardless of how bad you screw it up. If you try installing a custom ROM, but you don't like it, then for the most part, you can quickly do a "Nandroid restore" to return your phone to its previous condition before you changed ROMs.

Usually, installing "custom recovery" is the second step that people do after rooting their phone. Custom recoveries also allow you to install custom ROMs (which typically have less bloat-ware and higher performance than stock ROMs).

I have been rooting and installing custom ROMs for a couple years. I use Titanium Backup (free version) to backup and restore my apps, but I haven't ever felt the need to buy the premium version. "Freeze" is of no interest to me. Before switching to a new custom ROM, it's good to do a batch backup of all your apps and settings. Then if you switch to a new custom ROM, the first thing you do is sign-in, download Titanium Backup from the Play Store, and restore your apps and any relevant settings to your new custom ROM.
 
Free version doesnt have batch restore though?
Ive never used the free one tbh but dont you have to initiate install of each app instead of just letting it run in the background while you go through tweaking the rom's settings?
Even if that isnt an issue, it feels nice to donate to the dev for a great service imo :beer:
 
funkylogik said:
Free version doesnt have batch restore though?
Ive never used the free one tbh but dont you have to initiate install of each app instead of just letting it run in the background while you go through tweaking the rom's settings?
Even if that isnt an issue, it feels nice to donate to the dev for a great service imo :beer:
Click to expand...

Yep! This was the biggest incentive for me to get the paid version.

Dave
 
funkylogik said:
Free version doesnt have batch restore though?
Ive never used the free one tbh but dont you have to initiate install of each app instead of just letting it run in the background while you go through tweaking the rom's settings?
Click to expand...

I'm sure I remember this being the case, but I think you can now do batch backup and restore with the free version.


dvhttn said:
Yep! This was the biggest incentive for me to get the paid version.

Dave
Click to expand...

Same reason I bought mine.

Couldn't imagine having to restore over 300 apps individually.
 
I've always been able to do batch backups and restores with the free versions, but I stopped updating TiBU about a year ago so I'm on version 6.1.5.4. Not sure if recent free versions killed batch mode.
 
if i buy titanium, can i use it for any phone or is the license or w/e specific to that particular phone? ... or is there like a serial number or something i can just enter on different or new phones later down the road?
 
With any paid app, you only pay once and going forward you can always download it to another device. When you go to the Play store on a device that does not have it installed it will show as "Purchased", tapping that will install it.
In the case of Titanium, it will show up twice in Play- once as the basic free app, and again as the Pro key. You would install the app first, then the key.
 
^ yeah this. As long as youre using the same account on each phone.
Whenever i flash a new rom the first thing i do is go into Play and download titanium and the pro key then turn on unknown sources and usb debugging :)
 
So i've been looking around hoping to find different custom ROMs for my Alcatel one touch Evolve, and just seeing if anyone has a way to put CWM on it.

as far as i can tell there are no custom ROMs, and no known way to put CWM on it


does this pretty much limit me to only root access and ability to uninstall things through titanium? not much else i can do?
 
If you cant find a custom recovery then it does limit you a bit but check out Xposed Framework. That just requires a rooted device and its fairly safe.
What android version are you on now?
 
v4.1 (Jelly Bean) on my Alcatel one touch Evolve (i just rooted it)

v2.3 (Gingerbread) on my ZTE Avail 2 (first one i rooted that i was going to "experiment" with)
 
Most xposed modules work on jellybean and i think some work on gingerbread.
Do a search for "xposed framework installer". Basically it lets you download apps called "modules" that add custom rom-type modifications without flashing anything. It wont do anything to improve performance though :(
 
ill check it out

i have a couple other newb questions:

im backing up my Alcatel one touch evolve right now with Titanium Backup... how exactly does this backup work?

1) it stores any/all information to the SD card on my phone? (if thats the case wouldnt it defeat the purpose of trying to free up space/clear bloatware on my phone? .. i would imagine all of that saved information takes up a lot of space)

2) titanium personally stores it somewhere else separate from my physical phone?

i guess what im wondering: if i do titanium backup, then decide later that i want to do a factory system restore (restore my phone to factory condition) .. will i have any access to any of the apps/data i previously backed up with titanium? do i need to re-install titanium to get the backed up data (after i restore phone to default settings) .. or will titanium more or less attach itself to the phone during the factory restore so no new download of titanium itself is necessary?

is it possible, recommended, or necessary to take all of the files i just backed up with titanium, and store them on my laptop in the event i decide to do a factory restore?
 
Yeah what id do if your phone doesnt have an SD slot is move your /titanium folder to your pc and/or zip it and upload it to dropbox, goole drive etc.
Theres a way to make it backup straight to the cloud but i cant remember how its done tbh lol.
And yeah when you do a factory reset, just d/load titanium, move your titanium folder back to the phone and restore :thumbup:
 
man you've been really patient with all my questions and gave solid answers.. i really appreciate it. :beer:

so i've rooted 2 phones now, backed up 1 with titanium backup, saved the backup to my laptop... tomorrow i will start removing what i think is bloatware :D
 
No problem mate. its all about passing down the knowledge that others have taught. Thats what i love about the android community :)
Welcome to the dark side. Im pretty sure youre gona be addicted to the cutting edge of android from now on lol :beer:
 
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