How to recover app installed on SD card after hard reset?

[changjq]

Hi all

I previously saved the game 'Lost Echo' on my SD card. Yesterday I did a hard reset of my Lumia 1520 (without erasing my SD card) and after that, the game is no longer on my app list. When I go to the store to install it, it attempts to install a fresh copy of the game instead.

I plugged my phone to my PC and tried searching inside the SD card but found nothing. However, I can tell that the app is still inside the SD card as there is more than 1GB of 'other' files when I checked storage sense, which definitely must be the files for the app.

Is there a way to restore the app without doing a fresh installation? I really do not want to lose my game progress.

Thanks!

 

[N_LaRUE]

There is no way to restore the apps on SD card. Keep in mind you are not installing the whole app to SD card, only partial. The other bit was on the phone when you did the hard reset.

If the games you were playing had no backup capabilities (cloud or otherwise) you have lost all your saved games.

Since the apps on WP are sandboxed there is no access to them. Since WP doesn't recognize the apps you had on the SD card it has put them in Other files.

 

[VARUNGUPTA16061992]

If I am not wrong... WP directly installs app on SD card and is completely on SD card.. This gives it upper hand on android .. Which installs app on phone only.. Later you can move it .. But most of time only 30 or 50% moves it to SD.
Regarding your query.. WP encrypts the app installed on SD card.. Which prevents it to reused on any other phone (thus preventing piracy) or same phone post reset. There is some kind of decryption key that is generated which makes it usable on phone.

 

[N_LaRUE]

If I am not wrong... WP directly installs app on SD card and is completely on SD card.. This gives it upper hand on android .. Which installs app on phone only.. Later you can move it .. But most of time only 30 or 50% moves it to SD.
Regarding your query.. WP encrypts the app installed on SD card.. Which prevents it to reused on any other phone (thus preventing piracy) or same phone post reset. There is some kind of decryption key that is generated which makes it usable on phone.

You got a couple of things wrong there.

I wasn't able to find exact information but there would have to be some information on the phone storage for the app otherwise you wouldn't be able to use it. All apps requires ties with the OS. The SD card is simply storage, nothing else.

I have an Android phone. About 60 to 70% of the app moves to SD card when you chose to do it.

Also, the SD card is not encrypted by default on WP. It requires the app developer to encrypt the app and any information it uses.

The SD card is one of the biggest vulnerabilities of WP and why MS wasn't keen on them to begin with.

 

[VARUNGUPTA16061992]

You got a couple of things wrong there.

I wasn't able to find exact information but there would have to be some information on the phone storage for the app otherwise you wouldn't be able to use it. All apps requires ties with the OS. The SD card is simply storage, nothing else.

I have an Android phone. About 60 to 70% of the app moves to SD card when you chose to do it.

Also, the SD card is not encrypted by default on WP. It requires the app developer to encrypt the app and any information it uses.

The SD card is one of the biggest vulnerabilities of WP and why MS wasn't keen on them to begin with.

May b encryption thing might be wrong..
But on android apps like asphalt only occupies 400-500 mb in sd rest of 1 or more gb in phone... Same goes with many apps... Same also happened to go 70% - 80% in sd...but in wp... I have fully it in sd...may b some kind of linking might allow it tie up with OS

 

[MDK22]

based on knowing a bit about Windows file structure ...

The complete app is installed on the sdcard, but (here's where it gets tricky), there is a pointer on the OS (phone) with an xref to the sdcard location of the app. Once you blow away the OS (Hard Reset) that pointer is gone, thus the app becomes so much other storage as I understand it.

 

[realwarder]

All app data on the SD card is encrypted. After a reset your phone does not have the keys and so it is not usable.

There is a whole document on MSDN somewhere about encryption on SD cards on Windows phone.