Is SPB Backup worth $24.95? + general BU questions.

[TheBundo]

Backing up the card is pointless. Your backup file itself is on the card, so if something happens to the card, and you haven't backed the card up to a PC, you're SOL. Remember, the card's data is not affected by a hard reset, etc. You need to back up your card to a PC every so often. And a big thumbs up for SPB, well worth the money.

[madcowmilau]

No mobile software is worth more than $5

[jmorton10]

Originally Posted by WBFAir

So basically my plan is to install this card and unless needed, never take it out.

.

I never take my card out either (except to replace it when it burned up)

I just use the disc drive option & connect it to my laptop.

Although I have over 12 gigs of stuff on it, I don't need to back it all up.

I have probably 8 full length movies on the card ripped from DVD. When I rip them, I do it to my laptop then copy it to the card. I still have the original rip in my LT, so if that gets lost it doesn't matter.

I also have a TON of cab files on my card, but again they are also in my LT so I don't have to back them up everytime either.

When I do want to make a new BU, I connect the phone to my LT using the disc drive option, select the new stuff that I really want backed up & copy just that stuff to a folder in my LT. I do this before I go to bed & just let it run during the night.

~John

[WBFAir]

Originally Posted by TheBundo

Backing up the card is pointless. Your backup file itself is on the card, so if something happens to the card, and you haven't backed the card up to a PC, you're SOL. Remember, the card's data is not affected by a hard reset, etc. You need to back up your card to a PC every so often. And a big thumbs up for SPB, well worth the money.

Just to mention it (and get a cheap bump), although that's what some may only do, I was not planning on doing my BU’s to my card ever but backup all things, including what ever is on the card, even though everything on it came from the PC...to my PC.

Basically my reasoning, aside from the one important one you mentioned, is to preserve the files in their given locations and with their given file structures as most programs that read any data off that card will be looking for any of those files in that certain place, and especially as since a lot of those directories were essentially created by me, its not like they will just have those directories reinstalled upon the programs reinstall.

At any rate, I really hope that is the typical way all backup programs work in that they can backup everything to the PC. Is that correct?

And just to make sure, that is what SPB can do correct?

But in a odd way this kinda brings me back to the incremental in that, if you are looking to have to do a backup that incorporates all the data on a large card lets say, if every time you want to do a backup job, you have to do a complete full one, that could really take some time.

For this I haven’t tried yet but I will say that since having gotten my 16gig class 6 card the other day, it now has about 7 gigs of stuff on it and that took me about an hour to get that all on there.

So now if I just add say 20 pics to that an want to make those a part of the backup file, I have to back up 7 gigs of stuff plus what ever is on the device?

This would certainly make that a pretty long backup.

And while I know I could remove the card and make a copy of that, that certainly isn’t very convenient and as well promotes possible damage to the card, also I supposed I could set up SPB to do only certain directories, but the inconvenience of trying to remember what files had changed or had things added to or removed to them, would again make this a pretty impractical thing which all tend to lead to a lack of actually doing any of this. Plus if I am correct, that would mean I would have to really start cataloging an keeping track of what back files had what in them.

All in all the incremental solves all these issues and if SPB had that...it certainly would be worth more then five dollars.

[jmorton10]

I don't really understand your concern here.

If you do a full system BU with SPB to the card, when you restore that BU all the directories/file structures etc will be restored exactly the same as when you made the BU (it doesn't matter if you created them, the program did or whatever).

Even if your phone goes bad & has to be replaced, you can take the card with the SPB BU file on it, put it in the new phone & restore it - at the end of the restore the new phone will be identical to the old one in every way (you won't have to make any settings changes or re-install anything)

~John

[WBFAir]

Originally Posted by jmorton10

I don't really understand your concern here.

If you do a full system BU with SPB to the card, when you restore that BU all the directories/file structures etc will be restored exactly the same as when you made the BU (it doesn't matter if you created them, the program did or whatever).

Hopefully just to clear this up, I wouldn't look to consider the card for a backup of anything of the device, and I certainly wouldn't back up 7gigs of data on the card to the card.

No this is all with the intention of backing up everything to the PC, which if there was a restore done, would then restore everything to the device and the card, basically as if they were one thing.

Originally Posted by jmorton10

Even if your phone goes bad & has to be replaced, you can take the card with the SPB BU file on it, put it in the new phone & restore it - at the end of the restore the new phone will be identical to the old one in every way (you won't have to make any settings changes or re-install anything)

~John

Actually and just to hopefully to make this clear, I'm not even considering the card and the device as two separate things, I want, either for a full or incremental backup, to back up both to the PC.

But having said that, in actuality, I'm more worried about the card going bad then the phone as that seems to happens a lot, which is another reason for not thinking the card is a good place for a backup and so I would backup all to the PC as its much safer.

This way if the card were ever to go bad, then I could just chuck the card, and hopefully, if SPD allows me to do this, restore just the data that was on the old one that was obtained at the time of the backup, to the new card and restore it in the completely same directories as I had on the old one.

[jmorton10]

Originally Posted by WBFAir

But having said that, in actuality, I'm more worried about the card going bad then the phone .

This may help you decide what to do.

SPB has a feature that nobody has mentioned. You set up a directory on your PC/LT to store a second copy of every full BU file. Then, every time you sync the phone to the computer, it automatically copies any new BU's it finds to the PC.

That way, you always have at least two copies of every BU file & it does it automatically as long as you sync the phone occasionally. I always have about 6 current BU's on my card & also in my LT at all times.

I never worry that a BU will be corrupt etc because if one becomes corrupt I always have one from the day before to rely on (& there is no way I will ever lose them all at once when they are in two different physical locations)

~John

[WBFAir]

Thanks for the info John and btw I hope I'm not coming of as combative with you as you are really helping a lot with a lot of info on the program and I do appreciate it.

But just to mention again, I guess in total I now have about 7gigs of info between the card and the device, so especially as I can't do incremental BU's, there basically is no way I can backup the much info to the card on a regular basis.

At best I guess I could one but that would then probably fill up the rest of the card and I really done want to waist the next 7 gigs I have on a BU. Plus I would supposed I would then have to delete that one to get another one.

Actually as you keep talking about this, just to ask, is backing up the entire device directly to the PC only, not something SPD is designed to or can do?

Is the only way to get that to happen is to first do a BU to the card, then let that BU be sync'ed?

Thanks

[JStewartx]

Originally Posted by jmorton10

I have a 16 gig card also (with over 12 gigs of stuff on it) but I don't back up the card itself with SPB (I back up everything BUT the card)

I BU the card every few weeks to my laptop mainly so I don't lose it all when the card burns up (my POS Sandisk card has done this twice)

If you do a custom BU with SPB & just check everything except the card, it only takes a matter of minutes to BU the entire system (even if the memory is almost full)

~John

I agree with John, SPB BU is very quick, especially the newest version. They even officially support WM 6.5 now!

As far as backup strategy, I have been doing the exact same thing. Save a few incremental backups on the sd card. Backup the sd card to my pc every few weeks. Easily unpack a random file from an old backup that I might have forgotten... This is what I have found to be the best for me also.

[jmorton10]

Originally Posted by WBFAir

Actually as you keep talking about this, just to ask, is backing up the entire device directly to the PC only, not something SPD is designed to or can do?

That's one I can't answer (I will try it tonight if you want)

I have never had any reason to do that, so I don't know if it's possible or not.

~John