Backup and Restore

CJ Thunder

New member
Feb 16, 2011
714
0
0
Visit site
I have seen this option touched upon but not really torn asunder (I know what the options say), but in reality how good is the built in back up and restore function of WP8?

Does it remember Start screen locations?
Does it install apps and set them up?
Mail Accounts? FB account? Contact Linking?

Can you do the above on a new phone (different make/model)? Multiple phones?

How long does it take to backup? How long does it take to do a restore? Wifi? Cell? USB? Is this done in the background? Can it be forced?

Does this take up room on SkyDrive?
Can you backup your back up?




So many questions...
 

KingCrimson

New member
Jul 11, 2011
631
1
0
Visit site
I have seen this option touched upon but not really torn asunder (I know what the options say), but in reality how good is the built in back up and restore function of WP8?

Does it remember Start screen locations?
Does it install apps and set them up?
Mail Accounts? FB account? Contact Linking?

Can you do the above on a new phone (different make/model)? Multiple phones?

How long does it take to backup? How long does it take to do a restore? Wifi? Cell? USB? Is this done in the background? Can it be forced?

Does this take up room on SkyDrive?
Can you backup your back up?




So many questions...

All great questions, where is the Microsoft FAQ?
 

KingCrimson

New member
Jul 11, 2011
631
1
0
Visit site
Give it time. If this is a big concern for you at least wait until the OS is available world-wide and people are blogging / making video's about it.

The irritating thing is that when Apple comes out with a feature like this, they EMBLAZON it on their iOS website for all to see. Yet I go to the WP8 website and nada.
 

CJ Thunder

New member
Feb 16, 2011
714
0
0
Visit site

electricbopeep

New member
Oct 12, 2010
148
0
0
Visit site
I am simultaneously excited and fearful to know the answer to this. I've been through several new phones/replacements on WP7 and resets and the backup/restoration process (or lack thereof) was a study in failed UX and poor customer service.

Eta: Paul's article gives me hope. I would like to know more about games and app settings. I know some apps use SkyDrive...
 

Dos101

New member
Sep 7, 2012
479
0
0
Visit site
Due to my battery issues (see this thread http://forums.windowscentral.com/lumia-920/201096.htm) I will be restoring my phone and can report back my findings. Question though, to restore, is the only option to reset your phone (under About Phone in settings) or is there a way to actually re-install the OS?

EDIT:

Ok, I did the restore after making sure everything was backed up.

Couple things to point out first:

- Your phone will get hot from all the downloading it will be doing
- Make sure it is plugged in and charging as to not drain your battery


The Restore was straight forward. Go to Settings -> about -> reset your phone
Some gears will appear on your screen for 5-10 minutes (depending on how much stuff is on your phone). Once it's finished the setup process begins. You are prompted to log in with your Microsoft account, and once you do you can either select to use a previous restore (it shows the time/date/phone model) or set up as a new phone. Once you select your restore it starts downloading your data. A progress bar appears on the screen and once finished, it prompts you to input the passwords for the accounts on your phone (Facebook, email, etc.) then the home screen appears and the phone starts downloading all your previously installed apps. I connected to wifi to speed up the process.

So, what gets backed up?
- Text messages
- Accounts (though you are prompted to input passwords before you get to the home screen)
- Sounds settings and selections (not the ringtone though)
- Phone history
- Theme colour
- Lock screen picture and settings
- Pictures/Music saved on your SkyDrive
- Internet Explorer favourites

That's it. Yup, that's everything of mine that it restored.

So, what doesn't it backup?
- Wifi networks
- Account passwords
- Brightness settings
- Keyboard settings
- Background Tasks settings
- Home screen tile layout
- Wallet
-Camera Roll (it is saved to your SkyDrive, but it does not populate the Camera Roll on your phone)

I've also yet to encounter an app that saves settings on SkyDrive, so here is a list of apps that I needed to configure all over again
- Accuweather (and Microsoft Weather, I'm sure all weather apps are like this)
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Foursquare
- Internet Explorer (it also put the stock favourites in with my own, ugh)
- SkyDrive (yes, Microsoft's own SkyDrive app)
- Flickr
- Photos tile/background picture
- Stock apps with updates do not get updated automatically when you app list is downloaded


I'm still looking through my phone so I'll update my post if I find anything new. If you have any questions, specific things you'd like me to check, or if I left something, let me know.
 
Last edited:

Dos101

New member
Sep 7, 2012
479
0
0
Visit site
Forgot to add a timeline. Here's a rough estimate of how long it will take to backup/restore:

Backup: 30s-5min depending on wifi/cell speed and how much data you have (mine took about a minute)
Resetting Phone: 5 -10 minutes depending on how much music/docs/pics/video is stored on the phone (mine took 6 minutes)
Restore: Depending on how much data is getting restored, this will take 5 - 10 minutes to complete (mine took 5 minutes)
Downloading apps: Depending on how many apps you have, this can take anywhere from a 5 - 15 minutes (mine took 15 minutes, I have 808MB worth of apps)

So best case, this whole process can take roughly 15 minutes. Worst case, 40 minutes. My backup/restore took roughly 27 minutes.

Note that these are my own calculations based on my own findings of how quickly each step is based on what is involved. These are by no means official numbers. This is strictly a YMMV scenario.
 
Last edited:

Dos101

New member
Sep 7, 2012
479
0
0
Visit site
So app settings being saved to SkyDrive is per-app opt-in?

Not sure. In fact, I don't even know if apps data is capable of being backed up with the built in Backup feature. I would assume the developer would need to let you select a location to save or backup data.

Also, apps data being backed up doesn't appear to be a feature of the Backup utility Back up my stuff | Windows Phone How-to (United States)
 

smoledman

Banned
Apr 17, 2012
1,303
0
0
Visit site
Not sure. In fact, I don't even know if apps data is capable of being backed up with the built in Backup feature. I would assume the developer would need to let you select a location to save or backup data.

Also, apps data being backed up doesn't appear to be a feature of the Backup utility Back up my stuff | Windows Phone How-to (United States)

I got confused by Apps + Settings to mean App Settings. This is very disappointing as both iPhone + Android both have this very important feature.
 

Dos101

New member
Sep 7, 2012
479
0
0
Visit site
I got confused by Apps + Settings to mean App Settings. This is very disappointing as both iPhone + Android both have this very important feature.

Ya I thought the same thing, not sure why Microsoft bundled them together in one option. I agree, it is a major oversight on their part, and will only frustrate users (why can they never get these little things right?)
 

smoledman

Banned
Apr 17, 2012
1,303
0
0
Visit site
Ya I thought the same thing, not sure why Microsoft bundled them together in one option. I agree, it is a major oversight on their part, and will only frustrate users (why can they never get these little things right?)

This is why Microsoft continues to fail in the mobile space. They don't get the little details right.

F.e.,

* no media scrubbing on the music & video players
* not saving app settings to SkyDrive
* Bing Local Scout has horrible data
* no notification center
* no local search

When people are out comparison shopping for smartphones they will not cut WP8 slack because it got going later compared to iOS/Android. They will simply see that iOS/Android have 10x more features and buy that.
 

electricbopeep

New member
Oct 12, 2010
148
0
0
Visit site
Sigh. It doesn't save your home screen layout? That's a major oversight. As far as app data, the apps that save their data tend to be from smaller devs ime. For example board express, some financial and health apps, etc. I have to double check to see if they save settings. As far as how this might hook into wp8's back up and restore, I'm not sure. on wp7, you have to go into each app, enter your sjydrive credentials and restore, which can be quite tedious.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
322,916
Messages
2,242,890
Members
428,004
Latest member
hetb