Completely back up, reset, and restore my G7 ThinQ

[areader]

My phone no longer reads fingerprints. The Verizon store said to completely back up the phone and do a factory reset and restore, and if it still doesn’t work, then I’m eligible for a new phone.The problem is, I haven’t a clue how to do any of that.

I need recommendations on a free app(s) that will back up everything, back up to my computer also (just in case!) and then let me, I hope, selectively restore apps and data. Think absolute newbie level knowledge of cell phones: this ThinQ is my first smart phone and I’ve had it about a year.

And once I’ve backed everything up, how do I test that backup? And where do I find instructions for the reset?

TIA

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[anonymous]

? says:

areader, i googled it and verizon has a “help page,”:

https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-218154/

hopefully it offers enough help to really help…

 

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[areader]

Thank you! Now to see if I can actually follow the directions.

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[Alex5723]

Android OS doesn’t have a full backup system (so no restore either) and you have to rely on 3rd party applications.
The best 3rd party backup app is Titanium Backup which requires ROOT access.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Alex5723.

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[mn–]

Well, technically there is a backup system in baseline Android… that does back everything up into a file on your computer… but it requires debug mode, which is sort of less than practical for the regular non-technical user. Also some manufacturers have disabled that functionality.

Especially if you want to pull individual files out of that backup blob.

So yeah, install Android debugging tools on your PC, enable debugging mode on the phone (device dependent), connect phone to PC with cable, then authorize your PC to debug that phone, and then you can run “adb backup -f mybackup.ab -all -shared -apk -obb” and wait for a longish time… or have it fail if the manufacturer has disabled it.

Then there would seem to be a way to run it locally if it hasn’t been disabled. Never used that myself, only the PC method, but… https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.backup&hl=en_US&gl=US

Also for looking inside the .ab files, well… there’s https://github.com/nelenkov/android-backup-extractor/releases

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[areader]

So yeah, install Android debugging tools on your PC, enable debugging mode on the phone (device dependent), connect phone to PC with cable, then authorize your PC to debug that phone, and then you can run “adb backup -f mybackup.ab -all -shared -apk -obb” and wait for a longish time… or have it fail if the manufacturer has disabled it.

Sorry, but this is gibberish to me. I hope you were joking. But thanks anyway.

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[mn–]

Unfortunately I wasn’t joking.

Yes, I do think this is probably the worst shortcoming of the entire Android ecosystem.

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[areader]

The link to 3rd party apps goes to a page full of advertising for Cyber Monday best deals, not apps. Oh well.

I have downloaded Titanium Backup, free version for now. Thank you for that lead.

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[areader]

I went back and chose Super Backup to try. I got this message: Device not rooted, so only backup apk filed, no app data.

And again we’re over my head. I’m sure if I root the phone (not that I have any idea how to do that) that’ll void my warranty and insurance.

I did back up my contacts successfully (according to Super Backup, that is). For my apps, can I find that data on the phone and simply copy those files to my computer? If I do that, can I then copy it back to the phone and all will be well? For now I have little data saved outside of my contacts list, so I can do it manually–if I know where to look for that data.

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[mn–]

areader wrote:

And again we’re over my head. I’m sure if I root the phone (not that I have any idea how to do that) that’ll void my warranty and insurance.

Many of the procedures would include wiping all the user data on it anyway, making the exercise rather less useful at this point.

And it’ll be hardware-dependent anyway.

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[Paul T]

Phone manufacturers often provide backup apps for their products.

cheers, Paul

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[areader]

I thought so, too, but the person at the Verizon store talked as if I would know how to back up and factory reset without having to explain further. And this is called customer service?!

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[areader]

I found the backup app built into my phone. I backed up the phone but am waiting to do the reset until I have manually copied my contacts list and made a list of my installed apps. and the links in my browser app. The data in the apps I can probably recreate if necessary, but I’ll check each app anyway.

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[Alex5723]

areader wrote:

I have downloaded Titanium Backup, free version for now

Have you looked at Free vs Pro list of functions ?

The link for 3rd party is ok.
You get the post on the page ‘Apps to Keep Your Data Safe’, then on upper right you have > Next to scroll the various backup apps.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Alex5723.

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[areader]

Yes, and for now, since I’m short of cash, I won’t buy the pro version until I see what I can do with the free one, and if that’s enough for me. I know it won’t back up to a computer, but maybe I can get by without that feature. Most of the other things the pro version can do mean absolutely nothing to me.

I will go back to the page and look for the link you mentioned.

Thanks again for your help.

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[Alex5723]

mn– wrote:

that’ll void my warranty and insurance.

If you are in the USA rooting shouldn’t void warranty. Don’t know about other countries.

At the moment, it’s legal to root or jailbreak a phone if you’re doing so to use legally acquired applications on it.

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[mn–]

Actually you may have misattributed that quote.

I was just pointing out that in many cases rooting the phone *now* would wipe all data anyway, so not very useful if you’d be doing that to enable backing up the data that’s currently on it.

Of the whole bunch of Android phones, tablets, TV set-top boxes etc my house has been through (between myself, spouse and children), maybe two or three have had non-destructive rooting procedures. And those used straight-up unpatched severe vulnerabilities that just hadn’t been fixed (yet? … or at all) in manufacturer-issued updates…

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[areader]

Wow! I guess it makes sense from the manufacture’rs POV, but it’s certainly not helpful to the phone owner.

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[areader]

I didn’t know that! I may very well root my phone before it’s out of warranty, if the phone’s built in backup feature doesn’t back up everything. Thank you very much for this info.

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